The Ambience of Innovation: a Material Semiotic Analysis of Corporate and Community Innovation Sites

There are unprecedented opportunities in professional and technical writing (PTW) and rhetoric research thanks to a contemporary expansion of rhetorical studies beyond the linguistic/symbolic and into the material, accounting for the rhetorical contributions of “nonhumans” (Latour Reassembling the Social). Material rhetoric frameworks such as Thomas Rickert’s ambient rhetoric and Bruno Latour’s actor-network theory, provide fertile grounds for PTW/rhetoric research that explores the diffusion of “rhetoric into material space” (Rickert xii) which has especially exciting implications for the study of place and how it embodies values and rhetorically shapes acting, thinking, and the entire spectrum of “human flourishing” (Rickert xii). This renewed interest in the rhetoric of artifacts and how they unite to enact agency within material spaces correlates with an enduring PTW/rhetoric interest in the process that creates things: innovation. The rhetoric of innovation analyzes the complex communication process involved with generating, conveying, and transferring ideas into marketable technology products (Doheny-Farina; Akrich, Callon, and Latour). This work, then, contributes to contemporary PTW/rhetoric research by applying commitments of rhetorical material-semiotics to innovation to understanding the context of innovation and the role of place in ideation. My underlying rhetorical interest within these spaces is the generation, communication, and dispersal of agency during ideation. I explore this process from three perspectives: how the designers of innovation spaces and workshop leverage material context to convey values of innovation; how the artifacts within innovation spaces enact agency upon facilitators and participants to shape their approaches to the innovation process; and how agency is symmetrically distributed across a network of human and nonhuman actants during real time ideation. My project analyzes innovation workshops, brainstorming sessions, and strategic planning sessions, within eight material spaces designed to cultivate creativity through different material means. These spaces are diverse as are the sessions I observed, but, across all of them, I apply a mix of observation, interviews, and ambience descriptions in order to pursue the answers to my research questions and uncover insights about the dispersal of agency within innovation spaces. My analysis of these spaces has numerous implications for PTW/Rhetoric scholars in its expansion of material rhetorics into space analysis; it also has implications PTW/Rhetoric teaching related to materially distribution of agency in the classroom space. Finally, it can help innovation practitioners such as interior designers, engineers, and industrial designers to rhetorically communicate their values of innovation and establish a culture of innovation in their companies through material-linguistic means

Exploring consumers’ serendipitous experiences in online marketplaces: characteristics, development route and factors influencing it

The findings reveal that e-commerce serendipity is an artificially facilitated unplanned experience, jointly shaped by consumers and online platforms along with their designers. Being an artificial serendipity, e-commerce serendipity is characterised by its expectedness, thrillingness, and varied outcomes. Three routes were presented for consumers to experience e-commerce serendipity: coincidence, unexpected discovery, encountering. These routes differed via the varying interaction patterns between serendipitists and third parties under different conditions. The findings regarding ecommerce serendipity as a form of artificial serendipity have significant implications for both research and practice

Exploring consumers’ serendipitous experiences in online marketplaces: characteristics, development route and factors influencing it

This research aims to explore and understand the nature of serendipity within online marketplaces (i.e. e-commerce serendipity). The motivation for setting this aim stems from a recognised misalignment between the practical applications and theoretical explorations of e-commerce serendipity. E-commerce consumers and practitioners acknowledge the practical value of serendipity. However, they lack a strong theoretical foundation to fully benefit from this phenomenon. In contrast, serendipity- focused studies, especially within information science, have not focused on e-commerce serendipity before and doubted the feasibility of consciously design serendipity. Thus, these studies have resulted in insufficient theoretical support for consumers and practitioners. To bridge the gap between theory and practice, this research adopts a participant-centric narrative approach. This approach aims to contribute to creating more consumer-friendly online marketplaces and to deepen the understanding of serendipity. Participants were prioritised as the main contributors, sharing their experiences and perceptions of e-commerce serendipity through storytelling. Thirty-two Chinese online consumers took part in the research, contributing a total of 123 real-life stories. All these stories were collaboratively analysed with the participants, ensuring a faithful portrayal of e-commerce serendipity as experienced by the consumers themselves. The findings reveal that e-commerce serendipity is an artificially facilitated unplanned experience, jointly shaped by consumers and online platforms along with their designers. Being an artificial serendipity, e-commerce serendipity is characterised by its expectedness, thrillingness, and varied outcomes. Three routes were presented for consumers to experience e-commerce serendipity: coincidence, unexpected discovery, encountering. These routes differed via the varying interaction patterns between serendipitists and third parties under different conditions. The findings regarding e- commerce serendipity as a form of artificial serendipity have significant implications for both research and practice. Theoretically, this research contributes to serendipity-focused studies, particularly in the field of information science. It enhances the current understanding of serendipity and suggests that serendipity- focused research should embrace the concept of serendipity by design. This involves expanding beyond the narrow research scope and definitions that currently dominate the research context, offering a broader and more inclusive perspective. Practically, this thesis contributes to the fostering of mutually beneficial artificial serendipity in online marketplaces. This involves e-commerce practitioners listening attentively to consumers’ voices and for consumers to enhance their digital literacy. Beyond these directly related areas, the research further contributes to Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) studies due to its choice of research context. It provides insights into how better to design recommender systems and create a harmonious online ecosystem

SELF-INITIATED CREATIVITY IN THE ELEMENTARY CLASSROOM

In this study, the researcher used an action research methodology to investigate the self-initiated creative processes and artifacts of his fourth and fifth grade students over the course of one school year in an attempt to shed light on the pedagogical effects of an elementary classroom that allows its students significant creative agency. The majority of the literature on the self-initiated creativity of children examines the work of primary grade students in an art room setting, revealing a gap in the literature and the need for a study regarding self-initiated creative processes and products made by children in an intermediate general classroom setting. The research site was a democratically based, child-centered classroom in a private day school where students were encouraged to share in the development of the conceptual, curricular, and physical aspects of the learning environment. The self-initiated creative activities of the children provided a unique lens through which the researcher was able to view and understand his students’ learning styles, gain insight into their metacognitive processes, and observe the ways they navigated their classroom space. Empowering students to become critical agents through choice and autonomy led to arts-based approaches of inquiry and spontaneous creative learning experiences. An analysis of the data contributed to an understanding of six essential principles for facilitating self-initiated creativity within the everyday constraints of a traditional schooling environment, as well as cautionary revelations about how I could have been more effective at co-constructing an enduring culture that supported self-initiated creative learning in collaboration with my colleagues at the research site

Organizational creativity – Hegemonic and alternative discourses

SUMMARY Organizational creativity – hegemonic and alternative discourses Over the course of recent developments in the societal and business environment, the concept of creativity has been brought into new arenas. The rise of ‘creative industries’ and the idea of creativity as a form of capital have attracted the interests of business and management professionals – as well as academics. As the notion of creativity has been adopted in the organization studies literature, the concept of organizational creativity has been introduced to refer to creativity that takes place in an organizational context. This doctoral thesis focuses on organizational creativity, and its purpose is to explore and problematize the hegemonic organizational creativity discourse and to provide alternative viewpoints for theorizing about creativity in organizations. Taking a discourse theory approach, this thesis, first, provides an outline of the currently predominant, i.e. hegemonic, discourse on organizational creativity, which is explored regarding themes, perspectives, methods and paradigms. Second, this thesis consists of five studies that act as illustrations of certain alternative viewpoints. Through these exemplary studies, this thesis sheds light on the limitations and taken-for-granted aspects of the hegemonic discourse and discusses what these alternative viewpoints could offer for the understanding of and theorizing for organizational creativity. This study leans on an assumption that the development of organizational creativity knowledge and the related discourse is not inevitable or progressive but rather contingent. The organizational creativity discourse has developed in a certain direction, meaning that some themes, perspectives, and methods, as well as assumptions, values, and objectives, have gained a hegemonic position over others, and are therefore often taken for granted and considered valid and relevant. The hegemonization of certain aspects, however, contributes to the marginalization of others. The thesis concludes that the hegemonic discourse on organizational creativity is based on an extensive coverage of certain themes and perspectives, such as those focusing on individual cognitive processes, motivation, or organizational climate and their relation to creativity, to name a few. The limited focus on some themes and the confinement to certain prevalent perspectives, however, results in the marginalization of other themes and perspectives. The negative, often unintended, consequences, implications, and side effects of creativity, the factors that might hinder or prevent creativity, and a deeper inquiry into the ontology and epistemology of creativity have attracted relatively marginal interest. The material embeddedness of organizational creativity, in other words, the physical organizational environment as well as the human body and its non-cognitive resources, has largely been overlooked in the hegemonic discourse, although thereare studies in this area that give reason to believe that they might prove relevant for the understanding of creativity. The hegemonic discourse is based on an individual-centered understanding of creativity which overattributes creativity to an individual and his/her cognitive capabilities, while simultaneously neglecting how, for instance, the physical environment, artifacts, social dynamics and interactions condition organizational creativity. Due to historical reasons, quantitative as well as qualitative yet functionally- oriented studies have predominated the organizational creativity discourse, although studies falling into the interpretationist paradigm have gradually become more popular. The two radical paradigms, as well as methodological and analytical approaches typical of radical research, can be considered to hold a marginal position in the field of organizational creativity. The hegemonic organizational creativity discourse has provided extensive findings related to many aspects of organizational creativity, although the con- ceptualizations and understandings of organizational creativity in the hegemonic discourse are also in many respects limited and one-sided. The hegemonic discourse is based on an assumption that creativity is desirable, good, necessary, or even obligatory, and should be encouraged and nourished. The conceptualiza- tions of creativity favor the kind of creativity which is useful, valuable and can be harnessed for productivity. The current conceptualization is limited to the type of creativity that is acceptable and fits the managerial ideology, and washes out any risky, seemingly useless, or negative aspects of creativity. It also limits the possible meanings and representations that ‘creativity’ has in the respective discourse, excluding many meanings of creativity encountered in other discourses. The excessive focus on creativity that is good, positive, productive and fits the managerial agenda while ignoring other forms and aspects of creativity, however, contributes to the dilution of the notion. Practices aimed at encouraging the kind of creativity may actually entail a risk of fostering moderate alterations rather than more radical novelty, as well as management and organizational practices which limit creative endeavors, rather than increase their likelihood. The thesis concludes that although not often given the space and attention they deserve, there are alternative conceptualizations and understandings of organizational creativity which embrace a broader notion of creativity. The inability to accommodate the ‘other’ understandings and viewpoints within the organizational creativity discourse runs a risk of misrepresenting the complex and many-sided phenomenon of creativity in organizational context. Keywords: Organizational creativity, creativity, organization studies, discourse theory, hegemonyTIIVISTELMÄ Organisatorinen luovuus – hegemoninen diskurssi ja vaihtoehtoisia tarkastelutapoja Luovuuden käsite on noussut keskusteluun uusilla areenoilla viimeaikaisten yhteiskunnallisten ja talouselämän muutosten seurauksena. Luovien toimialojen tuottaman taloudellisen lisäarvon tunnistaminen sekä erityisesti luovuuden näkeminen yritysten ja yksilöiden pääomana ovat nostaneet luovuuden käsitteen myös yritysmaailman mielenkiinnon kohteeksi. Kiinnostusta luovuuteen on ilmennyt myös organisaatiotutkimuksen parissa, jossa on otettu käyttöön käsite organisatorinen luovuus kuvaamaan erityisesti organisaatiokontekstissa tapahtu- vaa luovuutta. Tämän tutkimuksen tarkastelukohteena on organisatorinen luovuus, ja työn tarkoituksena on tarkastella ja problematisoida organisatorisen luovuuden hegemonista diskurssia sekä tarjota vaihtoehtoisia tarkastelutapoja organisato- risen luovuuden tutkimukselle. Tutkimus pohjautuu yhdistelmään laadullista empiiristä tutkimusta sekä diskurssiteoreettista tutkimusta. Diskurssiteoreettisella tutkimusotteella jäsennellään luovuuden tutkimuksen kenttää ja tunnistetaan luovuuden vallitseva, toisin sanoen hegemoninen, diskurssi, jota proble- matisoidaan neljän näkökannan kautta. Näitä ovat teemat, näkökulmat, metodit ja paradigmat. Tutkimus koostuu viidestä osatutkimuksesta, jotka voidaan nähdä esimerkkeinä vaihtoehtoisista tarkastelutavoista ja joiden avulla hegemonista diskurssia problematisoidaan. Kukin osatutkimus siis illustroi yhtä tai useampaa vaihtoehtoista teemaa, näkökulmaa, metodia tai paradigmaa. Tämä tutkimus perustuu oletukseen, että organisatorisen luovuuden diskurssin kehittyminen – aivan kuin minkä tahansa akateemisen diskurssin kehittyminen – ei ole progressiivista, vaan jossain määrin sattumanvaraista. Diskurssi on kehit- tynyt tiettyyn suuntaan, ja tietyt teemat, näkökulmat, metodit ja paradigmat ovat saaneet hegemonisen aseman toisiin nähden. Hegemonisen aseman saaneita tarkastelukulmia ja lähestymistapoja pidetään jokseenkin itsestään selvinä, rele- vantteina ja tärkeinä organisatorisen luovuuden tutkimuksessa. Näin ollen voidaan sanoa, että hegemoninen diskurssi onnistuu dominoimaan diskursiivistä kenttää ja marginalisoimaan toisia, vaihtoehtoisia teemoja, näkökulmia, metodeita ja paradigmoja, jotka saattaisivat olla olennaisia organisatorisen luovuuden ymmärryksen kehittymisessä. Tutkimuksen perusteella voidaan todeta, että hegemonisessa diskurssissa korostuvat tietyt teemat ja näkökulmat, kuten yksilön kognitiivisiin prosesseihin, motivaatioon sekä organisatoriseen ilmapiiriin liittyvät teemat ja luovuuden edistämisen pyrkimys. Sen sijaan useat teemat, kuten luovuuden negatiiviset seuraukset tai sen hyödyntäminen haitallisiin tarkoituksiin, luovuutta estävät ja haittaavat tekijät sekä luovuuden luonteeseen liittyvät ontologiset ja epistemolo- giset kysymykset ovat jääneet vähäiselle huomiolle. Myös kehollisuus sekä fyysinen organisaatioympäristö ovat jääneet marginaaliin organisatorisen luovuuden tutkimuksessa, vaikka muutamien olemassa olevien tutkimusten pohjalta niillä voidaan olettaa olevan merkitystä ilmiön kannalta. Osin historiallisten syiden takia organisatorisen luovuuden tutkimusta dominoivat kvantitatiiviset menetelmät sekä funktionalistinen orientaatio, joskin tulkinnalliset tutkimukset aiheesta ovat lisääntyneet viime vuosina. Kriittinen, radikaaleihin paradigmoihin pohjautuva tutkimus sekä siihen liittyvät metodolo- giset lähestymistavat ovat suhteellisen harvinaisia. Vaikka vallitseva organisato- risen luovuuden diskurssi on kyennyt lisäämään ymmärrystä monesta luovuuteen vaikuttavasta ja siihen liittyvästä seikasta, on hegemonisen diskurssin tarjoama ymmärrys luovuudesta monessa suhteessa rajoittunutta. Se tarkastelee luovuutta lähinnä yksilön ominaisuutena tai kykynä, eikä ota huomioon miten esimerkiksi fyysinen organisaatioympäristö, artefaktit tai sosiaalinen vuorovaikutus ja dynamiikka muovaavat ja ehdollistavat luovaa prosessia. Lisäksi hegemonisessa diskurssissa painottuu luovuus, joka on tuottavaa, hyödyllistä ja mahdollista valjastaa yrityksen hyödyksi. Hegemoninen diskurssi perustuu oletukselle, jonka mukaan luovuus on lähtökohtaisesti positiivinen ilmiö, joka on vapaasti hyödyn- nettävissä ja jolla ei ole negatiivisia vaikutuksia. Diskurssi on näin ollen rajautunut käsittämään vain luovuuden positiiviset puolet, ja poissulkenut kaikki sen negatiiviset ja haitalliset tai riskialttiit ja radikaalit puolet. Tämän tutkimuksen pohjalta voidaan todeta, että vallitseva käsitys luovuu- desta on monessa suhteessa rajoittunut ja kapea. Se pohjautuu yksiulotteiseen käsitykseen luovuudesta, ja viittaa ainoastaan sellaiseen luovuuteen, joka on hyvää, positiivista ja taloudellisesti hyödynnettävää. Mikäli luovuus rajataan ai- noastaan sellaisiin muotoihin, jotka ovat hegemonisen diskurssin näkökulmasta sallittuja, päädytään laimennettuun ja valjastettuun luovuuteen, joka saattaa soveltua managerialistiseen diskurssiin, mutta joka myös rajoittaa luovuuden potentiaalia. Hegemoninen käsitys luovuudesta saattaa itse asiassa jopa toimia luovuutta vastaan, tai kannustaa inkrementaalisiin uudistuksiin radikaalimman luovuuden sijaan. Tutkimuksen perusteella voidaan kuitenkin todeta, että organi- satorisen luovuuden tieteellisessä diskurssissa on nähtävissä myös vaihtoehtoisia tarkastelutapoja, jotka nojautuvat laajempaan ymmärrykseen luovuudesta. Anta- malla tilaa vaihtoehtoisille tarkastelutavoille ja laajentamalla ja monipuolistamalla nykyistä luovuuskäsitystä tutkimuksen olisi mahdollista tarjota monipuolisempi, tasapainoisempi ja teoreettisesti perustellumpi ymmärrys organisatorisesta luovuudesta. Asiasanat: organisatorinen luovuus, luovuus, organisaatioteoria, organisaatiotutkimus, diskurssiteoria, hegemonia.siirretty Doriast

Applying sensory distortion devices in artistic production : practice-based studies of creating artefacts with perceptual devices which confuse artists' vision and kinesthesis

PhD ThesisWhen I was an art school student, I was trained to pursue the likeness of subjects in all my artworks. This practice-based research explores alternative forms of self-expression in art practice. The exploration starts by questioning the relationship between perceptual devices, artists’ perceptions and artistic production. Most perceptual devices are designed to enhance artists’ sensory capabilities and facilitate the creation of art. Their success is often based on enabling artists to achieve a likeness of the subject drawn or making the creation of artefacts easier. My research focuses on investigating the consequences and artistic potential of applying sensory distortion devices that confuse, mislead and distort artists’ vision and kinesthesis, increasing the difficulty of making art, and exploring the productive potential of such devices to engender new creative forms. In this research three visual distortion devices and two kinaesthetic distortion devices are prototyped and used in experimental calligraphy, painting and drawing exercises. After analysing the artists’ experience of using these devices, the influence and artistic potential of applying them are examined. It is discovered that distorted vision and kinesthesis can greatly influence the making of art by disrupting habitual eye-hand coordination and control over producing artefacts. Besides which, the use of visual and kinaesthetic distortion devices can be a technique for new forms of artistic expression. It can also be an effective technique for creating serendipitous opportunities in the visual arts and a way of exploring and provoking reflection upon artistic methodologies. Consideration of the attributes of visual and kinaesthetic distortion devices and distorted perceptions during the process of prototyping can benefit the generation of ideas, methods of production and the contents of artworks. Some practical implications for creating art with visual and kinaesthetic distortion devices are also explored. They are discussed in relation to theories of human performance, such as flow theory, and attitudes toward the conflict between habitual and unfamiliar perceptual experience. Keeping an open and uncritical mind toward unfamiliarity, chaos and the accidents caused by distorted perceptions and reduced control of drawing instruments is suggested to working artists. Finally, this research contributes to art education by demonstrating a possible way of achieving self-exploration through art making