How Knowledge Organizations Work: The Case of Real Estate Agencies

This paper is concerned with value configurations that represent different value creation logic. We suggest the value shop as an appropriate value configuration for real estate agencies, where knowledge is the most important resource that is applied to solve problems. The knowledge organization has emerged as the dominant structure of both public and private organizations in the transition from an industrial to a knowledge society. According to the knowledge-based theory of organizations, knowledge is the main resource for an organization’s survival and success.Value configuration; Value shop; Knowledge management; Problem solving

Benefits from IT support in networked value shops

For a long time, the value chain was the only value configuration known to managers. Recently, two alternative value configurations have been identified: value shop and value network. Law firms are typical value shops. This research investigated benefits perceived from the use of the network among Eurojuris law firms in Norway. Benefit concepts were derived from value shop activities, knowledge categories and knowledge levels. A survey was conducted, and survey results indicate that lawyers in the value shop activities of problem solving, choice, control and evaluation perceive benefits when they get access to knowledge at an advanced level

Empirical Differences in Crime Categories by White-Collar Criminals

White-collar crime is financial crime committed by persons of respectability and social status. The purpose of this paper is to present empirical results from a study of convicted white-collar criminals in Norway. A national sample of 323 criminals was collected based on media coverage from 2009 to 2012. Crime was classified into the main categories of fraud, theft, manipulation, and corruption. Most criminals were convicted of fraud. They also received the longest jail sentence on average

Internal versus external detection of white-collar criminals: An empirical study

This article addresses the following research question: What differences might be found between white-collar criminals detected by internal procedures versus white-collar criminals detected by external sources? This research is important, as studies of white-collar criminals so far has focused on case studies rather than statistical analysis of a larger sample. Based on articles in Norwegian financial newspapers for one year, a total of 57 white-collar criminals convicted to jail sentence were identified. The average age of the convicted persons was 51 years. 54 out of 57 criminals were men. The average sentence was 3 years imprisonment. The average sum of money involved in the financial crime was 178 million Norwegian kroner (30 million US dollars). 19 crime cases emerged from internal detection, while 38 crime cases emerged from external detection. The average sum of money involved in the financial crime was significantly higher in cases of external detection

White-Collar Criminals in Modern Management

Criminal behavior among executives is a complicated challenge in human resource management.Based on a sample of 305 convicted white-collar criminals in Norway, four groups of criminals arediscussed in this paper: criminal entrepreneurs, corporate criminals, criminal followers, and femalecriminals. There are significant differences between these groups. Crime amount in terms of Norwegiankroner is highest for corporate criminals and lowest for female criminals. It is interesting to note thaneven if crime amount for corporate criminals is higher than for criminal entrepreneurs, corporatecriminals receive a shorter jail sentence than criminal entrepreneurs. It seems that crime on behalf ofthe business is treated more mildly in court, when compared to crime on behalf of the person himself.When followers are involved in the crime, there are more persons participating in the crime. The lowestnumber of participants is found in cases of criminal entrepreneurship

Gender in White-Collar Crime: An Empirical Study of Pink-Collar Criminals

White-collar crime is financial crime committed by white-collar criminals. Sensational white-collar crime cases regularly appear in the international business press and studies in journals of ethics and crime. This article is based on a sample of 255 convicted white-collar criminals in Norway from 2009 to 2012. Only 20 out of 255 white-collar criminals presented in Norwegian newspapers in the years from 2009 to 2012 were women. In the popular press, white-collar crime committed by women is sometimes labeled pink-collar crime. In this article, a number of reasons for this gender discrepance are discussed. Women’s access to organizational power structures is rising, but remains still limited. This is in line with opportunity theory. Women may have a greater sense of risk aversion rather than risk willingness, and women may more easily be perceived as victims of crime. However, It is very hard to believe that Norwegian men commit ten times more white-collar crime than Norwegian women, also because Norway is seen as a salient egalitarian country. Therefore, it is a question of whether the detection rate for female white-collar criminals is lower than for males. As a consequence, more attention should be paid to characteristics of female white-collar crime and criminals in future criminology research and law enforcement

Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs): The Case of Combating Criminal Biker Gangs

Transnational crime organizations (TCOs) represent a challenge to societies all over the world. This article explores combating criminal biker gangs, where stakeholders in the community and governments vary in their responses. These stakeholders include the government, law enforcers, courts, and the communities. The variation in responses is conceptualized in terms of a four stage of growth model. This model includes criminal biker gang members being treated as movie stars, individual criminals, organized criminals, and finally, enemies of the state. A stage model is a theoretical approach to understanding different levels of maturity in combating criminal biker gangs. Due to the great presence and threat from biker gangs, Norway and Australia are used as examples to illustrate the model. Further research should involve developing existing and new criteria for determination of maturity level in combating biker gangs, as well as applying such criteria to other countries with large biker gang populations

Corporate Crime Does Pay! The Relationship between Financial Crime and Imprisonment in White-Collar Crime

White-collar crime is financial crime committed by white-collar criminals. Sensational white-collar crime cases regularly appear in the international business press and studies in journals of ethics and crime. Many of these scholars apply anecdotal evidence to suggest what might be included and what might be excluded from the concepts of white-collar crime and white-collar criminals. On contrast, with a larger sample, we can study white-collar crime convictions using statistical techniques to identify relationships between variables. For example, it has been suggested that the amount involved in the crime (fraud, corruption, etc.) is an important factor when the judge decides the length of the prison sentence. In our sample of 255 criminal cases we identified 88 corporate criminals and 167 occupational criminals. Age when convicted was 47 years for occupational criminals and 49 years for corporate criminals. Furthermore, occupational criminals served 2.2 years in prison, while corporate criminals served only 2.1 years. This is particularly interesting, when the amount of money that was involved in the crime is taken into account. While occupational criminals on average abused 26 million Norwegian kroner, corporate criminals on average abused as much as 121 million Norwegian kroner. So, even if the magnitude of the financial crime in terms of money was substantially and significantly larger for corporate crime, occupational crime was nevertheless judged more severely in terms of imprisonment

Criminal entrepreneurship, white-collar criminality, and neutralization theory.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to apply neutralization theory to white-collar criminals to discuss criminal entrepreneurship. Design/methodology/approach: The theoretical framework of neutralization techniques is applied to criminal entrepreneurship and white-collar criminality. Findings: A legal entrepreneur is a person who operates a new enterprise or venture and assumes some accountability for the inherent risk. Similarly, the criminal entrepreneur's task is to discover and exploit opportunities, defined most simply as situations in which there are a profit to be made in criminal activity. Research limitations/implications: Examples of criminal entrepreneurship committed by otherwise legal entrepreneurs are commonly labeled as white-collar criminality. This paper discusses how criminal entrepreneurship by white-collar criminals can be explained by neutralization theory, as white-collar criminals tend to apply techniques of neutralization used by offenders to deny the criminality of their actions. Practical implications: Policing white-collar criminality should be expanded to understand criminal entrepreneurs when applying neutralization theory to deny crime activities. Social implications: Neutralization theory illustrates how serious white-collar crime is denied by the offender. Originality/value: As can be seen by this brief discussion of criminal entrepreneurship, white-collar criminality and corporate and organized crime, there is a need for a concentrated research effort to clarify and explain these conflated conflicts. By discussing them in context this paper has made a contribution to the literature by introducing the concepts of entrepreneurial leadership and entrepreneurial judgment into the debate. Moreover, in discussing neutralization theory, some fresh insights can be gained into the mind of the criminal entrepreneur