Telecommuting resistance, soft but strong: Development of telecommuting over time, and related rhetoric, in three organisations

Telecommuting, or working part of the time from another location than the office, normally from home, has been tried by several organisations in the recent years. This has not always been a success. Still, many arguments in favour of telecommuting are forwarded by previous studies. This paper investigates the development of telecommuting in three organisations, and elaborates on mechanisms behind the fact that the practice of telecommuting has not been as widespread as expected. The study is longitudinal, covering three years, and mainly based on interviews. The practice of telecommuting is found to have a negative development over time in all three cases. The social/symbolic aspects are found to be strong, but initially not reflected upon by the organisations. Many arguments in early phases of telecommuting are of a rational/functional nature, and tend to treat work as an output-related activity, without considering social and symbolic aspects of distancing oneself from the worksite and the colleagues. Over time, symbolic aspects become more pronounced. This complements/overrides the rational/functional arguments initially used by those in favour of telecommuting. This shift over time needs to be taken into account to understand the initial positive response to, but difficulties to sustain telecommuting.Telework; telecommuting; Geographical dispersion; Organisation

Organising R&D in a global environment, Increasing dispersed co-operation versus continuos centralisation.

Theories on R&D organisation draw on globalisation literature as well as on communication theories. This mixed discourse is a problem, since mixing levels of logic sometimes cause faulty conclusions. How is this double logic handled in organisations, and what is the effect on R&D organisation? This study investigates R&D activities in multinational companies with several production sites and markets, focusing what reasons and forces are mentioned in relation to the geographical structure of the R&D activities. We assume that there are opposing forces, both dispersing and contracting the R&D activities geographically. The purpose of the paper is to investigate perceived geographically dispersing and contracting forces on R&D activities, and how a possible conflict between these is handled. This is done by studying how the level of dispersion has come to be, what events or decision has caused the dispersion of R&D. We show that trends in R&D dispersion are active in two directions, one dispersing and one contracting, and that these are partly working at separate organisational levels. The dispersing forces are more prevalent at strategic levels, while the contracting forces are more pronounced at the operational level.R&D; Globalization; Communication; Virtual teams

Geographical dispersion and spontaneous interaction in an R&D environment

This study investigates how spontaneous interaction in an R&D environment is affected by temporary absence form the work site. Previous studies has shown the central importance of spontaneous interaction in R&D activities, but not how this is linked to the amount of co-presence. By using work diaries to collect data on time spent on spontaneous interaction, two groups are studied, one working form a remote location for part of the time, and one working at the central location all the time. The assumption is that spontaneous interaction is either constant during time of co-presence, or it is saved until time of presence. In the later case this would result in more spontaneous interaction when present. The results from the study show that the spontaneous interaction is directly linked to the amount of time the person is present, and that no compensation is made for the time of absence. Spontaneous interaction takes place when opportunities occur, and lost opportunities are not compensated for by more spontaneous interaction when opportunity is given later. This has implications for geographical dispersion in environments where spontaneous interaction is vital such as in R&D settings and in managerial roles. Part-time geographical separation will decrease the amount of spontaneous interaction in the group, which is likely to influence the outcome.Communication; Telecommuting; R&D; Social interaction

Ett kunskapsperspektiv på outsourcing

Denna forskningsstudie handlar om hur affärsverksamhet, samarbetsformer och möjligheterna till lärande och kunskapsöverföring påverkas när organisationer väljer att separera delar av den interna tjänsteprocessen och lägga ut den hos fristående underleverantörer, så kallad business process outsourcing (BPO). Vi har studerat hur en sådan separering påverkar processer och förutsättningar för kunskapsbildning och lärande i en organisation. Studien inleds med en översikt över BPO-området idag. Outsourcing av tjänster, BPO, sker inom många områden, t ex kundkontakter och service, administration, utveckling och drift av IT-system, personal- och HR-ärenden, ekonomistyrning och bokföring, logistik och transportplanering. I en ständigt pågående konsoliderings- och rationaliseringsprocess har outsourcing de senaste åren blivit ett allt vanligare alternativ. I detta projekt har vi valt att studera såväl underleverantörer av dessa tjänster som kundföretagen, köparna av tjänster. Frågor som vi försöker besvara är; Hur påverkas kunskapen om arbetets innehåll och dess plats i den större processen? Hur kommer den samlade kunskapen att förändras, och vilken typ av kunskap kommer att skapas i den nya situationen? Kommer ny kunskap att uppstå, och kommer annan kunskap att gå förlorad då en aktivitet bryts ut och flyttas till en extern enhet? Vilka aspekter är mest kritiska, och vad har lett till missnöje eller misslyckanden vid en outsourcingrelation?outsourcing; offshoring; kunskap; knowledge; BPO; tjänster; service

PARALIGN: rapid and sensitive sequence similarity searches powered by parallel computing technology

PARALIGN is a rapid and sensitive similarity search tool for the identification of distantly related sequences in both nucleotide and amino acid sequence databases. Two algorithms are implemented, accelerated Smith–Waterman and ParAlign. The ParAlign algorithm is similar to Smith–Waterman in sensitivity, while as quick as BLAST for protein searches. A form of parallel computing technology known as multimedia technology that is available in modern processors, but rarely used by other bioinformatics software, has been exploited to achieve the high speed. The software is also designed to run efficiently on computer clusters using the message-passing interface standard. A public search service powered by a large computer cluster has been set-up and is freely available at , where the major public databases can be searched. The software can also be downloaded free of charge for academic use

Hermitian K-theory and 2-regularity for totally real number fields

We completely determine the 2-primary torsion subgroups of the hermitian K-groups of rings of 2-integers in totally real 2-regular number fields. The result is almost periodic with period 8. We also identify the homotopy fibers of the forgetful and hyperbolic maps relating hermitian and algebraic K-theory. The result is then exactly periodic of period 8. In both the orthogonal and symplectic cases, we prove the 2-primary hermitian Quillen-Lichtenbaum conjecture.Comment: To appear in Mathematische Annale

Structural insight into repair of alkylated DNA by a new superfamily of DNA glycosylases comprising HEAT-like repeats

3-methyladenine DNA glycosylases initiate repair of cytotoxic and promutagenic alkylated bases in DNA. We demonstrate by comparative modelling that Bacillus cereus AlkD belongs to a new, fifth, structural superfamily of DNA glycosylases with an alpha–alpha superhelix fold comprising six HEAT-like repeats. The structure reveals a wide, positively charged groove, including a putative base recognition pocket. This groove appears to be suitable for the accommodation of double-stranded DNA with a flipped-out alkylated base. Site-specific mutagenesis within the recognition pocket identified several residues essential for enzyme activity. The results suggest that the aromatic side chain of a tryptophan residue recognizes electron-deficient alkylated bases through stacking interactions, while an interacting aspartate–arginine pair is essential for removal of the damaged base. A structural model of AlkD bound to DNA with a flipped-out purine moiety gives insight into the catalytic machinery for this new class of DNA glycosylases

Identification and Characterization of Novel Mutations in the Human Gene Encoding the Catalytic Subunit Calpha of Protein Kinase A (PKA)

The genes PRKACA and PRKACB encode the principal catalytic (C) subunits of protein kinase A (PKA) Cα and Cβ, respectively. Cα is expressed in all eukaryotic tissues examined and studies of Cα knockout mice demonstrate a crucial role for Cα in normal physiology. We have sequenced exon 2 through 10 of PRKACA from the genome of 498 Norwegian donors and extracted information about PRKACA mutations from public databases. We identified four interesting nonsynonymous point mutations, Arg45Gln, Ser109Pro, Gly186Val, and Ser263Cys, in the Cα1 splice variant of the kinase. Cα variants harboring the different amino acid mutations were analyzed for kinase activity and regulatory (R) subunit binding. Whereas mutation of residues 45 and 263 did not alter catalytic activity or R subunit binding, mutation of Ser109 significantly reduced kinase activity while R subunit binding was unaltered. Mutation of Cα Gly186 completely abrogated kinase activity and PKA type I but not type II holoenzyme formation. Gly186 is located in the highly conserved DFG motif of Cα and mutation of this residue to Val was predicted to result in loss of binding of ATP and Mg2+, which may explain the kinetic inactivity. We hypothesize that individuals born with mutations of Ser109 or Gly186 may be faced with abnormal development and possibly severe disease