Agency in socio-technical systems

Kumulative Dissertation aus vier ArtikelnInvestigating the role of new technology is a continuing concern within organizational research. With the rise of robotics and digitalization, the basic configurations underlying organizing are changing dramatically. This is not merely altering the work we do but also who does the work that opens new social challenges, such as whether being the author of actions means being in charge or which consequences the emerging roles and forms of interaction with these technologies have on our agency. Given that humans are the end-users and sense-making actors of the organizations, it is vital to analyze the challenges that are associated with the integration of emerging technologies into our social systems. With a focus on system level, this dissertation displays a combined interest in the material and social dimensions of organizing in explaining two working processes, namely human-robot collaboration and flexible work. In doing so, I focus on social factors crucial in the integration of emerging technologies in workplaces and show how these particular ways of working are shaped by material (technology) changes and social (human) forces at workplaces. The thesis concludes that changes in work do not only depend on assumed human agency but the engagement with technologies also creates the conditionality that made certain sociomaterial practices enacted. Our analytical and experimental results show a significant impact of social and cognitive factors on people’s responses to technologies. That emphasizes the importance of informal structure in enhancing the success of the technological integration. Our findings suggest a set of contextual factors that influence the enactment of new ways of working which can serve as a guideline for managers to align their resources and capabilities for supporting new ways of working and optimizing their organization for the transformation journey.9

Location-based monitoring in production environments: does transparency help to increase the acceptance of monitoring?

ABSTRACTIn the context of smart manufacturing, the technical development of monitoring systems has made it possible to track employees with the same systems that are used to track assets. This study contributes to our understanding of the acceptance of location-based monitoring of employees and investigates how the perceived privacy risk regarding monitoring can be tackled by examining the role of transparency and the perceived value of monitoring. We designed an experimental setting in which students assembled a 3D printer and manipulated transparency with two conditions: a detailed explanation of monitoring during the task vs. monitoring without any explanation. The results show that the higher the privacy concerns and perceived risks were, the lower was the acceptance for monitoring. However, the negative effect of perceived risk diminishes when both, transparency and the value of monitoring are high, but becomes even stronger when only transparency is high and perceived value is low

Evaluation of procalcitonin and neopterin level in serum of patients with acute bacterial infection

BACKGROUND: Fever as a common presenting complaint in pediatric patients can be due to various causes. Differentiating bacterial infection from other causes is important because the prompt use of antibiotics is critical in bacterial infection. Traditional markers of infection such as BT and WBC count may be unspecific and culture may be late or absent. CRP and Procalcitonin (PCT) have been considered to evaluate the evolution of infections and sepsis in patients presenting with SIRS. Neopterin has also been proposed to aid in the diagnosis of bacterial infection. In this study, we compared the value of the serum PCT, neopterin level, and WBC count for predicting bacterial infection and outcome in children with fever. METHODS: 158 pediatric (2-120-month-old) patients suspected to have acute bacterial infection, based on clinical judgment in which other causes of SIRS were ruled out were included in the study. WBC count with differential was determined and PCT and neopterin levels were measured. RESULTS: PCT level was higher in bacterial infection and patients who were complicated or expired. CONCLUSION: Rapid PCT test is superior to neopterin and WBC count for anticipating bacterial infection, especially in ED where prompt decision making is critical. ABBREVIATIONS: BT, body temperature; WBC, white blood cell; PCT, procalcitonin; CRP, C-reactive protein; SIRS, systemic inflammatory response syndrome; ED, emergency department