Digitalization and changes to work organization and management in the Norwegian petroleum industry

This article analyses how implementation and use of digital technologies involve changes in work content, organization, and management in the petroleum industry. This is important, given that the industry is in a phase with mature technology and heavy pressure on efciency and cost-efectiveness, at the same time as older systems and work processes prevail. The article draws on data acquired through interviews in a number of companies, organizations and specialist teams. The results show that far-reaching digitalization will mean radical changes to the way employees and managers work. The level of success in using digital technologies can be related to the ability to alter the content and form of work and expertise requirements, while retaining trust in technology and coping with uncertainty. A key conclusion is that clarifcations related to work processes, roles, and responsibilities between the various actors in the supply chain are the most signifcant obstacles to successful technology adoptionpublishedVersio

Computer-Mediated Communication and Innovation: Do Communication Media Properties Influence Innovative Thinking Processes?

This paper concerns potential impacts that characteristics of communication media in computer-mediated problem solving in groups have on group-members’ innovative thinking. Different processes involved in effective idea generation and problem solving are presented, and we discuss how three characteristics of communication media relevant for group collaboration aiming at producing innovative ideas might influence the group process. A research model is presented, and hypotheses regarding the effects of affordances on innovative thinking are put forth. We finally describe a possible methodological approach that might be applied in order to test the proposed hypotheses

Knowledge Management and Safety Compliance in a High-Risk Distributed Organizational System

Background: In a safety perspective, efficient knowledge management is important for learning purposes and thus to prevent errors from occurring repeatedly. The relationship between knowledge exchange among employees and safety behavior may be of particular importance in distributed organizational systems where similar high-risk activities take place at several locations. This study develops and tests hypotheses concerning the relationship between knowledge exchange systems usage, knowledge exchange in the organizational system, and safety compliance. Methods: The operational context of the study is petroleum drilling and well operations involving distributed high-risk activities. The hypotheses are tested by use of survey data collected from a large petroleum operator company and eight of its main contractors. Results: The results show that safety compliance is influenced by use of knowledge exchange systems and degree of knowledge exchange in the organizational system, both within and between units. System usage is the most important predictor, and safety compliance seems to be more strongly related to knowledge exchange within units than knowledge exchange between units. Conclusion: Overall, the study shows that knowledge management is central for safety behavior

Organisatorisk forhold med betydning for adopsjon, implementering og bruk av BIM: En kunnskapsoppsummering

publishedVersio

Organisatorisk forhold med betydning for adopsjon, implementering og bruk av BIM: En kunnskapsoppsummering

publishedVersio

Automation of Drilling Processes in the Petroleum Industry: Consequences for Occupational Health and Safety, 2011

Technological innovations and increased automation are necessary in order to realize the remaining value on the Norwegian continental shelf. The trend towards deepwater and subsea operations, and more challenging wells, requires new technologies and work processes. New technology renders possible real-time advisory systems for the driller, and also automated operations safeguarding against human errors. At the same time, automating drilling processes may produce several challenges for occupational health, safety and environment (HSE) offshore. In this research proposal we focus on these challenges and how they may occur and how we can solve them in a best possible way. Automation can be defined as the full or partial replacement of a function previously carried out by the human operator. There is an extensive amount of research on automation consequences in several industries, which has found that automation can have both beneficial and negative effects on human performance. However, we find a lack of research on HSE issues regarding automation in the petroleum industry. An emphasis on human-automation interaction when considering aspects of occupational health and safety of automation of drilling processes in the petroleum industry is thus necessary as automation changes operator functional requirements, and consequently often imposes new coordination and monitoring demands of the operator of the technology. Based on this acknowledgement, the main objective of this project is to throw light on the interaction between human operators and automation systems in drilling operations. Hence, occupational health and safety? We aim at applying both explorative and experimental methodological approaches in answering this research question

Gårdbrukere i Rogaland og omegn: Kartlegging av deres kompetansebehov

Undersøkelsen ble gjennomført i årsskifte 2008/2009. Målgruppen var gårdbrukere i fylket og målsetningen var å kartlegge interesse og behov for ulike former for kompetanseutvikling i forbindelse med næringsutvikling innen landbruk og utnyttelse av naturgrunnlaget på bygdene. Data har i hovedsak blitt innhentet gjennom webbasert spørreskjemaundersøkelse (351 gårdbrukere), samt at det har blitt gjennomført 2 fokusgruppeintervjuer. I presentasjon av undersøkelsens resultater har vi vektlagt å kombinere resultatene fra både den kvantitative og den kvalitative kartleggingen i en felles analysedel.Høyskolen for landbruk og bygdenæringe