Dependent Variables in Entrepreneurship Research

Phenomena relevant to the emergence of new economic activity or interruptions and changes to current economic activities, rather than contexts, are what constitute entrepreneurship. A re-emphasis on phenomenon-driven research will widen the context of entrepreneurship research, help delineate entrepreneurship as a domain, and provide greater emphasis on the selection and operationalisation of dependent variables. Entrepreneurship is a multi-level discipline, which provides some benefits as well as challenges. One benefit is the contribution to other fields. within social science that results from research at various levels. A resulting challenge is dealing with heterogeneity that occurs at various levels. This paper discusses and offers illustrative examples each of these implications of phenomenon-driven entrepreneurship research

Towards Phenomenon-driven Design Science Research

We propose a research approach that extends phenomenon-driven research – which is primarily aimed at producing descriptive and explanatory knowledge about novel phenomena – with a design-oriented focus. The resulting approach aims to develop not only explanatory knowledge about novel phenomena but also prescriptive knowledge about how to face corresponding novel challenges and does so in conjunction and in a mutually reinforcing way. We illustrate our approach with two examples to understand and produce design principles for the novel phenomena of organising the IT setups in Scaled Agile organisations and Digital Innovation Units, respectively. Researchers can draw on our approach to understand novel phenomena and simultaneously produce knowledge that is also relevant to practitioners facing novel practical challenges resulting from these novel phenomena

Stumbling Toward a Social Psychology of Organizations: An Autobiographical Look at the Direction of Organizational Research

I recount some of my early experiences in the field and how they shaped my views about conducting research. As I describe it, my entry into organizational behavior was not at all seamless, requiring a series of adjustments along the way. Like many of my colleagues who had moved into the field of organizational behavior, I had to find a source of valued added a new perspective or set of alternative ideas to contribute to the field. This process of adjustment, I fear, is no longer so prevalent in the field today. Although many social psychologists have migrated to business schools, they are still by and large doing social psychological rather than organizational research. They often extend social psychological theories to the business context, but they rarely seek to reframe and reformulate core organizational issues and problems. For this to change, I argue that future research needs to become more contextual and phenomenon-driven. My hope is that, with the recent upsurge in talent entering the field, we can find a way to harvest more of its creativity, moving from the application of social psychology to a genuine social psychology of organizations

Security of Big Data in Healthcare Systems

As cyber-attacks have become more common and sophisticated, the need for a stable security framework has become essential. Information security requirements must be met by digital technologies utilized in the health care sector. Modern hospitals are becoming increasingly digital, and information and communication technology is becoming an increasingly significant element of the core business. This lays the groundwork for improved patient care quality. At the same time, the health sector's vulnerability to digital attacks and data breaches is growing, and so are the potential negative effects of security breaches. The Norwegian healthcare system is divided into different regions, each with its own set of processes and procedures. Because of the fragmentation, there are substantial communication issues between the many health regions and their systems, making transmitted data vulnerable to threat actors. A reorganization is required to effectively handle this issue and improve the security of healthcare systems. The research was conducted using a qualitative method with a problem-oriented phenomenon-driven research approach on Norwegian Healthcare Sector. In addition, interviews with different security employees from the different health regions in Norway, as well as a document analysis of published papers was done to gather empirical material for the master thesis

Security of Big Data in Healthcare Systems

As cyber-attacks have become more common and sophisticated, the need for a stable security framework has become essential. Information security requirements must be met by digital technologies utilized in the health care sector. Modern hospitals are becoming increasingly digital, and information and communication technology is becoming an increasingly significant element of the core business. This lays the groundwork for improved patient care quality. At the same time, the health sector's vulnerability to digital attacks and data breaches is growing, and so are the potential negative effects of security breaches. The Norwegian healthcare system is divided into different regions, each with its own set of processes and procedures. Because of the fragmentation, there are substantial communication issues between the many health regions and their systems, making transmitted data vulnerable to threat actors. A reorganization is required to effectively handle this issue and improve the security of healthcare systems. The research was conducted using a qualitative method with a problem-oriented phenomenon-driven research approach on Norwegian Healthcare Sector. In addition, interviews with different security employees from the different health regions in Norway, as well as a document analysis of published papers was done to gather empirical material for the master thesis

Impact Pathways:A home for insights from relevant and impactful Operations and Supply Chain Management research

Purpose International Journal of Operations and Production Management (IJOPM)'s Impact Pathway (IP) section has been launched in 2020 to host short contributions grounded in current managerial practices and/or policy development, challenging established operations and supply chain management (OSCM) knowledge and highlighting innovative and relevant research directions. This commentary reflects on the achievements of the section, delineates the key features of IP papers and stimulates further development. Design/methodology/approach This commentary provides a brief overview of the IJOPM's IP section, taking stock of the contributions that have been published so far, analysing their topics, methodologies, insights and impact. Findings The 19 contributions published over the last three years have dealt with a variety of emerging topics, ranging from the COVID-19 response to additive manufacturing, leveraging on key evidence from managerial practice that challenges consolidated knowledge and theory, providing clear research directions as well as managerial and/or policy guidelines. Originality/value The commentary reflects on the importance of phenomenon-driven research that seeks to bridge the gap between theory and practice, thus increasing the impact and reach of OSCM research. This is a call for contributions from scholars, business leaders and policymakers to develop further impact-oriented research

Impact pathways: a home for insights from relevant and impactful operations and supply chain management research

Purpose: International Journal of Operations and Production Management (IJOPM)'s Impact Pathway (IP) section has been launched in 2020 to host short contributions grounded in current managerial practices and/or policy development, challenging established operations and supply chain management (OSCM) knowledge and highlighting innovative and relevant research directions. This commentary reflects on the achievements of the section, delineates the key features of IP papers and stimulates further development. Design/methodology/approach: This commentary provides a brief overview of the IJOPM's IP section, taking stock of the contributions that have been published so far, analysing their topics, methodologies, insights and impact. Findings: The 19 contributions published over the last three years have dealt with a variety of emerging topics, ranging from the COVID-19 response to additive manufacturing, leveraging on key evidence from managerial practice that challenges consolidated knowledge and theory, providing clear research directions as well as managerial and/or policy guidelines. Originality/value: The commentary reflects on the importance of phenomenon-driven research that seeks to bridge the gap between theory and practice, thus increasing the impact and reach of OSCM research. This is a call for contributions from scholars, business leaders and policymakers to develop further impact-oriented research

Smart Maintenance - maintenance in digitalised manufacturing

What does digitalised manufacturing entail for maintenance organizations? This is a pressing question for practitioners and scholars within industrial maintenance management who are trying to figure out the best ways for responding to the rapid advancement of digital technologies. As technology moves faster than ever before, this is an urgent matter of uttermost importance. Specifically, in order to secure the success of highly automated, intelligent, connected and responsive production systems, industrial maintenance organizations need to transform to become leading enablers of high performance manufacturing in digitalised environments. In this thesis, this transformation is referred to as “Smart Maintenance”. The purpose of this thesis is to ensure high performance manufacturing in digitalised environments by enabling the adoption of Smart Maintenance. In order to stimulate adoption, a holistic understanding of Smart Maintenance is needed. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to describe future scenarios for maintenance in digitalised manufacturing as well as to conceptualize and operationalize Smart Maintenance. The holistic understanding has been achieved through a phenomenon-driven research approach consisting of three empirical studies using multiple methods. Potential changes for maintenance organizations in digitalised manufacturing are described in 34 projections for the year 2030. From these projections, eight probable scenarios are developed that describe the most probable future for maintenance organizations. In addition, three wildcard scenarios describe eventualities that are less probable, but which could have large impacts. These scenarios serve as input to the long-term strategic development of maintenance organizations.Smart Maintenance is defined as “an organizational design for managing maintenance of manufacturing plants in environments with pervasive digital technologies” and has four core dimensions: data-driven decision-making, human capital resource, internal integration and external integration. Manufacturing plants adopting Smart Maintenance are likely to face implementation issues related to change, investments and interfaces, but the rewards are improved performance along multiple dimensions when internal and external fit have been achieved. Smart Maintenance is operationalized by means of an empirical measurement instrument. The instrument consists of a set of questionnaire items that measure the four dimensions of Smart Maintenance. It can be used by practitioners to assess, benchmark and longitudinally evaluate Smart Maintenance in their organization, and it can be used by researchers to study how Smart Maintenance impacts performance. This thesis has the potential to have a profound impact on the practice of industrial maintenance management. The scenarios described allow managers to see the bigger picture of digitalisation and consider changes that they might otherwise ignore. The rich, understandable, and action-inspiring conceptualization of Smart Maintenance brings clarity to practitioners and policy-makers, supporting them in developing implementation strategies and initiatives to elevate the use of Smart Maintenance. The measurement instrument makes it possible to measure the adoption of Smart Maintenance in manufacturing plants, which serves to develop evidence-based strategies for successful implementation. Taken together, the holistic understanding achieved in this thesis enables the adoption of Smart Maintenance, thereby ensuring high performance manufacturing in digitalised environments

Towards an understanding of talent management as a phenomenon-driven field using bibliometric and content analysis

This review adopts a phenomenon-driven approach in reviewing the talent management (TM) literature, applying methods derived from bibliometrics and content analysis to evaluate the state of the field and derive implications for research and practice unbiased towards a-priori assumptions of which frameworks or methods are most adequate. Based on analyses of publication volume, journals and their impact factors, most cited articles and authors, preferred methods, and represented countries, we assess whether TM should be approached as an embryonic, growth, or mature phenomenon, and examine dominant (i.e., resource-based view, international human resource management, employee assessment, and institutionalism) versus ‘alternative’ (i.e., knowledge management, career management, strength-based approach, and social exchange theory) theoretical frameworks. Our goal is to assist TM researchers in positioning their work more explicitly vis-à-vis current debates in the existing literature and encourage them to think about which approach best fits their research aims, questions, and designsPeer ReviewedPostprint (author’s final draft

The issue of Theorizing : Object-of-Study and Methodology

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