To deal with rapid and ever-changing environment, many scholars argue that the abilities of organizational change have been one of the essential core competencies for organizations. TTW, which has been a state- owned business for more than 60 years, initiated an upgrade program of product quality in September 2003, to improve its competitiveness whilst undergoing privatization. This paper aims to apply complex adaptive system theories to provide a new practical approach for organizational change. To accomplish this, it shall study various processes; including decision, implementation reflection and transform of the program. In the first stage of initiated changes, TTW applied a top-down approach to implement the organizational change following an established blueprint. These exercises included three elements, which are (1) enhanced autonomous quality inspection of first-line operator, (2) More control check-items and higher standards, (3) Promotion and implementation of quality audit system. However, after half-year implementation of the new program, both performances of interior process quality and exterior product evaluation of consumer satisfaction have gained no substantial progress. By observations and interviews with the participants, it was found that there existed a commonly shared rigid mental model amongst organizational members. It encompasses deeply embedded positional authority, behavior of defensive psychology, lack of implicit knowledge and pre-formulated responses. It exhibited the learning and innovative abilities of organizational members, subsequently, which caused the stagnation of quality improvement. The researched organization learned from the reflections derived from the first stage change process, tried to breakthrough the rigid mental model of organizational members, thereafter provoking substantial participation and execution. The targeted field was moved from business office to a factory. At the beginning of second stage change process, the organization applied simple generating rules derived from the complex adaptive system, to initiate a patching change process, which included (1) ice-breaking initiatives, (2) real- time information exchange, (3) time-pace conditioning, and (4) maintaining motivation and orientation. In the second stage change process, there appeared a few minor improving effects which were gradually being imitated and expanded across the whole organization. By the interpretations of the participants, it was found that there existed an evolutionary mental model of organizational members. It unfolded different features, such as: the willingness of experimentation, the generation of new experiences, the shaping of mutual trust by interaction, the delivering of implicit knowledge and expansion and evolution across functional units. By the effects of evolutionary mental model, some unanticipated innovative behaviors were emerging in the organization, which substantively, upgraded the quality performance of the entire organization. Applying the perspective of complex adaptive system, this paper reviews the nature and the dynamics of the whole changing process and provides some theoretical implications. It is argued that innovative behaviors are the emerging process which can not be fulfilled by top-down managerial intention, but rather can be provoked by evolutionary mental model and autonomous self-organization. In addition, some practical implications were proposed that suggested the managers should focus on the changes of the relations of interaction in organizations. To effectively manage the changing process and continuously induce innovative behaviors, managers should (1) shift the commonly shared mental model to focus more on individual mental model and fostering diverse interaction, to help the emergence of new ideas and innovations, (2) shift the existing relations to focus more on real-time interaction, which can promote the expansion and evolution of innovative ideas, (3) shift the control relations to focus more on mutual trust relations, which can generate shared confidence levels and encourage the execution of innovations under uncertain conditions.

The objective of this thesis is to develop a theoretical understanding of team-based knowledge sharing and creation in professional cyber-communities. In order to provide contextual richness in environmental, information technology, project, organizational, group, and individual contexts, we apply the grounded theory approach to discover essential factors affecting team-based knowledge sharing and creation across organizational boundaries. Moreover, the thesis summarizes five types of processes of team-based knowledge sharing and creation in professional cyber-communities, defined by the sequence of causal conditions, action/interactional strategies, and consequences, and concludes nine main propositions that can be tested empirically in the future research. The research results will support sustained development of professional cyber-communities and be a basis for further studies of team-based knowledge sharing and creation across organizational boundaries.

<p>Background: Information technology (IT) has drastically changed the traditional way to do business. In theory, coordinating information sharing among organisational partners offers notable advantages through cost savings, productivity, improved decision making, and better customer service. Supported by modern information technology, business processes can change and be developed into new more effective forms, both internally and externally. However, as IT facilitates new business opportunities, it requires a steady flow of information and information exchange, both within intra- and inter-organisational contexts where a consensus on terms and definitions coordinating the uniform communication is vital.</p><p>Purpose: With the focal point on inter-organisational information exchange, the purpose of the thesis is to define a set of guidelines for AI that can be used and adjusted according to the needs of a specific situation or context.</p><p>Method: The thesis was carried out with a Multi Grounded Theory approach. Interviews were conducted at a local IT-company and with an associate professor of Informatics at Jönköping International Business School.</p><p>Results: Five categories were discovered which impact AI: integration governance, project management, context, integration content, and testing. The result also implied the importance to distinguish between an operational and strategic level when working with Application Integration.</p>

<p>Syftet med studien är att belysa åtta lärares vägar till fostran av elever i klassrummet. I bakgrunden finns, förutom en kort inledning om mitt intresse för analyserat område en begreppsutredning där jag definierar för studien centrala begrepp. I litteraturdelen presenteras både normativ och deskriptiv litteratur då tidigare emprisk forskning finns i begränsad mängd. De refererade källorna är av både äldre och nyare karaktär. </p><p>Aktuella variabler i urvalet är lärares kön, undervisningsstadium, antal år i yrket och skolans upptagningsområde (status och typ av bebyggelse). </p><p>Datainsamlingen har skett med en etnografisk metod där observationer, informella intervjuer och formella intervjuer har följt varandra. Analysen har skett med hjälp av procedurer som hämtats från grounded theoryansatsen där kodning och kategorisering av data har följt metodens mönster. De kategorier som växt fram är ett steg på vägen till en teorigenerering. Resultatet visar att det finns två huvudkategorier då det gäller lärares vägar till fostran, explicit och implicit påverkan. Explicit påverkan sker i form av värderingsöverföring och negativ och positiv förstärkning. Implicit påverkan sker med hjälp av det sociala klimatet, arbetssättet och materiella miljön. Studien visar att lärare är personliga i sin fostran av elever och att de fostrar på både ett medvetet och ett omedvetet sätt. Studien bekräftar annars den refererade litteraturen vad gäller lärares vägar till fostran av elever i klassrummet.</p>

<p>The purpose of this study is to investigate how the researcher experiences its role in real life in relation to the field of education and adult learning. The context of the study is the academic department of education and adult learning in Swedish institutions. This is a qualitative study, inspired by Grounded Theory. Data consist of interviews, texts from policy documents and reports. Both the aspects gender and context have been taken into consideration. The main category, status and career, is discussed in relation to concepts like quantity, competition, strategy, power, policy, independence and the surrounding world.</p><p>Status depends on quantity and also other arenas outside the academia. Competition is crucial. Status and power are tied together. They are connected to relational structures and strategies. The socialization process is part of the context. Independence is related to funding of projects and the quality of evaluation research. Relevant context outside the academia is referred to as practitioners. Gender is relevant in all aspects mentioned above. Unequal distribution of power is one example.</p> / <p>Syftet med uppsatsen har varit att synliggöra forskarens upplevelse av sin roll och sin verklighet i relation till fältet vuxnas lärande. Vi har genomfört semistrukturerade intervjuer, läst ett stort antal policydokument och rapporter inom området vuxnas lärande. Ur det insamlade materialet, har koder och minnesanteckningar genererats som senare sorterats med grundad teori som stöd. Aspekterna kön och kontext beaktas. För vår egen förståelse summerar vi våra reflektioner i anslutning till data. Begrepp som kvantitet - konkurrens- strategi- makt och policy framkom ur databearbetningen och bildade vad vi benämner kärnkategori. Vår data behandlar forskarnas syn på begreppen. Här finns reflektioner kring konkurrens mellan discipliner/fält avseende till exempel finansiering. Det råder delade meningar om huruvida forskarna styr utvecklingen inom vuxnas lärande eller om det är politiska tankar som är upphovet. Kommunikativa strategier ur ett könsperspektiv beskrivs på två sätt. Våra intervjupersoner har direkt eller indirekt markerat sin position i förhållande till fält. Makt finns med som teoretiskt begrepp. Här betonas dess relationella karaktär. Forskarrollen inom detta fält är komplex.</p>

Univ., Diss.--St. Gallen, 2006. / Zsfassung in dt. Sprache.

Zugl.: Halle-Wittenberg, Univ., Diss., 2009

Zugl.: Dortmund, Techn. Univ., Diss., 2009

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 219-232). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (viewed Jan. 26, 2010). Additional advisors: Linda Searby, Loucrecia Collins, Margaret Rice, Scott Snyder, Connie Williams. Includes bibliographical references (p. 241-249).