<p>Today’s information systems engineering involves large number of stakeholders, wide geographical distribution and wide range of tools. Success in system engi-neering depends on effective human communication. Early understanding and modelling of the problem domain is a key to manage large scale systems and pro-jects. This requires stakeholders to reach a certain level of shared interpretation of the domain referred throughout the development</p><p>We propose a method for semantics driven change impact assessment. In our method, first a collaborative problem analysis is conducted. The problem analysis results in an agreed and committed common understanding of the prob-lem domain, expressed in a conceptual domain model. The constructed concep-tual domain-specific model is then actively used as a communication medium, e.g., to abstract development objects from representation format in order to expli-cate their semantics. Stakeholders browse the domain model and interactively as-sociate to product fragments by selecting concept clusters that best describe the contents (intended meaning) of the product fragments.</p><p>Associations of the development objects with concepts from domain model, as well as the domain model itself constitute the basis for change impact assess-ment throughout the development. Every revision of a development object in-vokes change impact notifications that are either confirmed or rejected. Accumu-lated statistics are used to refine associations via the domain model to the direct dependency links among development objects.</p><p>The method has been implemented in a prototype system CO2SY and has been evaluated in an experiment, where a set of test users has been provided with a problem domain description including a domain model and a set of develop-ment objects. The experiment was based on two real world cases. Users were asked to perform tasks using the prototype and two comparative tools. The method and prototype have been evaluated with respect to actual performance and users perceptions. The result shows actual effectiveness, perceived ease of use and usefulness comparing to other tools used in the experiment, as well as intention of the subjects to use the method in future.</p><p>A discussion of future research directions and possible revisions of the method concludes the thesis.</p>

Today’s information systems engineering involves large number of stakeholders, wide geographical distribution and wide range of tools. Success in system engi-neering depends on effective human communication. Early understanding and modelling of the problem domain is a key to manage large scale systems and pro-jects. This requires stakeholders to reach a certain level of shared interpretation of the domain referred throughout the development We propose a method for semantics driven change impact assessment. In our method, first a collaborative problem analysis is conducted. The problem analysis results in an agreed and committed common understanding of the prob-lem domain, expressed in a conceptual domain model. The constructed concep-tual domain-specific model is then actively used as a communication medium, e.g., to abstract development objects from representation format in order to expli-cate their semantics. Stakeholders browse the domain model and interactively as-sociate to product fragments by selecting concept clusters that best describe the contents (intended meaning) of the product fragments. Associations of the development objects with concepts from domain model, as well as the domain model itself constitute the basis for change impact assess-ment throughout the development. Every revision of a development object in-vokes change impact notifications that are either confirmed or rejected. Accumu-lated statistics are used to refine associations via the domain model to the direct dependency links among development objects. The method has been implemented in a prototype system CO2SY and has been evaluated in an experiment, where a set of test users has been provided with a problem domain description including a domain model and a set of develop-ment objects. The experiment was based on two real world cases. Users were asked to perform tasks using the prototype and two comparative tools. The method and prototype have been evaluated with respect to actual performance and users perceptions. The result shows actual effectiveness, perceived ease of use and usefulness comparing to other tools used in the experiment, as well as intention of the subjects to use the method in future. A discussion of future research directions and possible revisions of the method concludes the thesis.

Both distributed work and DevOps are on an upward trend. There is a slight resemblance between the problems that DevOps is trying to find answers to, the solutions, and the common problems that geographically distributed work faces. Mainly, they are related to isolated environments that have difficulties in mutual understanding and communication, collaboration. All this leads to inefficiencies and costs that affect the overall efficiency of companies. This report identifies how DevOps engineering principles and implementations provide solutions to common problems in globally distributed work environments. It uses a literature systematic literature search and review to extract the recent and relevant academic data in the scope of the two research questions. Then, a proof-of-concept is implemented for DevOps, which confirms the literature. In parallel, a survey addressed to Swedish companies provides subject-related data from the professional environment, which largely supports the literature and brings extra knowledge. All of this is considered in data analysis and formulation of conclusions, showing DevOps features that can improve and support work in globally distributed environments and outlining the importance of the tailored organizational culture for the modern need of large-scale distributed work.

Many investigators have documented high levels of stress in the U.S. workplace and the underutilization of employee assistance programs (EAP). Researchers in other studies have concluded that an employee's perception of a service influences participation and service use. However, the perceptions of geographically distributed employees, who represent a growing population, have not been sufficiently examined. The purpose of this study was to investigate geographically distributed employees' perceptions regarding access to EAP stress management services to address the problem of EAP underutilization. Organizational justice theory served as the theoretical framework. The study design was generic qualitative. A purposeful sample of 15 geographically distributed employees provided rich data through semi structured interviews and online questionnaires. The use of generic inductive coding yielded emergent themes regarding geographically distributed employees. Results indicated that geographically distributed employee's perceived access to EAP stress management services as unclear, time-consuming, and inconvenient due to physical separation. This research is significant for human service, employee assistance, and human resource professionals who want to improve geographically distributed employees' perceptions of access to EAP stress management programs. More effective marketing may increase employee use of EAP services and alleviate workplace stress, thus positively impacting social change by helping to cultivate a healthy workforce.

abstract: As technology enhances our communication capabilities, the number of distributed teams has risen in both public and private sectors. There is no doubt that these technological advancements have addressed a need for communication and collaboration of distributed teams. However, is all technology useful for effective collaboration? Are some methods (modalities) of communication more conducive than others to effective performance and collaboration of distributed teams? Although previous literature identifies some differences in modalities, there is little research on geographically distributed mobile teams (DMTs) performing a collaborative task. To investigate communication and performance in this context, I developed the GeoCog system. This system is a mobile communications and collaboration platform enabling small, distributed teams of three to participate in a variant of the military-inspired game, "Capture the Flag". Within the task, teams were given one hour to complete as many "captures" as possible while utilizing resources to the advantage of the team. In this experiment, I manipulated the modality of communication across three conditions with text-based messaging only, vocal communication only, and a combination of the two conditions. It was hypothesized that bi-modal communication would yield superior performance compared to either single modality conditions. Results indicated that performance was not affected by modality. Further results, including communication analysis, are discussed within this paper. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Applied Psychology 2012

Abstract Technological advancement in the field of information-and-communication technologies (ICT) was rapid during the first decade of the new millennium. Universities started to use the new information-and-communication technologies more in their core processes, which speeded up their transformation from the traditional campus mode toward virtual universities. Research done in this thesis first investigates the traditional campus university’s change process toward the virtual university model. During the implementation process a geographically distributed e-learning concept was also developed for university use. This concept was transferred and researched in the small and medium enterprise (SME) context in the last part of this research. In large and complex organizations such as universities, it is difficult to find out how the change really was implemented. The literature on change management is voluminous but is dominated by descriptions of single projects. To overcome the limitations of such case studies, this research applies a longer and wider perspective to the change process and, by the introduction of an overarching method that categorizes the investments, shows more clearly the trends, stages of, and the barriers to the development. This long-term study is based on 116 development projects during a ten-year period in a decentralized and networked development environment. In the company setting, conventional training is being replaced more and more by e-learning. To scaffold SMEs in their e-learning adaptation, the concept of e-learning was transferred to the SME environment. The company cases’ part of the thesis presents how the transferability of geographically distributed e-learning concept was developed and tested in the SME environment. As a result, the principles that guided ICT strategy implementation and how the strategies were implemented during a ten-year period are presented. The concept for geographically distributed e-learning environments and its development are also introduced. Finally, the process and results from the concept implementation to the SME environment are presented. This thesis presents university management with an understanding of how larger long-term trends give us the possibility to better understand today’s fast-paced changes. It also gives company managers an example of how models developed in the university environment can be transferred to the company environment. / Tiivistelmä Tietotekniikan kehitys on ollut nopeaa vuosituhannen vaihteen jälkeen monilla aloilla. Yliopistoissa sitä on alettu käyttää yhä enemmän osana perustoimintoja, mikä on edistänyt niiden kehitystä traditionaalisista kampusyliopistoista kohti virtuaaliyliopistoja. Tämän tutkimuksen ensimmäisessä osassa on tarkasteltu perinteisen kampusyliopiston muutosprosessia kohti aktiivisesti uutta teknologiaa hyödyntävää yliopistoa ja toisessa osassa muutosten yhtenä tuloksena syntynyt konsepti siirrettiin yritysympäristöön. Yliopistossa muutos toteutettiin määrittelemällä ensin tavoitteet strategioiksi ja sen jälkeen niiden toimeenpanoprosessin avulla. Suurissa organisaatioissa, kuten yliopistoissa, on vaikea hahmottaa kuinka muutokset todellisuudessa toteutetaan. Kirjallisuutta ja tutkimusta organisaatiomuutoksen toteuttamisesta on paljon, mutta suuri osa siitä keskittyy tarkastelemaan yhden projektin aikana tapahtunutta muutosta. Tässä tutkimuksessa on pyritty esittämään laajempi ja pitkäkestoisempi kuva muutosprosessista. Tutkimus pohjautuu 116 kehitysprojektin saamaan rahoitukseen kymmenen vuoden ajalta. Sen avulla on tarkasteltu yliopiston kehitystrendejä ja keskeisiä kehityskohteita. Rahoitus on jaettu projekteille strategioissa määriteltyjen tavoitteiden mukaisesti strategioiden toimeenpanemiseksi. Osana toimeenpanoprosessia syntyi yliopistokäyttöön maantieteellisesti hajautetun oppimisympäristön konsepti. Yritysympäristössä perinteinen koulutus on korvattu yhä useammin teknologiaa hyödyntävillä koulutuksen muodoilla. Pienillä ja keskisuurilla yrityksillä on kuitenkin varsin rajoitetut resurssit koulutuksessa käytettävien teknologioiden käyttöönottoon ja tehokkaaseen käyttöön. Tämän tutkimuksen toisessa osassa yrityksen maantieteellisesti hajautetun oppimisympäristön käyttöönottoa pyrittiin tukemaan tarjoamalla sen käyttöön valmis yliopistoympäristössä kehitetty konsepti. Tämän konseptin siirrettävyyttä ja käyttöönottoa tutkittiin tutkimuksen toisessa osassa. Tämän tutkimuksen tuloksena esitetään periaatteet, jotka ohjasivat yliopiston tieto- ja viestintätekniikan opetuskäytön strategian laadintaa ja toimeenpanoa vuosina 2000–2009. Lisäksi esitellään maantieteellisesti hajautetun oppimisympäristön konsepti. Lopuksi esitellään konseptin käyttöönottoa yritysympäristössä. Tämä väitöskirja esittelee yliopiston johdolle ja toimijoille, kuinka pitkäkestoisten trendien tunteminen auttaa ymmärtämään nykyhetkeä ja sen nopeita muutoksia. Yritysjohdolle väitöskirja tarjoaa esimerkin, kuinka yliopistoympäristöön kehitetty konsepti voidaan siirtää yritysympäristöön.

Globalization, time to market, and customer responsiveness present continuous challenges for achieving market innovation across cultures. A cross-cultural and networked business environment has created increased demand for knowledge-sharing within the multinational corporation (MNC). The inability of geographically distributed team members to effectively share and communicate ideas and solutions can result in a lack of product innovation, delayed product introductions, and reduced sales and market opportunities. This requires managers to leverage cross-cultural team knowledge in order to improve the design and delivery of innovative customer solutions worldwide. This dissertation thus intends to examine and identify organizational mechanisms that facilitate cross-cultural collaboration and knowledge-sharing for geographically distributed teams responsible for the front end of innovation.The resource-based and knowledge-based views of the firm inform this dissertation where integrated cognitive and social practices serve an important role for innovation. Through qualitative research, I will examine organizational mechanisms that influence interactions between the project leader and the geographically distributed team during global product launches, from product concept to market introduction. Since there is a lack of empirical research conducted with organizations on cross-cultural collaboration and global innovation, there is a significant opportunity to advance research within innovation management while assisting organizations in the development of knowledge-sharing capabilities that serve as competitive advantage in conceiving and introducing new products to international markets.The purpose of this dissertation research is to investigate and demonstrate how MNCs can facilitate the cross-cultural collaboration process in order to effectively conceive and execute innovation strategies for new products. The research intends to develop a framework and model for cross-cultural team collaboration in exploring and responding to the following research question: How can MNCs optimize cross-cultural team collaboration in order to strengthen the planning and execution of global innovation strategies? This research responds to organizational needs for sharing knowledge amongst cross-cultural teams in order to accelerate responsiveness to international market opportunities.

La mondialisation, l’introduction d’un produit sur le marché, l’adaptation au consommateur représentent des défis permanents pour réussir l’innovation sur le marché à travers les cultures. Un environnement commercial interculturel et interconnecté a créé une demande croissante pour le partage des connaissances dans les entreprises multinationales (EMN). L’incapacité des membres d’une équipe dispersés géographiquement à partager et communiquer efficacement les idées et solutions peut entraîner un manque d’innovation des produits, un retard dans leur introduction, et réduire les ventes et opportunités de marchés. Cela nécessite de la part des dirigeants d’optimiser les connaissances interculturelles de l’équipe afin d’améliorer le design et la livraison de solutions innovantes pour les clients à l’échelle mondiale. Par conséquent cette thèse cherche à examiner et identifier les mécanismes organisationnels qui favorisent la collaboration interculturelle et le partage de connaissances au sein d’équipes dispersées géographiquement, dans l’élaboration d’un processus d’innovation (du front end of innovation). Cette thèse se base sur l’approche par les ressources et par les connaissances de la firme, où les pratiques cognitives et sociales intégrées jouent un rôle important pour l’innovation. A travers une recherche qualitative j’examinerai les mécanismes organisationnels qui influencent les interactions entre le responsable de projet et l’équipe interculturelle durant les lancements globaux de produit, de la conception du produit jusqu’à sa mise sur le marché. Dans la mesure où il y a peu de recherche empirique sur la collaboration interculturelle et l’innovation globale, c’est une opportunité considérable de contribuer à la recherche en management de l’innovation, et d’aider des organisations à développer leurs capacités de partage de connaissances, véritable avantage concurrentiel dans la conception et l’introduction de nouveaux produits sur les marchés internationaux. L’objectif de cette thèse et d’étudier et démontrer comment les EMN peuvent faciliter le processus de collaboration interculturelle afin de concevoir et de mettre en oeuvre efficacement des stratégies d’innovation pour de nouveaux produits. Cette recherche vise à développer un cadre et un modèle théorique pour la collaboration des équipes interculturelles en répondant à la question suivante : Comment les EMN optimisent la collaboration des équipes interculturelles afin d’améliorer le planning et la mise en oeuvre de stratégie globale d’innovation ? Ceci répond aux besoins des organisations de partager les connaissances du marché local entre les équipes interculturelles afin d’accélérer la réactivité aux opportunités du marché à l’international. / Globalization, time to market, and customer responsiveness present continuous challenges for achieving market innovation across cultures. A cross-cultural and networked business environment has created increased demand for knowledge-sharing within the multinational corporation (MNC). The inability of geographically distributed team members to effectively share and communicate ideas and solutions can result in a lack of product innovation, delayed product introductions, and reduced sales and market opportunities. This requires managers to leverage cross-cultural team knowledge in order to improve the design and delivery of innovative customer solutions worldwide. This dissertation thus intends to examine and identify organizational mechanisms that facilitate cross-cultural collaboration and knowledge-sharing for geographically distributed teams responsible for the front end of innovation.The resource-based and knowledge-based views of the firm inform this dissertation where integrated cognitive and social practices serve an important role for innovation. Through qualitative research, I will examine organizational mechanisms that influence interactions between the project leader and the geographically distributed team during global product launches, from product concept to market introduction. Since there is a lack of empirical research conducted with organizations on cross-cultural collaboration and global innovation, there is a significant opportunity to advance research within innovation management while assisting organizations in the development of knowledge-sharing capabilities that serve as competitive advantage in conceiving and introducing new products to international markets.The purpose of this dissertation research is to investigate and demonstrate how MNCs can facilitate the cross-cultural collaboration process in order to effectively conceive and execute innovation strategies for new products. The research intends to develop a framework and model for cross-cultural team collaboration in exploring and responding to the following research question: How can MNCs optimize cross-cultural team collaboration in order to strengthen the planning and execution of global innovation strategies? This research responds to organizational needs for sharing knowledge amongst cross-cultural teams in order to accelerate responsiveness to international market opportunities.