In this report, the topics of quality management, knowledge work, and Lean Six Sigma areexplored with the objective of identifying potential improvements that could be facilitated byData mining methods. With the purpose of exploring the topic of knowledge extraction fromfree-text data to support decision-making in manufacturing operations from a qualitymanagement perspective. Due to increased amounts of data being generated by new technologiessuch as Industrial Internet of Things, and increasingly complex production systems, newchallenges are emerging for manufacturing companies (Titmarsh, et al., 2020; Kamm, et al.,2021). These developments can potentially lead to an escalation of the demands on knowledgeworkers within quality management due to additional data processing. Such tasks have beenobserved to potentially increase cognitive load with decreased knowledge work productivity asa consequence, which is a key factor in effective quality management (Yusoff, et al., 2017). Inparticular, free-text data have been observed to be a challenge when implementing data miningmethods.The conducted research was guided by the following three research questions:RQ 1: What are the challenges of manually performed knowledge discovery in data for qualitymanagement?RQ 2: What are the potential benefits of implementing data mining methods for qualitymanagement in Lean Six Sigma companies?RQ 3: How can complex data processing tasks that include free-text analysis be improved?The topics in question were explored by utilizing peer-reviewed literature, which was verifiedby a case study carried out at a Lean Six Sigma industrial equipment manufacturer. The casestudy includes observations and interviews to gain understanding of the case company’soperations within the selected scope. In addition, an experimental solution with the objective ofimproving an inefficient process was developed using data mining methods for free-text analysis,as described in literature. Such methods are commonly referred to as text mining.During the case study, the challenges described in literature related to text mining in general, andwithin the manufacturing industry in particular, were observed and experienced first-hand.Properties such as lack of labelled data samples, imbalanced data sets, insufficient data qualitydue to varying grammar, and the common use of mixed languages make the implementation oftext mining in industrial contexts a challenge (Ittoo, et al., 2016). The achieved results confirmseveral of the challenges described in the reviewed literature. The task of pre-processing data toenable data-driven decision-making at the case company is identified as an inefficient, butnecessary task for extracting useful knowledge from the company’s collected data. In an attemptto identify potential improvements for this particular task, several different experimentalmachine learning models for text classification were developed.While the developed solutions did not show sufficient performance to enable full automation ofthe task, potentially promising solutions were discovered. Particularly the data-driven nature ofthe systematic Lean Six Sigma methodology was observed to be suitable for integrating withdata mining methods for enhanced results (Fahey, et al. 2020; Fahmy, et al. 2017). In addition,reducing non-value adding and cognitively demanding tasks could support in optimizing thecognitive load experienced by knowledge workers and allow for increased performance inquality management activities (Jalani, et al. 2015).

Enabled by advanced information technologies, the distributed work environment has become a choice of organizations. When employees and supervisors work in geographically separate locations, management challenges emerge. Performance improvement may become an issue. Performance may be improved by identifying, studying, and improving factors that affect work performance. Two factors–feedback and goal setting–were chosen for this study because of the strong evidence of the effects of these components. Positive effects of feedback and goal setting are commonly accepted in the literature concerning the traditional work environment. This study focused only on knowledge work because most work in the distributed work environment may be knowledge work. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of feedback and goal setting on knowledge work performance in the distributed work environment. A laboratory experiment was conducted using 36 student subjects. The experimental design was a 3 X 2 factorial design consisting of three levels of feedback (i.e., no feedback, task feedback, and task feedback with comparisons with others) and two levels of goal setting (i.e., no goal setting and goal setting). Subjects were randomly assigned to various combinations of these two variables. The evidence did not outright support the claim that feedback and goal setting improve task performance; task performance of the subjects was improved only under certain conditions. Task feedback did not improve task performance because of its added pressure, especially in the presence of goals. Task performance was higher for the subjects who received both task feedback and information about others’ performance than for the subjects who received task feedback only. Overall, feedback was not found to improve task performance. The study did not support the hypothesis that specific and difficult goals improve task performance. The added pressure of having difficult goals was found to have demotivating effects. The notion that the co-presence of feedback and goals is necessary to improve task performance was not supported because of the combined pressure that both components created. The subjects who had feedback and/or goals did not perform better than those who had neither feedback nor goals. / Ph. D.

The future of work is rapidly evolving, particularly in knowledge-based professions such as programming, engineering, and scientific research. These fields traditionally rely on physical monitors in office settings. However, with the rise of hybrid work models fueled by technological advances and the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a growing need for flexible and portable display solutions. Workers can now operate from remote settings, their homes, or mobile scenarios while still requiring substantial screen space to complete their tasks. This dissertation investigates the design and evaluation of virtual displays rendered through head-worn displays (HWDs) as a promising alternative, aiming to optimize them for productive work. These displays offer flexibility, allowing users to achieve large monitor spaces in virtual or augmented reality environments, adaptable to any location. We aim to answer three research questions: (1) ``How does replacing or extending physical monitors with virtual displays using current technology impact the user experience of productivity tasks?'', (2) ``How can we take advantage of the spatial flexibility property of virtual displays to eliminate screen boundaries and increase the amount of space available to users?'', and (3) ``How can we leverage properties of virtual displays to design techniques that minimize overhead in window management tasks without reducing user freedom?'' Through careful interface design and empirical user studies, we seek to understand how to leverage the unique capabilities of HWDs to enhance productivity, preparing the groundwork for future virtual display systems as technology advances. / Doctor of Philosophy / The future of work is rapidly evolving, particularly in knowledge-based professions such as programming, engineering, and scientific research. These fields traditionally rely on physical monitors in office settings. However, with the rise of hybrid work models fueled by technological advances and the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a growing need for flexible and portable display solutions. Workers can now operate from remote settings, their homes, or mobile scenarios while still requiring substantial screen space to complete their tasks. This dissertation investigates the design and evaluation of virtual displays rendered through virtual or augmented reality headsets as a promising alternative, aiming to optimize them for productive work. These displays offer flexibility, allowing users to achieve large monitor spaces while being adaptable to any location. Our research aims to understand how replacing or extending physical monitors with virtual displays impacts productivity, how to maximize the available space and organization, and how to design techniques that make it easier to organize and access windows. Through careful design of these displays and testing with users, we seek to understand how we can take advantage of the capabilities provided by AR/VR headsets to enhance productivity and pave the way for future displays.

Regulation of admission to the United States for technology workers from foreign countries has been a difficult issue, especially during periods of intense development. Following the dot.com bubble, the Google Corporation continued to argue in favor of higher limits under the Immigration and Nationality Act exception referred to as "H-1B" for the section of the law where it appears. H-1B authorized temporary admission for highly skilled labor in specialty occupations. Congressional testimony by Laszlo Bock, Google Vice President for People Operations, provided the most succinct statement of Google's concerns based on maintaining a competitive and diverse workforce. Diversity has been a rhetorical priority for Google, yet diversity did not affect the argument in a substantial and realistic way. Likewise, emphasis on geographically situated competitive capability suggests a limited commitment to the global communities invoked by information technology. The history of American industry produced corporations determined to control and exploit every detail of their affairs. In the process, industrial corporations used immigration as a labor resource. Google portrayed itself, and Google has been portrayed by media from the outside, as representative of new information technology culture, an information community of diverse, inclusive, and democratically transparent technology in the sense of universal availability and benefit with a deliberate concern for avoiding evil. However, emphasis by Google on American supremacy combined with a kind of half-hearted rhetorical advocacy for principles of diversity suggest an inconsistent approach to the argument about H-1B. The Google argument for manageable resources connected to corporate priorities of Industrial Modernity, a habit of control, more than to democratic communities of technology. In this outcome, there are concerns for information technology and the Industry of Knowledge Work. By considering the treatment of immigration as a sign of management attitude, I look at questions posed by Jean Baudrillard, Daniel Headrick, Alan Liu, and others about whether information technology as an industry and as communities of common interests has achieved any democratically universal "ethical progress" beyond the preceding system of industrial commerce that demands the absolute power to exploit resources, including human resources. Does Google's performance confirm skeptical questions, or did Google actually achieve something more socially responsible? In the rhetoric of immigration history and the rhetoric of Google as technology, this study finds connections to a recycled corporate-management version of Industrial Modernity that constrains the diffusion of technology.

According to a dominant discourse in contemporary writings and research, we are living in a Knowledge Economy where knowledge is seen as the pre-eminent resource and the key to success for individuals as well as organizations and nations. Consequently, much effort in management research has been dedicated to devising new concepts and theories such as the knowledge-based theory of the firm and the intellectual capital perspective, all premised on the assumption that knowledge work is somehow different from other forms of work. But what, actually, is knowledge work? And what is it that makes it so different? This dissertation represents an attempt to make some sense of this discourse. Research themes investigate the role of tangible and intangible dimensions of knowledge work and organizations. Particular attention is paid to organizational identity and the physical work environment. The notion of identity is central to the Knowledge Economy Rhetoric, while the physical setting is a neglected, but potentially important, aspect of knowledge work and identity construction. Various theoretical and methodological perspectives were applied throughout the research process to illuminate these themes. The thesis covers two empirical case studies; one of a small high-tech firm in the telecommunications sector as it developed a knowledge based strategy. The other study explored the relationship between the design of the office and identity construction in a large IT/management consulting firm. In addition, a study of the literature on the organizational category of knowledge-intensive firms was conducted to explore the dominant constructions of knowledge work within the research community. The results from these studies are presented in five papers. While addressing different questions, the papers all deal with some aspect of sensemaking of, or in, knowledge work. The first paper describes how the management team in the case company went through a process to make sense of the intangible dimensions of their organization. The second paper is a conceptual treatise outlining an alternative conceptualization of strategy for knowledge-intensive firms that emphasizes the importance of identity. Paper three provides an analysis of how the category of knowledge-intensive firms is used in the research literature and the consequences thereof. In paper four branding is analyzed as a management practice. The last paper discusses the role of emotion, ambivalence and embodied experience of the physical environment in identity construction. The exposition reflects further on the insights from this journey and what they entail for making sense of knowledge work. It is argued that a better understanding of knowledge work has to take the knowledge worker – the individual – as the starting point for theorizing. Taking this position requires us to scrutinize the theoretical perspectives that guide our conceptualizations of the knowledge worker. Theoretical perspectives are constructions that allow us to see certain things and not others. Current conceptualizations are, by necessity, extensions of earlier dominant perspectives or worldviews. Based on the findings from the empirical studies, an alternative perspective is proposed that takes the embodied experience of the knowledge worker as a point of departure. Implications of this perspective for conceptualizing and studying knowledge work are then discussed. / QC 20100917

Temat för denna essä är bildningsresor. Fallstudierna utgörs av en rapport om Cirkuspedagogik och intervjuer av en tidigare lärarkollega. Texterna har använts som impulstexter för essän och rör sig kring nyckelorden ovan. Turings idéer om robotmänniskan och Turkles forskning om sociala robotar och virtuella världar berörs och jag funderar om pedagogik behöver vara grundad i en idé, eller om det mer handlar om olika tekniker man kan tillskansa sig och kontrollera.

Two of the most important issues in knowledge age are knowledge management and innovation. Companies that is able to control knowledge, able to develop the ability of innovation. Therefore, understand how to acquire, encode, diffuse, storage knowledge, and how to match knowledge and management system, is very important for organizations. Knowledge workers are the most important carrier of knowledge. They are the one who actually learn, share, use, and create knowledge. Thus, understand and pay attention to knowledge worker and the management of knowledge worker should be considered one part of knowledge management. Moreover, knowledge management should match corporation¡¦s competitive strategy. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the relationship among organizational characteristics, knowledge management, strategy of knowledge management, organizational innovation, and consider the influence of the strategy of knowledge management and organizational characters to knowledge management and organizational innovation. The results of the research indicate that: The lifecycle of a company has significant difference on organizational innovation. The scale of a company has also significant difference on organizational innovation. In addition to difference analysis, relation analysis indicates that ¡§connect performance and reward¡¨, ¡¨improve knowledge which is already there¡¨, ¡§leadership of knowledge¡¨, ¡§institutionalize the measurement of knowledge¡¨, ¡§organic organization structure¡¨, and ¡§culture of learning¡¨ has significant influence on organizational innovation. As the result, the suggestions are: companies should develop their manager¡¦s ability of leadership of knowledge; connect performance and reward; improve knowledge which is already there; institutionalize the measurement of knowledge; establish organic organization structure; and create the culture of learning.

Följande studie är utförd under vårterminen 2019 som ett masterexamensarbete på Trafikverkets avdelning för stora projekt. Med organisatoriskt lärande och projektledning som teoretiskt ramverk studerades vad stora beställarorganisationer ser som sina framgångsfaktorer gällande riskhantering. För att besvara detta intervjuades sju respondenter del av två pågående projekt på Trafikverket. Utifrån detta gjordes en tematisk analys där tre begrepp framstod och analyserade. Slutsatserna från studien är att beställarorganisationer som aktivt ser över sin överlapp med den temporära multiorganisationen, i denna studie förkortad till TMO, har ett bättre riskarbete. Att de beställarorganisationer som har en växelverkan mellan en abstrakt begreppsbildning av vad riskhantering är och ser över sitt praktiska utförande lyckas bättre samt att beställarorganisationer värderar ett processorienterat lärande mer positivt än ett produktorienterat lärande / The following study was conducted during the spring semester 2019 as a master's thesis at the department for large projects, Trafikverket. With a theoretical framework based in organizational learning and project management, I have aimed to answer what large client organizations see as their success factors regarding risk management. To answer this, seven respondents were interviewed from two ongoing projects at Trafikverket. With this dataset, a thematic analysis was performed where three concepts emerged and were analyzed. The conclusions from the study are that client organizations that actively review their overlap with the temporary multi-organization, in this study abbreviated to TMO, perform a better regarding their risk management. That the client organizations that have an interaction between an abstract concept of what risk management is and review their practical implementation succeed better. Lastly client organizations that value a process-oriented learning more positively than a product-oriented learning perceive their risk management as better.

In the last two decades the IT service support worker has emerged to be a worker-type of considerable socio-economic importance. Such workers are symbolic of the trends towards the importance of information/knowledge and information technology within modern economic/political systems. Such systems, heavily influenced by governmental bodies and business organisations, have aggrandised the use of rationalising customer-centric management techniques. And yet such symbolic workers are largely hidden and unacknowledged as a specific type of worker in the business literature. This thesis represents an attempt to conceptualise the IT service support worker as a worker-type, inducing a conceptual model that identifies three aspects to the worker: information systems worker; knowledge worker and service worker and considers them from each of these perspectives. This qualitative research draws on a rich mix of observational and interview data collected across five UK organisations to produce a narrative that suggests that, for different IT service support workers, those different aspects tend to be variably emphasised within their team roles. The study additionally offers a theoretical conclusion that IT service support workers might reasonably be divided into different classes depending upon not only the design of their team role but also their individual career orientations and the nature of the knowledge they actually use in their work. Four such classes are identified as being of particular significance and these are evocatively named: Resigned Robots ; Constrained Careerists ; Establishment Experts and Aspiring Artisans . Whilst being outside of the scope of this study, it is suggested that this novel typology might also be useful for classifying other worker groupings. The study is intended to be useful for the enhancement of IT service management practice and makes several contributions in this regard. These include the need for managers to recognise the importance of experientially-acquired knowledge for efficiency in IT service support work and a suggestion that managers might tailor HRM practices for different classes of worker.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-21T20:31:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Vania Pauluk de Jesus.pdf: 371209 bytes, checksum: b0b6e24ad53674a4c7da73d60cff9bca (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-03-08 / In this text we intend to argue that especificidades necessary to possess the school of the field in this neoliberal world, to identify the educational demands of the citizens of the field and to analyze the proposals for education of the field of the social movements and State. This research is of qualitative boarding e, uses as main instruments of collection of data the documentary analysis and structuralized interviews opened. To reach our objectives we characterize and we argue the proposal educational of the MST (Movement of the Agricultural Workers Without Land); we analyze the Operational Lines of direction for School of the Field and, we carry through interviews with two agricultural communities to identify its educational demands; one in the agricultural zone of Thick Tip and another one a nesting of agrarian reform in Teixeira Soares. We all interview the twenty and nine people of the pertaining to school communities (parents, pupils, professors, director, maid). The proposal educational of the MST intends to awake the conscience of classroom and formation of militant. The MST adopts as theoreticians sustentation especially Freire, Makarenko, Piaget; however it does not choose a specific pedagogy, puts all in movement, so that if I will choose most adequate, as the necessities. The proposal of the State (the Operational Lines of direction for School of the Field), presents many advances to know: to give to all of the basic and professional education in the proper agricultural communities; pertaining to school adaptable of the calendar and spaces; initial and continued formation of professors; differentiation of the cost pupil, among others. With reference to the educational demands of the citizens of the field, seen for its eyes; three points are expressed expectations in relation to the school, enclosing central offices: 1) acquisition of abilities as reading, writing and calculation and, still, transmission of knowledge; 2) moral formation and 3) preparation for the work in the field. These expectations reflect of certain form the values and ideologies gifts in our society. The thought of the workers reflects its way of life and values. However, for the construction of a school of social quality for the field, that takes care of to its yearnings and necessities, it respects and it values its to know and values, become necessary financial and human investments in the situated schools in the field. The social movements can contribute for improvement of the school, in some ways, participating, suggesting modifications, oportunizando the use of its pedagogical materials, but over all; when together organizing itself with the community to demand that the State fulfills its paper flifting of the school, accomplishing what it is foreseen in the Lines of direction. We consider that the necessary field of a differentiated education, that if does not restrict to the agricultural necessities and of the market of work, but ample a cultural formation, that privileges the acquisition and reconstruct of the scientific knowledge. / Neste texto pretendemos discutir que especificidades precisa possuir a escola do campo neste mundo neoliberal, identificar as demandas educacionais dos sujeitos do campo e analisar as propostas para educação do campo dos movimentos sociais e Estado. Esta pesquisa é de abordagem qualitativa e, utilizamos como principais instrumentos de coleta de dados a análise documental e entrevistas estruturadas abertas. Para atingir nossos objetivos caracterizamos e discutimos a proposta educacional do MST (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra); analisamos as Diretrizes Operacionais para Escola do Campo e, realizamos entrevistas com duas comunidades rurais para identificar suas demandas educacionais; uma na zona rural de Ponta Grossa e outra em um assentamento de reforma agrária de Teixeira Soares. Entrevistamos ao todo vinte e nove pessoas das comunidades escolares (pais, alunos, professores, diretora, servente). A proposta educacional do MST pretende despertar a consciência de classe e formação de militantes. O MST adota como referenciais teóricos especialmente Freire, Makarenko, Piaget; entretanto não escolhe uma pedagogia específica, põe todas em movimento, para que se escolha a mais adequada, conforme as necessidades. A proposta do Estado (As Diretrizes Operacionais para Escola do Campo), apresenta muitos avanços a saber: universalização da educação básica e profissional nas próprias comunidades rurais; flexibilização do calendário e espaços escolares; formação inicial e continuada de professores; diferenciação do custo aluno, entre outros. Com referência às demandas educacionais dos sujeitos do campo, vistas pelos seus olhos; traduzem-se em expectativas em relação à escola, abrangendo três pontos centrais: 1) aquisição de habilidades como leitura, escrita e cálculo e, ainda, transmissão de conhecimentos; 2) formação moral e 3) preparação para o trabalho no campo. Essas expectativas refletem de certa forma os valores e ideologias presentes em nossa sociedade. O pensamento dos trabalhadores reflete seu modo de vida e valores. Contudo, para a construção de uma escola de qualidade social para o campo, que atenda seus anseios e necessidades, respeite e valorize seus saberes e valores, fazem-se necessários investimentos financeiros e humanos nas escolas situadas no campo. Os movimentos sociais podem contribuir para melhoria da escola, de várias maneiras, participando, sugerindo modificações, oportunizando a utilização de seus materiais pedagógicos, mas sobretudo; ao organizarem-se junto com a comunidade para reivindicar que o Estado cumpra seu papel de mantenedor da escola, efetivando o que está previsto nas Diretrizes. Consideramos que o campo precisa de uma educação diferenciada, que não se restrinja às necessidades agrícolas e do mercado de trabalho, mas uma formação cultural ampla, que privilegie a aquisição e recriação dos conhecimentos científicos.