Leonardi & Barley menar att organisationsstudier bör fokuseras mot hur personer arbetar med datorer och datasystem, samtidigt som Orlikowski menar att studier av arbete med datasystem bör baseras på praktikteorier. Studien kombinerar därför två teorier för att studera modernt arbete som till stor del baseras på datorsystem eller användandet av datorer, CHAT och boundary objects. Studiens syfte är att analysera om praktikteorin, CHAT kan användas för att studera ett modernt arbete som är teknikbaserat, gränsöverskridande och kunskapsintensivt, nämligen internprissättning. Slutsatserna är att CHAT går att använda för modernt arbete trots att teorins materiella bakgrund inte tagit informationsteknik i beaktande. Samtidigt belyste användningen av teorin att de geografiska gränserna mellan aktivitetssystem blir mindre, subjekten kan befinna sig på olika breddgrader utan problem, samtidigt som de olika elementen får fler funktionsområden.

The capture and beneficial application of learning from past experiences in projects has been an area of interest and debate for many years. The implementation of lessons learnt is commonly acknowledged as difficult. Existing studies point to the deficiencies in current practice but few propose practical approaches to improve the situation. A key barrier to learning in projects is the time-critical nature of most projects which makes the creation of time and space to learn and then apply the resultant learning problematic. Other inhibitors include the variety and temporality of project teams, the geographical spread of many projects and client pressures to reduce costs. The aim of this research was to improve project learning processes in multi-phase project environments through the identification and application of relevant organizational learning and knowledge management theories. The research was based on a single company longitudinal case study in an infrastructure support services organization. An event-based approach to project lessons was developed which focuses on benefits realisation and measurement. The processes employed overcome some of the key barriers to the effective capture of lessons learnt and their subsequent implementation i.e. shortage of time, different learning styles of individuals, lack of effective capture mechanisms, poor articulation of benefits realisation, lack of management sponsorship. A model was also developed which acts as a multi-faceted lens which aids the understanding of the dynamics of project-based learning. The model was tested through a series of workshops. In order to assist the roll-out of the new approach across the case study organisation and outline implementation guide that has been developed. The approach can also be promoted externally to improve project management practice across the wider construction industry. In addition, the study also revealed that event-based enactment of complex/abstract theories can be used as a tool to create improved praxis by overcoming the need to explain the theories to the actors involved. The main contribution to research is the development of a new approach which extends existing theory in the areas of learning, knowledge management and boundary objects in multi-phase project contexts. It achieves this through the synergistic use of the theories employed which support the development of reflective practitioners with the skills to engender a 'learning how to learn' culture within project-based environments. Further testing of ongoing benefits monitoring and establishing causality is needed. Overall, the methodology developed is highly adaptable and can be used by others in different organizational contexts to improve organizational learning, business performance, client satisfaction and wider stakeholder outcomes.

A l’heure d’une société marquée par les technologies de l’information, les territoires locaux sont soumis à des formes de développement de plus en plus dictées et encadrées par le haut, basées sur les paradigmes de l’économie mondialisée et du développement durable. La question est alors de savoir comment ces territoires peuvent promouvoir un développement endogène qui fasse sens pour les acteurs locaux. Pour ce faire, nous inscrivons notre recherche dans les sciences de l’information et de la communication en mobilisant le concept d’intelligence territoriale. Nous apportons notre contribution à cette approche en approfondissant le rôle que peut jouer la dimension géographique dans les dispositifs socio-techniques d’information et de communication (Distic) à l’échelon des territoires intercommunaux. Nous adoptons pour cela une posture de recherche-intervention qui alterne des réflexions théoriques avec des observations et interventions empiriques sur une étude de cas, celle du territoire de Thau. Les représentations spatiales, comme produits médiatiques constitutifs des Distic, offrent une diversité de propriétés sémiotiques et de fonctionnalités que nous mettons en évidence. Nous utilisons aussi le métamodèle de Schwarz à un niveau macro pour rendre compte de la complexification et de l’autonomisation progressive du territoire de Thau sur les vingt dernières années. / At a time when information technology is ruling the world, local territories are subject to forms of development increasingly framed and dictated from above, based on the paradigms of the globalized economy and sustainable development. The issue then is to study how these territories can promote endogenous development that makes sense for local societies. To do so, we place our research in the field of information and communication sciences by using the concept of territorial intelligence. We contribute to this approach by deepening the potential role of the geographic dimension in “information and communication socio-technical arrangements ”, or Distic, at the level of inter-municipal territories. We adopt an action-research stance that alternates theoretical reflections with empirical observations and actions on the Thau territory case study. Spatial representations, as constitutive of Distic media products, offer a variety of semiotic properties and features that we highlight. We also use the Schwarz’s meta-model on a macro level to highlight the complexity and the and the gradual empowerment of the Thau territory over the past twenty years.

This thesis reports a research effort that comprises six papers and a cover paper. In essence, the thesis contributes to the understanding of collaborative settings by introducing the perspective of ‘places of collaboration’. This perspective is particularly important when designing computer-based technologies that support collaborative settings.   The starting point and overall research aim is to understand people’s efforts to configure their current context for the purposes of collaboration. The cover paper of the thesis comprises a theoretical reflection and examination of four collaborative settings. The settings have been studied in situ through ethnographic inquiry and the results are reported in the six papers enclosed in the thesis. In my theoretical reflection, the concepts of ‘place’, ‘space’ and ‘boundary objects’ are central.   The studies revealed that people’s efforts to configure the current context create and reflect a ‘place of collaboration’. In other words, the effort to configure the context results in a practice characterized by an understanding of how to cooperate; a collaborative practice that constitutes a ‘place of collaboration’. During this configuration, the space and the use of materiality in this space are important parts in the creation of a place of collaboration. In addition, people configure collaborative contexts of intersecting practices by creating boundary objects. Boundary objects serve as mediators in a place-making process for the integration of places into a ‘place of collaboration’ for several practices. What is more, the dynamics of a place of collaboration may affect changes in existing modes of working and in computer-based tools that have been introduced into the workplace. The people and practices that constitute the place will in turn re-configure the place of collaboration, including the space and objects available due to the new circumstances.   People’s configuration of their current context reveals crucial aspects about the place of collaboration that must be considered also when designing to support this setting. However, this configuration may not necessarily equal efficiency and effectiveness, as evaluated by actors external to this context. The conclusion of this thesis is that future research and design should consider how to support people in their own effort to configure their collaborative context.

Demand for new methods of beef production is rising due to concern over potential impacts on human health, animal welfare, and the environment. Researchers at Utah State University have developed a method of beef production from cattle finished on tannin-containing legume forages in the Rocky Mountain Region in order to address those concerns. To ensure success of this product, the demand and marketability needed to be assessed. Food values addressed through new production standards and certifications are communicated through labeling by culinary professionals in the kitchen and behind service counters. This research study utilized qualitative methods to understand how culinary leaders construct meaning regarding non-conventional beef. A discursive analysis of labels, menus, and websites revealed that storytelling and branding are more important than third-party certifications. Thematic analysis of interviews with culinary professionals discovered participants are open to new products but environmental concern was tempered by concern for pleasing customers and hindered by planning a menu around consistency and quality. This research found that the success of beef from cattle finished on tannin-containing legume forages is dependent on the benefits being communicated in a way that emphasizes authenticity, tradition, and standards of quality necessary for culinary professionals.

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The numerous transdisciplinary research initiatives currently addressing a variety of complex social issues could benefit from a deeper understanding of the ways in which intellectually diverse groups work together to address problems. This research focused on a small group of investigators in a transdisciplinary institute as they sought to work collaboratively in the domain of infectious disease research. The unit's members described many challenges and successes that provided insights into the character and dynamics of transdisciplinary research, including how members developed a shared conceptual framework. The process proved enormously complex and was the product of long-term interactions among group members. Because participants were rooted in different disciplines and did not share professional trajectories, communication and understanding took extra effort, patience, and the development of a counterintuitive set of cognitive skills. Over time an integrated work process evolved within the group through a combination of strong interpersonal relationships, the mediating role of interactional expertise, and the development of shared boundary objects. Group members began working more closely with other team participants throughout the lifespan of projects. That experience over time allowed individuals to connect the details of their work together with the overarching goals and strategies of the group. This study employed the theory of trading zones to illustrate the ways researchers worked across boundaries to establish shared ideas, values, and goals. It developed and applied the concept of a transdisciplinary trading zone to describe the group's ability to coordinate its action despite both epistemic and communication barriers. Ultimately, the researchers studied sought a balance between being "productive," understood as providing practical tools to industry and government, and generating novel scientific solutions to complex research problems. The group's success in securing a shared research aspiration despite its member's disciplinary and professional differences resulted from an iterative process of interaction that included learning from failed attempts and a constant and persistent negotiation of goals and values among those involved. / Ph. D.

This thesis reports a research effort that comprises six papers and a cover paper. In essence, the thesis contributes to the understanding of collaborative settings by introducing the perspective of 'places of collaboration‘. This perspective is particularly important when designing computer-based technologies that support collaborative settings. The starting point and overall research aim is to understand people‘s efforts to configure their current context for the purposes of collaboration. The cover paper of the thesis comprises a theoretical reflection and examination of four collaborative settings. The settings have been studied in situ through ethnographic inquiry and the results are reported in the six papers enclosed in the thesis. In my theoretical reflection, the concepts of 'place‘, 'space‘ and 'boundary objects‘ are central. The studies revealed that people‘s efforts to configure the current context create and reflect a 'place of collaboration‘. In other words, the effort to configure the context results in a practice characterized by an understanding of how to cooperate; a collaborative practice that constitutes a 'place of collaboration‘. During this configuration, the space and the use of materiality in this space are important parts in the creation of a place of collaboration. In addition, people configure collaborative contexts of intersecting practices by creating boundary objects. Boundary objects serve as mediators in a place-making process for the integration of places into a 'place of collaboration‘ for several practices. What is more, the dynamics of a place of collaboration may affect changes in existing modes of working and in computer-based tools that have been introduced into the workplace. The people and practices that constitute the place will in turn re-configure the place of collaboration, including the space and objects available due to the new circumstances. People‘s configuration of their current context reveals crucial aspects about the place of collaboration that must be considered also when designing to support this setting. However, this configuration may not necessarily equal efficiency and effectiveness, as evaluated by actors external to this context. The conclusion of this thesis is that future research and design should consider how to support people in their own effort to configure their collaborative context.

Open Source Design (OSD) é uma estratégia de desenvolvimento adotada por comunidades que desenvolvem produtos manufaturados colaborativamente, em um regime copyleft e rede peer to peer virtual. O resultado é um conjunto de informações capazes de permitir a fabricação remota em que o usuário pode construir o seu produto, ao invés de um sistema produtivo específico previamente definido, como no desenvolvimento tradicional. A tangibilidade e a distância física entre desenvolvedores impõem barreiras à colaboração, mas avanços como a tecnologia de impressão 3D fez surgir plataformas virtuais para o compartilhamento de arquivos que tornam esta realidade possível. O número deste tipo de plataformas é significativo e há problemas na delimitação teórica do fenômeno e questões em aberto. No desenvolvimento OSD faz-se necessário o uso de objetos de fronteira (Boundary Objects – BOs). Qual o papel destes objetos? Eles estão presentes nas plataformas citadas? As plataformas existentes possuem recursos para a gestão destes objetos? Quais as características que estas plataformas devem apresentar para viabilizar o desenvolvimento OSD? Este trabalho reúne um conjunto de investigações para elucidar as questões acima. Por meio de um estudo de caso inicial e revisões sistemáticas, os conceitos foram analisados e propostos teoricamente. Por meio de um levantamento de 686 projetos de seis comunidades OSD diferentes hospedadas na plataforma Thingiverse, auxiliado por uma análise de conteúdo sobre a relação entre plataforma e colaboração, em seis projetos de diferentes plataformas, foi possível discutir o papel das plataformas utilizadas por comunidades OSD. Discute-se a relação com o desempenho do projeto e com a colaboração alcançada, identificando-se problemas potenciais e soluções latentes. Os resultados indicam que as plataformas estudadas, entre as mais difundidas, apresentam limitações. Finalmente, por meio da análise conjunta dos resultados, à luz das práticas de gestão de configuração existentes no desenvolvimento tradicional, foi possível identificar uma lista de propriedades latentes, que poderiam ser incorporadas nas plataformas, como: estrutura do produto, versionamento, ferramentas de armazenamento e rastreabilidade, auditoria, controle da configuração e governança da interface. As propriedades identificadas são uma contribuição importante para a inserção em ferramentas de design colaborativo. / Open Source Design (OSD) is a strategy adopted by communities that develop collaboratively manufactured products in a copyleft conditions and on a peer to peer network. The result is a set of information that allow the remote manufacturing where the users can build their own products, despite of a specific productive system previously defined as the traditional development. The tangibility and the geographic distance among developers impose barriers on the collaboration, on the other hand technology breakthroughs in the 3D printer technology made arise virtual platforms to share files that made this reality achievable. The number of these types of platforms is increasing and there are difficulties to delimitating of the phenomenon and there are gaps that need investigation. Is required the use of BOs in OSD development? What is the role of these BOs? Are they used in the mentioned platforms? Do the current platforms have features to the management of BOs? Which features must these platforms have to make feasible the OSD development? This thesis gathers an amount of investigations to elucidate the questions above. Through an initial study of case and systematic revisions, the concepts were analyzed and theoretically proposed. There was collected information of 686 projects from 6 different OSD communities hosted on the Thingiverse platform; in complement a content analysis about the relation between the platform and collaboration in six projects of three different platforms, to discuss the role of the platforms used for OSD communities. It is discussed the relation between the performance project with the collaboration, identifying the potential problems and the latent solutions. The result indicates that the investigated platforms, even the most widespread, present limitations. Finally, using a combined analysis of the results, according to the practices of management configuration existent in the traditional development, it was possible to identify a list of features that could be incorporated in the platforms, such: product structure, versioning, storage tools and traceability, audits, control configuration, governance. The identified features are important contributions to the insertion in tools of collaborative design.

Agile software development approaches have emerged as a response to perceived frustrations of more heavyweight plan-driven methods, and have now become well established within the information systems field. More recently, there has been a tremendous growth in applying agile methods in globally distributed settings. In light of this, there is a pressing need to understand how agile practices are adapted which were originally conceived for collocated settings, and now actually being used in globally distributed settings, taking into account the challenges posed by such contexts. The aim of this thesis is to contribute to this research gap, with a quest to better understand and unpack the "black-box" of how collaborative practices evolve within global agile settings. The value of this research lies in improving and advancing our understanding of the challenges the team members go through in adapting agile practices in global contexts. The research also explores how collaborative practices can support agility in globally distributed settings. In order to contribute to knowledge and increase conceptual clarity, there is a need to carry out in-depth and in-situ research within an organisational context. By taking a socio-technical perspective this study intends to extend our existing knowledge on how collaborative practices are evolving in real-time practice within globally distributed agile settings. The empirical evidence is drawn from a globally distributed team, operating in a global financial bank with offices based in London and Delhi. Interpretive research methods including semi-structured interviews and observations are used to understand team members' experiences of developing collaborative practices in a globally distributed context. Although existing literature on agile software development acknowledges the intrinsic significance of collaboration for effective functioning of agile methods, current studies fail to demonstrate a situated practice perspective on how collaborative practices are adapted in globally distributed settings. This study enlists the analytical concepts of boundary objects and Pickering's "mangle of practice" to better understand the process of how collaborative practices evolve in globally distributed agile teams. The resulting analysis provides us with a much more nuanced understanding of how interactions take place in developing collaborative practices in globally distributed contexts. The findings reveal that collaborative practices within such settings tend not to follow from pre-set expectations of how agile practices should work, but are temporally emergent. Team members have to revise collaborative practices through an ongoing process of mutual "tuning" within their situated contexts, in order to achieve a gradual state of interactive stability or a steadiness of practices. The results demonstrate how actors address the challenges in developing shared understandings to drive forward the joint software development process across global locations and move towards supporting agility within the projects. The thesis presents a pluralistic conceptual framework called the Collaborative Tuning Approach, which aids in gaining critical insights of issues related to adapting agile practices and also demonstrates how collaborative practices can act as enabler to achieving agility in such settings. The framework explains the challenges the team members face and how these are overcome when attempting to modify practices and indeed how these evolve through an ongoing state of flux and uncertainty leading to hybrid agile practices.