This thesis investigates how a knowledge-intensive, small, young firm, in a highly competitive environment, deal with difficulties in their recruitment process.. Given their assumed disadvantages, how does the firm attract and retain key personnel? A case study was conducted of a small young firm in Silicon Valley. The findings suggest that small firms do not directly compete with larger firms for personnel, and that the company should emphasize small firms´ work characteristics in their recruiting practices to become attractive for job-seekers.

Background: Critical conditions to become an attractive supplier of knowledge based IT-services in the B2B market are many. Besides the fact of supplying a service of high quality one must as a supplier communicate values which are understandable and desirable for a new buyer. Buying a knowledge based IT-service involves several risks; the consultant might not have sufficient knowledge or have difficulties understanding the corporate culture and collaborating with other staff within the client’s organization. Since services are intangible offers and it can be intricate to put right price level for something which can only be evaluated when the project is finished, puts severe strain on suppliers competing with other companies in the same market when looking for new clients. The question is whether a supplier’s corporate brand can play a decisive role for buyers when choosing between similar offers from numerous companies? Problem formulation & main purpose: To examine if a supplier’s corporate image has a significant impact on a company’s buying decision of knowledge based IT services. Method: Case study, interviews Conclusion:  A strong corporate image can reduce the notion of several risks and increases the feeling of security and confirmation of making the right decision when choosing a new supplier. Hence it is critical to deliver what the brand promise offers. A long buying process is time consuming and hence costly and naturally a shorter buying process is preferred. Buyers tend to listen to recommendations from other companies’ which already have experience from working with the supplier. Therefore it is important to continually work on relations with existing customers to retain a good image. A buyer can perceive a knowledge based IT-service as a low involvement offer but still fear the fact that it involves many risks. A supplier’s strong corporate image can decrease such thoughts.

Title: A study about conditions for leadership in knowledge-intensive firms. Authors: Cecilia Ekström and Niklas Sandberg Keywords: Leadership, knowledge-intensive firm, hierarchies, followers. Background: Leadership is becoming one of our greatest social myths and is considered a total solution for many problems that occur in an organization. The view of leadership is usually from a top-down perspective, which contributes to an often underestimated view of the follower. Just as it is important to understand the leader's view of leadership, it is important to understand how employees view the structure from which the leader derives its legitimacy. The existing conditions in knowledge-intensive firms, such as autonomy, place special demands on the formal leadership. Purpose: The purpose of this study takes an employee perspective, to understand what the conditions are for formal leadership in knowledge-intensive firms. Method: A qualitative research method was used and empirical material was collected through interviews with employees in knowledge-intensive firms. The empirical material was analyzed by the respondents’ mental images which were set against the theoretical framework of the thesis. Conclusions: The conditions for formal leadership in knowledge-intensive firms make it advantageous to have a leader with a withdrawn role. It is about taking advantage of the employees’ cutting edge knowledge of the work and to support and develop the employees. The leader needs to be aware that it is important for employees to be heard and that questioning is a way to develop the organization. The leader also needs to be aware that even employees in knowledge-intensive firms, which seemingly are very independent, need frameworks to relate to that distributes roles and responsibilities. / Titel: En studie om förutsättningar för ledarskap i kunskapsintensiva verksamheter. Författare: Cecilia Ekström och Niklas Sandberg Nyckelord: Ledarskap, kunskapsintensiva verksamheter, hierarkier, följare. Bakgrund: Ledarskap håller på att växa till en av vår tids största sociala myter och anses som en helhetslösning för många problem som uppstår i en organisation. Synen på ledarskap utgår oftast ifrån ett uppifrån-och-ner perspektiv vilket bidrar till att följarnas roll ofta undervärderas. På samma sätt som det är viktigt att förstå ledarens syn på ledarskap är det viktigt att förstå hur medarbetarna ser på den struktur varifrån ledaren hämtar sin legitimitet. De förutsättningar som finns i kunskapsintensiva verksamheter, till exempel autonomi, ställer särskilda krav på det formella ledarskapet. Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att genom ett medarbetarperspektiv skapa förståelse för vilka förutsättningar som finns för formellt ledarskap i kunskapsintensiva verksamheter. Metod: En kvalitativ forskningsmetod har använts och empirimaterialet samlades in genom intervjuer med anställda i kunskapsintensiva verksamheter. Empirimaterialet har analyserats genom att respondenternas mentala bilder har ställts mot uppsatsens teoretiska referensram. Slutsatser: Förutsättningarna för formellt ledarskap i kunskapsintensiva verksamheter gör det fördelaktigt att ledaren har en tillbakadragen roll. Det handlar om att ta vara på medarbetarnas spetskunskaper i arbetet samt stötta och utveckla medarbetarna. Ledaren behöver vara medveten om att det är viktigt för medarbetarna att få komma till tals och att ifrågasättande är ett sätt att utveckla organisationen. Ledaren behöver dessutom vara medveten om att även medarbetare i kunskapsintensiva verksamheter, som till synes är väldigt självständiga behöver ramar att förhålla sig till som är till för att fördela roller och ansvar.

Studien har tagit sin utgångspunkt i det kunskapsintensiva arbetslivet där individen ses som kunskapsbärare. Det blir avgörande för organisationen att ta tillvara på denna kunskap och således ställs kunskapshantering centralt för studien. Syftet har varit att undersöka hur chefer upplever och uttrycker hur individburen kunskap kan komma organisationen till gagn. För kunskapsöverföring, mellan individ och organisation, har forskning betonat vikten av ett kollektivt lärande. Studien utgår därför från ett socialt perspektiv på lärande. Med hjälp av en kvalitativ strategi med semistrukturerade intervjuer inhämtades empirin. Sedermera problematiserades och analyserades resultatet utifrån Wengers teori om praktik-gemenskapen och Alvesson och Kärremans modell för kunskaps-hantering. Slutsatser som kunnat göras är bland annat att social interaktion och gemenskap är avgörande för en lärande organisation, dock kan inte praktikgemenskapen tillskrivas mening som ett managementverktyg. Teorin kan däremot anammas som förhållningssätt för cheferna i att uppmärksamma olika slags gemenskaper och deras potential till kunskapsutveckling för hela organisationen.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Understanding factors that enhance or diminish performance levels of individuals is instrumental for achieving individual (low level) and organisational (high level) goals. In this study, the effect of social network structure, position, ties and information and communication technologies (ICT) use on performance attitudes of knowledge intensive workers in dispersed occupational communities is investigated. Based on social network theories of strength of weak ties and structural holes, and the social influence model of technology use, a theoretical framework is developed. In conjunction with qualitative interviews conducted with subject matter experts, the framework is used to further develop and refine a valid and reliable survey instrument. Secondly, network measures of degree centrality, density, structural holes (constraint and efficiency), tie strength and tie diversity are applied for exploring the association with ICT use and performance from a sample of 110 rural general practitioners. Empirical results suggest that network structure, position and ties of knowledge workers play a crucial role in individual performance and ICT use. In particular, degree centrality and task-level ICT use was found to be positively associated with performance while ego-network constraint was found to be negatively correlated with performance. In terms of ICT use, functional diversity and degree centrality were positively associated with task-level ICT use whereas ego-network efficiency was found to be negatively correlated with ICT use at the communication-structure level. Among the variables that showed significance, degree centrality best explained overall variance for performance, and functional diversity best explained overall variance for task-level ICT use, although professional accreditations remains a potent indicator also. The results from this study resonate with findings from past literature and extend traditional theory of social networks and performance within the micro level to include geographically dispersed individuals involved in knowledge intensive work. For individuals in such non-competitive settings, traditional network theories such as structural holes theory still apply. However, a key finding is that network structure is a much more potent predictor of performance although network position is important. The second key finding addresses a major gap in the literature concerning understanding social processes that influence ICT use. As the technology acceptance and the social influence models lack empirical evidence from a social networks perspective, this research shows that rather than the strength of ties which functions as a conduit of novel ideas and information, it is the functional tie diversity within individual professionals networks that increase ICT use at the task-level. Methodologically, the study contributes towards a triangulation approach that utilises both qualitative and quantitative methods for operationalising the study. The quantitative method includes a non-traditional “networks” method of data collection and analysis to serve as a fine complement to traditional research methods in behavioural studies. The outcome is a valid and reliable survey instrument that allows collection of both individual attribute and social network data. The instrument is theoretically driven, practically feasible to implement, time-efficient and easily replicable for other similar studies. At the domain level, key findings from this study contradict previous literature which suggests that professionals in occupational communities such as general practitioners decline in performance as they age. In fact, findings from this study suggest that age and experience do not affect for performance; rather, there is a negative relationship between experience and task-level ICT use, and that task-level ICT use is positively associated with performance in terms of attitudes to interpersonal care. Furthermore, degree centrality is also positively associated with professional accreditations, such as fellowship of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, which is conducive to performance in terms of attitudes to interpersonal and technical care. The contextual implication from the quantitative and qualitative evidence of this study is that while contemplating strategies for optimising ICT use or for improving attitudes to quality of care at the technical and interpersonal level, the importance of social structure, position and relations in the practitioner’s professional network needs to be considered carefully as part of the overall individual and organisation-level goals.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Göteborg : Göteborgs universitet, 2007. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Problemställning: Genom digitaliseringen går det att identifiera möjligheter i såväl företags kunskapshantering som affärsrelationer. Dessa består bland annat av möjligheter till mer data- och informationsunderlag och nya sätt att kommunicera på. Samtidigt innebär det även utmaningar i form av högre krav på hantering, anpassning och kunskap för att realisera möjligheterna. Vidare kan företag genom att digitalisera sig anta ekonomiska fördelar och digitaliseringen kan ses som nödvändig att hänga med i för att överleva på marknaden. Detta pekar på dilemmat och relevansen för företag att utnyttja digitaliseringen till sin fördel. Att undersöka vad dessa möjligheter och utmaningar består av, ter sig därmed aktuellt att studera i samband med kunskapshantering och affärsrelationer. Forskningsfrågor: 1. Hur gestaltar sig de huvudsakliga digitala förändringarna, och vilka möjligheter respektive utmaningar upplever anställda med dessa? 2. Vilka upplevs som de huvudsakliga möjligheterna respektive utmaningarna som digitaliseringens effekter har bidragit till gällande kunskapshantering inom företag? 3. Vilka upplevs som de huvudsakliga möjligheterna respektive utmaningarna som digitaliseringens effekter har bidragit till gällande hanteringen och upprätthållandet av affärsrelationer för företag? Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att få en ökad förståelse för de möjligheter och utmaningar som anställda på kunskapsintensiva B2B-företag upplever som effekt av digitaliseringen. Detta undersöks ur två huvudsakliga områden; kunskapshantering och affärsrelationer. Upplevda möjligheter och utmaningar kopplat till digitaliseringen som en förändring i företag studeras också och är det som inleder studien. Resultat: Det som vissa respondenter upplever som möjligheter upplevs som utmaningar av andra. Sett till digitaliseringen upplevs möjligheter till tidsbesparing och arbete med andra uppgifter, parallellt med en utmaning i samband med ökad hantering och stress. Investeringar upplevs riskera att inte besvara behovsbilden och synkronisering ses som utmanande, samtidigt som det beskrivs som en möjlighet ifall detta uppnås. Vid kunskapshantering visar sig möjligheter till såväl ökad som minskad motivation. Även sett till kommunikation internt och långsiktigt externt relationsbyggande samt tillit, kan digitaliseringen verka åt båda håll. Lagar, regleringar och bestämmelser visar sig vara en utmaning som flera respondenter upplever. Digitala verktyg upplevs kunna gynna kommunikation och kunskapsspridning, men även tiden framställs som en utmaning i detta sammanhang Kunskapsbidrag: Studien bidrar till att öka förståelsen för vilka huvudsakliga möjligheter och utmaningar som anställda på kunskapsintensiva B2B-företag upplever som effekt av digitaliseringen. Denna förståelse är värdefull för företag som möter denna förändring; en medvetenhet kring möjligheter och en identifiering av utmaningar kan stärka arbetet. / Problematization: With the digitization, opportunities in knowledge management as well as in business relations are identified. These consist of, for example, opportunities in more data as well as information in decision making, but also new ways to communicate. Simultaneously, challenges in increasing demands on management, adaptation and knowledge occur to take advantage of the opportunities. Moreover, enterprises can realize economic benefits and the digitization can also be seen as something that they have to keep up with in order to survive on the market. This shows the dilemma, as well as the importance, for enterprises to take advantage of the digitization. Therefore, it is of interest to examine what these opportunities and challenges consist of, focusing on knowledge management and business relations. Research questions: 1. How are the main digitization changes shown, and which are experienced as the main opportunities and challenges? 2.Which are experienced as the main opportunities and challenges that the effects of the digitization have contributed to, focusing on enterprises’ knowledge management? 3. Which are experienced as the main opportunities and challenges that the effects of the digitization have contributed to, focusing on the management and maintenance of business relations in enterprises? Purpose: The study aims to reach a deeper understanding of the opportunities and challenges that workers in knowledge intensive B2B-enterprises experience as an effect of the digitization. These are being examined focusing on two main areas: knowledge management and business relations. Experienced opportunities and challenges with the digitization as a change in enterprises is also examined and begins the study. Result: Aspects that some respondents expressed as opportunities, others experienced as challenges. Digitization is described as an opportunity to make time savings that can be invested in other tasks, as well as it is experienced as a challenge in increasing work with management and stress, as a result. IT-investments are associated with the risk of not fulfilling the needs and synchronization is described as a challenge, as well as an opportunity if it is achieved. Correlated to knowledge management, digitization can increase as well as decrease the motivation. In internal communication, long term business relations and trust, the digitization is experienced as affecting in different directions. Laws and regulations turned out to be a challenge according to several respondents. Digital tools are experienced as being able to promote communication and knowledge management, but the time is expressed as a challenge in this aspect as well. Contribution: The study contributes to an increasing understanding of the main opportunities and challenges that workers in knowledge intensive B2B-enterprises experience as an effect of the digitization. This understanding is valuable to enterprises in digital changes thanks to an increasing ability to identify opportunities and reinforce them, as well as to identify challenges and handle them.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-23T14:00:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Completa.pdf: 812259 bytes, checksum: 617ede639d3619942c44e2022f33f5ad (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-06-03 / O atual paradigma técnico-econômico das tecnologias da informação e das comunicações (PTE-TICS) abriu uma janela de oportunidades, da qual os knowledgeintensive business services, ou KIBS, têm feito largo uso. Esta dissertação tem como foco de discussão o desenvolvimento de KIBS em regiões periféricas. Para tanto, além de se apresentar a abordagem teórica que envolve KIBS, incluindo suas 4 dimensões características, o estudo apresenta a composição e a dinâmica do setor de serviços e das atividades KIBS no Brasil e no Espírito Santo, oferecendo um estudo de caso sobre as empresas de engenharia de projetos e de tecnologia da informação, participantes de um programa de desenvolvimento de fornecedores. A linha mestra de raciocínio é a proposição de que KIBS possuem uma quinta dimensão que lhe é característica: sua dimensão institucional e sua importância em regiões periféricas. Dentro dela, o destaque, no caso do Espírito Santo, vai para as instituições relacionadas à capacitação de pessoal. / The current information technologies and communications technical-economic paradigm (TEP-ICT´S) has opened many opportunities which have been widely used by knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS). This paper aims at discussing KIBS development in peripheral regions. Therefore, it will not only present the theoretical approach which involves KIBS including its 4 distinctive dimensions but also the formation and dynamics of service rendering segments and KIBS activities in Brazil and Espírito Santo, offering a case study on project engineering and information technology companies which took part in a suppliers development program. The major line of reasoning is to propose KIBS has a 5th-distinctive dimension (the institutional dimension) and its importance in peripheral regions. Particularly in Espírito Santo case, said 5th dimension focuses on collaborator qualification institutions.

Building a corporate brand is as a crucial resource for the survival of companies. Social media as a tool for branding practices has been emphasized in research about startups. In such research, less focus is on certain groups of startups, such as Knowledge-intensive startups (KI Startups). This is peculiar as such startups differ in societal contributions and how they are constituted. Thus, as social media branding practices might enhance the survival rate, it is important to extend this research about KI startups.    The purpose of this thesis is to understand how and why KI startups in Sweden use social media to build their corporate brands in regards of four different branding elements.   The thesis has an exploratory and interpretivist philosophy with an abductive approach. A qualitative method was chosen to collect the empirical data. Firstly, a pilot study which contained a questionnaire was sent to a sample of KI startups to attain an initial understanding of the field. Secondly, semi-structured interviews with six KI startups were conducted for a main study.   The findings indicate that the interviewed KI startups use social media to build brand awareness, influence and engage customers, attract new employees, and to build reputation. The findings also indicate that some KI startups use social media to attain a credible and knowledgeable brand perception.    Our findings may help other KI startups when choosing a social media channel, and what content to post in the brand building process. Suggestions for further research are a similar, but more extensive study in Sweden, or a study in a country that is different to Sweden.

No description available.