There has long been a concern about the research-practice gap within Library and Information Science (LIS). Several authors have highlighted the disconnection between the world of professional practice, interested in service and information system development, and the world of the academy, focused on the development of theory and the progress of the discipline. A virtual organization, such as a collaboratory, might support collaboration between LIS professionals and academics in research, potentially transforming the way research between these two groups is undertaken. The purpose of this study was to examine how sociotechnical aspects of work organization influence the initiation, development, and conclusion of collaboration between LIS academics and professionals in distributed research projects. The study examined the development of three collaborative projects from the start to completion in two countries, Italy and another European country. The data analysis aimed at deriving implications for the further development of theory on remote scientific collaboration, and for the design of a sustainable collaboratory to support small-scale, distributed research projects between LIS academics and professionals. The research design, data collection, and data analysis were informed by Actor- Network-Theory (ANT), in particular by Callon’s model of translation of interests. Qualitative interviews and analysis of literary inscriptions formed the key sources of data for the three case studies. The analysis of how and why collaborations between LIS academics and professionals initiated and developed revealed that the initial motivation to pursue collaboration has to do with the lack of economic and organizational resources on either or both sides, and with a genuine interest in a topic by both academics and professionals. The case studies in this study were decentralized and bottom-up projects in which LIS academics and professionals pursued collaboration because they had a genuine interest in a given topic and not because they were mandated by their employers, or they hoped to be acknowledged and promoted by them on the basis of their participation in the project. Market conditions and/or institutional pressures did not exert much influence on the start and development of these collaborations, although one project was influenced by political considerations and funding conditions in healthcare. The patterns emerged from the findings of the three cases underpin the development of a sociotechnical framework aimed at providing a better understanding of remote collaboration between academics and professionals not only in LIS but also in other fields affected by the research-practice gap. / <p>Akademisk avhandling som med tillstånd av samhällsvetenskapliga fakulteten vid Göteborgs universitet för vinnande av doktorsexamen framläggs till offentlig granskning kl. 13.15 torsdagen den 29 april 2010, i hörsal C203, Högskolan i Borås, Allégatan 1, Borås.</p>

It is known that graph theoretic models have extensive application to real-life discrete optimization problems. Many of these models are NP-hard and, as a result, exact methods may be impractical for large scale problem instances. Consequently, there is a great interest in developing e±cient approximate methods that yield near-optimal solutions in acceptable computational times. A class of such methods, known as metaheuristics, have been proposed with success. This thesis considers some recently proposed NP-hard combinatorial optimization problems formulated on graphs. In particular, the min- imum labelling spanning tree problem, the minimum labelling Steiner tree problem, and the minimum quartet tree cost problem, are inves- tigated. Several metaheuristics are proposed for each problem, from classical approximation algorithms to novel approaches. A compre- hensive computational investigation in which the proposed methods are compared with other algorithms recommended in the literature is reported. The results show that the proposed metaheuristics outper- form the algorithms recommended in the literature, obtaining optimal or near-optimal solutions in short computational running times. In addition, a thorough analysis of the implementation of these methods provide insights for the implementation of metaheuristic strategies for other graph theoretic problems.

The following thesis concerns the conceptualization of openness within the open access movement. Open accesscan be understood as a phenomenon or a movement that aims at changing the current system of scholarly communication.Consequentially, the movements goals arose in relation to the escalating serials crisis in scholarly communicationand the increasing power of commercial publishers. The purpose of the thesis is to study three centralopen access declarations with the aim of uncovering the different conceptualizations of openness found withinthese texts. Leaning on the theoretical position known as actor-network theory, the declarations role within a surroundingnetwork is explored by focusing on how openness as a concept has been produced and reproduced bycentral actors. Two overarching questions frames the study: How is openness conceptualized within the declarations?And how can openness, as a concept, be understood as an effect generated by a larger network?The first part of the study focuses on the first question. In order to provide an answer I have conducted athematically structured text analysis of the declarations. The results of this part show that openness, in relation toopen access, is part of a discourse where research is considered a public good. I claim that this indicates thatopenness is related to the larger questions of information freedom and the enclosure of intellectual commons.The purpose of openness is described within the declarations as contributing to mechanisms of decentralized controlover information, which in itself generates a greater efficiency and lower costs in regards to scholarly communication.The second part of the study is concerned with the larger, overarching network and in what way the conceptualizationof openness can be seen as a network generated effect. To answer this question I deploy the theoreticaltools provided by ANT. Focus lies on how the declarations relate to each other and on how central actors havecontributed to the conceptualizations. The results show that openness and open access has shifting meanings thathave been modified in various ways. They also show that actors through a collective negotiation process defineand shape the meaning of openness by circulating ideas on electronic dissemination and distributed processes

The aim of this research is to develop, examine and validate a conceptual framework, which explains factors of the export supply chain relationship focusing on information sharing in export supply chain management field. This research seeks to understand the dyadic exporter-producer relationship in the export industry of fresh fruit and vegetables from Jordan to the European Union. Jordan supplies very limited fresh fruit and vegetable exports to the European market and the exporter-producer relationships are still weak, which impedes the emergence of a high performance supply chain within this promising market. There has been a lack of conceptual and empirical research on information sharing, which limits the understanding of the business relationship and there is no theoretical framework analysing export supply chain relationships. Therefore, this research examines the possible association between the following factors: relationship, network and transaction dimensions; information sharing; and export performance. A framework for the influence of information sharing on a dyadic exporter-producer relationship of supply chain management guiding this research is developed initially, based on three perspectives: relationship marketing theory, network theory and transaction cost theory. Qualitative methodology is used to achieve the research aim and objectives in Jordan. The research is comprised of two phases. In phase one, seven interviews with experts are conducted to refine the initial framework for key propositions and propose a framework for supply chain management. In phase two, there are ten multiple-case studies, which contain 40 semi-structured interviews, 40 hours of observations and archival records. These cases are primarily conducted with the selected exporter and producer firms in the export industry of fresh fruit and vegetables. Data are collected and analysed, based on key themes and a case study protocol, which individually explore each exporter-producer relationship ―case‖ in order to examine the proposed framework. Finally, the ten cases are cross-analysed to explain the key findings and to match them to the framework in order to validate it as the final conceptual framework for supply chain management. The research findings support the central premise that specific dimensions of relationships, networks and transactions are the key antecedents of information sharing, which in turn influences export performance. The findings confirm that the exporters and the producers are able to support their relationships through the benefits gained from these dimensions at the relationship, network and transaction levels of the export III Information Sharing in an Export Supply Chain Relationship Luai Jraisat supply chain. It is through this alignment that firms create better information sharing between them. Likewise, the findings suggest that firms will be able to gain strategic advantages from supply chain management based on information sharing and its components, namely content, sharing methods, sources and value, thus suggesting that the firms should apply information sharing to improve financial and non-financial export performance. The research makes key contributions to theory and methodology, and has policy and managerial implications. Theoretical contributions are made to the supply chain management literature by providing a holistic framework for supply chain management to understand the exporter-producer relationship. The research expands on the applications of the three perspectives combined and focuses on information sharing as a key factor. Methodological contributions are offered as this research connects the qualitative methodology to the theory, enabling an analytical generalisation of supply chain management relationships by examining both sides of the dyadic relationship to guide their information sharing. This research expands more on the validity and reliability aspects to ensure the strength of this qualitative empirical research. Policy and managerial implications are addressed for managers and policy-makers. The research limitations and guidelines for future research are discussed.

There have been recent contributions to the world city literature and the new economic geography literature that have focused on city connectivity and practicebased research, through concepts such as city actor-networks, relational geographies and project-led enquiries. As this literature is developing, this thesis aims to analyse and contribute to it by providing an empirical focus in two main themes that have so far been marginalised in these literatures – the city of Sydney, and the cultural industries. An alternative conceptualisation of world cities, namely ‘new urbanism’, which employs Actor-Network Theory, will be utilised in this thesis to ask the question, what are the actants of Sydney’s cultural industries (specifically the film and TV production industry), and how are they enrolled to create the spacing and timing of Sydney’s actor-networks? By answering this question, this thesis will contribute to the knowledge in three ways: theoretically, by adding weight to the alternative concepts of new urbanism and relational economic geographies; empirically, by studying two themes that have been hitherto underdeveloped in the existing literature; and methodologically, through new developing empirical agendas that cover the quantification of Sydney’s world city network and ANT-inspired ethnographic, ‘project-based’ enquiry.

Marketing scholars question the ability of the 4Ps to explain higher order phenomena in modern marketing. Scholars contend that marketing's historical framework, based in product centric economic theory, constrains the 4Ps ability to form a foundation for a general theory of marketing. The focus on value embedded in product fails to explain knowledge-based intangible sources of competitive advantage. In response to this concern a new dominant logic for marketing called service-dominant logic (S-D Logic) has been proposed. However, not all scholars are supportive of S-D Logic. Still nescient, S-D Logic lacks a theoretic model, operationalized constructs, and relationships between those constructs. This study addresses those deficiencies by: (1) generation of a grounded theory of a performance-oriented network; (2) empirical assessment of the S-D Logic literature; and (3) development of an inductively generated theory of S-D Logic to include constructs, relationships, outcomes, and hypothesis. This investigation provides an important set of research findings. The resultant service-oriented network theory suggests a theoretic structure for S-D Logic. Use of grounded theory provides a strong empirical foundation based in a leading edge multi-national market segment composed corporations and programs worth hundreds of billions of dollars. The analysis drew upon 44 field interviews and follow-up exchanges. Multiple member checking sessions generated practitioner confirmation of the research conclusions. The work provides actionable theoretical and practical implications. This investigation provides a link between S-D Logic as a foundation for a general theory of marketing and initial model of suggestive of such theory. For the practitioner the service-oriented network model provides actionable constructs. The antecedents identified are largely influencable by inter-firm leadership and provides them a mechanism to tailor the specific service-oriented strategy to support the desired network value propositions.

Det finns ett missnöje och en kritik riktad mot hur Karolinska Institutet (KI) rekrytering av Paolo Macchiarini gick till och kritiker menar att det var personliga, informella kontakter som styrde istället för de formella kraven. Mot denna bakgrund väcktes ett intresse om hur nätverk inom Karolinska Institutet och forskningsvärlden i stort byggs och vad som skiljer ett professionellt nätverk från ett personligt. För att undersöka detta har denna etnografiska studie gjorts genom deltagande observationer av en forskargrupp på KI. Syftet med studien har varit att undersöka hur forskare på KI bygger professionella och personliga nätverk och hur dessa samspelar med varandra. De frågeställningar som studien utgår ifrån är; Hur bygger forskare på KI nätverk? Hur skiljer sig forskarnas professionella och personliga nätverk åt? På vilket sätt påverkar relationen mellan handledare och doktorand dessa nätverk? För att besvara dessa frågor har Actor Network Theory (ANT) och diskursanalys använts som teoretiskt ramverk. Teorierna ger en förklaring till hur forskare samspelar med varandra och dess omvärld inom en given kontext, samt vilka faktorer som påverkar deras agerande. Resultatet av studien visar på att forskare på KI bygger nätverk på flera olika sätt och är en del av olika nätverk samtidigt. Förutom de personliga och professionella nätverken kunde ytterligare tre nätverk identifieras och skillnaderna mellan dessa belysas. Resultatet visar även på hur relationen mellan handledare och doktorand skiljer sig från andra relationer. Vår slutsats är att det bland forskares vanligtvis rörliga nätverk finns ett mer bestående nätverk av familjär karaktär. Nyckelord: Actor Network Theory (ANT), subjektsposition, nätverk, akademiskt släktskap

Sweden has been praised for its achievements, and promoted as a role model, in sustainable urban development. This thesis, comprising five separate articles and a cover essay, is a critical study of the Swedish urban sustainable imaginary. The first article examines how this imaginary is produced. Using an actor-network theory approach, I view the Swedish pavilion at the World Expo in Shanghai in 2010 as a node in a wider network, arguing that the notion of decoupling GDP growth from CO2 emissions constitutes a central storyline. The second and third papers study the circulation of this imaginary in practice, specifically examining two cases of exporting Swedish sustainable urban planning to Chinese eco-city projects. Few of these plans, I note, were materialised in built form; rather, they contributed to the circulation of a repetitive model of sustainable urbanism, reinforcing a paradoxical idea of urban sustainability as “green islands of privilege”. The storyline of decoupling – and the circulating business of sustainable urbanism into which it feeds – is based on a deficient territorial view of space. In this research, I advocate a political ecology perspective and relational view of space, wherein there are no such things as sustainable or unsustainable cities. Rather, planning should aim for more just socio-environmental relations within and across urban borders. The fourth and fifth papers address the wider question of how planning can foster more socio-environmentally just forms of urban sustainability. Here, I emphasise a consumption perspective on greenhouse gas emissions as an important counter-narrative and analyse two Swedish municipalities’ efforts to lessen citizens’ consumption through policy and planning practice.   This research highlights the need to continuously develop and contest imaginaries and planning practices of sustainability, of who is perceived as “sustainable” and what a socio-environmentally just perspective might mean in practice for policy makers and planners alike. / <p>QC 20170120</p>

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) evolved as alternative governance structures for firms seeking to combine resources with other firms, access larger markets, or acquire strategic assets. In spite of managers’ enthusiasm about the practice, studies show mixed results regarding post-acquisition performance of acquiring firms. The impact of acquisitions on the performance of acquiring firms has therefore remained inconclusive. A few reasons for this have been suggested and recent meta-analytic research efforts indicate that studies in M&A may have ignored variables that have significant effects on post-acquisition performance. In a bid to extend the literature on M&A and identify cogent variables that impact on acquisition performance, this dissertation draws on social network theory to advance a proposition for the value-of-ties. This was done by examining the impact of directorate interlocks on acquisitions specifically and organizational strategy in general. A non-experimental cross-sectional study of 98 interlocked directorate companies simultaneously involved in acquisitions was conducted. Several multiple regression analyses were conducted and the results obtained suggest that there is a positive linear relationship between director interlocks and post-acquisition performance and that to some extent this relationship is moderated by acquisition experience. The study also showed that director interlocks have a negative linear relationship with acquisition premium. This study complements the body of knowledge on acquisitions and network theory. It also successfully combined a multi-level approach to research on organizations and strategic management.

Since their discovery in the 1950's by Erdos and Renyi, network theory (the study of objects and their associations) has blossomed into a full-fledged branch of mathematics. Due to the network's flexibility, diverse scientific problems can be reformulated as networks and studied using a common set of tools. I define a network G = (V,E) composed of two parts: (i) the set of objects V, called nodes, and (ii) set of relationships (associations) E, called links, that connect objects in V. We can extend the classic network of nodes and links by describing the intensity of these associations with weights. More formally, weighted networks augment the classic network with a function f(e) from links to the real line, uncovering powerful ways to model real-world applications. This thesis studies new ways to construct robust micro powergrids, mine people's perceptions of causality on a social network, and proposes a new way to analyze crowdsourcing all in the context of the weighted network model. The current state of Earth's ecosystem and intensifying climate calls on scientists to find new ways to harvest clean affordable energy. A microgrid, or neighborhood-scale powergrid built using renewable energy sources attached to personal homes, suggest one way to ameliorate this energy crisis. We can study the stability (robustness) of such a small-scale system with weighted networks. A novel use of weighted networks and percolation theory guides the safe and efficient construction of power lines (links, E) connecting a small set of houses (nodes, V) to one another and weights each power line by the distance between houses. This new look at the robustness of microgrid structures calls into question the efficacy of the traditional utility. The next study uses the twitter social network to compare and contrast causal language from everyday conversation. Collecting a set of 1 million tweets, we find a set of words (unigrams), parts of speech, named entities, and sentiment signal the use of informal causal language. Breaking a problem difficult for a computer to solve into many parts and distributing these tasks to a group of humans to solve is called Crowdsourcing. My final project asks volunteers to 'reply' to questions asked of them and 'supply' novel questions for others to answer. I model this 'reply and supply' framework as a dynamic weighted network, proposing new theories about this network's behavior and how to steer it toward worthy goals. This thesis demonstrates novel uses of, enhances the current scientific literature on, and presents novel methodology for, weighted networks.