Das vorliegende Instrument – der Fragebogen zur Identifikation von Wissensbarrieren (WiBa) – misst den Umgang mit Wissen und Wissensbarrieren in Organisationen. Es lehnt sich in seiner Struktur an die Bausteine des Wissensmanagements von Probst, Raub und Romhardt (1997, 2006) an, die eine Art Lebenslauf von Wissen abbilden. Die 14 Skalen des Fragebogens decken die Themenfelder transaktives Wissen, Informationsverlust, interne Wissensbeschaffung, externe Wissensbeschaffung, Bedeutung von Wissensmanagement, Informationsspeicherung, Betriebsblindheit und mangelnde Aufmerksamkeit, mangelhafte Darstellung und Missverständnisse, Misstrauen und Mikropolitik, Übergabeprozesse, Informationsfluss, Kommunikationsklima, Lernkultur sowie Verbesserungsbedarf ab. Neben geschlossenen Fragen (Ratingskala, siebenstufig) gibt es auch einige offene Fragen. Der WiBa-Fragebogen sieht sich als Beitrag zur so genannten dritten Generation des Wissensmanagements. Auf Grund der Entwicklung unserer Gesellschaft von einer Produktions- zu einer Wissensgesellschaft gilt Wissen als die zentrale Ressource eines Unternehmens, die in der Regel noch nicht optimal ausgeschöpft wird. Zur Verbesserung werden oft gängige Wissensmanagement-Standardmaßnahmen blind ergriffen, die die vorhandenen Schwächen nicht im Kern treffen und daher auch ihre Wirkung nicht entfalten. Stattdessen ist die Entwicklung passgenauer, auf die aktuellen Bedürfnisse des Unternehmens abgestimmter Maßnahmen notwendig. Der WiBa-Fragebogen ermöglicht die dafür erforderliche Bestimmung des Ist-Zustandes im Umgang mit Wissen, indem er ein Stärken- und Schwächenprofil ausgibt. Er schließt damit eine Lücke in der bisherigen Landschaft der Diagnostik-Instrumente. Neben den Ergebnissen von explorativen Experten-Interviews flossen auch Erkenntnisse aus der Forschungsliteratur und ausgewählte Fragen aus anderen Instrumenten in die Item-Generierung ein. Im Rahmen von drei Erhebungswellen wurden insgesamt 1.256 Mitarbeiter mit dem WiBa-Fragebogen befragt. Das nun vorliegende Instrument ist objektiv, reliabel und valide. Insbesondere eine umfangreiche Prüfung der Kriteriums- und Konstruktvalidität konnte durch die Hinzunahme von anderen Erhebungsinstrumenten (zu den Themenfeldern Arbeitszufriedenheit, Arbeitsbeschreibung, Organisationskultur und Vorgesetztenverhalten) und durch Prüfung von Zusammenhängen mit demografischen Variablen und Unternehmensmerkmalen erreicht werden. Die stichprobenstarken Erhebungen führten dazu, dass ein erster Grundstock an Benchmark-Werte vorliegt. / The Questionnaire for the Identification of Knowledge Barriers (WiBa) measures the handling of knowledge within companies and organizations. The WiBa-questionnaire’s structure is inspired by the knowledge cycle of Probst, Raub and Romhardt (1997, 2006) which describes a lifecycle of knowledge. The fourteen scales include the topics: transactive knowledge, loss of information, internal knowledge acquisition, external knowledge acquisition, meaning of knowledge management, storage of information, professional blindness and lack of awareness, poor description and misunderstanding, mistrust and micropolitics, handover processes, information flow, climate of communication, learning culture and need for improvement. The questionnaire primarily includes questions rated on a seven point scale but also a small number of open questions. The WiBa-questionnaire is part of the so called third generation of knowledge management: Because our society has changed from a production-based to a knowledge-based society, knowledge is one of the most important resources for companies. Yet it is frequently not used as effectively as it could be. In trying to alleviate this, companies often blindly implement standard actions that do not exactly match the companies’ needs and therefore do not work. Instead it is crucial to implement actions that precisely fit the weaknesses and particularities of the company. In order to do that, an analysis of the actual handling of knowledge in the company is needed – this can be done by the WiBa-questionnaire. The output of this questionnaire consists of a profile of knowledge-strengths and knowledge-weaknesses. The questionnaire thereby closes a gap among in the currently available diagnostic tools. There were three sources for the development of items: first, explorative expert interviews, second, results from research and third, other questionnaires. In the sequence of three surveys a total of 1.256 employees took part. The WiBa-questionnaire is objective, reliable and valid. Especially criteria-validity and construct-validity were proven by checking the interrelations with other questionnaires (work satisfaction, work description, organizational culture and behavior of the superior) and with demographic variables and attributes of the company. Because of the large number of participants in the surveys, there is a basis of benchmark data available.

No description available.

Bakgrund och problemdiskussion: Mikro- och småföretag har fått en allt större betydelse för sysselsättningen och den ekonomiska tillväxten i Sverige. 22.6 % av Sveriges företag klassificeras som mikroföretag och denna storleksklass har svårt att växa vidare. I denna storleksklass är viljan att växa vidare god, dock avtar den då antalet anställda inom en organisation ökar. Detta då komplexiteten att styra och kontrollera företaget ökar. När ett företag växer ökar behovet av formell ekonomistyrning och att utveckla det kommer främja ett företags långsiktiga tillväxt. Att inte införa formell ekonomistyrning kan orsaka att ett företag inte uppnår dess fulla tillväxtpotential och kan medföra stor skada inom ett företag. Syfte: Det övergripande syftet är att utveckla en konceptuell modell som beskriver och förklarar behovet av formell ekonomistyrning hos mikroföretag i tillväxt, vilket ska möjliggöras genom två delsyften. Metod: En kvalitativ forskningsansats med flerfallstudie ansågs lämplig för studiens forskningsfråga och syfte. För empiriinsamling valdes semi-strukturerade intervjuer och dokument. Slutsats: Behovet av att införa formell ekonomistyrning tilltar under ett företags tillväxt. I uppstarten behövs det för att ett företag ska överleva, sälja och ha möjlighet att utveckla en produkt. Vid ökad efterfråga växer behovet av formell ekonomistyrning för att kontrollera tillväxten och möjliggöra arbete mot de uppsatta målen. Under ett företags utveckling utökas dess organisation vilket ökar behovet av att vidareutveckla den formella ekonomistyrningen. / Background and discussion: Micro- and small enterprises have become increasingly important for the employment and economic growth in Sweden. 22.6 % of the Swedish companies are classified as micro-enterprises, and this size class has difficulties to grow on. The desire to continue to grow in this size class is good, however it decreases as the number of employees within an organization increases. This is because the complexity of managing and controlling the company increases. When a company grows, the need for formal management control increases and to develop it will promote a company’s long-term growth. To not introduce formal management control may cause the company to not achieve its full growth potential and can also cause great damage within a company. Purpose: The overall purpose is to develop a conceptual model that describes and explains the need for formal management control of micro-enterprises in growth, which will be enabled through two smaller purposes. Method: A qualitative approach with a multiple case study was considered appropriate for the study’s research question and purpose. For empirical data collection was semi-structured interviews and documents selected. Conclusion: The need to establish formal management control increases during a company’s growth. In the start-up is it needed for a company to survive, to sell and have the opportunity to develop a product. In case of increased demand is the need for formal management control growing to control the growth and facilitate work towards the established goals. During the development of the company its organization expands, which increases the need to further develop the formal management control.

<p>When duties are documented, new ideas are often created regarding how the work should be carried out. Writing is an important source of development, but unfortunately the possibilities are limited when it comes to transferring new ways of thinking to personnel. As with organizational change in general, employees tend to neglect new instructions. On the basis of their personal ways of thinking, they might find that the new order is incorrect, requires more resources, lacks contact with reality, or cannot be understood. The people who have prepared the new directives think they are surely justified and easy to understand. In their eyes, those who stick to what used to be correct and reasonable seem resistant to change.</p><p>The aim of this dissertation is to understand the influence of self-assessment on service cognition and to propose how this influence can be utilized to attain strategic aims. The term self-assessment refers here to the activity whereby employees, in a structured manner, collectively assess and document their own instructions. The concept of service cognition refers to individual employee’s conceptions on how to carry out their own tasks, on how colleagues carry out theirs, and on connections between activities in the common workflow. The object of study is self-assessment as business process modeling at the local offices of the Swedish Employment Service.</p><p>What is explored is the crass but fruitful understanding that new ways of thinking more easily arise among those who define organizational design than among those who are expected to change. Using socio-cognitive theory as well as longitudinal and extensive action research, the reasons are investigated behind the inevitable development of units which are trusted to write their own instructions and, in so doing, start to talk about the way work is done. Despite the independence needed to coordinate by consensus, it seems that the collective mind thereby induced actually enhances opportunities for central control and change: Units designing their own routines surely become better coordinated, but also more controllable and adaptive to strategic change. Furthermore, some principles are presented to support self-assessment regarding organization and change.</p>

Syftet med uppsatsen är att kartlägga behovet av en testbädd för telemedicinska produkter och att analysera krav som medicintekniska företag ställer på en testbäddsmiljö för samverkan med sjukvården. Målet har varit att konkretisera resultatet i en kommersialiseringsplan för Karolinska Testbädd för Telemedicin och eHälsa, vid Medicinsk Teknik på Karolinska Universitetssjukhuset. Vid genomförandet av undersökningen har totalt 19 intervjuer och ytterligare 6 telefonintervjuer genomförts med dels representanter från medicintekniska företag och sjukvården och dels med samarbetsstrukturer för medicinsk teknik och möjliga finansiärer. En enkätundersökning har genomförts för att kvantifiera resultatet från intervjuerna. Webbutskick har gjorts till 279 företag med verksamhet inom områdena medicinsk teknik, IT och telekom. Uppsatsen beskriver hur den kliniska forskningen inom området medicinsk teknik har förändrats de senaste decennierna och hur situationen ser ut idag. Utmaningar som den svenska hälso- och sjukvården står inför presenteras, som demografiska förändringar, ökade sjukvårdskostnader, dyrare behandlingsmetoder och färre kommersialiserade innovationer inom medicinsk teknik.  Omständigheter som påverkar produktutveckling för hälso- och sjukvården belyses, dels genom den regulatoriska gränsdragningen mellan IT-produkter och medicintekniska produkter och dels utifrån en genomgång av forskning inom produkt- och tjänsteutveckling och utifrån de frågor kring hur företag bedriver produktutveckling som ställts i intervjuerna och i webbenkäten. Resultatet visar att företagen i högsta grad är beroende av samarbete med sjukvården i olika faser av sin produktutvecklingsprocess och att flera företag uttrycker ett behov av en testbäddsstruktur. Företagen samarbetar med vården framförallt för att det möjliggör att utveckla mer vårdanpassade produkter. Samarbete med vården ger kortare utvecklingstider och därmed minskade utvecklingskostnader. Det förenklar även arbetet med validering av produkters funktionalitet. Flera företag har utarbetade samarbeten direkt in på vårdavdelningar, medan andra i dagsläget saknar nödvändiga samarbetsstrukturer. Studien har identifierat ett flertal företag som visat intresse för ett samarbete med Testbädden och ytterligare ett antal som har önskat att få mer information om vad Testbädden kan erbjuda. I kommersialiseringsplanen föreslås Karolinska Testbädd för Telemedicin och eHälsa fokusera på sin nisch samt vidareutveckla den kompetens som företagen saknar. Testbädden bör arbeta vidare med att utveckla både externa kontakter och den interna samverkansorganisationen på Karolinska för att möjliggöra effektiva, smidiga och kvalitativa samarbeten mellan företag och sjukhusets avdelningar. / The purpose is to study the demand for a testbed for telemedicine and to analyze the medical device-developing companies’ requirements on the testbed’s facilities when collaborating with the healthcare sector in their product development. The study’s aim is to result in a commercialization plan for Karolinska Testbed for telemedicine and eHealth, at the department of Biomedical Engineering at Karolinska University Hospital. During the study, 19 interviews and 6 telephone-interviews has been held with people from the medical device industry, hospitals, potential funders and collaboration structures which foster medical device development. A web-survey has been sent to 279 companies within the fields of medical technologies, IT and telecom, to quantify the results from the interviews. The study describes how the clinical research on medical technologies has changed over the last decades and what the situation is like today. Present and forthcoming challenges to the Swedish health care system is presented, like demographic changes, increasing healthcare-costs, expensive treatments and the scarcity of medical device innovations being commercialized. Obstacles affecting the medical device development are studied, including the regulatory differences between IT and medical devices. An analysis of the research on product and service development is also looked at from the perspectives on how the medical device companies develop their products, which is derived from both interviews and the web-survey. The result shows that medical device companies rely upon the ability to collaborate with the hospitals in different phases of their product development process and that there is an extensive need for a testbed structure amongst companies. The companies that collaborate with hospitals do it primarily because it makes their products more adaptive to functioning in the settings of healthcare, time to market and development costs can be decreased and it facilitates the process when validating the functionality of their products. Several companies have their ways of collaborating with hospital wards whilst others explicitly lack indispensable collaboration structures. The study has identified some companies which have shown interest in collaborating with Testbed Karolinska for telemedicine and eHealth and other ones whom wish to receive more information on what the testbed can offer them. In the commercialization plan it is suggested that Karolinska Testbed for telemedicine and eHealth shall focus on their niche and elaborate the competency which the companies doesn’t have. It is also suggested that the Testbed continues the work with developing the internal organization within Karolinska to enable efficient, flexible and qualitative collaboration between companies and the clinics at Karolinska University Hospital.

Den ökade globaliseringen och senaste finanskrisen ställer höga krav på uppföljning och medvetenhet av ett företags prestation. Business Intelligence (BI) är ett område vars syfte är att förbättra en organisations prestation genom analys av historisk data. BI är ett komplext område som inte bara handlar om tekniska lösningar, även om det är en förutsättning. För närvarande investeras det mycket i olika BI-lösningar och företagen behöver veta vad resurserna bör läggas på. I dagsläget finns det ingen modell som bedömer ett företags arbete med Business Intelligence utifrån ett flertal dimensioner. Syftet med den här studien var att utveckla en mognadsmodell för Business Intelligence och sedan jämföra de undersökta företagen Axfood, Scania och Systembolagets mognad. För att uppnå studiens syfte avsåg vi att besvara följande frågeställningar, ”Hur skulle en modell för att bedöma ett företags mognad inom Business Intelligence kunna se ut?” samt ”Vilka förutsättningar påverkar ett företags mognad inom Business Intelligence”. Mognadsmodellen (BIOMA) kom att bestå av fyra hörnstenar som i sin tur delades in i en eller flera underkategorier. Varje delkategori ger poäng som sedan infogas i ett koordinatsystem där axlarna motsvarar hörnstenarna och poängen utgår från origo. Att mäta ett företags mognad inom BI är komplext, då ett antal aspekter såsom organisationsstruktur, användarmedverkan samt klyftan mellan IT-avdelning och verksamhet kan påverka. Den teoretiska modellen är empiriskt testad. Respondenterna på respektive företag har bedömt hur långt de kommit inom varje hörnsten samt ge synpunkter på modellens utformning. Modellen har sedan förädlats utifrån det empiriska materialet. Vi anser att BIOMA har ett stort värde då det saknas en modell som visuellt och relativt enkelt beskriver ett företags mognad inom Business Intelligence. Modellen kan användas i olika syften, såsom benchmarking mellan processer och företag, säljstöd för konsulter samt vid förstudie för att klargöra ett företags nuläge. / The increased globalization and the recent financial crisis have put high demands on the monitoring and awareness of an organization's performance. Business Intelligence (BI) is an area which aims to improve this performance through analysis of historical data. BI is a complex question for organization’s because it involves more than just technical solutions for maximum performance. Organizations are currently investing in different BI solutions and a list of priorities has to be made to ensure balanced resource allocation within a BI-implementation. To this day no single business intelligence model exists that can adequately measure a company’s work from several perspectives. The purpose of this study was to develop a maturity model for BI and use it in a case study of three different well-known Swedish companies; Axfood, Scania and Systembolaget, to measure their BI-maturity. To achieve the purpose of the study, three distinct research questions arose; "What would a model for measuring a company’s Business Intelligence maturity look like? How would this model be constructed? And finally “What conditions could potentially affect an organization’s maturity in Business Intelligence?". The Maturity Model BIOMA (Business Intelligence Organizational Maturity Analysis) is made up of four categories, which in turn are divided into one or more sub-categories. A subcategory consists of several statements. Each statement carries a certain number of points. When the points are combined, the summarized amount is inserted into a coordinate system. Within this, the axies correspond to the pillars and the score is based on the origo-point. Measuring a company's BI-maturity is a complex research question, where a number of aspects such as organizational structure, end-user involvement, and the gap between IT department and business can be of great importance. BIOMA was empirically tested in the case study. The responders in each company judged their company based on the statements in each subcategory. Following this they made suggestions on ways to change the model. By applying these suggestions to the original material, the model was then redeveloped to create a final version. The model can be used for various purposes, such as processes within organizations or in benchmarking. It can also be used by consultants in Sales support as a pilot study for clarifying a company’s present BI-maturity. In this absence of a model that could visually describe a company’s BI maturity multidimensionally, we believe that BIOMA has substantial and existing business potential.

Government human service organizations regularly attempt to recruit ethnically and culturally diverse professionals to improve services to diverse communities. The assumption here is that organizational culture and structure support this organizational practice. This study considers the unique challenge for Aboriginal professionals who work in a government child welfare system responsible for the oppression of Aboriginal children, families, and communities. As a non-Aboriginal organizational insider and researcher, I use a combined Indigenous/ethnographic approach to explore these issues with Aboriginal professionals within the British Columbia Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD). This study involves a dual focus that examines the history, identity, values, motivations, and practice approaches of Aboriginal professionals as well as how organizational structural and environment variables support or impede their representation of community needs and interests. Analysis of these two areas results in significant findings for the organization, the social work profession, and various practice and organizational diversity literatures. Aboriginal participant descriptions of values, beliefs, and practices contribute to literature exploring contemporary Indigenous practice approaches that integrate traditional knowledge with professional practice. Consistent with some representative bureaucracy studies, participant descriptions of personal history, experience, practice, and motivation to work in MCFD indicate values, beliefs, and motivations strongly shared with their representative group: to reduce the number of Aboriginal children in government care and reconnect them to community. Aboriginal participant role tensions and dual accountabilities, resulting from their unique community/Ministry insider/outsider position, provide context to studies that explore tensions and contradictions that exist for diverse professionals working in their communities through mainstream organizations. Findings also contribute to studies in representative bureaucracy and other organizational diversity approaches concerned with the ability of diverse professionals to actively represent community interests. Organizational variables, such as low Aboriginal practice support, racism, cultural incompetence, hierarchical structure and decision making, risk-averse practice norms, poorly implemented rhetorical change initiatives, and institutional physical environments, among others, impede the ability of Aboriginal participants to actively represent community interests. Mitigating factors were found where some Aboriginal participants describe significant organizational support at the worksite level through dedicated culturally competent Aboriginal management and practice teams. / Graduate / 0452 / 0617 / 0631 / janerousseau@shaw.ca

Government human service organizations regularly attempt to recruit ethnically and culturally diverse professionals to improve services to diverse communities. The assumption here is that organizational culture and structure support this organizational practice. This study considers the unique challenge for Aboriginal professionals who work in a government child welfare system responsible for the oppression of Aboriginal children, families, and communities. As a non-Aboriginal organizational insider and researcher, I use a combined Indigenous/ethnographic approach to explore these issues with Aboriginal professionals within the British Columbia Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD). This study involves a dual focus that examines the history, identity, values, motivations, and practice approaches of Aboriginal professionals as well as how organizational structural and environment variables support or impede their representation of community needs and interests. Analysis of these two areas results in significant findings for the organization, the social work profession, and various practice and organizational diversity literatures. Aboriginal participant descriptions of values, beliefs, and practices contribute to literature exploring contemporary Indigenous practice approaches that integrate traditional knowledge with professional practice. Consistent with some representative bureaucracy studies, participant descriptions of personal history, experience, practice, and motivation to work in MCFD indicate values, beliefs, and motivations strongly shared with their representative group: to reduce the number of Aboriginal children in government care and reconnect them to community. Aboriginal participant role tensions and dual accountabilities, resulting from their unique community/Ministry insider/outsider position, provide context to studies that explore tensions and contradictions that exist for diverse professionals working in their communities through mainstream organizations. Findings also contribute to studies in representative bureaucracy and other organizational diversity approaches concerned with the ability of diverse professionals to actively represent community interests. Organizational variables, such as low Aboriginal practice support, racism, cultural incompetence, hierarchical structure and decision making, risk-averse practice norms, poorly implemented rhetorical change initiatives, and institutional physical environments, among others, impede the ability of Aboriginal participants to actively represent community interests. Mitigating factors were found where some Aboriginal participants describe significant organizational support at the worksite level through dedicated culturally competent Aboriginal management and practice teams. / Graduate / 0452 / 0617 / 0631 / janerousseau@shaw.ca

IT-system utvecklas idag ofta i globalt distribuerade organisationer. Detta görs för att möta de krav som ställs från omgivningen samt för att finna specialkompetens. En global organisation kan medföra distribuerat arbete, alltså att utvecklingsgrupper sprids över flera platser. Ett problem med detta kan vara att få alla delar av verksamheten att arbeta mot ett gemensamt mål. Koordination – att hantera beroenden mellan element i komplexa organisationer för att möjliggöra effektivt arbete mot ett gemensamt mål – blir då en viktig aktivitet. Att kommunicera över distans i den takt organisationen kräver är en omöjlighet utan att implementera informations- och kommunikationsteknik (IKT) – digitala verktyg med fokus på kommunikation och spridandet av information. Vi vill i denna uppsats undersöka hur koordination sker i distribuerade IT-projekt, samt vilken roll IKT-stöd har vid koordination av distribuerade IT-projekt. Syftet med denna studie är att bidra med kunskap gällande användandet av IKT-stöd för koordination i distribuerade IT- projekt. Vi genomför denna kvalitativa fallstudie hos IFS World Operations AB – en global affärssystemsleverantör. Data har samlats in genom intervjuer med personer i olika roller inom det undersökta it projektet. Vi har ställt de empiriska resultaten i relation till teorier inom områden som koordination, IT-projekt samt IKT. Våra resultat visar att koordination i agila, distribuerade IT-projekt sker på två nivåer; strategisk samt operationell koordination. Dessa syftar att uppnå mål på olika nivåer. Vi har också kunnat dela in koordinationshandlingar i tre typer utvecklade från teori och observationer; ömsesidig anpassning, framväxande standardisering och organisationsförvaltning. Vi kan även sluta oss till att IKT-stöd främst förhåller sig till koordination på tre sätt i ett distribuerat IT-projekt; möjliggörande, medierande samt begränsande. Med stöd av de ovan presenterade resultaten har vi tagit fram faktorer vi funnit påverka möjligheten att koordinera IT-projekt. Dessa är; gruppdynamik, graden av distribution, fasta utvecklingsgrupper, utveckla teknik tillsammans med organisation samt standardiserade kommunikationskanaler. / Information systems are often developed in globally distributed organizations. Many times the reason for being distributed is to meet requirements and demands from the organizations surrounding and to acquire a specialized set of skills. Global organizations may choose to work distributed, which means that development teams are spread out over multiple locations. This can create problems; how do you make all parts of the organization work together towards a common goal? Thus, coordination – The management of interdependent elements in a complex organization so as to enable them to work together effectively toward a specific goal – becomes important. Long distance communication using information and communication technology (ICT) – digital tools with the purpose of endorsing communication and knowledge – is required to coordinate between locations. In this thesis we examine how coordination is performed in distributed IT-projects. We will also address the role that information and communications technology plays in coordination of these projects. The purpose of the study is to contribute with knowledge in the area of using ICT tools for coordinating distributed IT-projects. This qualitative case study was conducted in cooperation with IFS World Operations AB – a global provider of an Enterprise Resource Planning system. Our empirical data has been collected using five interviews, all with different types of roles from within IT-projects. The data has then been put in relation to theories concerning coordination, IT-projects and ICT. Our findings show coordination in distributed, agile software development projects is working on two levels; strategic and operational coordination. The difference lies with the motivation to complete goals on different levels of the organization. We can also conclude that there are three different kinds of means to carry out coordination; Mutual Adjustment, Emerging standardization and organizational management. Concerning the role of ICT in the coordination of distributed IT-projects we have found it to be threefold; enabling, mediating and limiting. Based on these findings we conclude this study by presenting five factors that influence the ability to coordinate distributed IT-projects. These are: group dynamics, level of distribution, fixed development teams, parallel development of technology and organization and standardized communication channels.

When duties are documented, new ideas are often created regarding how the work should be carried out. Writing is an important source of development, but unfortunately the possibilities are limited when it comes to transferring new ways of thinking to personnel. As with organizational change in general, employees tend to neglect new instructions. On the basis of their personal ways of thinking, they might find that the new order is incorrect, requires more resources, lacks contact with reality, or cannot be understood. The people who have prepared the new directives think they are surely justified and easy to understand. In their eyes, those who stick to what used to be correct and reasonable seem resistant to change. The aim of this dissertation is to understand the influence of self-assessment on service cognition and to propose how this influence can be utilized to attain strategic aims. The term self-assessment refers here to the activity whereby employees, in a structured manner, collectively assess and document their own instructions. The concept of service cognition refers to individual employee’s conceptions on how to carry out their own tasks, on how colleagues carry out theirs, and on connections between activities in the common workflow. The object of study is self-assessment as business process modeling at the local offices of the Swedish Employment Service. What is explored is the crass but fruitful understanding that new ways of thinking more easily arise among those who define organizational design than among those who are expected to change. Using socio-cognitive theory as well as longitudinal and extensive action research, the reasons are investigated behind the inevitable development of units which are trusted to write their own instructions and, in so doing, start to talk about the way work is done. Despite the independence needed to coordinate by consensus, it seems that the collective mind thereby induced actually enhances opportunities for central control and change: Units designing their own routines surely become better coordinated, but also more controllable and adaptive to strategic change. Furthermore, some principles are presented to support self-assessment regarding organization and change.