ALBERT — All Library Books, journals and Electronic Records Telegrafenberg

1

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National Differences in the Diffusion and Design of Technological Innovation: The Role of Inter-Organizational Networks (1999)

Swan, Jacky ; Newell, Sue ; Robertson, Maxine

Oxford, UK and Boston, USA : Blackwell Publishers Ltd

British journal of management 10 (1999), S. 0

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ISSN: 1467-8551

Source: Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005

Topics: Economics

Notes: This paper reports results from a study of the design and diffusion of computer-aided production management (CAPM) technologies across four European countries (UK, France, The Netherlands and Sweden). The study combined surveys of members of professional operations management associations in each of these four countries and interviews with operations managers and technology suppliers (software suppliers and consultants). The findings revealed significant differences across countries in the design and diffusion of CAPM. For example, in the UK and France highly objectified ‘best practice’ technologies, supported by standardized software, had diffused more widely than in Sweden and The Netherlands, where solutions tended to be developed in-house and customized to the local context. This paper explains these findings in terms of differences in the structure and operation of these four professional association networks. These differences in inter-organizational networking encouraged different types of knowledge-sharing related to the design of CAPM in the four countries.

Type of Medium: Electronic Resource

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.10.s1.5

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2

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The Role of Networks In the Diffusion of Technological Innovation (1996)

Robertson, Maxine ; Swan, Jacky ; Newell, Sue

Oxford, UK : Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Journal of management studies 33 (1996), S. 0

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ISSN: 1467-6486

Source: Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005

Topics: Economics

Notes: This research considers the diffusion of computer-aided production management (CAPM) technology in the UK manufacturing sector during the mid to late 1980s, focusing on the role of inter-organizational networks in the diffusion process. Research on innovation diffusion has tended to adopt a ‘pro-innovation bias’ such that adoption of prescribed best practice technologies is always considered to be the best policy. In the UK, one particular form of CAPM (MRP/MRPII) has been heavily promoted by technology suppliers as best practice. However, the notion of ‘best practice’ de-emphasizes the importance of decisions about technology design when users attempt to develop firm-specific solutions. Crucial to these decisions are the inter-organizational networks through which potential adopters learn about relevant technologies. Using three case companies, where the introduction of CAPM occurred at approximately the same time, decisions regarding adoption, design and subsequent implementation, are explored in order to establish the influence of inter-organizational networks on the diffusion and subsequent appropriation of CAPM technologies. These cases revealed that potential adopters engaged in a range of inter-organizational networks through which they learned about new technologies. However, the knowledge diffused through many of these networks was shaped by technology suppliers who were promoting similar ideas about best practice. Thus, while involvement in inter-organizational networks gave potential adopters access to information about new technology, this information tended to reinforce supplier images of best practice and did not always lead these firms to develop appropriate technological solutions. Problematic relationships between the suppliers of the technology and the users was seen here to limit the redesign and further diffusion of CAPM.

Type of Medium: Electronic Resource

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.1996.tb00805.x

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3

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‘Control – What Control?’ Culture and Ambiguity Within a Knowledge Intensive Firm* (2003)

Robertson, Maxine ; Swan, Jacky

Oxford, UK and Malden, USA : Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Journal of management studies 40 (2003), S. 0

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ISSN: 1467-6486

Source: Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005

Topics: Economics

Notes: This paper explores the distinctive culture that existed within a knowledge-intensive firm (KIF) and also attempts to explain the emergence and effects of this culture. The findings are based on a detailed case study that was conducted over two years within a consultancy firm that created and applied scientific knowledge and expertise to the invention of solutions for clients. The firm employed highly educated scientists, considered ‘leading’ in their respective disciplines and project work was inherently fluid, complex, and uncertain. These kinds of ‘knowledge workers’, and this kind of work, are expected to demand high levels of autonomy. This creates complex managerial dilemmas around how to balance autonomy with control and uncertainty and flexibility with efficiency. The analysis shows how a strong culture based on an acceptance of ambiguity (e.g. in roles, power relations, organizational routines and practices) promoted the development of a loyal, committed, effective workforce and sustained a fluid and flexible form of project working over time. Critically, ambiguity allowed individuals to sustain multiple identities as both ‘expert’ and ‘consultant’. This, coupled with a corporate identity premised on ‘élitism’, helped to maximize commitment to the work and minimize tensions between control and autonomy. Thus the culture that embraced ambiguity (a consensus that there would be no consensus) engendered a form of normative control whereby consultants operated freely and at the same time willingly participated in the regulation of their own autonomy.

Type of Medium: Electronic Resource

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-6486.00362

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4

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The diffusion, design and social shaping of production management information systems in Europe (2000)

Swan, Jacky ; Newell, Sue ; Robertson, Maxine

Bradford : Emerald

Information, technology & people 13 (2000), S. 27-46

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ISSN: 0959-3845

Source: Emerald Fulltext Archive Database 1994-2005

Topics: Computer Science , Sociology

Notes: Information systems for production management tend to be promoted by technology suppliers as standardised solutions which form a singular "best practice". However, as these technologies are configurational, the notion of best practice is illusory. Data on the diffusion and design of information systems for production management across four European countries indicate distinctive national differences. It is argued that these can best be explained at two levels: first, national differences in the social institutional networks through which information about these systems is diffused socially shapes patterns of adoption and design; second pre-existing patterns of work design and managerial practices may influence the degree of "fit" between particular design philosophies and prevailing organizational contexts in different countries. Differences in the particular roles of professional association networks and technology suppliers in the diffusion process are explained in terms of different patterns of knowledge sharing across countries.

Type of Medium: Electronic Resource

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09593840010312744

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5

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Survival of the leanest: intensive knowledge work and groupware adaptation (2001)

Robertson, Maxine ; Sørensen, Carsten ; Swan, Jacky

Bradford : Emerald

Information, technology & people 14 (2001), S. 334-352

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ISSN: 0959-3845

Source: Emerald Fulltext Archive Database 1994-2005

Topics: Computer Science , Sociology

Notes: Managing knowledge is a value-creating process in most organizations and is particularly important in knowledge-intensive firms. Explores the ways in which groupware might facilitate processes of knowledge creation within a particular type of knowledge-intensive firm. Based on a case study analysis of an expert consultancy where e-mail was used successfully for information and knowledge search, and Lotus Notes was used with mixed results in project working, argues that the complexity of articulating the knowledge creation process can be reduced by using e-mail. Furthermore, e-mail, when considered in context, is potentially a rich medium for the development of collective knowledge over time despite its purported lean characteristics. Also concludes that, although distributed Lotus Notes databases can obviously alleviate temporal and spatial complexity, this media lacks the richness required for complex processes of knowledge creation. Thus, where temporal and spatial constraints do not exist, there will be substantial barriers for using groupware to support processes of knowledge creation in this type of knowledge-intensive firm.

Type of Medium: Electronic Resource

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09593840110411149

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6

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Knowledge management practices within a knowledge-intensive firm: the significance of the people management dimension (2000)

Robertson, Maxine ; Hammersley, Geraldine O'Malley

Bingley : Emerald

Journal of European industrial training 24 (2000), S. 241-253

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ISSN: 0309-0590

Source: Emerald Fulltext Archive Database 1994-2005

Topics: Economics

Notes: This paper draws attention to the potentially focal role that appropriate people management practices can and do play in facilitating knowledge management within the context of a specialist consulting firm that sustains its competitive advantage through processes of knowledge creation. The paper highlights the way in which traditional approaches to people management issues such as recruitment and selection, professional development etc. are not necessarily appropriate or relevant when managing an expert workforce that expects and demands considerable levels of autonomy. The findings highlight that perhaps too much reliance has been placed on technological solutions to KM to date. Hence the paper emphasises the highly situated and contextual nature of KM and the practices or systems in support of KM, which existing literature in this field has failed to adequately address.

Type of Medium: Electronic Resource

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/03090590010321205

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7

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Assessing the role and efficacy of communication strategies in times of crisis (2001)

Evans, Claire ; Hammersley, Geraldine O'Malley ; Robertson, Maxine

Bingley : Emerald

Journal of European industrial training 25 (2001), S. 297-309

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ISSN: 0309-0590

Source: Emerald Fulltext Archive Database 1994-2005

Topics: Economics

Notes: This paper explores the impact of communication strategies on shaping employee involvement at Rover's Longbridge plant, between 1997 and 1999. At this time, the firm was experiencing severe difficulties. This triggered a period of transformational change within the company. Qualitative methodology was utilised to explore management's internal communications strategies, which aimed to initiate and sustain change. These strategies were analysed in relation to external forces, specifically the media, which played a significant role in shaping management action at this time. Semi-structured interviews with senior management and trade union representatives were conducted, and company data was utilised to provide the shop-floor perspective. New developments with regard to existing EI theory were uncovered. Communications increased in prominence and centrality to organisational objectives, and a radical communications technique was introduced. The research also highlights that EI initiatives cannot be divorced from the organisational context. Several key issues emerged: management must brief internal audiences before information reaches the media; the timely provision of consistent information is paramount; and finally, personal involvement by senior management is a prerequisite for the success of any change management programme.

Type of Medium: Electronic Resource

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/03090590110401773

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8

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Networks and the diffusion/adoption of MRPII (1996)

Robertson, Maxine

Bradford : Emerald

Integrated manufacturing systems 7 (1996), S. 29-37

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ISSN: 0957-6061

Source: Emerald Fulltext Archive Database 1994-2005

Topics: Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Production Engineering, Mining and Metallurgy, Traffic Engineering, Precision Mechanics , Economics

Notes: Considers the way in which firms first become aware of computer-aided production management technologies, with reference to three case studies. Focuses on the process through which firms ultimately decide to invest in MRPII, in order to understand more fully the way in which MRPII has diffused within the UK. Highlights the way in which the decisions taken at the selection/adoption stage can affect eventual outcome in terms of successful implementation of MRPII. Suggests that if firms are to compete in global markets, they must adopt and adapt technologies and approaches that are suitable for their unique context and environment, rather than attempting to imitate a "best practice" template.

Type of Medium: Electronic Resource

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09576069610108453

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