Ph.D. theses
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Gasparin, Marta (Frederiksberg, 2014)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This dissertation proposes a new perspective on management of design by regarding it as a translation process, using a framework based on Actor- Network Theory. Within the field of management of design, design has been defined as a problem-solving activity, a tool for either improving the decisionmaking process or for fostering radical innovation by making sense of things. Designers have generally been considered individuals with a different sensibility, able to make a difference by producing interesting and intriguing products which can deliver value to the customers and create value for the firm. Actor-Network Theory is a methodology for the socio-technical analysis that treats the actors as enacted and relational, and explores the network creation through an analysis based on a flat ontology, in which there is symmetry between human- and non-human actors. There is no a priori size, power or complexity of the actors, as these elements are built through the relations and understood by following them. The study is based on an ethnographic investigation of three design objects: the Serie7, the Egg (designed respectively in 1955 and 1958) and the Ice (designed in 2002), manufactured by Fritz Hansen. Based on the analysis, a new interpretation of the design, the design process, the role of the managers and designers, the value creation process, and the role of technologies of managing is presented. Design is defined as an outcome of the construction process of things made by mobilising and enrolling actors through the translations of goals. The design process is the process of enrolling, mobilising, and translating goals, creating the design in a heterogeneous network of allies. It is a chaotic practice, muddled and contingent, with the inevitable risk of unintended consequences. This process is guided by the managers, who act as spokespersons, while the designers are macro-actors, representing all the actors involved in the creation process, in the multitude making or agreeing on the final decisions concerning the design and its development during the life cycle of the object. The individual qualities of insight, intuition, vision, and creativity are reinterpreted and assembled in the language of the design. These qualities are no longer the properties of an individual, but collective virtues in relation to which governing and managing have a fundamental role. The managers are spokespersons, actors who translate the needs, the expectations, the demands and the desires from different actors. They work towards sharing the goals by encouraging the other actors to adhere to the programme of actions. The value is constituted and forged through the relationships, it is not something that is proper or embedded in the product, but is adopted and adapted by the allies in the network. The technologies of managing are not simple tools for fostering creativity, as described in the previous literature, they are actors mediating the process and conveying information that managers can use to make decisions. The technologies of managing are identified as black boxes and leaky black boxes. A black box is totally closed, a leaky black box is something the managers are working and acting on, stimulating the translations and actions that are shaping the network, including or cutting off the network actors and features, as well as mobilising actors. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8943 Files in this item: 1
Marta Gasparin.pdf (3.889Mb) -
A processual and embedded explorationStelling, Christiane (Frederiksberg, 2014)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This thesis addresses the need, development and management of trust in Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), an issue that thus far has received only very little attention. For this purpose, the dissertation contributes with four separate articles, of which the first two explore the main concepts – PPPs and trust – while the last two present the empirical exploration of trusting in PPPs by drawing on four in-depth case studies. The exploration of the PPP concept in the first article focuses on the definitory and classificatory practices across disciplinary and professional fields and contributes with an inductive map of the dominant patterns. The review of PPP publications argues that the main divergence lies in the focus on two differing dimensions. While a first group focuses on PPPs as a new way of distributing responsibilities across public and private partners a second group defines PPPs as a new means for joint decision-making and interactive collaboration between public and private partners. For the thesis it is especially the second dimension – the relational - that becomes relevant when trust moves centre-stage. In the second article, the dissertation addresses trust conceptualizations in an interorganizational setting. The article argues for a more processual approach to (re)embed trust in time and space. Following, the paper develops a processual framework for studying interorganizational trusting as ever evolving, always embedded and not least rooted in individual experiences of organizational members from various organizational levels. Finally, the article highlights the constitutive importance of contingency not only creating the need for trust but also its precondition. It is because we experience the future as open (contingent) that we are in need and able to form trust, i.e. suspend doubts and form positive expectations about another’s future behaviour despite he/she has the possibility for alternative actions. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8942 Files in this item: 1
Christiane_Stelling.pdf (1.915Mb) -
Spliid, Robert (Frederiksberg, 2014)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Afhandlingens overordnede forskningsspørgsmål er, hvordan kapitalfondene skaber værdi for deres porteføljevirksomheder ved brug af metoder og kompetencer. Metoderne er de instrumenter, kapitalfondene anvender, mens kompetencerne er deres evne til at benytte metoderne effektivt. Siden den første kapitalfond så dagens lys i midten af 70’erne, har der været betydelig fokus på denne ejerskabsform. På den ene side er kapitalfondene blevet kritiseret for at skabe værdi for aktionærerne på andre stakeholderes bekostning, på den anden side er der gjort adskillige forsøg på at påvise, at virksomheder i kapitalfondsejerskab klarer sig bedre end andre virksomheder. Udgangspunktet for denne undersøgelse er, at ingen ejerskabsform er den optimale under alle forhold. Alle virksomheder gennemlever forskellige faser, og kapitalfondsejerskabet egner sig bedst for virksomheder, der har behov for hurtig transformation. Undersøgelser af, hvordan kapitalfondsejede virksomheder klarer sig i sammenligning med andre virksomheder, bidrager derfor ikke til at fremme forståelsen for kapitalfondenes værdiskabelsesproces. Kapitalfondenes funktion som tidsbegrænset ejer forstås bedst ved at analysere dem i den kontekst, de opererer. Kapitalfondene udgør ikke en homogen investorgruppe, der handler ens på alle udfordringer, men de råder over bestemte instrumenter og kompetencer, som tegner et mønster i den måde, de arbejder på. Afhandlingens formål er at afdække dette mønster. Metoden er en casebaseret analyse af tre danske kapitalfondsejede virksomheder, som er udvalgt efter en række krav til forskellighed. De tre cases er byggevarekæden DT, som var ejet af en kapitalfond fra 2003 til 2006, fjernvarmerørsproducenten Logstor, som var ejet af kapitalfonde i to omgange fra 1999 til 2013, og medicinalvirksomheden Nycomed, som var ejet af kapitalfonde i tre omgange fra 1999 til 2011. Der er således i alle tre tilfælde tale om virksomheder, som er exited, så kapitalfondsejerskaberne kan ses i deres helhed. Undersøgelsen er baseret på interviews med 21 personer, hvoraf de 20 har haft en tilknytning til en af de tre virksomheder, mens den sidste repræsenterer en bank, der har deltaget i finansieringen af alle tre virksomheder. De 20 personer med direkte tilknytning til de tre virksomheder repræsenterede fire grupper: kapitalfondene, bestyrelsen, ledelsen og medarbejderne. Repræsentanterne for de fire grupper redegjorde fra hver deres synsvinkel for, hvorledes de mente, kapitalfondene arbejdede med virksomheden. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8934 Files in this item: 1
Robert_Spliid.pdf (1.921Mb) -
Empirical Investigations into Entrepreneurial Activities of Hackers and MakersHalbinger, Maria (Frederiksberg, 2014)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: New ventures are central to an economy’s welfare and substantial promoters of technological change and innovation. Extant research has identified individuals and their role in entrepreneurial processes as the core pillars of entrepreneurship. This PhD dissertation aims to refine our understanding of the fundamental relationship between individuals and their entrepreneurial activities. In order to empirically test the hypotheses built, the analyses are based on a unique dataset on individuals in hacker- and makerspaces, i.e. open communities with physical workspaces where individuals with a common interest in technology, computing, science, art and hacking culture can meet, socialize and collaborate. Given that hackers and makers engage in various entrepreneurial activities, this empirical setting offers crucial benefits when analyzing entrepreneurial individuals. The thesis combines the literatures on psychology and entrepreneurship and consists of three essays. The first essay focuses on the early activities in the entrepreneurial process and depicts how the individual’s creativity as well as different forms of motivation influence different process activities including the discovery and exploitation of opportunities. The second essay consists of a longitudinal analysis and examines how the identity of the founder relates to firm exit. The third essay applies computational linguistic tools on haiku poems written by hackers to investigate how self-confidence, social awareness and social influence are related with entrepreneurial experience, defined by the number of times the individual has been involved in new firm establishments. Overall, the thesis aims to contribute to the field of entrepreneurship by providing empirical evidence on the individual-level factors that shape entrepreneurial activities. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8931 Files in this item: 1
Maria_Halbinger.pdf (2.807Mb) -
I et internationalt og komparativt perspektivKoerver Schmidt, Peter (Frederiksberg, 2013)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Emnet for denne afhandling er dansk skatteretlig CFC-lovgivning. Denne form for lovgivning går kort fortalt ud på, at aktionæren i et selskab under særlige omstændigheder skal medregne en andel af selskabets indkomst til sin egen skattepligtige indkomst, selvom selskabet ikke har udloddet udbytte til aktionæren. I international sammenhæng er CFC en forkortelse for Controlled Foreign Corporation (eller Company), og som forkortelsen antyder, finder sådanne regler normalt kun anvendelse, hvis selskabet er kontrolleret af aktionæren og er hjemmehørende i udlandet. Med andre ord angår CFC-beskatning normalt indkomsten i udenlandske datterselskaber. Uden CFC-regler vil beskatningen af aktionæren normalt være udskudt til det tidspunkt, hvor det udenlandske datterselskab udlodder udbytte til aktionæren, eller hvor aktionæren afstår sin aktiepost i det udenlandske datterselskab. I andre tilfælde vil beskatning hos aktionæren slet ikke finde sted. Såfremt det land, hvori det udenlandske datterselskab er hjemmehørende, ikke beskatter datterselskabets indkomst eller kun beskatter indkomsten med en lav sats, er der således mulighed for at skatteudskydelse eller skatteundgåelse kan forekomme, hvis aktionæren indretter sig således, at indkomst oppebæres af det udenlandske datterselskab i stedet for hos aktionæren selv. Det grundlæggende formål med afhandlingen er – ved anvendelse at den retsdogmatiske metode – at analysere dansk CFC-lovgivning og praksis med henblik på at udlede gældende ret på området – de lege lata. I den forbindelse er det tillige hensigten at identificere uklarheder samt vurdere, om de danske CFCregler strider mod indgåede dobbeltbeskatningsoverenskomster eller EU-retten. Et yderligere formål med afhandlingen er at vurdere, hvorvidt dansk CFC-lovgivning kan anses for at imødekomme visse retspolitiske hensyn, og såfremt dette ikke er tilfældet at komme med alternative bud på, hvordan de danske CFC-regler med fordel kan udformes. Med andre ord har afhandlingen også haft til formål at komme med betragtninger de lege ferenda URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8928 Files in this item: 1
Peter_Koerver_Schmidt.pdf (3.955Mb)
