Browsing Ph.D. theses by Subject "Ph.d.-afhandlinger"

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Enriching software process improvement with knowledge management

Hansen Hansen, Bo (Frederiksberg, 2009)

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Abstract:

Formålet med denne afhandling er at belyse, hvorledes softwarevirksomheder kan forbedre deres udviklingspraksis ved at udnytte deres vidensressourcer bedre. Afhandlingen belyser dette ved at besvare følgende forskningspørgsmål: • Hvorledes kan en softwarevirksomheds videnstyringsstatus bestemmes med henblik på at kunne identificere vidensrelaterede forbedringsområder? • Hvorledes kan forbedringer af sådanne områder planlægges via design og tilpasning af nye organisatoriske tiltag til styrkelse af organisationens læringsmuligheder? • Hvorledes kan sådanne forbedringsinitiativer faciliteres og implementeres for at sikre accept og fortsat udvikling? Afhandlingen er en del af det nationale forskningsprojekt Softwareprocesser og Viden og er udarbejdet som et aktionsforskningsprojekt hos softwarevirksomheden Systematic Software Engineering i Århus. Afhandlingen leverer, foruden forbedringer i den involverede organisation, teoretiske og metodiske bidrag til softwareprocesforbedringsfeltet ved at vise hvorledes teoretisk input fra vidensstyringsfeltet kan integreres i og styrke softwareprocesforbedringsfeltet, samt ved at vise hvorledes komplekse organisatoriske sammenhænge kan belyses ved at anvende en passende og fleksibel portefølje af analyse— og interventionsteknikker. Derudover bidrager afhandlingen med udviklingen af en balanceret teori om vidensstyring i softwareprocesforbedring. Til dette formål introduceres begreberne eksemplarisk og situeret videnstype og normativ og reflektiv processforbedring. Afhandlingen anskueliggør desuden, hvorledes et længerevarende samarbejdsbaseret studie har bidraget med resultater internt i case-organisationen ved at designe og tilpasse en ny projektevalueringsproces, der er baseret på et skifte mod en situeret vidensorganisation ved aktivt at involvere de eksisterende ekspertnetværk i organisationen. Gennem designet af denne ny proces belyses, hvorledes Softwareprocesforbedringsfeltet på et teoretisk niveau styrkes igennem integration af teorier fra beslægtede felter. Afhandlingen viser, hvorledes kulturanalyse og videnskort kan anvendes som softwareprocesforbedringsteknikker. Derudover antyder afhandlingen en balanceret teori om vidensstyring i softwareprocesforbedring, der beskriver betydningen af at søge en ligevægt imellem den herskende organisatoriske videnstype (eksemplarisk vs. situeret) og softwareprocesforbedringsmetode (normativ vs. reflektiv). Slutteligt viser denne afhandling, hvorledes et længerevarende forskningsprojekt, inspireret af aktionsforskning, kan styres og fokuseres igennem anvendelsen af Collaborative Practice Research

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http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7902

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The business of co-creation - and the co-creation of business

Lotz, Maja (Frederiksberg, 2009)

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Afhandlingen ”The Business of Co-creation – and the Co-creation of Business” handler om, hvorledes danske produktionsvirksomheder tackler globaliserings udfordringer og muligheder gennem udviklingen af nye former for sam-skabende arbejdsorganiseringspraksisser. Studiet udforsker hvordan disse arbejdsorganiseringspraksisser bliver sam-skabt, (og hvad de sam-skaber) gennem en empirisk analyse af de arbejdsroller og fællesskaber, som muliggør sam-skabelsen af dem. Og omvendt, hvilke arbejdsroller og fællesskaber, der bliver muliggjort indenfor disse organisatoriske praksisser. På baggrund af kvalitative case studier i syv danske virksomheder analyseres specifikt, hvordan disse ”nye” måder at organisere arbejdet på er baseret på evnen til at samarbejde (og rivalisere) i, og mellem mange forskellige fællesskaber. Der ses endvidere på evnen til kontinuerligt at redefinere og rekombinere arbejdsroller og øvrige organisatoriske ressourcer mod øget vækst (menneskelig såvel som organisatorisk). Et andet træk ved disse arbejdsorganiseringspraksisser er, at autoritet og viden er distribueret lateralt, og at sam-skabelsesprocesserne mellem organisatoriske medlemmer er baseret på evnen til både at tro og tvivle på det man gør. Det vil sige på evnen til at tro og tvivle på eksisterende praksisser, hvilket er en forudsætning for kontinuerligt at kunne forbedre dem. Afhandlingen udforsker de menneskelige og organisatoriske praksisser og dynamikker, der knytter sig til disse samskabelses-processer blandt organisatoriske medlemmer. Det vil sige blandt både medarbejdere, ledere, kunder, leverandører og øvrige organisatoriske partnere indenfor nutidens arbejdsliv i danske produktionsvirksomheder, der opererer globalt. Afhandlingens empiriske undersøgelse er teoretisk informeret af en diskussion og reformulering af tre sociologiske grundbegreber: arbejdsorganisation, roller og fællesskab. De tre begreber redefineres relationelt, og udgør tilsammen afhandlingens analytiske perspektiv. Et perspektiv der sigter efter at videreudvikle forståelsen af de sam-skabende relationer mellem de tre begreber blandt organisatoriske medlemmer. Hermed søger afhandlingen at forstå nutidige virksomhedsdynamikker og -udfordringer ved at rette blikket mod samspillet mellem arbejdsroller, fællesskaber og arbejdsorganiseringspraksisser på et hverdagsligt mikro-niveau. Afhandlingens overordnede bidrag er at vise, hvordan samspillet mellem disse tre analytiske dimensioner (byggesten) faciliterer samskabelsen af arbejdsorganisatoriske praksisser med evnen til både at tro og tvivle på det man gør - for dermed kontinuerligt at skabe innovation (work organizing practices of belief and doubt). Med andre ord praksisser som fordi organisatoriske medlemmer både tror på det de gør, men også stiller spørgsmål til deres arbejdsrutiner og handlemønstre, rummer evnen til at forandre og forbedre deres arbejdspraksisser (eks. arbejdsrutiner, roller, fællesskaber, koordineringsmønstre etc.) gennem kontinuerlig re-kombination og refleksive sam-skabelsesprocesser. Et andet bidrag er at identificere karakteren af de arbejdsroller, der muliggør sam-skabelsen af disse arbejdsorganiseringspraksisser. Analysen viser at arbejdsrollerne i de case studier der studeres typisk kombinerer dimensionerne ”planlægning” og ”udførelse” på et hverdagsligt plan, og opererer som trans-aktionelle rutiner, der giver adgang til mangeartede ressourcer blandt organisatoriske medlemmer. Analysen viser også, at arbejdsrollerne ikke er predefinerede, men at de forhandles og transformeres løbende gennem sam-skabende fællesskaber, der åbner op for kontinuerlige læreprocesser. Et tredje bidrag er at indkredse karakteren og betydningen af de fællesskaber, der faciliterer arbejdsorganiseringspraksisser baseret på både tro og tvivl. Analysen illustrerer at fællesskab blandt organisatoriske medlemmer typisk erfares som en praktisk logik ”of connecting” bundet op omkring et fælles mål, at fællesskab (fællesskabelse) er både mulighedsskabende og begrænsende, og at det åbner op for læring og emotionel energi. Disse fællesskaber giver anledning til multiple rolledannelser. Analysen viser desuden, at fællesskaber på jobbet folder sig ud på mange organisatoriske niveauer, og derfor overskrider traditionelle bureaukratiske organisatoriske skel. Afhandlingens fjerde overordnede bidrag er at vise, hvordan danske produktionsvirksomheder gennem kontinuerlig reorganisering af deres arbejdspraksisser (samt arbejdsroller og fællesskaber) har formået at skabe både menneskelig og organisatoriske vækst. Ved at belyse samspillet mellem arbejdsroller, fællesskaber og arbejdsorganiseringspraksisser giver afhandlingen empirisk indblik i, hvordan disse organiseringspraksisser bidrager til sam-skabelsen af såkaldte ”lærende organisationsformer”. På den måde øger afhandlingen vores viden om indholdet af denne organisationsform, og dens rolle for danske produktionsvirksomheders evne til kontinuerligt at transformere sig, og udvikle nye konkurrencestærke organisatoriske praksisser for produktion, organisering og innovation i en mere og mere globaliseret verden.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7805

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Collaborative R&D capabilities

In search of micro-foundations

Knudsen, Line Gry (Frederiksberg, 2009)

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The aim of this thesis is to improve the understanding of how collaborative R&D capabilities come about and how they are jointly determined by individual and organizational level factors. I argue that despite the fact that a surge of interest in inter-organizational collaboration has been witnessed in research fields as diverse as strategic management, economics, sociology, and organization theory, we know very little about the micro-foundations of collaborative R&D capabilities. Processes going on internally in collaborating firms are treated like a ‘black box’ in many strands of research. How, we may ask, does openness towards external knowledge sources lead to enhanced R&D performance? What are the internal organizational mechanisms that facilitate the collaborative processes? How are specific collaborative capabilities developed to ensure collaborative success, and—most importantly—what is their composition in terms of organizational and individual level factors? In this thesis these and related questions are addressed by means of empirical as well as theoretical analyses. It is argued that studies of strategic alliances and R&D collaborations have suffered from being mainly conducted on large datasets and with little attention to individual level factors that may be key drivers of alliance success. The case-study methodology is emphasized as a useful complementary method as it entails the option of learning from the employees engaged in the formation and operation of collaborative arrangements. Three narrative studies are undertaken with the aim of identifying the micro-foundations of collaborative R&D capability in the firms. This is done to provide an explorative overview of the determinants rather than to evaluate the degree to which the capabilities have been implemented successfully leading to better performance. The objective is thus to challenge the existing theories in the field of strategic alliances and to qualify them by joining theoretical knowledge about firm level benefits of R&D alliances with theories on individual level work motivation, and behaviors in connection to R&D collaboration. The study is focused on knowledge intensive firms (as distinct from ‘supplier dominated firms’, ‘specialized equipment suppliers’ or ‘scale intensive firms’). It is stressed that even core knowledge used in the various R&D or innovation processes does not necessarily need to stem from sources internal to the firm, but is likely to originate externally. R&D collaboration has become an important means to foster opportunities to learn, and to access, transfer and utilize knowledge to create innovative solutions But very high failure rates are shown and between fifty and seventy percent of all alliances do not justify the expectations. This vindicates a better understanding of collaborative R&D capabilities. A study of the micro-foundations of these capabilities is both timely and warranted.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7925

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Corporate governance in family firms

The Norwegian maritime sector

Wallevik, Kristin (Frederiksberg, 2009)

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The four papers in this thesis investigate corporate governance in family firms from different angles, with emphasis on industry and industry networks. I divide the industry networks into social and commercial networks, where social networks are measured by interlocking boards and commercial networks by investments in other firms in the same industry. Focus is on the governance structures in family firms, how industry and networks may be determinants of family ownership, and the effect of family ownership and strong industry networks on financial performance in certain industries (such as the maritime industry). Two of the papers are theoretical papers and two are empirical papers. The empirical papers are based on the same hand-collected dataset comprising 167 Norwegian listed companies from 1996-2005. The first paper - “Corporate Governance in Family firms” comprises a survey of the corporate governance literature on family firms, paying attention to the unique issues in the governance of these firms. I discuss different forms of ownership and how different agency contexts and business environments may suit family ownership better than other ownership structures. I also discuss how firms can reap the benefits of family ownership, by using a relational governance model, if there is an atmosphere of positive relationships, trust and shared visions. A relational governance model focuses on the social capital embedded in personal relations between owners, managers and board members. A contractual governance model, however, focuses on finding the optimal incentives in the relations between owners and managers, in addition to having greater focus on the monitoring role of the board. These two models may complement and supplement each other in a governance structure. The question is how these different governance models affect firms’ operations, decision-making, and competitiveness. The second paper - “The Effect of Industry Networks on Family Ownership” deals with possible effects of industry networks on the prevalence of family firms in different industries. I discuss how various networks can be determinants of family ownership, in addition to elements like incentives, monitoring, and altruism, as well as firm, industry and nation specific factors. I also discuss whether family firms can gain more from these industry networks than other firms due to a higher degree of ”thick trust”, strong owner-manager relations and the use of a relational governance structure. This paper proposes that strong social and commercial networks affect the number of family firms in an industry, as a result of the social capital embedded in these relations. Paper three - “Social and Commercial Networks as Determinants of Family Ownership - The Norwegian Shipping Industry” is an empirical paper testing whether industry networks are among the determinants of family ownership in the Norwegian shipping industry. The overall question is why family ownership is more prevalent in some industries, and which elements that influence this ownership structure. I focus on industry effects such as the number of firms in an industry and the social and commercial industry networks between firms. These are potential determinants of family ownership. I find that both industry and various industry networks have a significant and positive effect on family ownership in the shipping industry. The fourth paper - “Family Ownership, Networks and Financial Performance” takes up the question whether family ownership and various networks affect financial performance, measured by Tobin’s q and ROA lagged, or not. Earlier studies come to different conclusions regarding the relationship between family ownership and firm performance, which may be due to differences in the agency context of the studies. I add industry and industry networks as central variables to disentangle some of the contextual factors in this relationship. This paper argues that it is not necessarily the family ownership that affects performance, but how this ownership is used in a strategic manner. Establishing and using networks are seemingly a means of operation in some industries, sometimes with a positive effect on performance.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7901

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Economic geography and growth

Urban, Dieter (Frederiksberg, 1999)

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Denne Ph.D. afhandling søger af sammenknytte to nationaløkonomiske problemkredse: Økonomisk vækst og økonomisk geografi. Afhandlingens centrale spørgsmål er: Vil økonomisk vækst føre til industriel koncentration eller industriel spredning? Hvordan påvirker en ændring i industriens lokalisering regional og national vækst? Hvilken indflydelse har den stadig tættere integration på økonomisk vækst og industrikoncentration? Afhandlingen består af fem kapitler. Kapitlerne er nært forbundne, men kan læses uafhængigt af hinanden. Kapitel 1 er et introduktionskapitel. Det indeholder en oversigt over litteraturen på området og et resume af de i denne afhandling fremlagte forskningsbidrag. Udgangspunktet for min forskning har været Krugman’s banebrydende artikel “Economic Geography and Increasing Returns” fra 1991. Heri udvikler han en model, der kan forklare, under hvilke omstændigheder, industrier tenderer at koncentrere sig i en land eller en region. Artiklen mangler imidlertid en fulstændig analytisk løsning af modellen, og intuitionen bag dens centrale sammenhænge er uklar. Kapitel 2 tilstræber at råde bod på disse svagheder. Kapitlet indeholder dels en rigoristisk analytisk løsning, dels en simpel grafisk illustration af Krugman’s model. Det påpeges, at der er en nær analogi mellem Krugman’s model og neoklassisk udenrigshandelsteori baseret på antagelsen om heterogene agenter. I kapitel 3 vises, at Krugman’s model har en unik kortsigtet ligevægt, men multiple langsigtede ligevægte. Afhængig af industriens initiale fordeling vil en relativt mindre industrialiseret økonomi enten af-industrialiseres eller konvergere mod samme udviklingstrin som den mere industrialiserede økonomi. Den mulige eksistens af en “fattigdomsfælde”, hvoraf en økonomi ikke kan udvikle sig ved egen kraft, giver en teoretisk begrundelse for, at aftaler om fri bevægelse for varer og kapital (eksempelvis inden for EU) kædes sammen med aftaler om strukturstøtte til de mindre industrialiserede regioner. I kapitel 4 integreres økonomisk geografi og neoklassisk vækstteori i en model, der simultant forklarer økonomisk vækst og industriens fordeling. Det påvises, at der er to regimer: Et neoklassisk “catching-up” regime, hvor økonomierne gradvis konvergerer, og et fattigdomsregime”, hvor forskellen i økonomisk udvikling udvides. Det påvises, at afvikling af handelsbarrierer kan eliminere fattigdomsfælden, således at mere tilbagestående lande med tiden vil tilnærme sig de mere udviklede økonomier. Kapitel 5 er en empirisk test af den model, der udvikles i kapitel 4, mod data for USA og Japan. Testen viser, at modellen ikke kan afvises for så vidt angår perioden efter Bretton Woods fast-kurs systemets sammenbrud i 1972. Under Bretton Woods systemet synes de to økonomer at have udviklet sig uafhængigt af hinanden, hvorfor modellen må afvises for denne periode.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7914

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E-deltagelse i praksis

Politikernes og forvaltningens medkonstruktion og konsekvenserne heraf

Secher, Christine (Frederiksberg, 2010)

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This thesis is about how different e-participation user groups co-construct technology through the use in practice. It is studied how technology is used on a municipality level for citizen-communication and -participation with an online debate forum as a case in point. Users of online debates are citizens, politicians and the administration. In this thesis, I have chosen to focus on how politicians and the administration use online debates. I show how politicians and the administration participate in very distinct ways on the debate forum and thereby create specific forms of citizen communication and participation. Everybody can participate in the online debate as long as they give up their name and email. Periodically, citizens write quite a lot of contributions on the debate forum. But politicians’ and the administration’s perception of what is happening on the debate influence which role the citizens’s contributions will have for the politicians and administration, as well as forms of interaction between users. In this thesis, I argue that the users’ (politicians’s and administration’s) sensemaking about online debates as well as the mediation of the use of online debates have a crucial influence on which types of practice of online debate can develop. Online debate is perceived as an equivocal technology in the sense that the use of the technology is not clear cut but a result of the user’s sensemaking about the technology and thereby the sensemaking about possible acts and interactions with the technology and other users. Sensemaking is the primary theoretical frame with a special focus on situation-specific cue-frame-relations. The Municipality of Odder is the case and a unique one with its 11 years of experience within municipally facilitated online debate. The empirical data are contributions written from September 3rd, 2005 to April 15, 2008 (a total of 1983 contributions), 17 semi-structured interviews of ½-1½ hours length with administration and politicians in the municipality as well as different written documents from the municipality. In this thesis I show that politicians and administration act as users of the online debate in four different ways: Political candidate, councilor, administrator and mediator. The political candidate run for the municipal election and is only present in the debate the last three months before the election. The political candidate see online debates as a good opportunity to make him/herself visible to voters and competing candidates, and therefore (s)he writes a lot of contributions during this period. The political candidate rarely answers ordinary citizen’s contributions but instead decides to write new contributions or answer contributions started by competitors. The political candidate rarely gets involved in real discussions on the debate but instead choose to give his/her visions for the future of the Municipality of Odder. The councilor see the debate as the citizen’s opportunity to voice their meaning and therefore rarely participate in the debate, as this could have a negative effect on citizens motivation to write on the debate. The councilor reads the citizens’ contributions and once in a while the contributions act as input for internal council discussions. When the contribution reflect misunderstanding and when it is not only a few citizens who share the misunderstanding, the councilor chooses to write a report for the debate. It is usually the relevant committee chairman or equivalent who writes the contribution. The administrator believes that the majority of the contributions on the debate are political and therefore (s)he should not participate in the debate. The administrator sees citizens and business as partners. It is groups of professionals, which cover associations, organizations etc. and does not necessarily, see the individual citizen as a key stakeholder. The groups of professionals use other media, such as mails and letters, in their communication with the administration, as their input is often long reports and technical judgments. The administrator chooses only to answer factual misunderstandings in ongoing processes or more general issues in the municipality. The mediator, which is a role only a small part of the administration acts in, generally works with the implementing and forming the use of technology in the municipality. (S)he sees ICT as a way of increasing openness and effectiveness in the municipality. Online debates is a solution which the mediator believes especially increases openness and (s)he works with the aim of ensuring a continued debate. The mediator focuses on maximizing the number of contributions, on making it easy to participate and to make it possible to discuss anything, which is why the debate is in no editor or guided use of the debate. The result is that the individual user – political candidate, councilor and administrator – mediate the use of the debate and develop filters for their own and others’ ability to act on the online debate. That politicians and administration appear in these four roles in relation to online debate problematic several aspects of the use of e-participation practices in a municipal context. One aspect is that the four roles develop different practices for the use of the debate which function parallel on the debate without the development of a common practice. A second aspect is that a mediator role is established. An actor who mediates the interaction between citizen and politician, and thereby an actor who has a high degree of importance for what online debating becomes in practice. A third aspect is that the administration takes the mediating role and becomes a political advisor or an administrator of political decisions. A shift which neither the politicians nor the administrator are aware of. At the same time, the way the technology is mediated creates both synergy and conflict between the councilor, the political candidate and the administrator. Synergy and conflict which primarily can be related to the focus of the mediator on the increased use of the technology and the missing focus on contextualization of the online debate.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8000

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Essays on market discipline in commercial and central banking

Forssbæck, Jens (Frederiksberg, 2009)

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The thesis studies how financial markets discipline commercial and central banks’ behavior in various ways. In the first part, two papers test different aspects of market discipline of commercial banks’ risk taking, using a dataset of several hundred banks worldwide. In the first paper, it is shown that the risk-shifting opportunity of shareholders introduced by deposit insurance depends on ownership structure and the extent of market discipline by uninsured creditors. I find that the effect of shareholder control on risk is convex, and that creditor discipline tempers this effect but has little individual influence on risk. The second paper tests the monitoring dimension of market discipline and formulates a two-step procedure which makes it possible to sidestep the common methodological problem that banks’ ‘true’ risk is unobserved. Results suggest that if the quality of institutions is sufficiently high, some market-based indicators may be more accurate measures of banks’ true risk than a set of commonly used accounting-based benchmark indicators – a possibility effectively precluded by much of previous research. In the second part of the thesis, three papers study constraints on central bank behavior introduced by financial markets, using data from a set of small, open European economies during the 1980s and 1990s. The first of these papers tests how capital account liberalization and exchange-rate regime constrain monetary policy autonomy. Contrary to traditional theory, the paper finds no autonomy effect of exchange rate flexibility, whereas capital controls provided some (albeit limited) independence from innovations in foreign money market interest rates. The remaining two papers address how deregulation, innovation, and growth in domestic money markets interplay with central banks’ choices of monetary policy operating procedures. The analysis of the European countries suggests that while deregulation and the emergence of short-term financial markets constrained central bank discretion and compelled increased reliance on open market operations, the paths of money market development in different countries were also partially determined by the respective central banks’ decisions. In the final paper, the same framework of analysis is applied to China, which has announced its intention to rely increasingly on market operations in monetary policy. The results suggest that the disciplining effect of domestic financial markets on central bank behavior in China is so far very small, largely due to remaining de facto financial repression.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7785

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Franske adjektivisk afledte adverbier, der tager præpositionssyntagmer indledt med præpositionen à som argumenter

En valensgrammatisk undersøgelse

Skot-Hansen, Annemette (Frederiksberg, 2009)

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Abstract:

The purpose of this dissertation is to map the valency structure of a subset of the French adverbs. More specifically, the dissertation seeks to answer the following questions: What valency structure follows from the lexical content of the adverbs investigated? What is the nature of the semantic relation established? What is the status of the valents relative to the adverb and relative to other valents? The empirical object of investigation is focused on adverbs derived from adjectives which take prepositional phrases headed by the preposition à as their complement. In addition, the delimitation chosen for this dissertation is a class of adverbs which share the feature that they carry the suffix -ment, which developed from the Latin noun mens, meaning “spirit/thought/mood/tenor”. It is argued that the fusion of an adverb and mens establishes the general meaning [in an adjective spirit/thought/mood/tenor], i.e. the adverb retains the general quality denoted by the adjective, but the meaning targets the verb situation (at clause level) or the quality (at phrasal level) which saturates the argument of the adverb. Following tradition, the analysis adopted here, takes the verb situation to be realised by the predicate, and the quality to be realised by an adjective phrase, which may be realised by a past participle or, in rare cases, by another adverb. Since the valent is required by the lexical content of the adverb, it is assumed, following Herslund and Sørensen, that the valent is a fundamental valent. Another important feature of the adverbs which are analysed in this dissertation is that they establish a relation between two entities. This means that in addition to its fundamental valent, the adverb takes a further valent which it links with the fundamental valent. This second valent is referred to as the second valent of the adverb. The two valents are analysed as two relata in a relation. Unlike the fundamental valent, the second valent is always at phrasal level. When the adverb functions at clausal level, the second valent is realised as the prepositional object of the preposition phrase headed by à. This realisation is, however, not possible when the adverb functions at phrasal level. It is argued that this is a consequence of the fact that it is impossible to insert other constituents between the adverb and the adjective, adverb or participle which is modified by the adverb. The result is that where the second valent is realised, the adverb moves from preposition to postposition relative to its fundamental valent. In the data investigated the second valent denotes very different entities such as situations denoted by verbs and qualities, but also objects and abstract entities. The individual adverbs which are investigated here each determine their valency. In general there are different sources that allow us to uncover the core meaning of a word. The sources chosen in this dissertation are: the semantic roles assigned by the adverbs, their symmetry, elements of shared semantics or partial synonymy, their morphology and etymological roots. In order to bring together these different sources, the dissertation postulates a denotation design for each adverb. The etymology of the adverbs has been a particularly helpful in determining the relation and valency they establish. In addition to adverb and adjective suffixes, the majority of the adverbs investigated have a preposition in their synchronic morphological make-up which denotes a relation between two entities: some adverbs contain both a preposition and a morpheme from another word class, e.g. comparativement and subséquemment, while others contain only a preposition, e.g. antérieurement and postérieurement. A very small subset does not contain a preposition, but only a single adverb morpheme which denotes the relation in question, so, for instance, the adjectives par and similis, which have formed pareillement and semblablement, denote a relation between two relata. From an etymological perspective, a few adverbs, such as latéralement, do not denote a relation – so it is only through the formal realisation of the preposition phrase that the relation is established. The dissertation maps the etymological and morphological structure of the adverb and the range of functions that the adverb and its valents can have at clausal and phrasal level. The function of the adverb is relevant to the extent that the function affects its semantics and its valency structure. The effect of function is seen in some adverbs when they operate on clausal or on phrasal level and in other adverbs when they modify entire clauses or just the verb.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7944

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How to manage SMEs through the transformation from non-innovative to innovative?

Nørager, Michael (Frederiksberg, 2009)

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Abstract:

Denne afhandling er indgivet til ph.d. bedømmelse under forskerskolen Viden og Ledelse ved Institut for Ledelse, Politik og Filosofi på Copenhagen Business School. Afhandlingen tager udgangspunkt i danske små og mellemstore virksomheders udfordringer i at tilpasse sig omverdenens uophørlige forandringer. En aktuel udfordring og måde at overleve på for disse virksomheder er at være innovative. Undersøgelser i 2004 pegede på, at cirka 50% af alle danske små og mellemstore virksomheder ikke var innovative. Præcis der udkrystalliserede mit forskningsspørgsmål sig, som er: Hvordan leder man små og mellemstore virksomheder fra at være ikke-innovative til at blive innovative? Organisationsteorien er leveringsdygtig i mange bud på en løsning til dette problem. Gennem litteraturstudier og målrettede udvælgelseskriterier valgte jeg at analysere problemstillingen ud fra 4 organisationsteoretiske perspektiver, nemlig ledelse, HRM, strategi og netværksrelationer. Den forskningsbaserede empiriske undersøgelse af 5 casevirksomheder viste, at en succesfuld transformation handler om at udvikle en ledelse, der skaber gode rammer for at medarbejderne kan lede og udvikle sig selv gennem arbejde med viden og ny indsigt. Det bør støttes af en stram styring på de mål og ressourcer, der er afsat. Det er ligeledes vigtigt, at HRM perspektivet tager udgangspunkt i at se medarbejderne, som nogen der indeholder et stort potentiale som de gerne benytter til at udvikle virksomheden, hvis de bliver motiveret og udfordret. Disse HRM aktiviteter bør ses i tæt sammenhæng med virksomhedens strategi. En strategi, der i øvrigt bør være nedskrevet, fokuseret på innovative tiltag og tydelig kommunikeret ud i organisationen. Endelig bør små og mellemstore virksomheder, der ønsker at transformere sig til en innovativ position være aktive i netværksrelationer med alle typer af relevante interessenter. Mine analyser af de data der relaterer sig forskningsprojektet viste, at 2 af virksomhederne have gennemgået en transformationsproces, der bragte dem fuldbyrdet ind i en ny ligevægtsposition baseret på innovation. 2 virksomheder var tydeligt i gang med en transformation, men var ikke nået til en ny ligevægtssituation i forhold til at innovative. Den sidste virksomhed var opdelt på den måde, at virksomheden var langt fra transformeret i retning af det innovative, hvorimod virksomhedens produktudviklingsafdeling bar tydelig præg af en sådan ligevægt i forhold til den innovative position. I en længere periode anså jeg disse resultater for være noget spredte i den forstand, at der faktisk var en 50-50 fordeling mellem virksomheder der bekræftede mine antagelser, og virksomheder der ikke bekræftede mine antagelser. Jeg var faktisk begyndt at skrive konklusionen, da jeg pludselig så problemstillingen og mine data forene sig på en ny måde. Det var endda en måde, der let og entydigt forklarede situationen i alle 5 casevirksomheder, og som bidrager til ny viden på feltet. Det, der styrer små og mellemstore virksomheders transformation generelt (ikke kun mod innovation), er det som ledelsen og medarbejderne adresserer som virksomhedens hovedproblem. Hvis ledere og medarbejdere anser det at udvikle produkter eller processer som det vigtigste problem, vil det få stor indflydelse på ledelse, HRM, strategi og netværksrelationer, og disse områder vil tilpasse sig og støtte op om skabelsen af en innovativ ligevægtssituation. Hvis ledere og medarbejdere anser optimering af produktionen eller administrationen som det vigtigste problem, så vil det ligeledes få stor indflydelse på ledelse, HRM, strategi og netværksrelationer, som i dette tilfælde vil udvikle sig mod en ikke-innovativ ligevægtssituation.

URI:

http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7831

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Michael_Nørager.pdf (3.459Mb)

Information exchange and behavior

A multi-method inquiry on online communities

Korfiatis, Nikolaos Theodoros (, 2009)

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Abstract:

This dissertation studies the behavioral characteristics of participants engaged in information exchange in the context of online communities. Online communities are defined as collectives of individuals that use computer mediated communication to facilitate interaction over a shared purpose and/or objective. It is argued that this interaction creates externalities, for example, in the form of codified information that others can use through web search tools. These externalities assemble a virtual form of social capital, a commonly shared resource. The research objective of this thesis is to examine how the behavioral tendencies of the participants in online communities are affected by the way this common resource is formatted, administered and shared. The dissertation consists of two parts: a theoretical part where the empirical background and the object of research inquiry is highlighted, and an empirical part which consists of four empirical studies carried out in the context of three online communities, namely, Google Answers, Yahoo!Answers and Amazon Online Reviews. The empirical part of this dissertation starts with a controlled experiment emulating a well known social dilemma: the public goods game. It provides substance as to whether and when participants in online communities behave (un) cooperatively. The next two studies focus on a special case of online communities where participants ask questions and other participants post answers conditionally on social and monetary incentives. The results of these two studies confirm that community participants do care about the contributions of others and engage in incentive compatible behavior. Yahoo!Answers participants exercise effort in the community by posting answers to questions conditionally on benefits provided by other participants. The empirical findings show that contributing participants in an online community receive answers faster, while those that do not contribute much effort are sanctioned in the form of longer response-time to their questions. In Google Answers this thesis, interactions can be observed that are based on monetary rewards (rather than social rewards in the form of a reputation index as in Yahoo Answers). Participants make use of voluntarily awarded payoffs (tips) along with stated rewards, in order to motivate those that provide answers (answerers) to provide better quality in their responses. The findings of this study confirm the symmetric effect between monetary rewards and quality. However, this study also identifies cases where social norms have a significant effect on response behavior. When participants seek to get better service with less effort (in terms of total cost), a reputation index which is constructed by the history of their previous interactions supports such an attempt. In other words, reputation history influences information sharing behavior in online communities. The last chapter of the empirical part focuses on another crucial aspect of information as a shared resource: Clarity and understandability. The study examines online product reviews on Amazon.com. The results suggest that participants do care about the clarity of this codified form of experience which increases a helpfulness index accordingly. The thesis overall finds symmetric effects between participation in online communities and output of interaction, but also identifies the ability of the participants to interact strategically as they seek to minimize the effort they provide in order to find the information they seek. The results underline the importance of signaling and quality evaluation mechanisms as counter-balancing control that can enhance activity on online communities.

URI:

http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7797

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Internationalization, competitiveness enhancement and export performance of emerging market firms

Evidence from Vietnam

Pham, Ha Thi Van (Frederiksberg, 2009)

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Abstract:

The thesis revolves around the internationalization of Vietnamese firms - that is, how the international competitiveness of these firms is enhanced in terms of both upstream and downstream value chain activities and the export performance implications hereof. For Vietnamese firms, as well as for other firms from emerging markets, internationalization trajectories may differ considerably from the internationalization patterns portrayed in classical theories (such as the Uppsala Model) based on observations of the internationalization of firms from Western, developed market economies. Classical theories have primarily focused on firms’ marketing & sales and networking capabilities as levers of internationalization – and less on upstream capabilities, such as manufacturing and auxiliary service competencies. Likewise the situation in other emerging markets many Vietnamese firms are inserted in global value chains (GVCs) governed by multinational buyers. For these firms, manufacturing skills may be of equal - or greater - importance to export performance than the mastering of marketing & sales and networking in foreign markets. The thesis presents various theoretical perspectives on firms’ internationalization – perspectives that vary in terms of their focus on either upstream or downstream activities (or, the interrelationship of these two types of activities). The thesis tries to fill out the knowledge gap as to which of these theoretical perspectives fit best the trajectories of Vietnamese manufacturing firms involved in exports. In doing so, the thesis also draws on GVC models, entrepreneurial literature, and studies of economic as well as strategic export performance. Unique survey data covering 226 Vietnamese manufacturers involved in exporting was collected through face-to-face interviews conducted in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. On the basis of these data a set of hypotheses is tested using structural equation modelling as a statistical tool. The empirical study suggests that Vietnamese firms create international competitiveness in relation to both upstream and downstream activities. Furthermore, the study suggests that upstream competitiveness of the sample firms is significantly more attractive in terms of economic export performance (export sales, profitability and growth) than downstream competitiveness. However, when export performance is measured in more far-sighted, strategic terms, there are no significant differences between the two dimensions of competitiveness. The study also reveals some interesting industry differences: for firms in the “low-tech” textiles & garments industry, upstream competitiveness has greater impact on economic export performance than downstream competitiveness. Conversely, downstream competitiveness results in a higher economic return than upstream competitiveness for firms from the “high-tech” industries of electronics and mechanical manufactures In the last part of the thesis, theoretical, empirical, and managerial implications are discussed along with conclusions and suggestions for future research.

URI:

http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7934

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