Papers by Henrik Linderoth
To accommodate the task of an IT-mediated change process in the organizational form of a project ... more To accommodate the task of an IT-mediated change process in the organizational form of a project is not wholly unproblematic. Knowledge development in the project process can challenge budgeted use of resources and timelines, and goals set, when the task requires or triggers learning and knowledge development. This ambiguity of IT-mediated change projects can cause implications for close-out and the management of IT-mediated change project. The aim of the paper is to analyze close out phases in IT-mediated change projects and identify consequences for the management of the permanent organization. The aim will be fulfilled by a brief analysis of three I-T-projects. It is concluded that inscribed patterns of action in the technology has implications for the close out of the project and the organization hosting the system. The understanding of patterns action is a pre-requisite for the management of the organization hosting the project, if appropriate Actions would be taken after close out of a project. Based an the patterns of action inscribed, the set up of an adequate support organization is essential for exploiting knowledge and ideas from the project, or triggered by the project, if a further organizational development would be facilitated.
During the 1990's high expectations were put on telemedicine technology in health care organi... more During the 1990's high expectations were put on telemedicine technology in health care organizations, which can be seen as a reflexion of the society's interest in IT. The use of tele-medicine is expected to improve the quality and decrease costs of health care services. However, if these expectations are to be attained the visions have to be translated into fields of application in local settings where the technology would be used. This could be seen as an infusion process, which means that the technology would incrementally be used in a comprehensive and integrated manner. In this thesis, four Swedish telemedicine projects are analyzed. The approach used is that of Actor network theory (ANT), which has enabled the development of a theory of the infusion process, implementation of IT-projects, and parts of ANT, e.g. the model of the translation process and the notion of inscription. By using the concept of translation, it is possible to see the infusion process as a process...
Asian Accounting and Auditing Advancement
Studies on the use of accounting information have with a few exceptions not highlighted the role ... more Studies on the use of accounting information have with a few exceptions not highlighted the role of the organizational form for the use of accounting information. In studies of management and organization, the multi-project organization (MPO) and its managerial implications have received increased attention during the last decade, but its implications for the use of accounting information have not been studied in any depth. Accordingly is the aim of the paper to explore how the MPO’s dimensions of temporality and permanency shape the use of accounting information in a multi-project organization. The aim will be pursued by a case study of a Swedish building and construction company. Based on the empirical data it is concluded that the temporality of operations implies that higher-level managers need more encompassing non-financial information in order to judge accounting information and by that they also get more involved in operations. At the same time, operation managers, i.e. the ...
Design thinking (DT) is the application of design practice as an approach to innovate and initiat... more Design thinking (DT) is the application of design practice as an approach to innovate and initiate change. Recently, DT has received increasing attention as an approach to address sustainability ch ...
BIM is claimed to be one of the most promising developments in the industry and many researchers ... more BIM is claimed to be one of the most promising developments in the industry and many researchers and practitioners seem to agree on BIM’s potential applicability in- and benefits for construction. However, what the potential, or full potential is, is a bit unclear. As well as for other Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), an objective full potential for BIM does not exist due to technology and knowledge development. But is there some alternative concept instead of potential that better capture the technologies enabling features and the interpretive dimensions? The concept of IT-affordance has been used to describe the appropriation of open ended flexible technologies and is described as: a potential for action that emerges out of the interrelationships among the technical features of a system, people’s ability and predisposition to use these features in certain ways, and the organizational context within which this takes place. The aim of the paper is to explore how the...
Construction Management and Economics, 2016
The emergence of a new technology like BIM is often connected with extensive discussions of indus... more The emergence of a new technology like BIM is often connected with extensive discussions of industrial and organizational development and change. However, predicting the use trajectory of a technology has always been a difficult task. In understanding the adoption and use of information and communication technology (ICT), the way that people make sense of a technology is an important component. Even if sensemaking varies over time, studies of sensemaking processes over longer periods are rare. This paper has two aims. First, to develop a conceptual framework of how the development of sensemaking processes shapes the adoption and use of ICT. Second, to discuss the implications of this for research and practice, with a specific focus on the adoption and use of BIM. The research involves a case study of 12 years of telemedicine use in a Swedish county. These results are compared with contemporary BIM studies. The overall conclusion is that the use of technology is heavily shaped by the sensemaking of significant actor groups. This is grounded both an institutional logic and daily practice in relation to the benefits or disadvantages the group perceives from the use of the technology.
Journal of telemedicine and telecare, 2002
The aim of the present study was to elucidate how telemedicine can be used in an integrated and c... more The aim of the present study was to elucidate how telemedicine can be used in an integrated and comprehensive manner. Two Swedish telemedicine projects were studied. The technical platform was an ISDN videoconferencing system which could be connected to various items of medical equipment. The first project, general telemedicine, concerned communication between two primary care centres, one county hospital and one university hospital. The specialties involved were dermatology, orthopaedics and otolaryngology. The second project, telepathology, included pathology and cytology at the university hospital, and surgery and gynaecology at a county hospital. The first round of interviews was conducted to reveal the expectations of the physicians regarding the potential benefits and applications of the technology and potential organizational obstacles. Subsequent interview rounds were carried out to reveal what had happened since the previous interview. In total 62 interviews were carried ou...
Design errors are claimed to account for 26% of the cost of defects, these in turn are stated to ... more Design errors are claimed to account for 26% of the cost of defects, these in turn are stated to encompass 2-9% of production cost for building and constructions. Lack of knowledge and information has been identified as a major reasons for design errors. Recently Building Information Modelling (BIM) has been considered as a mean for reducing design errors. However, limited research has been conducted on the role of BIM as a means for transfer and sharing knowledge in order to reduce design errors. The aim of the paper is to analyse BIM's role of facilitating knowledge and expertise sharing in order to prevent design errors. The aim is achieved by analysing a case study of design errors in a construction project. By drawing on the concept of boundary object it is confirmed that BIM can serve a mean for preventing design errors by facilitating knowledge and expertise sharing, across discipline, time and space, and professional boundaries. Depending the kind of boundary knowledge and expertise should be shared across, different challenges emerge in organizing the knowledge and expertise sharing
The concept of technological frames of reference (TFR) has been used to uncover people's sense ma... more The concept of technological frames of reference (TFR) has been used to uncover people's sense making of information and communication technologies (ICT), in order to deepen the understanding of ICT use. But the role of the organization's institutional context in the development of TFR has been overlooked, and most studies of TFR has been snapshots of frames. In order to contribute to the knowledge of ICT-use, the aim of the paper is to analyse how the interplay between institutional logic and TFR evolves over time. The aim will be pursued by the analysis of a case study of telemedicine use in a Swedish county during a 12 years period. It is concluded that the framing process moves between different levels of understanding guided by varying institutional logics. The understanding moves from an abstract level of what is best for the organization, to an understanding what is best for the group. Significant actors play a crucial role establishing dominant frames, or in re-framing the understanding the ICT. In this process institutional logics is drawn upon either to initially create a legitimacy for the ICT-use, or as an argument for non-use.
International Journal of Project Management, 2005
The aim of the paper is to inquire how technology can be analysed in order to develop a deeper kn... more The aim of the paper is to inquire how technology can be analysed in order to develop a deeper knowledge about the project process and the implications for management of IT-dependent change projects. Two Intranet projects, and one telemedicine project, are analysed from the perspective of social construction of technology (SCOT) and actor network theory (ANT). By using the concepts of technological frames, from SCOT, and inscriptions, from ANT, it has been possible to create a framework for describing technology and its role in the process of IT-dependent change projects.
International Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management, 2002
Much attention is turning to nanoscale organic materials, due to many unique properties such as f... more Much attention is turning to nanoscale organic materials, due to many unique properties such as flexibility, high photoconductivity, and nonlinear optical effects that may offer novel applications in nano-optoelectronic devices. We have synthesised new conjugated organic molecular aggregates using various methods, including template, solid phase organic reaction, thermal evaporation method and organic vapour-solid phase reaction. The dimension-dependent emission properties were observed in the nanowires and nanorods. The approaches are expected to form new general routes for the controlled morphosynthesis of organic molecular materials in restricted dimensions, with controlled size and shape, the solid-state physical properties of which are of great interest.
Automation in Construction, 2010
There has been a considerable time lag between the emergence of visionary expectations of BIM's (... more There has been a considerable time lag between the emergence of visionary expectations of BIM's (Building Information Models) transformative potential in the architecture, engineering and construction industry, and the deployment of the technology in the industry's daily practice. By viewing adoption and use of BIM as the inter-linkage of actors forming a building and construction project, the aim of the paper is to uncover mechanisms facilitating and constraining the creation of actor networks in which BIM is adopted and used. The aim is pursued by a case study in a major Swedish construction company. It is concluded that the possibility of incremental implementation of BIM applications is well aligned with the character of the industrial context. But the context can also constrain the use of applications requiring more long term thinking. However, because of the disruptive nature of building and construction projects, the challenge is to maintain and re-establish the network in which BIM is used in consecutive projects. When clients and regulating bodies recognize benefits from BIM usage, the main obstacle created by these characteristics of the industry will diminish.
When management accounting becomes project management and vice versa : A study of a project based... more When management accounting becomes project management and vice versa : A study of a project based company
In business settings a perception persists that there is always a trade-off to be made between pr... more In business settings a perception persists that there is always a trade-off to be made between profit and environment. However, the questions can be raised what priorities are made in production re ...
During the 1990's high expectations were put on telemedicine technology in health care or ganizat... more During the 1990's high expectations were put on telemedicine technology in health care or ganizations, which can be seen as a reflexion of the society's interest in IT. The use of telemedicine is expected to improve the quality and decrease costs of health care services. How ever, if these expectations are to be attained the visions have to be translated into fields of application in local settings where the technology would be used. This could be seen as an infusion process, which means that the technology would incrementally be used in a compre hensive and integrated manner. In this thesis, four Swedish telemedicine projects are analyzed. The approach used is that of Actor network theory (ANT), which has enabled the development of a theory of the infusion process, implementation of IT-projects, and parts of ANT, e.g. the model of the translation process and the notion of inscription. By using the concept of translation, it is possible to see the infusion process as a process where the generic features of the technology (transmitting sound and pictures in real t ime) are translated into concrete activities in local settings. These fields of application are realized by the mobilization of different task-based networks, where the roles of the actors are defined by the task to be solved. An iterated mobilization of the network implies further that the network will become stabilized, which is a central dimension in the process of infusion. Another way to understand the process of infusion is to describe it as cycles of implementation, where one cycle symbolizes the implementation of a field of application, which is a result of the transla tion of the generic features of the technology. The inscriptions in the studied technology allow a high degree of flexibility of use and flexibility of action. The flexibility means that fields of application ought to be developed in interaction between actors in local settings, and supporting programs of action are to be iden tified, or developed, in order to integrate technology use into daily routines. The considerable numbers of failed of IT-project implementations can be explained by the fact that a traditional planning perspective has been used on technologies, which allow a high degree of flexibility of use and flexibility of action. However, by categorizing inscriptions in technological arti facts, it becomes possible to predict what kinds of implementation strategies are appropriate for different kinds of technologies. By viewing the implementation of open networking tech nologies as a process of translation, the infusion process will be facilitated and a comprehen sive and integrated use of technology will be enabled.
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Papers by Henrik Linderoth