Papers by Dzifa Ametowobla
Springer eBooks, 2017
Der Beitrag diskutiert zunachst, wie sich die Forschungstrias aus Gegenstandsbereich „Organisatio... more Der Beitrag diskutiert zunachst, wie sich die Forschungstrias aus Gegenstandsbereich „Organisation“, Forschungsfrage und Sozialtheorie auf die Auswertung auswirkt sowie wie die Auswertung in den gesamten Forschungsprozess eingebettet ist und insbesondere welche Effekte Fall- und Feldabgrenzung bzw. Abgrenzung der Grundgesamtheit sowie Datenerhebung allgemein auf die Auswertung haben. Danach stellt der Beitrag einige besonders fur die Organisationsforschung geeignete Auswertungsverfahren vor, namentlich aus der quantitativen Sozialforschung drei multivariate Verfahren – Clusteranalyse, hierarchische lineare Mehrebenenanalyse (HLM) und strukturelle Netzwerkanalyse (SNA) – sowie zwei qualitative Verfahren – die qualitative Inhaltsanalyse und die sozialwissenschaftliche Hermeneutik (hermeneutische Wissenssoziologie). Anhand eines Beispiels wird fur jedes Verfahren dessen theoretisches Potenzial diskutiert.
transcript Verlag eBooks, Dec 31, 2021
Applied Clinical Informatics, Apr 1, 2017
Background: Planning and controlling surgical operations hugely impacts upon productivity, patien... more Background: Planning and controlling surgical operations hugely impacts upon productivity, patient safety, and surgeons' careers. Established, specialized software for this task is being increasingly replaced by "Operating Room (OR)-modules" appended to enterprise-wide resource planning (ERP) systems. As a result, usability problems are re-emerging and require developers' attention. Objective: Systematic evaluation of the functionality and social repercussions of a global, marketleading IT business control system (SAP R3, Germany), adapted for real-time OR process steering. Methods: Field study involving document analyses, interviews, and a 73-item survey addressed to 77 qualified (> 1-year system experience) senior planning executives (end users; "planners") working in surgical departments of university hospitals. Results: Planners reported that 57% of electronic operation requests contained contradictory information. Key screens contained clinically irrelevant areas (36 +/-29%). Compared to the legacy system, users reported either no improvements or worse performance, in regard to coordination of OR stakeholders, intra-day program changes, and safety. Planners concluded that the ERP-planning module was "non-intuitive" (66%), increased planning work (56%, p=0.002), and did not impact upon either organizational mishap spectrum or frequency. Interviews evidenced intra-institutional power shifts due to increased system complexity. Planners resented e.g. a trend towards increased personal culpability for mishap. Conclusions: Highly complex enterprise system extensions may not be directly suited to specific process steering tasks in a high risk/low error-environment like the OR. In view of surgeons' high primary task load, the repeated call for simpler IT is an imperative for ERP extensions. System design should consider a) that current OR IT suffers from an input limitation regarding planning-relevant real-time data, and b) that there are social processes that strongly affect planning and particularly ERP use beyond algorithms. Real improvement of clinical IT tools requires their independent evaluation according to standards developed for pharmaceutical subjects.
Zeitschrift Fur Soziologie, May 12, 2023
Digital platforms pervade contemporary socie ties, but sociology currently lacks a general concep... more Digital platforms pervade contemporary socie ties, but sociology currently lacks a general concept for in vestigating them. Platforms combine technology and orga nizational elements in particular ways, but existing concepts consider these combinations in a onesided manner: Busi ness approaches focus on technological features solely in economic relationships, sociological approaches underesti mate the relevance of technology for the multiple relation ship forms. Extending on the understanding that all digital platforms share a coreperiphery architecture, we develop the concept of platform organization for the many instances where this architecture enables and governs a social order through digital interfaces. Our paper contributes to a nec essary debate on general concepts for sociological research that reconcile the role of technology with the social orders brought about by diverse digital platforms.
Langenbeck's Archives of Surgery, Oct 14, 2016
Purpose Algorithms for surgical operation planning are evidence-based. However, choices sometimes... more Purpose Algorithms for surgical operation planning are evidence-based. However, choices sometimes have to be made between medically equal solutions e.g. for staffing of soughtafter operations. Such decisions are heavily influenced by micropolitics and power. The article examines the array of highly manipulated processes around operation theatre allocation of convenient time slots or staff, which play out in various ways in all of the world's main regional surgical cultures. Method Essay supported by empiric data from an ethnographic power-analysis targeted to senior executive surgeons. Operations were categorized into BInteresting^(i.e. careerpromoting) and BUninteresting^(i.e. routine) operations. Results Fifty nine executives responded. Only one respondent contested the categorization of operations into Interesting and Uninteresting. The two categories were staffed according to significantly different criteria (p < 0.05). These were classified as Rational (e.g. Bsurgical expertise^), Social (e.g. Bequity^), and Political (e.g. Bstatus^). For Interesting operations, Rational criteria were deemed most relevant, while for the Uninteresting operations Bequity^was ranked top. Moreover, we found significant differences between surgeons' and external observers' (experienced clerical and nursing staff) assessments of staffing decisions, the latter ranking Political motives higher. Decisions were almost exclusively negotiated among surgeons. 33% of respondents said they used subterfuges such as withholding information, incorrect durationstatements, and barter arrangements to defuse possible conflicts. Conclusions Operating Lists are not merely the product of rational resource optimization. This article demonstrates the methodic feasibility of academic investigation into the typically tacit micro-political mechanisms in List-making. Developing such research further may potentially concern the practice and outcome of surgery.
Background: Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software was originally conceived for manufacturin... more Background: Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software was originally conceived for manufacturing contexts and has later been generalized to cover service contexts as well. In hospitals, adoption was accelerated by an increasing commodification and marketization of health care.Questions: What impact do the manufacturing roots of SAP ERP have when the software is applied for service delivery in a hospital?Method: A typical-case Yin Case Study about the surgery planning and execution processes in a large university hospital.Results: One goal of the ERP implementation was to optimize the utilization of the operation rooms (ORs). This goal was largely missed because of too-low quality of planning data effectuated intentionally by the surgeons in order to pursue micropolitical agendas. This was possible because the software paid no attention to micropolitics at all, largely due to its roots in manufacturing and hidden by higher software layers that claimed to be adapted to the hospital domain.Conclusions: Apparently, successful complex reusable application software can create a domain paradigm that subsequently creates product risk by being inappropriately and neglectfully extended into other domains where it does not apply. Software engineering should become aware of this effect and perform research to control it.
Zeitschrift für Soziologie
Digital platforms pervade contemporary societies, but sociology currently lacks a general concept... more Digital platforms pervade contemporary societies, but sociology currently lacks a general concept for investigating them. Platforms combine technology and organizational elements in particular ways, but existing concepts consider these combinations in a one-sided manner: Business approaches focus on technological features solely in economic relationships, sociological approaches underestimate the relevance of technology for the multiple relationship forms. Extending on the understanding that all digital platforms share a core-periphery architecture, we develop the concept of platform organization for the many instances where this architecture enables and governs a social order through digital interfaces. Our paper contributes to a necessary debate on general concepts for sociological research that reconcile the role of technology with the social orders brought about by diverse digital platforms.
ZfS (Zeitschrift für Soziologie), 2023
Digital platforms pervade contemporary societies, but sociology currently lacks a general concept... more Digital platforms pervade contemporary societies, but sociology currently lacks a general concept for investigating them. Platforms combine technology and organizational elements in particular ways, but existing concepts consider these combinations in a onesided manner: Business approaches focus on technological features solely in economic relationships, sociological approaches underestimate the relevance of technology for the multiple relationship forms. Extending on the understanding that all digital platforms share a core-periphery architecture, we develop the concept of platform organization for the many instances where this architecture enables and governs a social order through digital interfaces. Our paper contributes to a neccessary debate on general concepts for sociological research that reconcile the role of technology with the social orders brought about by diverse digital platforms.
Die Forschung zu digitalen Plattformen hat in der Soziologie Konjunktur. Plattformen sind empiris... more Die Forschung zu digitalen Plattformen hat in der Soziologie Konjunktur. Plattformen sind empirischer Forschungsgegenstand und Aufhänger für Gesellschaftsdiagnosen zur Digitalisierung. Wenig verbreitet sind bisher analytische Konzepte, mit denen die vielfältige Empirie sortiert und systematisch mit den abstrakten Überlegungen zur gesellschaftlichen Bedeutung von Plattformen in Verbindung gebracht werden kann. Eine Grundlage für derart konzeptionelle Arbeiten fehlt bisher: Ein Plattformbegriff, der für Forschende mit unterschiedlichen Perspektiven, Fragestellungen und Gegenstandsbereichen anschlussfähig ist. Es wird vorgeschlagen, zu diesem Zweck auf das Konzept der Plattformarchitektur aus der ökonomischen Innovationsforschung zurückzugreifen und "Plattform" als Bezeichnung für ein Strukturmuster soziotechnischer Systeme zu verwenden. Das Paper stellt diesen Plattformbegriff vor und demonstriert exemplarisch seine Potentiale für die soziologische Debatte.
»Umweltmonitoring im Entstehen: Von der Übersicht über natürliche Ressourcen zur Beobachtung von ... more »Umweltmonitoring im Entstehen: Von der Übersicht über natürliche Ressourcen zur Beobachtung von Umweltveränderungen«. This article examines the nexus of ecological science and environmental politics by considering the tensions between the global circulation of the notion of "environmental monitoring" and the local production of data on environmental change. The history of the planning of the Global Network of Environmental Monitoring (GNEM) program provides a glimpse of what it takes to launch a program of environmental monitoring globally on the level of intergovernmental organizations, such as the United Nations. The first part of the paper traces the GNEM project as it moved through different international agencies and international programs in the 1960s and 1970s. The second part explores the local story of the environmental monitoring of Lake Baikal. The emergence of "environmental monitoring" as an issue of global concern, and the local story of environmental monitoring of Lake Baikal were interrelated, but only in theory: Rather than boosting the already ongoing local monitoring of Lake Baikal, the intergovernmental global monitoring program was used as a legitimation to sustain the environmental pollution of the lake. Yet, the Soviet scientists-led environmental activism, which failed to influence environmental regulation in the Soviet Union, had critically contributed to the sustaining of the environmental monitoring programs in a small way, through collecting the data detailing the environmental changes in the places most affected by disastrous Soviet environmental policies, such as those regarding Lake Baikal.
Background: Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software was originally conceived for manufacturin... more Background: Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software was originally conceived for manufacturing contexts and has later been generalized to cover service contexts as well. In hospitals, adoption was accelerated by an increasing commodification and marketization of health care.Questions: What impact do the manufacturing roots of SAP ERP have when the software is applied for service delivery in a hospital?Method: A typical-case Yin Case Study about the surgery planning and execution processes in a large university hospital.Results: One goal of the ERP implementation was to optimize the utilization of the operation rooms (ORs). This goal was largely missed because of too-low quality of planning data effectuated intentionally by the surgeons in order to pursue micropolitical agendas. This was possible because the software paid no attention to micropolitics at all, largely due to its roots in manufacturing and hidden by higher software layers that claimed to be adapted to the hospital ...
Der Beitrag diskutiert zunachst, wie sich die Forschungstrias aus Gegenstandsbereich „Organisatio... more Der Beitrag diskutiert zunachst, wie sich die Forschungstrias aus Gegenstandsbereich „Organisation“, Forschungsfrage und Sozialtheorie auf die Auswertung auswirkt sowie wie die Auswertung in den gesamten Forschungsprozess eingebettet ist und insbesondere welche Effekte Fall- und Feldabgrenzung bzw. Abgrenzung der Grundgesamtheit sowie Datenerhebung allgemein auf die Auswertung haben. Danach stellt der Beitrag einige besonders fur die Organisationsforschung geeignete Auswertungsverfahren vor, namentlich aus der quantitativen Sozialforschung drei multivariate Verfahren – Clusteranalyse, hierarchische lineare Mehrebenenanalyse (HLM) und strukturelle Netzwerkanalyse (SNA) – sowie zwei qualitative Verfahren – die qualitative Inhaltsanalyse und die sozialwissenschaftliche Hermeneutik (hermeneutische Wissenssoziologie). Anhand eines Beispiels wird fur jedes Verfahren dessen theoretisches Potenzial diskutiert.
Soziologie der Nachhaltigkeit
Applied Clinical Informatics
Summary Background: Planning and controlling surgical operations hugely impacts upon productivity... more Summary Background: Planning and controlling surgical operations hugely impacts upon productivity, patient safety, and surgeons’ careers. Established, specialized software for this task is being increasingly replaced by “Operating Room (OR)-modules” appended to enterprise-wide resource planning (ERP) systems. As a result, usability problems are re-emerging and require developers’ attention. Objective: Systematic evaluation of the functionality and social repercussions of a global, market-leading IT business control system (SAP R3, Germany), adapted for real-time OR process steering. Methods: Field study involving document analyses, interviews, and a 73-item survey addressed to 77 qualified (> 1-year system experience) senior planning executives (end users; “planners”) working in surgical departments of university hospitals. Results: Planners reported that 57% of electronic operation requests contained contradictory information. Key screens contained clinically irrelevant areas (3...
Langenbeck's Archives of Surgery, 2016
Algorithms for surgical operation planning are evidence-based. However, choices sometimes have to... more Algorithms for surgical operation planning are evidence-based. However, choices sometimes have to be made between medically equal solutions e.g. for staffing of sought-after operations. Such decisions are heavily influenced by micropolitics and power. The article examines the array of highly manipulated processes around operation theatre allocation of convenient time slots or staff, which play out in various ways in all of the world&#39;s main regional surgical cultures. Essay supported by empiric data from an ethnographic power-analysis targeted to senior executive surgeons. Operations were categorized into &quot;Interesting&quot; (i.e. career-promoting) and &quot;Uninteresting&quot; (i.e. routine) operations. Fifty nine executives responded. Only one respondent contested the categorization of operations into Interesting and Uninteresting. The two categories were staffed according to significantly different criteria (p &lt; 0.05). These were classified as Rational (e.g. &quot;surgical expertise&quot;), Social (e.g. &quot;equity&quot;), and Political (e.g. &quot;status&quot;). For Interesting operations, Rational criteria were deemed most relevant, while for the Uninteresting operations &quot;equity&quot; was ranked top. Moreover, we found significant differences between surgeons&#39; and external observers&#39; (experienced clerical and nursing staff) assessments of staffing decisions, the latter ranking Political motives higher. Decisions were almost exclusively negotiated among surgeons. 33% of respondents said they used subterfuges such as withholding information, incorrect duration-statements, and barter arrangements to defuse possible conflicts. Operating Lists are not merely the product of rational resource optimization. This article demonstrates the methodic feasibility of academic investigation into the typically tacit micro-political mechanisms in List-making. Developing such research further may potentially concern the practice and outcome of surgery.
Historical Social Research / Historische Sozialforschung
During the past decades, innovation research has yielded countless empirical studies in a variety... more During the past decades, innovation research has yielded countless empirical studies in a variety of disciplines. For all this quantity, we still lack an adequate understanding of basic qualities and mechanisms of its central subject. Which processes and conditions bring innovation about? How does it spread? And what is its genuine nature? Critics argue that these shortcomings have their roots in the conceptual limitations of established perspectives on innovation and in the fact that researchers confine themselves to studying technical and scientific novelties or marketable products. This self-restriction stands in marked contrast to the observation that innovation plays an important role in contemporary societies. The term is at least ubiquitous and its usage common in all societal fields. In this introduction to this HSR Special Issue, we subscribe to this critique and argue that the conceptual reductionism comes along with severe methodical and methodological limitations. These ...
Innovation Studies today are dominated by two typical theory/method bundles that emerged across d... more Innovation Studies today are dominated by two typical theory/method bundles that emerged across disciplinary debates: ethnographies of innovation, evolving mainly from Science and Technology Studies (STS), and (national, regional, territorial) systems of innovation research in economics and geography. Therefore, methodological debates in the field, on the one hand, cover only a small range of research questions, data types, designs, as well as tools for data analysis. On the other hand, methodological tools are strangely detached from the general debate on social science as well as historical and process-oriented methodology. The hypothesis motivating this HSR Special Issue is that the dominance of these deeply institutionalized agendas within the research field on innovation hampers an adequately broad theoretical and methodological access to the complex processes that are characteristic for innovation. Right now, this problem is only discussed theoretically. With this HSR Special ...
Innovation Studies today are dominated by two typical theory/method bundles that emerged across d... more Innovation Studies today are dominated by two typical theory/method bundles that emerged across disciplinary debates: ethnographies of innovation, evolving mainly from Science and Technology Studies (STS), and (national, regional, territorial) systems of innovation research in economics and geography. Therefore, methodological debates in the field, on the one hand, cover only a small range of research questions, data types, designs, as well as tools for data analysis. On the other hand, methodological tools are strangely detached from the general debate on social science as well as historical and process-oriented methodology. The hypothesis motivating this HSR Special Issue is that the dominance of these deeply institutionalized agendas within the research field on innovation hampers an adequately broad theoretical and methodological access to the complex processes that are characteristic for innovation. Right now, this problem is only discussed theoretically. With this HSR Special ...
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Papers by Dzifa Ametowobla