Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques

What makes organizations so similar? We contend that the engine of rationalization and bureaucratization has moved from the competitive marketplace to the state and the professions. Once a set of organizations emerges as a field, a paradox arises: rational actors make their organizations increasingly similar as they try to change them. We describe three isomorphic processes-coercive, mimetic, and normative—leading to this outcome. We then specify hypotheses about the impact of resource centralization and dependency, goal ambiguity and technical uncertainty, and professionalization and structuration on isomorphic change. Finally, we suggest implications for theories of organizations and social change.

The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields (Chinese Translation)

Normal accidents. Living with high-risk technologies

Therefore, the seeker after the truth is not one who studies the writings of the ancients and, following his natural disposition, puts his trust in them, but rather the one who suspects his faith in them and questions what he gathers from them, the one who submits to argument and demonstration, and not to the sayings of a human being whose nature is fraught with all kinds of imperfection and de‹ciency. Thus the duty of the man who investigates the writings of scientists, if learning the truth is his goal, is to make himself the enemy of all that he reads, and, applying his mind to the core and margins of its content, attack it from every side. He should also suspect himself as he performs his critical examination of it, so that he may avoid falling into either prejudice or leniency. (Ibn al-Haytham)1

국제정치이론 = Theory of international politics

Social use of technology positive indirect effect on employees' job performance.Cognitive use of technology positive indirect effect on employees' job performance.Hedonic use of the technology direct negative impact on routine performance.Hedonic use of the technology indirect positive impact on innovative performance. Organizations are increasingly adopting new technologies, such as social media, that afford employees a repertoire of uses not simply focused on work, but also on socialization and entertainment. Knowledge regarding the impact of such diverse technologies on job performance, however, is currently limited. This study adopts a technology use lens to study the effect of three categories of social media use - social, hedonic, and cognitive - on job performance, as mediated by three dimensions of social capital. The research was conducted via a large-scale survey within a multinational Information Technology company. Social and cognitive uses of technology were empirically shown to have a positive, albeit indirect, effect on employees' routine and innovative job performance. Hedonic use of the technology, while having a direct negative impact on routine performance was shown to positively contribute to the development of social ties, leading to a mitigating positive influence on innovative performance. This interesting positive side of hedonic use, along with all findings from our study, are discussed and used to offer insights to future research and practice.

Linking dimensions of social media use to job performance

The information technology project control literature has documented that clan control is often essential in complex multistakeholder projects for project success. However, instituting clan control in such conditions is challenging as people come to a project with diverse skills and backgrounds. There is often insufficient time for clan control to develop naturally. This paper investigates the question, "How can clan control be enacted in complex IT projects?" Recognizing social capital as a resource, we conceptualize a clan as a group with strong social capital (i.e., where its members have developed their structural, cognitive, and relational ties to the point that they share common values and beliefs and are committed to a set of peer norms). We theorize that the enactment of clan control is a dual process of (1) building the clan by developing its social capital dimensions (structural, cognitive, and relational ties) or reappropriating social capital from elsewhere and (2) leveraging the clan by reinforcing project-facilitating shared values, beliefs, and norms, and inhibiting those that impede the achievement of project goals. We explore how clan control was enacted in a large IT project at a major logistics organization in which clan control was quickly instituted to avoid an impending project failure. Our research contributes to theory in three ways: (1) we reconcile the two differing views of clan control into a single framework, (2) we explain the role of controllers in enacting clan control, and (3) we clarify how formal control can be employed to develop clan control.

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Enacting clan control in complex it projects: a social capital perspective

A modular parallel robotic system consists of a collection of individual standard units that can be assembled into various robot configurations for a diversity of task requirements. This paper is focused on the design and kinematic analysis of modular reconfigurable parallel robots. A set of fundamental modules is considered. A local frame representation of the product-of-exponentials (POE) formula, i.e., the local POE formula, is employed for the kinematic analysis of modular parallel robots. Two forward displacement analysis algorithms and a workspace visualization scheme are presented for a class of 3-leg modular parallel robots. Computation examples are also given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms. The kinematic formulation shows that the local POE formula is a systematic and well-structured method for the kinematic analysis of parallel robots.

Design and kinematic analysis of modular reconfigurable parallel robots

This paper describes the kinematic design issues of a modular reconfigurable parallel robot. Two types of robot modules, the fixed-dimension joint modules and the variable dimension link modules that can be custom-designed rapidly, are used to facilitate the complex design effort. Module selection and robot configuration enumeration are discussed. The kinematic analysis of modular parallel robots is based on a local frame representation of the Product-Of-Exponentials (POE) formula. Forward displacement analysis algorithms and a workspace visualization scheme are presented for a class of three-legged modular parallel robots. Two three-legged reconfigurable parallel robot configurations are actually built according to the proposed design procedure.

Kinematic Design of Modular Reconfigurable In-Parallel Robots

                                                                                

https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=cmp_research

Managing Risks in a Failing IT Project: A Social Constructionist View

Many outsourcing contracts are expiring, and vendor transition is an increasing concern. This paper attempts to develop guidelines for vendor transition by applying balance of threat theory, which suggests a client organization should pursue either a ''soft'' or ''hard'' balancing strategy, depending on the outgoing vendor's capability and aggressive intent to disrupt client operations. Balance of threat theory is explored across two contrasting case sites. In addition to demonstrating the relevance of balance of threat theory, the cases identify specific tactics associated with hard and soft balancing, as well as key areas of conflict in vendor transition.

https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&context=cmp_research

Wee Kiat Lim

Papers

Enacting clan control in complex it projects: a social capital perspective

Design and kinematic analysis of modular reconfigurable parallel robots

Kinematic Design of Modular Reconfigurable In-Parallel Robots

Managing Risks in a Failing IT Project: A Social Constructionist View

Client strategies in vendor transition: A threat balancing perspective