The framing of product ideas in the making: a case study of the development of an energy saving pump

Research regarding work with ideas in industrial settings has predominantly treated ideas as rather stable ‘black boxes’. This article contributes a new understanding of idea work and seeks to expand our understanding of how a product concept is constituted and synthesised through socio-material interaction of organisational members and engagement in idea work. The article contributes a case study of the development process behind the energy-saving Alpha Pro circulator launched by the Danish pump manufacturer Grundfos. Based on an analysis of how organisational players engage in the controversial and shifting understandings of what seems to constitute a successful product, the article offers a new perspective on navigating the players’ ideas in the political processes of innovation. It suggests that navigation of technological frames can offer a new perspective to make explicit the implicated actors’ world views, including what they perceive as relevant problems and related strategies for solving them.     

Using enterprise architecture to analyse how organisational structure impact motivation and learning

When technology, environment, or strategies change, organisations need to adjust their structures accordingly. These structural changes do not always enhance the organisational performance as intended partly because organisational developers do not understand the consequences of structural changes in performance. This article presents a model-based analysis framework for quantitative analysis of the effect of organisational structure on organisation performance in terms of employee motivation and learning. The model is based on Mintzberg’s work on organisational structure. The quantitative analysis is formalised using the Object Constraint Language (OCL) and the Unified Modelling Language (UML) and implemented in an enterprise architecture tool.     

The marketing firm and co-creation: An empirical study of marketer and customer's co-creation process

This study empirically investigates the marketer and customer's co-creation process within the context of the marketing firm. Based on principles from bilateral contingencies, findings from a conjoint study (n = 98) indicate that utilitarian and informational reinforcing consequences from the marketer have a stronger impact on customers' co-creation behavior relative to informational reinforcing consequences from other customers. Consequently, analyzing the impact of important reinforcing contingencies through the lens of bilateral contingencies expands our understanding of how and why co-creation outcomes might occur. Also, a good co-creation process may increase the business companies' research and intelligence and, as a consequence, strengthen their competitiveness.     

The effect of oxygen and water on stress corrosion cracking of mild steel in liquid and vaporous ammonia

The influence of water and oxygen concentration on stress corrosion cracking of steels in liquid ammonia. Vapor phase cracking in water-inhibited ammonia storage spheres is also discussed.     

School output control and student performance in Norwegian primary schools—an exploratory study

This paper explores how national school performance measures are used as a management control system in Norwegian schools and the relationship between the use of these measures and student performance. Survey data from Norway and archival family background data are examined with the results of national tests (NTs) taken by grade 5 students (10 year olds). The study finds interesting relationships between how schools use NT results and student performance. The findings provide insight into how take up of national tests can be improved within Norwegian schools. These insights might also be transferable to schools outside Norway.     

The marketing firm and co-creation: The case of co-creation by LEGO

This article discusses the marketer and customer co-creation process within the context of bilateral contingencies. Bilateral contingencies occur when the marketers' behavior is reinforced (and/or punished) by the customers' behavior, whereas the behavior of the customers is reinforced (and/or punished) by the marketers' actions. Using the example of the LEGO community, we discuss how the marketers in the organization can respond to behaviors resulting from co-creational customer–customer exchanges. This paper fills the knowledge gap by presenting a behavior analysis framework (theory of the marketing firm) for the empirical measurement of the co-creation process.