First ODD seminar was arranged the other week!

by admin Posted on January 30, 2018

Finally we are back to some kind of normality and the ODD seminars are once again arranged! The other week was however even a Odd seminar for a ODD seminar since we spent the time welcoming two new members of our small community, celebrating some achievements and planning for the spring.

The two new members are Malin Näsholm and Ulrica Nyhlén, both associate professors at the management section at the department of Business administration, USBE. They are both interested in identity work and expatriate police personnel. Ulrica have also done research on the healthcare system in Sweden. A closer presentation will follow later on…

The celebrations was concerning the recently accepted article by Robert, Oscar, Ola and Markus. It was Robert´s first so he deserved to pop the bubbles! (about the article see here)

The planning of the spring gave in hand a couple of occasions for Odd seminars, but also the coordination of activities as we have guests coming in. The two whose dates are set are professor emeritus David Buchanan at Cranfield University, and professor Daniel Geiger at Hamburg University. Both of them will give seminars based on recent work, and workshops on methods related to extreme contexts. Stay tuned, more information will follow!

 

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“A Matter of Life or Death: How Extreme Context Research Matters for Management and Organization Studies” now published in Academy of Management Annals

by admin Posted on January 30, 2018

The other day Markus Hällgren, Linda Rouleau´s and Mark de Rond´s paper “A Matter of Life or Death: How Extreme Context Research Matters for Management and Organization Studies” was published in the Academy of Management Annals journal. It was a lot of hard work so they are really pleased to finally see it in print. Hopefully it will make a difference in how we conceptualize, theorize and approach extreme contexts in the future.

You find the article here or you can email Markus on markus.hallgren(at)umu.se if you´d like a copy. Please share with others that you think might be interested!

Abstract
Organization scholarship has seen an escalation of interest in research into extremes. Comprising several interconnected domains, this growing body of research is decidedly fragmented. This fragmentation risks limiting its potential for advancing management and organization studies. Drawing on 138 articles published in top-tier journals between 1980 and 2015, the purpose of this review is to resolve some of this fragmentation by sharpening definitions and by developing a context-specific typology to help differentiate between contributions from research into riskycontexts, emergency contexts, and disrupted contexts. Doing so allows us to let the various literatures speak to each other and to outline ways to enhance the cumulative potential of extreme context research.

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Negotiations and research bargains: Bending professional norms in the effort to gain field access accepted for publication in International Journal of Qualitative Methods

by admin Posted on January 10, 2018

Indonesia-Makes-Scientific-Publication-A-Graduation-Requirement-For-All-StudentsToday Ola, Robert, Ola and Markus had the pleasant news that their article “Negotiations and research bargains: Bending professional norms in the effort to gain field access” was  accepted for publication in International Journal of Qualitative Methods.

Worth mentioning this was Robert´s first. More to come!

Abstract

The present study provides an auto-ethnographic account of the efforts to gain field access to a police organization, spanning more than two years. The aim is to describe a case of gaining access in relation to the professional norms of science put forward by Robert K. Merton. Aided by an organized record of notes, emails and other written communications regarding access (144 memos of various types), the study describes and discusses the negotiations with Mertonian norms that followed from the dissonance between ideals of research and practical reality. Opening up for further scholarly discussion, the article concludes that Merton’s norms are incongruent with both prevailing guidelines of research ethics as well as with the practical, short-term problems of access negotiations and research bargains.

What is already known?

Obtaining field access in organizations is an increasing problem for qualitative researchers. The literature on gaining access is providing strategies that researchers can use, as well as problematizing the ethical issues involved when bargaining with organizations. However, the literature has not hitherto engaged with the problem of how access negotiations affect the types of research questions asked, the way results are presented, and, consequently, what the role of research in society ought to be.

What this paper adds?

Using Merton’s norms of science (universalism, communalism, disinterestedness and organized skepticism) as a reference, the paper shows how the realities of research bargaining are at odds with research ideals such as impartiality, rationality and, in particular, freedom and autonomy from often competing societal interests. It also shows that prevailing ethical guidelines such as ‘informed consent’ might, in the effort to gain access, be problematic in relation to these ideals. With these arguments, the paper seeks to expand the debate on the problems of access to organizations to include the role of research in society.

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Teaching zombie leadership in projects

by admin Posted on November 13, 2017

Today Markus had the opportunity to do a workshop on leadership in projects. Nothing special about that, except that the case the master students were working with was the true classic. Late George Romero´s “Day of the Dead”, the third and final part of his “the dead” trilogy. Of course popcorn was provided! The result from the case.. it seemed pretty successful..!

Skärmavbild 2017-11-13 kl. 21.51.44

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Odd seminar on “Professional Socialization through Identity Work: Junior Doctors’ Responses to Professional Expectations “

by admin Posted on November 10, 2017

Without a picture but trust us, we still had a very nice ODD seminar on the paper entitled “Professional Socialization through Identity Work: Junior Doctors’ Responses to Professional Expectations “. Since the paper is in review the author will not be displayed at this point. Again.. quite a nice way to end the Friday with some great companionship, interesting discussions, wine and sausage.

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Research funding for a research exchange program addressing the grand challenges of today´s society

by admin Posted on November 8, 2017

Today we received the news that we have received funding from Riksbankens Jubileumsfond for a research exchange program addressing the grand challenges of today. Please find the summary in Swedish and English below.

Sammanfattning på svenska
Programmets syfte är att skapa en plattform för samarbete samt ökad lokal exponering för internationell organisationsforskning i toppklass. Utbytet är ett led i att utveckla den teoretiska och metodologiska kompetens som stora samhällsutmaningar kräver. Nio forskare som samtliga är experter på sitt respektive område har bjudits. Varje inbjuden forskare följer förutbestämda aktiviteter kopplade till programmets övergripande syfte. Forskningsutbytet arrangeras av forskningsmiljön TripleED vid managementsektionen på Handelshögskolan, och sker i samarbete med två forskningsprofiler vid två andra institutioner på Umeå universitet.

Summary in English
The purpose of the research exchange is to create a platform for collaboration, and locally increase the exposure to international top-level organization theory research. The exchange is part of a larger strategy to develop the theoretical and methodological competence that is required to take on the grand challenges of today’s society. Nine scholars that are experts in their field are invited. Each visit will include pre-set activities associated with the purpose of the exchange program. The exchange is organized by the Extreme Environments – Everyday Decisions research environment at the management section at Umeå School of Business and Economics, Umeå university in collaboration with two research profiles at other departments on Umeå University.

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Odd seminar on “Discursive sensegiving in organizational change”

by admin Posted on October 13, 2017

IMG_3224Today we had our third Odd seminar for the semester. This time it was Robert´s turn to arrange it. We had the opportunity to read and comment on the paper “Discursive sensegiving in organizational change” that Robert, Oscar, Ola and Markus has written. This also prompted a discussion on data analysis. Of course we had some wine and cheese too, and some bubbles to celebrate the group´s latest publication “A MATTER OF LIFE OR DEATH: HOW EXTREME CONTEXT RESEARCH MATTERS FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION STUDIES” written by Markus Hällgren, Linda Rouleau and Mark de Rond to be published in the Academy of Management Annals.

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