Browsing by Author "Hanson, Oscar"

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Innovation diffusion of a regulated technology - a cross-sectional study of emerging drone application on the organizational level
(2020-07-23) Hanson, Oscar; Olsson, Marcus; University of Gothenburg/Graduate School; Göteborgs universitet/Graduate School
This study has focused on the theory of innovation diffusion in organizational contexts, using the emerging drone technology as its core product innovation in order to analyze the phenomenon. The study has been of a qualitative cross-sectional character, by which eleven different organizations in different industries using drone technology were interviewed during March 2020, from both the governmental and private sector. This in order to thoroughly understand the perception of hindrances and enablers for organizations regarding new technology implementation. As the study used an hermeneutic approach, the goal of the study was merely to gain an understanding of how the perception of organizational hindrances and enabler for innovation diffusion could be perceived, without acknowledging it as an absolute truth but instead one of many possible explanations. To analyze the organizational innovation diffusion, the theoretical framework of Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) presented by Rogers (2010) was used in combination with the Technological-Organizational-Environmental-framework (TOE) presented by Tornatzky and Fleischer (1990). Both are well-respected and thoroughly empirically tested in previous research. The findings of the study concluded that eight main themes could be extracted from the thematic analysis conducted on the interviews. These themes were: 1) Drone technology democratizes airborne data gathering and increases data accuracy, 2) Drone technology proves unique in the sense of the broad spectrum of application areas and is fairly easy to match against a real need, 3) Rules and regulations prevents new innovation and influence the adoption of it, 4) Operation of drones is not an isolated activity, 5) The implementation process is i) organization specific ii)) has been characterized by “lack of track record”, 6) Individual innovation champions are key drivers in the incorporation of new technology, 7) The competence of the user and the organization determines the potential of the technology and 8) The data gathered is broad and demands complementary assets and supporting functions. Overall, the finding and analysis showed special emphasis on influencing determinants regarding the power of surrounding regulatory systems, the power of innovation champions, the power or organizational collaboration with governmental entities and the power of organizational complementary technology systems. Conclusively, the contributions of the study entail both academic and practical characteristics. Its academic contribution is an enhanced awareness and understanding of the application of drone technology whilst also validating the theoretical frameworks TOE and DOI due the shortage of an organizational perspective. Its practical contribution consists of recommendations to organizations that are beneficial to be aware of when implementing drone technology, or similar new innovations, in their operations.
Upplevelser av företagskulturella artefakter - Ett medarbetarperspektiv
(2018-08-28) Hansén, Anton; Hanson, Oscar; University of Gothenburg/Department of Business Administration; Göteborgs universitet/Företagsekonomiska institutionen
Corporations today use various resources to compete and gain advantages between one another. One of the resources that have a strong effect on a corporation and its ability to be competitive is organizational culture, as it constitutes norms and organizational guidelines of how to behave, talk and work among others. One way of influencing the development and maintenance of an organizational culture is by artifacts. Earlier studies have shown that the use of artifacts is a common tool in corporations to evoke certain behavior, however the perception of artifacts and their use from an employee’s point of view remain less researched. This paper seeks to examine the usage of artifacts and analyze the employee perception of them in a corporate context. To do so, an anonymous company in the Gothenburg region agreed to participate. To further investigate the perception of artifacts from an employee’s point of view, a one-day observation was conducted at the company. In addition to this, a total of ten interviews were conducted together with employees with a nonmanagerial position in the company. The purpose of the interviews was to gain a deeper understanding of the perception and experience of artifacts and the use of them. By and large, the study showed that perceptions and experience of organizational artifacts varies among various employees. Furthermore, it showed that the artifacts may evoke varied meanings from employee to employee, but also that the meanings of the same artifact may vary for a single employee as well. Even though the artifact stays the same, the experience and perception of it can change rather fast, and is a result of the situational context for each employee when exposed to an artifact. As a result of the individual situation, the same artifacts can be perceived as both motivating and demotivating. Conclusively, the study also showed that an extensive use of artifacts seems to be a thought-out strategy from the company, as it seems to increase the chance for an employee to find positive associations with organizational artifacts. Thus, using many artifacts as opposed to less artifacts gives an employee a wider spectrum to choose from, whereas the chance of finding positive associations to any artifacts correlates with the number of artifacts used by the company.