Futures Thinking, Foresight Practice, and Macro Social Work

Macro social work has a long tradition of emphasizing planning. This array of practices typically looks at important intersections of community needs, resources, policies, and well-being—all of which combine to reflect, guide, and support the aspirations of groups, organizations, and communities. Futures thinking and foresight practice are an important emerging, but underutilized, set of ideas and tools available to macro-level social work practitioners and scholars to better navigate rapidly changing practice ecosystems. They have the ability to update and multiply traditional planning approaches. Futures thinking and foresight practice can have applications in numerous areas of practice, including (a) equity practice, (b) community practice, (c) organizational practice, and (d) government/policy practice. Social work ethics is likely to continue adapting to the changing world.

Does Productive Mean Active? The Behavior of Occasional and Serial Academic Inventors in Patenting Processes

Previous literature has attributed differences in individuals’ inventive productivity to a range of environmental, organizational and individual traits. However, the behavior of individuals with different inventive productivity has not been empirically explored in detail. Based on interviews with twenty Swedish academic inventors of diverse patenting experience, this paper analyses how serial and occasional inventors acted in patent initiation, patent application and subsequent patent management for specific inventions. Two modes of behavior are identified: passive and active. Individuals’ inventive productivity was not aligned with behavioral mode, with both modes of behavior exhibited by occasional as well as serial academic inventors. Individual academic inventors also varied in mode of behavior across different patent processes. These findings suggest that commonly used volume-based classifications of academic inventors obscure potentially relevant behavioral differences. This insight has implications for contemporary policy and organizational practice. It also highlights the need for further investigation of when academic inventors assume an active or passive mode of behavior in processes of academic commercialization.

Why the Heck Did That Happen?

Theory is the lifeblood of scholarship, but the art of theory-building remains quite mysterious. Using his own experiences as a springboard, the author explores the process through which we might attempt to make sense of organizational life for the betterment of organizational practice. He discusses his own journey from proving answers (the hypothesis-testing facilitated by survey research) to asking questions (the hypothesis-generating facilitated by qualitative research) and considers how to translate an overarching research passion into research interests and specific research questions. The author offers a detailed look at how he and his coauthors build theory when their intent is to blaze a new path rather than simply pave an old one. He also briefly discusses research collaborations, the review process, and career considerations if you’re thinking about pursuing path-blazing ideas. His hope is that you’ll finish this chapter with the confidence to call yourself what you already are, at least implicitly—a theorist.

Knowledge Transfer in a Project-Based Organization Through Microlearning on Cost-Efficiency

This paper investigates the role of microlearning on cost-efficiency on knowledge transfer in a project-based organization. As part of an action research study in a Norwegian public sector organization working with construction projects, a microlearning series was initiated to increase knowledge transfer on cost-efficiency. Seven microlearning lessons were distributed to 334 employees, including short questionnaires after the first and last lesson. The study reflects on the design process of the lessons, on the participation rate, and on how it contributes to an increase of knowledge. Microlearning was perceived as relevant by the participants. It makes knowledge transfer less arbitrary by providing a common body of knowledge to all project teams. For the organizational practice, this implies that microlearning also has potential for knowledge sharing on other topics in the project-based organization. Updating the microlearning series with further examples and new lessons is expected to contribute to continuous learning on cost-efficiency.

Barriers and drivers of psychosocial risk assessments in German micro and small-sized enterprises: a qualitative study with owners and managers

Background The negative effect of unfavorable working conditions and long-term work stress on health has been demonstrated in previous research. To address these challenges, systematic approaches such as psychosocial risk assessments (PRA) have been developed in many countries worldwide. Despite legal obligations, psychosocial risk assessments are rarely carried out in micro and small-sized enterprises (MSE). Even though those enterprises constitute a large proportion of the general workforce, this area remains largely untouched by research. In order to enable starting points for a greater dissemination in organizational practice, the present study explores barriers and drivers of psychosocial risk assessments in micro and small-sized enterprises. Methods A total of 18 owners and managers from 15 micro and small-sized enterprises in North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany, were interviewed. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed. A qualitative approach was applied: Content analysis was used to analyze the data, using deductive as well as inductive coding techniques. Results The following barriers emerged from the interviews: Negative PRA image, stigmatization of mental health, lacking acceptance of employees, fear of excessive authority interference, ignorance of PRA, not understanding the necessity, inappropriate approach, and limited resources. The identified drivers were: Easy access to PRA material, external support from experts, renaming the term “workplace risk assessment”, understanding content and benefit of PRA, simplify and revise PRA process, and noticeable consequences of PRA execution and non-execution. The results are comparable with those in larger companies. They emphasize the importance of mental health education, improving the process of psychosocial risk assessments, and the ongoing support in overcoming limited financial as well as human resources. Conclusions To improve implementation of PRA in organizational practice, a simplification of the process is proposed, accompanied by information campaigns and an improvement in the health literacy of owners and managers of MSE. In view of the results, the full revision of the PRA approach should also be considered.

Organization Cybernetics for Railway Supplier Selection

The comprehensive stimulation for this research arises from the necessity to continually understand and investigate the Information System (IS) discipline body of knowledge from organizational practice. Specifically, in this study, we focus on comparing a few available excellence frameworks, data analytics, and cybernetics approaches. Such knowledge and skill practice in the IS field is predominant for both IS research and teaching. On the other hand, to propose a relevant performance reporting model using data analytics and cybernetics that entail a body of knowledge and skill is crucial for the development and transformation of organizational excellence. Yet, it helps to design an online real-time organizational dashboard that produces knowledge for its application and decision-making within an organizational practice. IS discipline in an organization is comparatively young and its specification in academia as well as in practice is rapidly changing, we focus on the practical design, and IS structure for organizational excellence through employing information technologies.

The moral work of becoming a professional

In contemporary working life, art-based initiatives are increasingly used in organizational training and development. For artists, this has created new employment opportunities as creative entrepreneurs who provide specialist services for workplaces. In this article, we study the dynamics of such encounters through the narrated accounts of training professionals. Our data come from a professional mentoring program where the working pairs of artists and consultants shared stories about their customer projects. By using conversation analysis as a method, we analyze the way stories are interactionally accomplished in peer group sessions of the program. In particular, we analyze how participants produce different versions of the narrated events, and by so doing, negotiate the questions of blame and accountability with regard to professional action. In conclusion, we discuss stories and storytelling as organizational practice through which the moral order and legitimacy of the program is sustained and the boundaries of the profession constructed.

Incentives Can’t Buy Me Knowledge: The Missing Effects of Appreciation and Aligned Performance Appraisals on Knowledge Sharing of Public Employees

This study examines whether incentives affect public employees’ intention to share knowledge. Tested incentives satisfy needs for either achievement or appreciation. Both treatments were tested on implicit as well as explicit knowledge sharing. A 2 × 3 factorial survey experiment was designed to observe within-person and between-person effects. Data were collected from public employees in the core administration and healthcare sector ( n = 623) in 2018. The analysis indicates that both treatments positively affect knowledge-sharing intention if it is explicit knowledge that ought to be shared. However, no effects of either treatment can be found in either type of knowledge sharing. No negative effect of the tested incentives on knowledge sharing was observed. Hence, incentives might not harm knowledge sharing but also do not pay off in organizational practice. In contrast to these motivation-enhancing human resource practices, ability and opportunity-enhancing practices should be tested to foster knowledge sharing.