Alf Westelius

Effects of Quality Management According to ISO 9000: A Swedish Study of the Transit to ISO 9000:2000

Abstract The aim of the study is to investigate the effects of quality management in accordance with the ISO 9000 as viewed by both quality managers and other managers. We also consider the way companies carried out the re-certification process to ISO 9001:2000 and what consequences different approaches brought. The study is based on Swedish SMEs with an ISO 9000:1994 who had re-certified according to the ISO 9001:2000 standard. The strongest, most obvious and most valued effects of the ISO 9000 standard are clearer and more apparent working procedures and responsibilities. The most apparent problem is bureaucracy, which according to some managers can lead to reduced flexibility. The effects of the certification vary depending on how the certification project is conducted and how consultants are used.

Five Roles of an Information System : A Social Constructionist Approach to Analysing the Use of ERP Systems

This paper presents a novel way of thinking about how information systems are used in organisations. Traditionally, computerised information systems are viewed as objects. In contrast, by viewing the information system as an actor, the understanding of the structuration process increases. The user, being influenced by the ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system and giving it an actor role, thereby also confers agency on the ERP system; through its very use it influences actions and thus also the structure. Based on a case study of ERP use in an ABB company over a decade, five different roles played by the ERP systems were identified. The ERP systems acted as Bureaucrat, Manipulator, Administrative assistant, Consultant or were dismissed (Dismissed) in the sense that intended users chose to avoid using them. These terms are defined in the full text.

Entrepreneurship as Elixir and Mutagen

Metaphors are powerful tools for sensemaking, sensegiving, and theory development, but they are often concealed in academic writing. This paper uncovers two metaphors underlying entrepreneurship discourse and research—elixir and mutagen. The elixir metaphor is uncovered by examining critiques of entrepreneurship research, and serves as a compact description of problematic aspects entrepreneurship scholars should be mindful of. The mutagen metaphor is uncovered by examining evolutionary frameworks, focusing on the role entrepreneurship plays in them. The paper illustrates how the mutagen metaphor can be used to reframe entrepreneurship, and uses the metaphors to interest, inform, and provoke.

Meaning, authority, rationality and care as MARCs of sustainable organisations

Purpose – The purpose of the article is to present MARC, a model for assessing – and improving – the health of organisations from a humanistic point of view.Design/methodology/approach – The model ...

Exploring Entrepreneurship as Misbehavior

Purpose – To explore the links between entrepreneurship and misbehavior. Approach – Conceptual development using cases as illustrative examples. Findings – The chapter finds that there is an overlap between the way misbehavior is defined and the way entrepreneurship is conceptualized in the literature. It also finds previous research, distinguishing between desirable and undesirable misbehavior based on the intentions or the outcomes of behavior, insufficient in relation to entrepreneurship as misbehavior. The reason is that for entrepreneurial ventures, the underlying intentions are often good, but the outcomes often not; and that making assessments of the outcomes of entrepreneurial ventures a priori is notoriously difficult. Assessing misbehavior based only on organizational level evaluations is likewise insufficient in relation to entrepreneurship. The reason for this is that support for the venture may be needed also from actors outside of the organization. Furthermore, what constitutes the organization is not always clear. Therefore, we argue that it is necessary to broaden the view of what institutions determine whether a venture classifies as misbehavior when analyzing entrepreneurship.

Five Roles Of IT: Implications for Regional Development

Ten years ago, technology (including IT) was viewed with suspicion by many in Sweden. Today the general sentiment is one of a strong belief in the power inherent in IT — IT will transform society and be a prerequisite for economic survival of enterprises and individuals. Less then a year ago, small IT companies were expected to expand and stand for the largest growth. Almi Foretagspartner, a state-owned organisation that supports new business ventures, found that: “It is still only the IT companies which interest the venture capitalists” (Kuylenstierna, 2000).

@ The Emotional Verge: When Enough is Enough in Email Conversations

Emailing does not preclude emotional exchange and many times it causes us to engage in spiralling exchanges of increasingly angry emailing. The purpose of this chapter is threefold: to explore how factors of temporality are related to anger when emailing, to model circumstances that protect against, but also ignite, anger escalation, and to raise a discussion for practitioners of how to avoid damaging email communication. By intersecting literature on communication, information systems, psychology and organisational studies, factors leading to an ‘emotional verge’ are identified and summarised in a model showing factors likely to prime, but also protect against, anger escalation.

Beyond a common title : The formation of a professional identity among energy advisers

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore if and how a professional identity can be formed in the wake of the foundation of a new public service. In the article, we focus on how different fo ...

Backbone or Helping Hand? On the Role of Information Systems and Non-systematic Information in Managers' Work

Information systems are often described as horizontal integrators, supporting and integrating core processes and providing vast amounts of real-time data in organisations. However, previous researc ...

@the tipping point : When "Enough is Enough" in email conversations

Special Issue: Abstracts of the XXIX International Congress of Psychology, Monday 21st July 2008.The reliance on IT-mediated communication involvesinterpersonal exchanges without face-to-facecontact. However, this does not preclude emotionalexchange. Have we not all at some point engaged in e-mail exchange where facts, fantasies and contagion caused us to get caught in spiralingexchanges of increasingly emotional and decreasingly rational e-mail? The purpose here is to explore e-mail conversations perceived as going awry, in terms of negative emotional escalation. Backtracking e-mail conversations using discourse analysis and interviews, factors leading to an ‘‘emotional tipping point’’ and beyond were identified. Concludingly, psychological and managerial aspects on how then to avoid emotional escalation are derived.