Maria Norbäck

Bringing Technology and Meaning into Institutional Work: Making News at an Italian Business Newspaper

In this article we investigate the role of technology and meaning in the institutional work of newsmakers. By analysing ethnographic data from an Italian business newspaper undertaking a project integrating the print and online newsrooms, we show how technology makes certain actions possible – and even proposes action – for the journalists, in their enactment of the institution of business news. Drawing on Callon’s notion of agencement and Battilana and D’Aunno’s conceptualization of human agency in institutional work, our analysis shows that action is taken in the interaction between humans and non-humans, and changes in technology might trigger institutional work. The institutional work of journalists is performed by means of both old and new technologies; if new technologies trigger institutional work by proposing new actions that need to be made meaningful by the journalists, old technology functions as a ‘law book’, where the institution of business news is inscribed. The journalists then use this ‘law book’ to interpret the new actions.

Managing projects in the TV production industry : The case of Sweden

Abstract Empirical evidence from some representative companies ofthe Swedish TV production industry shows the existence of conceptuallydifferent projects. Judging from the data, there are three types of projectswhich are indirectly but inherently related to each other, though they are essentially handled and managed in separation. The analysis suggests that the idea of a generic approach to run TV production projects is unfeasible. There is a need to take into account the nature of the tasks at hand, e. g. exploration or exploitation, and the contextual factors essential for successful project management. The factors are related tothe industrial wisdom in TV production and to different competencies. The paper introduces a tentative synthesis regarding different TV production industry competencies.

Projectification in the Media Industries

Since the death of the Hollywood studio system, projects have been the established way of producing content in a large part of the media industries. This includes sectors such as film and TV, advertising, electronic gaming, the recording industry, and book publishing. There seems to be an increasing trend of ‘projectification’ also in other parts of the media industries, for example, news media, which traditionally have not been organised according to a project logic. The aim of this chapter is to discuss the notion of projectification as it relates to the media industries and consider the implications this may have for media management. The chapter starts with an introduction to the general project management literature, describing its origins and development including the more recent discussion of projectification. It then turns to the media setting and discusses how content production is increasingly organised in projects and how this gives rise to what has been described as ‘project networks’ that evolve over time. Here the authors discuss what a project mode of organising means for the people set to manage media production, as well as for the individual media professional. The chapter ends with a discussion of what the trend of projectification in the media industries implies for the management of media—not only for the production of content but also for other, more strategic, endeavours.

Recycling Problems and Modernizing the Solution: Doing Institutional Maintenance Work on Swedish Public Service Television:

This article investigates the role of history and heritage in institutional maintenance work. Based on a study of collaborative production of public service TV programs in Sweden, I analyze the program makers’ rhetorical work to construct and justify meanings and interpretations. By drawing on the old but often overlooked understanding that institutions are “permanent” solutions to “permanent” problems, I discuss what problems the program makers argue that public service TV solves in contemporary Sweden, and the work of rhetorically constructing and justifying these problems in relation to everyday practices of making programs. This study adds to our understanding of how actors that inhabit and enact an institution can use its history and legacy as an interpretative resource in their work to maintain the institution, and how this process may affect the meanings ascribed to the institution.

The passion and the interests in life science venturing: Choosing economic insecurity and creative challenges over predictable careers

Purpose Passion and interest are the two principal drivers of competitive capitalism, and reconciling the two is conducive to a dynamic and welfare-generating economic system. On the level of the individual, the same categories can be applied to examining, for example, career choices, at times violating propositions regarding rational expectations as some categories of work include lower economic compensation or higher levels of risk than would be attractive to the median job applicant. The purpose of this paper is to examine how venture workers, employees of life, thinly capitalize science ventures, justify their career choices and how they act in order to create economic security for themselves and their families. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on a qualitative data collection methodology and reports on empirical research material from a study of co-workers at life science start-ups. The sample includes salaried employees working at venture capital-backed start-up companies in the life science sector. Findings The study indicates that passionate preferences regarding, for example, meaningful work in collaboration with peers, and the ability to participate in the creation of a new venture, have overshadowed the downside risks and the lower level of economic compensation vis-a-vis comparable work. Such findings indicate that deeply meaningful work is a useful analytical category, and that combinations of the favorable market pricing of skills and experiences, as well as state-funded welfare mechanisms, cushioning some of the market risk that employees are exposed to, will provide opportunities for venture labor, i.e. work done at thinly capitalized firms, such as start-ups, per se contributing to a dynamic industry. Originality/value The study contributes to the innovation management literature as it examines the key role of salaried venture workers, i.e. workers that do not hold contracts, granting them the right to compensation when venture capital investors make an exit. In addition, the study also discusses the literature on deeply meaningful work, stressing that this is a useful analytical category.