Petro Poutanen

Conditions for self-organizing and creativity in blended learning environments

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe the conditions that give rise to and support self‐organizing learning and creativity in blended learning environments. Particular attention is given to theoretical and practical suggestions and the roles of on‐ and offline working environments.Design/methodology/approach – Iterative grounded theory methodology is used to provide a case analysis of a course held at the University of Helsinki in 2010 in conjunction with theoretical discussions.Findings – Practical advice is provided for organizers of blended learning courses and a theoretical model for self‐organizing in blended learning settings is proposed. Three key considerations of self‐organizing – space, knowledge, and agency –were located and each of them is discussed with a focus on practical recommendations.Research limitations/implications – More research is needed, especially in a “classroom” context, in order to further clarify the links of different on‐ and offline learning environments and to...

The complexity of innovation: an assessment and review of the complexity perspective

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the innovation literature, with special focus on studies applying a complexity perspective. As a contribution in its own right to the innovation literature, the review clarifies the concept of complexity, explores possible points of relevance and the “added value” gained from complexity theory (CT) to the study of innovation, and identifies some of the applications of the theory. Design/methodology/approach – A literature search was conducted which yielded 20 relevant articles. These articles were analyzed by focusing on the key concepts of complexity and studying their applications in the context of innovation research. Findings – Based on the approach adopted, the literature was divided into three categories, namely research focusing on microdynamics, macrodynamics, and leadership and management. The key complexity concepts identified in the innovation literature were “edge of chaos”, “phase shift”, “emergence and self-organization”, “(co)evo...

Ethical Challenges of Hybrid Editors

ABSTRACT In times of turbulence in the media industry, media organizations are looking for new business models. Digitalization has led traditional news media organizations to testing new forms of advertisement, such as sponsored content and native advertising, whereas others, such as lifestyle magazines, have a longer history in collaborating with brands. Editors are key players in these developments, since they are journalist–managers and decision makers within those daily practices that shape policies and influence new product innovation and development. In this study, we examine from the editors’ point of view, how they see the process of adopting novel forms of advertisement and what ethical challenges are in the way. Building on interview data of lifestyle magazine editors and news editors in Finland (N=18), we present a study that identifies four editorial dilemmas arising from the intersection of brand collaboration and journalistic work in lifestyle magazines and provide a timely first look into an emerging new category of “hybrid editors” in newsrooms. Our results suggests that, in overall, editors’ attitudes toward new forms of brand collaboration are positive.

Creativity in short-term self-directed groups: an analysis using a complexity-based framework

This paper uses a complexity-based framework to study creativity in short-term self-directed groups. The study is based on observations and interviews collected from three eight-day working groups addressing real-life societal challenges. Qualitative content analysis of the data was conducted using Atlas.ti. The results reveal group differences in creative capacity as well as difficulties in achieving a working mode that enables the production of creative output within a short space of time. Based on these results we identified seven factors that support creativity in these short-term groups. The results provide important clues for organising and facilitating creativity and innovation in self-directed work groups, self-managed teams and other short-term and ad hoc groups.

Complexity and Organizational Communication: A Quest for Common Ground

In recent years, a growing body of literature has emerged from the intersection of complex systems science and organizational communication. However, due to the incoherence and immaturity of complexity science, this body of research is slightly disorganized. This article explores this research node using a meta-paradigmatic framework to untangle and clarify the different paradigmatic assumptions in the field of organizational communication research that has adopted the complexity science perspective. Our analysis reveals five research clusters that differ from each other in their understanding of what complexity is and in how they define communication. Based on our analysis, we present suggestions for finding common ground and point the way towards a future research agenda in complexity-based research in the areas of organizational communication and human resource development (HRD). In addition, we discuss the implications and possibilities that the complexity perspective can offer for HRD in practice.