Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Action and Change'

This Exegesis and the Portfolio document referred to herein report on the outcomes of my research towards a PhD in education (by Project) between mid 2001 and July 2005. The Portfolio contains a collection of ten papers written during the research and also a summary of the key tools and processes resulting from the research. This Exegesis contains the major theoretical arguments leading to the development of the research outcomes, the methodology employed and a description of the organisational context operating during the study. It also draws links between the various data sets as presented in the Portfolio. The research began with a consideration of a major change project at RMIT University: the Implementation of the Distributed Learning System (DLS). The problems associated with this project highlighted the need for holistic organisational approaches to change and the uncertain nature of radical change projects. This led into a consideration of broader questions to do with organisational change and managing uncertainty. The generalisability of the research findings was enhanced by the wide ranging literature review and data from a range of stakeholders. This ultimately led to the development of a

The purpose of the study has been to investigate how leadership can support organisational change by empowering Project Managers and Team Leaders to encourage organisational change into a Lean/Agile organisation. Lean is a management philosophy based on measuring flow efficiency instead of resource efficiency. To be able to create flow there are certain basic principles to be followed such as minimising waste, working in a team and constantly strive for improvement. It has in several studies been pointed out that leadership is an important factor in creating a successful organisational change that lasts. We have in our study strengthen the implementation of Lean by focusing on visual planning, feedback and leadership connected with theories on organisational change. This was done by providing by coaching leadership during the workshops and also a study visit for one of the pilot groups that consisted of Team Leaders and Project Managers from two of the divisions at Saab Technologies. In conclusion, the study has shown that leadership is a necessary factor to succeed with a reorganisation irrespective of what level in the company is being reorganised. The Management Teams have to lead with visions and create long-term goals. Based on these goals, clear milestones should be created that are implemented and then evaluated in short intervals, these milestones then sipper down the to the levels below in the organisation where the milestones and goals are translated from vision into action. The picture of that a reorganisation changes the company overnight needs to be erased in benefit of creating small continuous changes that in the long run will lead to a new organisation. The Project Managers and Team Leaders also have to lead their projects and teams for the reorganisation to evolve and not stagnate. Furthermore, the leadership has to be adapted to every situation, keeping in mind that teams and projects are in different stages just as a reorganisation. Visual planning has worked as a translator and as something reachable in the reorganisation and also as an anchor to be able to continue the implementation of Lean within the organisation.
Syftet med studien har varit att undersöka hur ledarskap kan stödja organisationsförändring genom att ge makt till projekt- och teamledare att främja organisationsförändringen till en Lean/Agil verksamhet. Lean är en management filosofi som baseras på att mäta flödeseffektivitet istället för resurseffektivitet. För att skapa flöde finns vissa grundprinciper som att minimera slöseri, arbeta i team och att ständigt stäva efter att förbättra. Ledarskap har i flera studier poängterats som en viktig faktor för att få till en lyckad organisationsförändring som består. I vårt examensarbete har vi stärkt implementeringen av Lean genom att fokusera på visuell planering, feedback och ledarskap sammankopplat med teorier om organisationsförändring. Detta har skett genom att vi har tillhandahållit ett coachande ledarskap under workshops och ett studiebesök för en pilotgrupp, bestående av teamledare och projektledare vid två Divisioner inom Saab Technologies. Slutsatsen av studien är att ledarskap är en nödvändig faktor för att lyckas med en omorganisation oavsett på vilken nivå av företagets organisation. Ledningsgruppen måste leda med visioner och skapa långsiktiga mål. Utifrån dessa mål bör sedan tydliga hållpunkter skapas som implementeras och utvärderas i korta intervall, de hållpunkterna sipprar sedan neråt i organisationen och översätter mål och vision till aktion. Bilden av att en omorganisation förändrar företaget över en natt behöver suddas ut till förmån för att skapa små kontinuerliga förändringar som i det långa loppet leder till en ny organisation. Även projektledare och teamledare måste leda sina projekt och team för att omorganisationen ska gå framåt och inte stagnera. Ledarskapet måste i sin tur anpassas till varje situation, att leda med tanken på att ett team och projekt befinner sig i olika faser precis som en omorganisation. Visuell planering har fungerat som en översättningsfunktion och som någonting greppbart i omorganisationen samt fungerat som ett ankare för att fortsätta implementera Lean i organisationen.

My thesis consists of a creative work plus an exegesis. This exegesis uses case study research to investigate three Brisbane-based media organisations and the role they play in encouraging social inclusion and other positive social change for specific disadvantaged and stigmatised minority groups. Bailey, Cammaerts and Carpentier’s theoretical approach to alternative media forms the basis of this research. Bailey et al. (2008, p. 156) view alternative media organisations as having four important roles, two media-centred and two society-centred, which must all be considered to best understand them: • serving their communities • acting as an alternative to mainstream media discourses • promoting and advocating democratisation in the media and through the media in society • functioning as a crossroads in civil society. The first case study, about community radio station 4RPH (Radio for the Print Handicapped), centres on promoting social inclusion for people with a print disability through access to printed materials (primarily mainstream print media) in an audio format. The station also provides important opportunities for members of this group to produce media and, to a lesser extent, provides disability-specific information and discussions. The second case study, about gay print and online magazine Queensland Pride, focuses on promoting social inclusion and combating the discrimination and repression of people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. Central issues include the representation (including sexualised representation) of a subculture and niche target market, and the impact of commercialisation on this free publication. The third case study, about community radio station 98.9FM, explores the promotion of social inclusion for peoples whose identity, cultures, issues, politics and contributions are often absent or misrepresented in the mainstream media. This radio station provides “a first level of service” (Meadows & van Vuuren, 1998, p. 104) to these people, but also informs and entertains those in the majority society. The findings of this research suggest that there are two key mechanisms that help these media organisations to effect social change: first, strengthening the minority community and serving its needs, and second, fostering connections with the broader society.

This thesis details an action research project conducted into the theme of 'improving the functioning of a Faculty of Agriculture'. The Faculty had been changing to an experiential paradigm of learning over a period of ten years when the research began. The initial impetus for the research was a feeling of concern by many members of the Faculty about the impacts of this change. A research team of six members, which met regularly for 12 months, was organised. The research began with the assumption 'that an Action Research team can intervene in the life of an organisation for the benefit of that organisation, to bring about situation improvement'. There was an initial expectation that issues of accountability, responsibility and management within the Faculty, would be the focus of the research team. However, during the course of the research, the personal professional practice of the researchers became the focus. Analysis of the data highlighted a link between the technical, practical and emancipatory modes of Action Research, and the four stages of group development - dependency, conflict, cohesion and interdependency. The role of facilitation in the conduct of Action Research was highlighted, and the nature of the 'client' role was subjected to scrutiny. The wider ramifications of this research are discussed, particularly as they relate to the role of Action Research in improving large organisations, and as a tool to improve farming communities. In both cases, the concept of the 'critical community' was emphasised as an ideal to be aimed for in Action Research teams. To achieve such a group, the belief systems of members need to be brought out, to enable a group to develop in its interactions to a stage where issues can be properly dealt with, rather than only the assumed symptoms of underlying issues. A process of critique and reflection in an immediate and ongoing way has been shown to assist in this process of group development towards a critical community
Master of Science (Hons)

This research is concerned with finding out about the nature of the relationship between the change manager and the change project. An action learning approach to the investigation and analysis was adopted throughout in order to achieve a 'practitioner's perspective' in a range of inter-related learning environments. The research tracks the progress of six change managers. To attempt to minimise the variables, six smaller organisations (i.e. those employing fewer than 250 employees) from the manufacturing and production sector were recruited; all were based within a 20 mile radius; and all were attempting to change to meet the key indicators of a national performance standard from a similar starting point. Please see Table 1 below for further details. From the work with the change managers and the action learning set, all of whom acted as co-researchers during the analysis phase, some conclusions were drawn. The most significant being that the relationship between the change manager and the change project could be described as being essentially symbiotic in its nature, insofar as the change project impacted directly and indirectly upon the change manager, and the change manager's direct and indirect actions influenced the degree of success of the change project. From the conclusions drawn, and as might be considered to befit an action learning approach to research, a practical solution was proposed for achieving more successful organisational change outcomes - a framework to enable the change manager to develop, within the context of the demands of the change project. The framework was not intended to be a constant, but rather a guide for action. Some conclusions were also drawn about the form of the development which might be required by those advising on change, as a consequence of the findings.

In the United States public discourse, climate change is often framed as a polarized and intractable issue. The purpose of this dissertation was to explore deliberation about climate action, and to evaluate whether effective responses to climate change can be facilitated through new structures and processes that enable and encourage dialogue on the subject of how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Working with sustainability leaders at the University of Montana and in the community of Missoula, Montana, the author convened three public deliberations, in which a variety of solutions to climate change were discussed. Three questions guided this study: 1) what motivated individuals to engage in deliberation about climate action; 2) how did individual engagement vary and affect the quality of the deliberation; and 3) how effective were the deliberations in building a sense of individual agency and generating collaborative action strategies to address climate change. Based on a rigorous statistical analysis of survey responses combined with qualitative data, this action research study offers a holistic exploration of the three deliberative events convened. The deliberative processes generated collaborative action strategies and increased participants' sense of agency to take action on climate change; the findings also revealed differences in the ways individuals engaged and affected the quality of the overall group deliberation. This dissertation contributes to the literature on collaborative responses and collective action on climate change, broadens understanding of deliberative processes, and provides new insight into opportunities for leading deliberation about climate action.

This document outlines how organizational action was mobilized in examing and improving current organizational practices. The study was conducted in a technical task-based research organization in the Philippines and was triggered by a concern for the seeming unfavorable feedback the organization receives from the external environment. An analysis of the organizational situation showed among other factors, the apparent lack of a mechanism that relates the organization's research findings to policy making. Through action researching and using the Soft Systems Methodology as a framewrok, an action plan was developed which is designed to improve the situation. The document also discusses insights and lessons learnt in the conduct of action research. Particular focus was placed on key issues that affect individual participation and organizational actions; and how action research fares as a potential framework for organic and systemic change. From the examination of the action research experience, it became apparent that in order to fully harness the potentials of action researching, opportunities for individual participation must be well distributed and taken by the action research members. The factors affecting individual participation in group processes such as group needs, group culture and power issues in and out of the group, must likewise be addressed. This is to promote coordination, commitment and critical consciousness among group members which are essential in effecting organic and systemic change. As the research was conducted within the broad setting of agricultural research, where efforts are placed to enhance agricultural development, this document likewise discusses the potential of action research as an alternative framewrok for Research and Development (R and D) activities. It presents how action research can mobilize grassroots initiatives and actions which are crucial to a sustainable agricultural development.
Master of Science (Research) Systems Agriculture

This thesis develops three independent lines of investigation on the social psychology of political action and social change. Rather than developing a grand theory, I focus on adapting current perspectives in the social psychology of emotion, automaticity, goals and mental simulation to the study of political action and social change. The approach taken is eclectic both theoretically and methodologically. In Chapter 1, I review the social psychology of political action and social change. In doing so, I conceptualise political action and social change and explore current explanations of these phenomena. I also introduce moral emotions, automaticity and imagination in order to mark the way for the subsequent chapters. In Chapter 2, I examine the role of the moral emotions in political action and social change. Specifically, I explore the antecedents and consequences of anger, sympathy, and admiration. Drawing on theories of intergroup relations and emotion, I show that legitimate status, competence, and warmth all elicit admiration. Notably, admiration towards the authorities and centres of group power inhibits political action aimed at challenging the social order. However, when the target of admiration is a subversive hero or “martyr”, admiration uniquely predict willingness to challenge the status quo. In Chapter 3 I investigate the role of automaticity in political action. More specifically, I develop a dual process account of political action. I demonstrate that controlled (vs. automatic) processes lead to an increase in political action tendencies in members of a disadvantaged group. Notably, automatic protest attitudes influence political action through anger. That is, the more positive one’s automatic protest attitudes are the more anger they feel in relation to group grievances. Notably, automatic attitudes are more likely to predict political action when one is low in the motivation and ability to deliberate on political issues. In Chapter 4 I examine the role of imagination in political action and social change. I demonstrate that being able to imagine a particular social change goal (e.g., revolution or reform) uniquely predict political action tendencies aimed at that goal. Notably, imagination also qualifies the influence of efficacy and anger on politic action tendencies. Put simply, anger only predicts political action for collective mobility when group members can imagine this social change goal. In addition, efficacy only predicts action aimed at revolution when one can imagine an alternative social system (e.g., economy). In Chapter 5 I draw some conclusions, and discuss the limitations and issues that arise from the work presented here. Finally, I propose some avenues for future research. In iii addition, I put forward a typology of social change in the hope that it will engender future work on the social psychology of political action and social change.

This document outlines how organizational action was mobilized in examing and improving current organizational practices. The study was conducted in a technical task-based research organization in the Philippines and was triggered by a concern for the seeming unfavorable feedback the organization receives from the external environment. An analysis of the organizational situation showed among other factors, the apparent lack of a mechanism that relates the organization's research findings to policy making. Through action researching and using the Soft Systems Methodology as a framewrok, an action plan was developed which is designed to improve the situation. The document also discusses insights and lessons learnt in the conduct of action research. Particular focus was placed on key issues that affect individual participation and organizational actions; and how action research fares as a potential framework for organic and systemic change. From the examination of the action research experience, it became apparent that in order to fully harness the potentials of action researching, opportunities for individual participation must be well distributed and taken by the action research members. The factors affecting individual participation in group processes such as group needs, group culture and power issues in and out of the group, must likewise be addressed. This is to promote coordination, commitment and critical consciousness among group members which are essential in effecting organic and systemic change. As the research was conducted within the broad setting of agricultural research, where efforts are placed to enhance agricultural development, this document likewise discusses the potential of action research as an alternative framewrok for Research and Development (R and D) activities. It presents how action research can mobilize grassroots initiatives and actions which are crucial to a sustainable agricultural development.

Thesis (M. Sc.) (Research) Systems Agriculture-- University of Western Sydney, Hawkesbury, 1992.
"Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of : Master of Science (Research) Systems Agriculture (1992)" Bibliography: leaves 135-140.

Reasoning about actions and change based on common sense knowledge is one of the most important and difficult tasks in the artificial intelligence research area. A series of such tasks are identified which motivate the consideration and application of reasoning formalisms. There follows a discussion of the broad issues involved in modelling time and constructing a logical language. In general, worlds change over time. To model the dynamic world, the ability to predict what the state of the world will be after the execution of a particular sequence of actions, which take time and to explain how some given state change came about, i.e. the causality are basic requirements of any autonomous rational agent. The research work presented herein addresses some of the fundamental concepts and the relative issues in formal reasoning about actions and change. In this thesis, we employ a new time structure, which helps to deal with the so-called intermingling problem and the dividing instant problem. Also, the issue of how to treat the relationship between a time duration and its relative time entity is examined. In addition, some key terms for representing and reasoning about actions and change, such as states, situations, actions and events are formulated. Furthermore, a new formalism for reasoning about change over time is presented. It allows more flexible temporal causal relationships than do other formalisms for reasoning about causal change, such as the situation calculus and the event calculus. It includes effects that start during, immediately after, or some time after their causes, and which end before, simultaneously with, or after their causes. The presented formalism allows the expression of common-sense causal laws at high level. Also, it is shown how these laws can be used to deduce state change over time at low level. Finally, we show that the approach provided here is expressive.

Australian grassroots action on climate change is a recent phenomenon. Climate change as an issue of concern entered the Australian political landscape and national psyche later than in countries like the United Kingdom and some Western European nations, but since then there has been a surge of climate action. In 2007, the first ‘climate election’ was held, followed by many other headline-grabbing events including a proposed (but axed) nationwide emissions trading scheme and an implemented carbon price scheme. Coinciding and co-evolving has been a grassroots layer of the climate movement. This layer consists of concerned citizens seeking to address climate change through personal action and pushing for broader social and political change. The research produced by this thesis delves into this layer of climate action in the Australian state of Victoria, describing grassroots actors and practices as well as the potential contribution that actors could make to the mitigation of the climate problem. This thesis first seeks to answer the questions of who comprises the grassroots layer of the climate movement in Victoria and what practices are being advocated and/or undertaken. It then discusses whether any of these practices contribute to addressing the climate problem more broadly. The intent is to conceptualise and systematically explore the grassroots terrain of Victorian climate action whilst seeking to uncover innovative practices in response to climate change. The significance of exploring this terrain and practices is traced to the limited research to date on the grassroots layer of climate action, and, in turn, the limited exploration of the innovative practices that can occur in that space.
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Griffith Business School
Griffith Business School
Full Text

The overall aim of this thesis was to explore therapeutic action in psychoanalytic psychotherapy from different perspectives (patient, therapist, observer), using different methodological approaches (qualitative and quantitative). Study I explores patients’ views of therapeutic action with grounded theory methodology. The results indicated that talking openly in a safe therapeutic relationship led to new relational experiences and expanding self-awareness. Hindering factors included difficulties “opening up” and experiencing something missing in treatment. Study II investigates experienced therapists’ views of therapeutic action. The development of a close and trusting relationship was perceived as the core curative factor. Patients’ fear of closeness hindered treatment from the therapists’ perspective. Study III involves the development and psychometric examination of a new rating scale for patient-therapist attachment (Patient Attachment to Therapist Rating Scale; PAT-RS). Inter-rater reliability was good for three of the subscales (Security, Deactivation, Disorganization), but poor for one (Hyperactivation). Patterns of correlations with other measures suggest construct validity for the reliable subscales. Study IV examines the relationships between secure attachment to therapist, alliance, and outcome. Linear mixed-effects models, controlling for therapist effects, treatment length and patient-rated alliance, indicated that secure attachment to therapist relates to outcome. Further, the unique variance associated with secure attachment to therapist predicted continued gains in functioning during follow-up. The results of this thesis suggest that the development of a secure attachment to the therapist is a central mechanism of therapeutic change. The results are discussed in relation to established notions of therapeutic action in psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Two tentative process models that may be useful for clinical practice and future research are proposed.

At the time of the doctoral defense, the following paper was unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 4: Epub ahead of print.

This qualitative practitioner research is set in a mixed, rural 11-16 Church of England Comprehensive School. It embraces reflective action enquiry into leadership and management of innovation in a turbulent period of national educational change. It is founded on the belief that if change processes are to be understood widely, practitioners must share experience emanating from reflective and analytical practice. This study is about "managing to learn" It embraces concepts of managing personal learning; managing colleagues' and students' learning; and managing processes leading to the emergence of the school as a "learning organisation" It is also about "learning to change" and espouses learning to promote personal change; learning to facilitate change in others; and learning to establish institutional change as a natural on-going characteristic of organisational life. This study is founded on a process of "reflection", as characterised by Schön (1983). Consequently, it employs a process of personal reflection on leadership roles in managing change and learning processes. It employs processes of reflection on cultural and political aspects of organisational life and resultant manifestations and implications of introducing, implementing, and institutionalising organisational and cultural change. This research utilises "refraction"- that is, convergence and divergence. Firstly, it promotes divergent and creative ways of organising which encourage and facilitate innovative processes. Secondly, it employs processes of converging, focusing, and concentrating on taken-for-granted "critical incidents" in the life of a developing school, to elicit meanings of events as understood by participants. Thirdly, it applies cultural and political prisms to school organisation, together with autocratic, bureaucratic, adhocratic, and reticular-democratic lenses in order to elucidate important cultural, political and organisational data. Finally this research is about "action" It is about doing, intervening, intending, committing, motivating, accomplishing, fulfilling and achieving. The essential concept and understanding of "action" is that it should be informed action.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2008.
The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on June 19, 2009) Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2006.
Title from first page of PDF file (viewed July 21, 2006). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 253-284).

The scientific community has come to a consensus that immediate action is necessary to arrest the deleterious effects posed by anthropogenic climate change. However, widespread public support for climate mitigation policies has been seriously lacking. The literature has identified that the way climate change is being communicated and individual characteristics both pose barriers to increased support for political action on climate change. This study investigates the potential role of sociological and psychological factors affecting an individual’s support for political action on climate change. This study also evaluates how various climate change frames are perceived by different individuals, and how that perception may alter political support for climate change action. To do so individuals’ values and worldviews are assessed and related to their perception of economic and moral frames are more effective at stimulating people to support the fossil fuel divestment campaign that is sweeping across North America. The sample for this study was students from four research-based Canadian universities. Data was collected via an online survey hosted by FluidSurveys.com. Univariate and OLS multiple regressions were used to analyze the data. This study found that framing climate change as a moral issue was more effective at motivating support for political action than framing that climate change as an economic issue. It was also discovered that environmental and communitarian worldviews play a role in a person’s support for political action on climate change. These findings provide insight into how best to communicate the risks of climate change to enhance support for political action, and specifically the fossil free divestment campaign. Our findings also shed light on which worldviews should be targeted to by communication to foster support for climate action.
Forestry, Faculty of
Graduate

Consultants are frequently called to help organization leaders identify and solve problems. However, few research reports reveal the holistic nature of the process. This case study helps fill that void with naturalistic inquiry into a process consulting intervention. This action research describes an external consultant's intervention with leaders of a large federal agency over an 18-month period to help conduct and implement a training needs assessment (TNA). A naturalistic inquiry design used multiple methods to gather quantitative and qualitative data through three action cycles. The first cycle describes the TNA process and deliverables answering the organization's questions "What training was required and was being done, for whom, by whom, at what cost?" The second cycle revolves around the research questions "How do the organization's leaders view, value and make use of the TNA?" and "What happens as a result of the consultant/researcher's intervention?" The third cycle answers the question "What are the organizational dynamics that facilitate or inhibit the adoption of planned change?" Research findings were: 1) Organizational leaders valued and used the TNA to reorganize and centralize their training; 2) The intervention provided documentation and recommendations for short and long-term planned changes; 3) Cultural biases cast training as important but a low priority with hierarchical structures complicating centralizing actions. The case study frames complex change through a systems perspective that combined theories from multiple disciplines. Action learning in the process reflects the paradoxes of learning that are often unrecognized and usually unreported. The open-ended nature of the inquiry reveals the need for a high tolerance for ambiguity, extensive knowledge, flexibility, networking ability, and trust in the process. Research theories, methodologies, and assumptions were reassessed with some revealing conclusions: action research is not intuitively obvious nor widely recognized in fields of practice reinforcing the need to continuously improve ways to intervene. Future recommendations are to: encourage more candid holistic reporting of action research; recognize that traditional research paradigms make action research riskier to pursue and defend; encourage leaders in all fields to continuously develop and use more tools, models, and networks to help improve our future organizations.
Ed. D.

Climate change is a type of prisoner’s dilemma. Reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are a public good and are costly to provide. Consequently, nation-states generally have done little to curb their emissions. Countries could be encouraged to reduce their emissions if the international community of states were to sanction, or the world were to shame, states that did not act. However, financial and technological aid is more likely to induce states to impose tougher restrictions on GHG emissions. In order for Copenhagen to precipitate major action on climate change the treaty must either compel countries to fulfill their obligations or assist states in transitioning their economies away from fossil fuels toward alternative energy sources. If the treaty fails to do both of these things then we can only hope that the largest producers of greenhouse gases either take steps to reduce their emissions voluntarily or are forced to take action in response to domestic pressure from their citizens and/or sub-national governments. Otherwise, we will have no choice but to adapt to an increasingly warmer planet and the consequences thereof.

Competition on today’s market is fierce. Providing a defect-free product is no more a competitive advantage. Now money and focus is put on managing the supply chain, a competitive tool to thriving in today’s business climate. There are two distinct flow pipelines: the order information transfer pipeline and the product transfer pipeline, both dependent on the collaboration efforts of individuals.

Evolving within supply chain management equals integrating the supply chain from basic to complex; from baseline or functional to internal or external. Bringing focus to where it is found to be lacking, this literary study highlights and connects issues that may arise during implementation of external supply chain integration. The focal point is thus on employee reactions to change, with each stage of implementation that the implementation issues connect to. Simultaneously, the study provides (pre)requisites to management during the different stages, which would support the implemented transition in its different phases.

The result of this study is a Manger Model that gives an overview of each of the implementation stages, the requisites for management and issues regarding employees at each of the stages. Constructed to be applicable to more than just external integration the model encompasses all the gathered models and theories through a discussion of not only the complexity of the internal and the external supply chain, but also the complex nature of the individuals caught within the implementation, both from the manager’s as well as the employee’s point of view.

Externally developed school programs suffer from a range of issues including lack of outcome evaluation, resource intensiveness, fidelity, limited involvement of stakeholders during program design and development, and failing to embed theory or curriculum standards into program design. Consequently, schools are apprehensive to uptake external school programs. This PhD outlines a program of research that overcomes known limitations of externally developed programs. The Co-create Build and Engage process (CBETM) underpins the design of Blurred Minds, an alcohol and drug education program that has been iterated over time. CBE is a three-step process that outlines the sequence of social marketing principles and activities that are used to design social marketing offerings with the people they are designed to serve. This PhD research ran alongside the development of numerous resources of the Blurred Minds program, a decade-spanning effort to provide schoolbased alcohol and drug education and resistance training. Of these resources, the CBE process was first used to build a brief Blurred Minds program and evaluate it against the longer and older Blurred Minds program offering. Similarly, the CBE process guided the development of a different Blurred Minds offering known as the Blurred Minds Academy (BMA). Through these two distinct Blurred Minds offerings, the CBE process is discussed, and activities undertaken for each stage of the process is outlined. The co-creation and engage phases of CBE are documented more comprehensively in the literature than the build phase, with multiple tools detailed in the evidence base demonstrating how insights are created with stakeholders (e.g., co-design, living lab, collective intelligence, design thinking), to numerous types of communication approaches that are applied to effectively engage and the measurement tools that are applied by teams to evaluate program effectiveness (e.g., process, outcome and impact assessment). The build stage however features relatively fewer articles and resources that are clearly relevant to draw upon. Consequently, there is contention around what ‘building’ and ‘iterating’ a program entail. Novice social marketers seeking to take insights arising from co-creation are left with little understanding of how to convert insights into a program capable of achieving intended outcomes. To break down the series of activities and processes required to build, understanding needs to be gained on what needs to be built, how, when, where and why, to ensure a solution that is ready for implementation is delivered. This thesis illustrates the CBE process across two distinct iterations of the Blurred Minds program, highlighting the principles and activities applied in the co-create, build, and engage phases to create improved Blurred Minds offerings. This thesis is delivered as a series of publications, and each study is outlined hereafter. The research design described in this thesis commences with the co-creation step (Study 1, published - Health Education Journal), wherein a systematic literature review was utilised to explore Virtual Reality interventions in alcohol education targeting adolescents. Next, build and engage are explored (Study 2, published - Journal of Social Marketing), which compares the original comprehensive workshops of the Blurred Minds program to a brief workshop alternative. Each of these program modes featured the VR house party simulation, developed partly as a result of findings from study 1. The second iteration of Blurred Minds discussed - namely the BMA - is then explored in studies 3 and 4. First, study 3 (published - Health Promotion International) focuses on co-creating the next iteration of Blurred Minds resources with teachers and students. Specifically, it presents a short series of co-design sessions exploring the voices of students and teachers as distinct but related stakeholders in the design and implementation of new school-based alcohol and drug education resources. Study 4 (Submitted – Journal of Social Marketing), focuses on how the new Blurred Minds Academy was built using Social Cognitive Theory and a Curriculum audit (Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education). Finally, study 5 (Submitted - Social Marketing Quarterly) is presented to contrast decisions made across studies 1 & 2, and studies 3 & 4, broadly to explore CBE in practice, and more specifically to provide some detail on the elusive build stage. This thesis contributes knowledge for social marketing academics and practitioners expanding explanations for how the CBE process is applied. Activities including a systematic review, outcome evaluations, co-design sessions and curriculum auditing are presented in order to demonstrate how each stage of CBE can be approached, and how activities undertaken contribute to subsequent stages. Finally, this thesis provides an important future research agenda for the success of BMA and some important considerations for CBE.
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Dept of Marketing
Griffith Business School
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COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DO PESSOAL DE ENSINO SUPERIOR
Este estudo analisa a trajetória do intelectual brasileiro Alceu Amoroso Lima (1893-1983), considerado o mais importante líder do laicato nacional do século XX. A discussão tem início na primeira metade dos anos 50, quando toma corpo importante mudança de registro eclesial operada por Amoroso Lima. Transformação que o faz passar de um modelo de catolicismo tridentino, que reagia à modernidade, a outro mais aberto, plural, em diálogo com o século. Processo de mudança já perceptível em dois relatos de viagem que Amoroso Lima realizou neste período. Relatos que, ritualizando a idéia cristã da vida como peregrinação ao Alto, permitiram a seu autor chancelar os câmbios experimentados a partir de um plano teleológico. A discussão segue com a análise de conceito mais abstrato de peregrinação, aquela que conduziria ao interior do homem, tomado como local de encontro entre o fiel e Deus. Transposta ao universo de Amoroso Lima, tal viagem interior permitiu que este forjasse uma auto-disciplina, tributária de elementos clássicos, anteriores ao cristianismo, e também de espiritualidades cristãs variadas. Assim, voltando-se para seu mundo interior, Amoroso Lima buscava, ao mesmo tempo, unir-se ao divino e controlar os riscos decorrentes do processo de transformação que então vivenciava. Exercício de introspecção que marcou profundamente a maneira como Amoroso Lima experimentou a fé no cotidiano, influenciando também sua ação no mundo exterior. E, assim, retorna-se ao mundo exterior: tendo acompanhado a mudança operada por Amoroso Lima em seu modelo de catolicismo, são analisados os reflexos de tal movimento na forma com que este intelectual passou a intervir no século. Intervenção caracterizada, sobretudo, pelas colunas mantidas por Amoroso Lima na grande imprensa e que deram notável projeção a sua voz no cenário político brasileiro, especialmente após o golpe militar de 1964. Assim, procurou-se demonstrar que tais colunas - onde prevalecia o tom crítico com relação ao governo militar - contribuíram para consolidar a imagem de Amoroso Lima como um católico progressista, sintonizado com o aggiornamento que a Igreja realizava a partir dos anos sessenta. Imagem muito diversa daquela do cruzado da neocristandade, associada a Amoroso Lima nas duas primeiras décadas de sua caminhada católica. Contraste focalizado na última seção do texto, com a discussão das diferentes memórias que são associadas a Amoroso Lima e de como, também a partir de determinada obra memorialística, ele tentou legitimar, pela fé, suas mudanças.
This study Rasp analyzes the trajectory of the Brazilian intellectual Loving Alceu (1893-1983), considered the most important leader of the national laicato of century XX. The quarrel has beginning in the first half of years 50, when change of eclesial register operated by Loving Rasp takes important body. Transformation that makes it to pass of a model of tridentino catolicismo, that reacted to modernity, the other most open one, plural, in dialogue with the century. Process of perceivable change already in two stories of trip that Loving Rasp carried through in this period. Stories that, ritualizando the Christian idea of the life as peregrination to the High one, had allowed its author to seal the exchanges tried from a teleologic plan. The quarrel follows with the analysis of more abstract concept of peregrination, that one that would lead to the interior of the man, taken as local by meeting between the fidiciary office and God. Transposed to the universe of Loving Rasp, such interior trip allowed that this forged a self-discipline, tax of classic, previous elements to the Christianity, and also of varied Christian espiritualidades. Thus, turning toward its interior world, Loving Rasp it searched, at the same time, to join it the the holy ghost and to control the decurrent risks of the transformation process that then it lived deeply. Exercise of introspection that marked the way deeply as Loving Rasp tried the faith in the daily one, also influencing its action in the exterior world. E, thus, returns it the exterior world: having folloied the change operated for Loving Rasp in its model of catolicismo, the consequences of such movement in the form are analyzed with that this intellectual started to intervine in the century. Characterized intervention, over all, for the columns kept for Loving Rasp in the great press and that they had given to notable projection its voice in the scene Brazilian politician, especially after the military blow of 1964. Thus, it was looked to demonstrate that such columns? where the critical tone with relation to the military government prevailed? they had contributed to consolidate the image of Loving Rasp as a progressive catholic, syntonized with the aggiornamento that the Church carried through from the Sixties. Very diverse image of that one of the Cruzado of the neocristandade, associated the Loving Rasp in the two first decades of its walked catholic. Contrast focused in the last section of the text, with the quarrel of the different memories that are associates the Loving Rasp and of as, also from determined memorialística workmanship, it tried to legitimize, for the faith, its changes.
Cette étude analyse la trajectoire de l intellectuel brésilien Alceu Amoroso Lima (1893-1983), considéré comme le leader le plus important du laicat national du XXe siècle. Notre réflexion commence dans la première moitié des années 1950, quand un changement important du registre ecclésial opéré par Amoroso Lima prend corps. Cette transformation le fait passer d un modèle de catholicisme suivant la doctrine de Trente, qui réagissait à la modernité, à un autre plus ouvert, pluriel, en dialogue avec le siècle. Il s agissait d un processus de changement déjà perceptible dans deux récits de voyage qu avait fait Amoroso Lima pendant cette période: des récits qui, ritualisant l idée chrétienne de la vie comme un pélerinage vers le Haut, ont permis à leur auteur de sanctionner les transformations expérimentées à partir d un plan téléologique. La discussion poursuit avec l analyse d un concept plus abstrait de pélerinage, celui qui mènerait à l intérieur de l homme pris comme le lieude rencontre du fidèle avec Dieu. Transposé dans l univers d Amoroso Lima, ce voyage intérieur lui a permis de forger une autodiscipline, tributaire d éléments classiques, antérieurs au christianisme, de même que de spiritualités chrétiennes diverses. Se tournant ainsi vers son monde intérieur, Amoroso Lima cherchait en même temps à se joindre au divin et à contrôler les risques provenant du processus de transformation qu il vivait alors. Cet exercice d instropection a profondément marqué la façon dont Amoroso Lima a éprouvé la foi dans la vie quotidienne et a également influencé son action dans le monde extérieur. Nous retournons ainsi au monde extérieur : ayant accompagné le changement opéré par Amoroso Lima dans son modèle de catholicisme, nous analysons les conséquences d un tel mouvement sur la façon dont cet intellectuel s est mis, dès lors, à intervenir dans le siècle. Cetteintervention se caractérise surtout par sa participation dans la presse, ce qui a projeté sa voix de façon remarquable dans la scène politique brésilienne, surtout après le coup militaire de 1964. Nous avons cherché ainsi à démontrer que cette participation journalistique - où prévalait le ton critique à l égard du gouvernement militaire - a contribué à la consolidation de l image d Amoroso Lima comme un catholique progressiste, en accord avec l aggiornamento que l Église a réalisé à partir des années 1960. Cette image se distinguait profondément de celle du croisé de la néochrétienté qui lui était associée dans les deux premières décennies de son parcours catholique. Ce contraste est mis en relief dans la dernière section du texte à travers la discussion des différentes mémoires qui lui sont associées et, à partir également d une ceuvre mémorialiste déterminée, de la façon dont il a essayé de légitimer ses propres transformations par la foi.

Makerspaces are fertile grounds for students to develop innovative products infused with STEAM principles and cross disciplinary content knowledge; build technological fluency; and support positive developmental growth. Yet, rarely do Makerspaces prioritize these outcomes. Rather, they tend to revolve around the creation of novel objects using cutting-edge technology; craftwork unhinged from their historical, social, political, or academically-relevant underpinnings; and/or the hacking of so-called “black boxes”.

What happens when an educator designs and implements a research-based and content-driven in-school Makerspace? Drawing on field observations, interviews, artifact analysis, and the Developmental Assets Profile (DAP) survey, this mixed methods study explored the experiences of students from two urban middle school classes (n=51) who participated in a social action themed Makerspace called the “Tech Café.” Working from a transformative research perspective, the Tech Café also sought to address the “participation divide”— a term suggesting that higher socioeconomic status students have more opportunity to produce media creatively than students of low socioeconomic status.

Qualitative results indicated that students reported increased agency in their ability to effect positive change in their world. They engaged in powerful collaborations with diverse members of the school’s learning community as they worked toward solutions using low- and high-technology tools. Their products included a cigarette smoke detecting shirt, an edible insect bug stand, and a stationary making kit utilizing recycled paper. Student profiles incorporated their chosen social issue; steps and challenges in product creation; and outcomes pertaining to technological fluency and sense of agency to affect change. Findings showed that students may have benefited from scaffolding to deepen their understanding of important social issues through research.

Quantitative results of the DAP were statistically analyzed according to measures of Positive Identity, Positive Values, Commitment to Learning, Empowerment, and Social Competencies and indicated that no statistically significant differences existed in the pretest-posttest survey scores of participants (n=30). However, a descriptive analysis of score improvement showed that students who successfully created products in the Tech Café moved to higher DAP score ranges more often than those who did not create products. The study concludes with recommendations pertaining to the implementation of Makerspaces in schools.

The Study identifies a lack of investigation into ‘organisational obstinacy’. Organisational resistance is critiqued for ignoring the ambivalence of individuals’ and groups’ feelings around change. As a consequence, work on resistance has tended to concentrate on improving change management techniques rather than influencing organisational forces. In contrast, obstinacy is felt to contain positive as well as negative attitudes which both contribute to why change programmes falter. Organisational characteristics examined include frameworks of interdependencies, the conceptual and shared understanding of the organisational change paradigm being sought, and the flow of ideas within an organisation which illuminate the direction of change that is being pursued. A research model is adopted that identifies where organisational obstinacy might be best observed. Using a longitutinal ethnographic Action Research single case study methodology, a four stage research programme is undertaken in a metropolitan local authority in the UK. Soft System Modelling is used to bring clarity to the Action Research methodology including a clear expression of the epistemology being adopted and a complex ‘framework of ideas’ being developed for each stage. A coherent explanation of the key events that took place is summarised. Two important models are developed which illustrate how ideas might flow around the organisation and where connected interdependencies might become established. These capture the idea of a ‘Winding 8’ with ‘points of crank’ and a ‘critical mass’ comprising contributing elements to the whole change programme. The key findings suggest that organisational obstinacy can be observed when the organisational equilibrium is disturbed by the strength of the introduced driving forces. Under the influence of this obstinacy the organisation re-establishes the ‘old normal’ surprisingly swiftly. A duality of attitudes, often held by the same people, which both support driving forward as well as restraint, suggests that obstinacy can be both positive and negative in its operation. A definition of Organisational Obstinacy is offered. The limitations in the methodology are discussed. Conclusions are drawn on the nature of organisational obstinacy and its operation and possible new directions for further research are offered.

Intergenerational practice (IP) is an increasingly popular community development tool which brings younger and older people together to participate in mutually beneficial activities. It aims to reduce negative attitudes and promote community cohesion. Previous research has examined the benefits of IP though much of this has focused on its potential to increase positive attitudes (and other individual level outcomes). In doing so, previous research has neglected broader social issues, the social nature of social change and the broader community and societal context within which IP takes place. As a result little was known about how IP works and its capacity for micro, meso and macro level social change. Within a social constructionist frame, this thesis argued that to understand the relationship between IP and social change, the role of different social agents in its production needed to be explored more critically. Social representations theory and mixed qualitative methods were used to explore how different social representations were engaged with, circulated or resisted in text, talk and action. Three studies examined practice guidelines, community facilitators and an intergenerational initiative. The latter study adopted an action research framework and aimed to both promote positive social change as well as explore the nature of this change. Mixed traditional and creative qualitative data were collected and analysed through thematic analysis. Findings revealed two competing systems of knowledge underpinned by themata individualism/collectivism and us/them. On the one hand, IP was characterised as an intervention targeted at problem individuals. On the other hand, IP was understood as a tool for collective action towards wider social issues. Between the push and pull of these systems of knowledge, IP was actualised in a middle ground, as a community mobilisation tool with the potential to foster community cohesion through the empowerment of older and younger people.

The research in this thesis investigated an innovative experience In medical education history and its practice in two medical schools in Brazil. As a former member of a curriculum reform committee I examined the limits of recent curriculum reforms in Brazilian medical schools, namely in regard to the integration of subjects. The thesis describes how in the 1960s, Prof Silvio Carvalhal (1917 -2008) developed an innovative teaching method and promoted an effective integration of teaching into the main medical subject course, namely, Internal Medicine. As a graduate and then a teacher his medical career spanned 37 years, during which time he set out to implement his 'method' in two medical schools in the Silo Paulo state, at UNICAMP (state run) and PUCC (private). The study aimed at locating the patterns of resistance and the sustainability of the method over time. The research examined the historical institutional context and the dynamics of political situations that ranged from, dictatorship, to re-democratisation and the neo-liberalism of the 1980s. The fate of innovation was examined, as was the impact of teachers' life cycles, personal factors and individual choices. I also examined the different subject traditions: the academic, the pedagogical and the utilitarian. A comparison sought to understand their influence on the paradigm of medical education. In the course of my analysis I examined individual experiences, individual concepts, generational viewpoints, changing contexts over time, the characteristics of change at specific periods and how these factors culminated in continuity or change. The analysis looked at a convergence of factors that contributed to the decline in the practice of 'method' in both schools. To some extent at UNICAMP the innovation left its mark, but eventually it succumbed to the external and internal factors of university dynamics and a policy that favoured the development of an academic and scientific community that mirrored international standards. At PUCC, the effects of financial constraints; the curriculum reform and the major obstacles posed by internal dynamics within its group of supporters were major obstacles for continuity or rediscovery of the method.

All over the globe, nonprofit organizations aim to strengthen communities while struggling with the restraints of limited resources. This research study involved Participatory Action Research (PAR) to examine how to build internal capacity in one such organization in Bagamoyo, Tanzania. This study was a partnership between me (the academic researcher) and organizational members and stakeholders of the Baobab Home. Through interviews and meetings, the project focus involved creating written contracts. Over the course of five meetings, contracts were researched, policies and procedures were discussed, and formal contracts were created in Swahili. Findings include a discussion of the role of the outside researcher in the PAR process, as well as the value of partnering with a cultural guide. This study also provides a look at how to use PAR to build capacity within organizations. Finally, there is a review of the project itself, its successes, and its lessons learned.

This thesis was interested in exploring the questions of why individuals typically do not respond strongly to climate change, and how individual motivations to do so might be strengthened. More specifically, this thesis explored two widely cited barriers to climate change action and the solutions commonly suggested to overcome them. The first barrier is the lack of personal experience with climate change, which is believed to inhibit relevant emotional processes. The second, not unrelated, barrier is that people typically perceive climate change as a distant threat, one that is not relevant to them personally, where they live, and in the present time. To test these explanations, two public surveys of residents of both the UK (n = 616) and Switzerland (n = 316) explored the relationships among negative emotions, perceptions of geographically proximal and distant climate change risks, and variables that capture people’s willingness to address climate change. The findings supported the idea that stronger negative emotions were positively related to more readiness to act against climate change. The relationship between spatially close versus distant risk perceptions and measures of different forms of action was, however, more complex. Specifically, the findings revealed a strong association between global risk perceptions and policy support and a strong association between local risk perceptions and personal intentions. One explanation for these (unexpected) associations is that they are due to spontaneous matches with regard to psychological distance: Local risk perceptions are psychologically proximal on the spatial dimension and personal intentions can be regarded as proximal on the social dimension. Likewise, the spatially remote global risk perceptions can be matched to support for policies, which can be regarded as distant on the social dimension. Studies 3 and 4 tried to experimentally untangle the complex relationships between psychological distance and people’s perceptions and actions that were 2 observed in the survey research. Specifically, in both studies participants were manipulated to adopt either a spatially proximal or distant perspective on climate change. Study 3 (n = 80) measured participants emotional responses to climate change and looked at how these predicted different attitudinal and behavioural responses under a proximal or distant framework, whereas Study 4 (n = 330) more directly explored the possible effects of activating negative emotions (i.e., fear) in combination with different distance frames as part of attempts to promote action on climate change. The findings of Studies 3 and 4 suggest that decreasing the psychological distance of climate change and inducing fear can both be potentially useful strategies to promote action on climate change. However, the operation of both these strategies is more complex than is often assumed and these complexities have implications for the effectiveness of each strategy. For one thing, both attempts to reduce distance and increase fear can initiate multiple psychological processes that simultaneously increase and decrease the likelihood of acting on climate change. Because these processes work in opposition, reduced distance and increased fear can have positive effects, negative effects, or no effect at all. Together, the findings across studies highlight that psychological distance is neither an insurmountable obstacle to action against climate change – it depends on what kind of action is being considered (Studies 1 & 2) – and nor is decreasing psychological distance a panacea to motivate action – this can trigger the same kind of defensiveness that have been observed in response to other strategies, such as the use of emotion (Studies 3 & 4). In the general discussion, the theoretical implications of these insights for different theoretical models of distance, emotion, and action are considered, as are the implications for the practice of promoting public engagement with and action on climate change.

This thesis studied four CEMUS courses offered in spring 2011. The purpose of this study was: 1) to measure CEMUS students‘ self-reported behavior and action as well as behavior intention towards sustainable development; 2) to analyze different factors and barriers to their behavior and action; 3) to analyze course coordinators‘ knowledge and perspectives about behavior change and action towards sustainable development; and 4) to analyze each course‘s impact on students. Finally, this thesis discusses how education can be improved to foster behavior and action towards sustainable development. This study used both qualitative and quantitative methods. According to the results, most CEMUS students were willing to recycle; to switch off electricity when it‘s not needed; and to travel by bicycle or public transportation instead of by car. On the other hand, fewer students had a willingness to pay for environmental costs and to cut down water consumption and waste. Among the opportunities for indirect action, it was political participation and working within the field of sustainable development (SD) that were most preferred. In contrast, much fewer students were willing to avoid purchasing products from companies with poor track records on CSR, to participate in voluntary work related to SD and to donate money for social or environmental causes. The two most frequently perceived constraints for behavior change among students were a lack of money and obstructive social norms. As a course outcome, four out of six coordinators expect students to take action afterwards but there is a lack of knowledge on how to encourage students to behave and act more sustainably. Based on the results, this thesis discussed what kinds of learning methods can be applied in CEMUS and ESD. It was concluded that education should focus on a specific domain and a small spatial scale, and assign project assignments in which students communicate and interact with stakeholders. Such an approach will help to approach the goals of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). CEMUS could also implement the theory of locus of control, emotional involvement and four different kinds of knowledge in their education in order to improve the effectiveness of CEMUS courses when it comes to promoting behavior and action towards sustainable development.

The interpretation of this qualitative study indicates that individuals, teams and the organisation can benefit through allowing focus of unlocking that which provides a positive stimulus during challenging times in organisational settings. For social scientists, and in particular behavioural scientists, including industrial psychologists that are interested in positive psychology, it is hoped that there is an invitation to grow this area of research further and to gain new insights and direction for what are the enablers to experience positive change and gratitude.

Change in higher education is a topic of growing urgency and national prominence. The study addressed the limited understanding through institutional theory of how a team at one traditional university interpreted its changing environment and justified adoption of an educational innovation prior to other actors in the field. This effort used the dynamics of institutional change model (Hinings, Greenwood, Reay, & Suddaby, 2004), which tracks the process of de- and reinstitutionalization to understand how change happens within the isomorphic context of the institutional theory framework. A qualitative single site case study was conducted at one leading university that had initiated a new massive open online course (MOOC)-enabled degree program, an innovation potentially disruptive to the traditional model of university education.

The study found that perceptions of an external climate of change (exemplified by the perception of disruption in the university field, technology enablers, and societal pressures) and an internal value of innovation (exemplified by larger organizational support for innovation, the college's specific value and excitement around innovation, and successful experiences with innovative efforts) were significant in the adoption of the new program. The study also found that a long list of justifications and motivations were present, including lowering cost and expanding access to education, increasing internal resources and supporting college values around research, and expanding the opportunity for personal impact and influence.

Conclusions focused on the relevancy and necessity of jolts to the change process, the unique factors that enabled actor agency in this circumstance, the importance of attaching new practice to preexisting values, and the prominent role of legitimacy as a motivating factor within institutional theory. Based on this example, suggestions for practice included supporting a value of innovation, selecting a new practice that aligns with societal issues, and identifying justifications for various audiences. Refinements in institutional theory were offered, focusing on the dynamics of institutional change model and the approach to isomorphic forces. Lastly, suggestions were offered for research, primarily around the role of the entrepreneurial actor and the pursuit of legitimacy.

This investigation follows a philosophically interpretive approach on how the web developer developed Web-based Information Systems (WBIS) in a continuously changing higher education organisation. The investigation focused on emergence within the organisation and the resultant problems this gives the web developer in developing WBIS. The web developer used an action research methodology to investigate the emergent higher education organisation and its need for web-based aesthetics & internet speed. This approach was designed by the action researcher to assist both the web developer and manager in developing WBIS within emergent organisations. It is also designed to address a number of major constraining factors placed on the web developer. These included: time constraint, web-based aesthetics, internet speed, emergent aspects, methodology issues and accommodating planned organisational change. The interpretation of these constraining factors gained through the theory of deferred action enabled the action researcher to understand, interpret and create associations to explain the WBIS development process. The web developer had to defer the design process at several points because of unexpected events occurring in the organisation and take deferred action. As a result the Kadar Matrix was created and used by the web developer to manage the constraining factors. The Kadar Matrix has extended the theory of deferred action (ToDA) by implementing its constructs in the analytical tool, Kadar Matrix, for WBIS development. This is a modification of theory for practice. The research further identified that deferred action is necessary for the web developer in emergent organisations.

This thesis contributes to the understanding of how to create organizational change and innovation in companies of the Norwegian Architects, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry. The thesis, then, inquires into the conditions necessary for how the collective practice of collaboration and execution in building projects can be changed emphasizing the emancipatory potential of conversations in arenas for dialogue. The aim is to achieve new useful collective practice in projects, which in the end entails increased competitiveness for the companies involved. This implies that organizational change and innovation ultimately encompass the total value-creating chain of all the actors involved in the building project. That means all from the finished building including the physical construction process on the building site and the end-consumers that are going to use or own it, to the initial programming stage with the first drawing sketches of the architect. The thesis will argue that organizational change and innovation in AEC companies does not emerge on its own through for instance “linear-control” oriented models of planning and subsequent plan implementation or models for increased managerial project control. To the contrary, the thesis will show that processes of change and innovation are created through active and broad participation by all actors directly involved in the project, companies as well as single individuals in arenas for dialogue. The objective of this thesis, then, is to contribute to how organizational change and innovation can be created, that is; what are the conditions necessary to achieve organizational change and innovation in AEC companies? And next; how can organizational change and innovation be spread among the companies in the Norwegian AEC industry? These are the two major research questions of the study. The thesis is an action research-oriented case study based on collaboration with a Research & Development (R&D)-program called The Integrated Building Process (the SiB – Samspillet i Byggeprosessen) jointly sponsored by four Norwegian AEC companies and the Research Council of Norway (RCN). My doctoral grant, including abroad stay as a visiting research scholar at Stanford University, California, USA, summer 1998 and fall 1999, was 100 % sponsored by the RCN, the Industry and Energy division. The field research was carried out in a 4 ½-years period from 1997 to 2001.