Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Knowledge-intensive work'

Understanding factors that enhance or diminish performance levels of individuals is instrumental for achieving individual (low level) and organisational (high level) goals. In this study, the effect of social network structure, position, ties and information and communication technologies (ICT) use on performance attitudes of knowledge intensive workers in dispersed occupational communities is investigated. Based on social network theories of strength of weak ties and structural holes, and the social influence model of technology use, a theoretical framework is developed. In conjunction with qualitative interviews conducted with subject matter experts, the framework is used to further develop and refine a valid and reliable survey instrument. Secondly, network measures of degree centrality, density, structural holes (constraint and efficiency), tie strength and tie diversity are applied for exploring the association with ICT use and performance from a sample of 110 rural general practitioners. Empirical results suggest that network structure, position and ties of knowledge workers play a crucial role in individual performance and ICT use. In particular, degree centrality and task-level ICT use was found to be positively associated with performance while ego-network constraint was found to be negatively correlated with performance. In terms of ICT use, functional diversity and degree centrality were positively associated with task-level ICT use whereas ego-network efficiency was found to be negatively correlated with ICT use at the communication-structure level. Among the variables that showed significance, degree centrality best explained overall variance for performance, and functional diversity best explained overall variance for task-level ICT use, although professional accreditations remains a potent indicator also. The results from this study resonate with findings from past literature and extend traditional theory of social networks and performance within the micro level to include geographically dispersed individuals involved in knowledge intensive work. For individuals in such non-competitive settings, traditional network theories such as structural holes theory still apply. However, a key finding is that network structure is a much more potent predictor of performance although network position is important. The second key finding addresses a major gap in the literature concerning understanding social processes that influence ICT use. As the technology acceptance and the social influence models lack empirical evidence from a social networks perspective, this research shows that rather than the strength of ties which functions as a conduit of novel ideas and information, it is the functional tie diversity within individual professionals networks that increase ICT use at the task-level. Methodologically, the study contributes towards a triangulation approach that utilises both qualitative and quantitative methods for operationalising the study. The quantitative method includes a non-traditional “networks” method of data collection and analysis to serve as a fine complement to traditional research methods in behavioural studies. The outcome is a valid and reliable survey instrument that allows collection of both individual attribute and social network data. The instrument is theoretically driven, practically feasible to implement, time-efficient and easily replicable for other similar studies. At the domain level, key findings from this study contradict previous literature which suggests that professionals in occupational communities such as general practitioners decline in performance as they age. In fact, findings from this study suggest that age and experience do not affect for performance; rather, there is a negative relationship between experience and task-level ICT use, and that task-level ICT use is positively associated with performance in terms of attitudes to interpersonal care. Furthermore, degree centrality is also positively associated with professional accreditations, such as fellowship of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, which is conducive to performance in terms of attitudes to interpersonal and technical care. The contextual implication from the quantitative and qualitative evidence of this study is that while contemplating strategies for optimising ICT use or for improving attitudes to quality of care at the technical and interpersonal level, the importance of social structure, position and relations in the practitioner’s professional network needs to be considered carefully as part of the overall individual and organisation-level goals.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Understanding factors that enhance or diminish performance levels of individuals is instrumental for achieving individual (low level) and organisational (high level) goals. In this study, the effect of social network structure, position, ties and information and communication technologies (ICT) use on performance attitudes of knowledge intensive workers in dispersed occupational communities is investigated. Based on social network theories of strength of weak ties and structural holes, and the social influence model of technology use, a theoretical framework is developed. In conjunction with qualitative interviews conducted with subject matter experts, the framework is used to further develop and refine a valid and reliable survey instrument. Secondly, network measures of degree centrality, density, structural holes (constraint and efficiency), tie strength and tie diversity are applied for exploring the association with ICT use and performance from a sample of 110 rural general practitioners. Empirical results suggest that network structure, position and ties of knowledge workers play a crucial role in individual performance and ICT use. In particular, degree centrality and task-level ICT use was found to be positively associated with performance while ego-network constraint was found to be negatively correlated with performance. In terms of ICT use, functional diversity and degree centrality were positively associated with task-level ICT use whereas ego-network efficiency was found to be negatively correlated with ICT use at the communication-structure level. Among the variables that showed significance, degree centrality best explained overall variance for performance, and functional diversity best explained overall variance for task-level ICT use, although professional accreditations remains a potent indicator also. The results from this study resonate with findings from past literature and extend traditional theory of social networks and performance within the micro level to include geographically dispersed individuals involved in knowledge intensive work. For individuals in such non-competitive settings, traditional network theories such as structural holes theory still apply. However, a key finding is that network structure is a much more potent predictor of performance although network position is important. The second key finding addresses a major gap in the literature concerning understanding social processes that influence ICT use. As the technology acceptance and the social influence models lack empirical evidence from a social networks perspective, this research shows that rather than the strength of ties which functions as a conduit of novel ideas and information, it is the functional tie diversity within individual professionals networks that increase ICT use at the task-level. Methodologically, the study contributes towards a triangulation approach that utilises both qualitative and quantitative methods for operationalising the study. The quantitative method includes a non-traditional “networks” method of data collection and analysis to serve as a fine complement to traditional research methods in behavioural studies. The outcome is a valid and reliable survey instrument that allows collection of both individual attribute and social network data. The instrument is theoretically driven, practically feasible to implement, time-efficient and easily replicable for other similar studies. At the domain level, key findings from this study contradict previous literature which suggests that professionals in occupational communities such as general practitioners decline in performance as they age. In fact, findings from this study suggest that age and experience do not affect for performance; rather, there is a negative relationship between experience and task-level ICT use, and that task-level ICT use is positively associated with performance in terms of attitudes to interpersonal care. Furthermore, degree centrality is also positively associated with professional accreditations, such as fellowship of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, which is conducive to performance in terms of attitudes to interpersonal and technical care. The contextual implication from the quantitative and qualitative evidence of this study is that while contemplating strategies for optimising ICT use or for improving attitudes to quality of care at the technical and interpersonal level, the importance of social structure, position and relations in the practitioner’s professional network needs to be considered carefully as part of the overall individual and organisation-level goals.

Marketing has traditionally been understood from the perspective of marketing management. This causes problems when we study marketing practices because the normative discourse of marketing management is not particularly useful for describing the day-to-day work of marketing practitioners. This calls for marketing research from new perspectives. Rhetorical business – A study of marketing work in the spirit of contradiction investigates marketing work in professional service organizations from a rhetorical perspective. The overall research question – What do marketers do when they do marketing work? – is explored empirically through conversations, observations and daily interaction and argumentation with professionals involved in the marketing of consulting services. The rhetorical theory applied in the analysis builds on the assumption that every reasonable argument can be met with an equally reasonable counterargument, which is not only how we argue but also a representation of how we gain knowledge of the world – namely, by contradicting it. The analysis is organized in three themes – situation, strategy and subject – that address questions such as Where and when do marketers argue for business purposes? What rhetorical strategies are used?, and How can the subjects of marketing work be portrayed? This is followed by a discussion of the analysis under the two headings persuasive marketing talk and marketing work “in-between”. This book concludes that marketing work is accomplished by self-reflexive marketers who argue for business purposes in, through and in-between meetings as they employ versatile and expansive language and enact contradictory selves. In so concluding the book contributes a multifaceted account of marketing work beyond the framework of normative marketing management. It also shows how rhetorical theory can be used in marketing research to analyse aspects of marketing practice that would otherwise have been poorly accounted for. Finally, the book is written as a “confessional tale” by an author with long experience of marketing work, in the hope that it may encourage self-reflexive inquires among professionals involved in marketing.

This is a thesis about knowledge-intensive work and the organizational con-texts of such work. The specific objective is to analyze the geography of work. The geography of work may diverge from the geography of employ-ment when paid work is undertaken at the premises of client organizations, during commuting, on business trips, in external meetings, at home or in other places. The focus is on work practice and the perspective of everyday life. The study examines where knowledge workers are located and where knowledge work occurs. It is about what knowledge workers actually do. The everyday perspective is about the relationship between paid work and unpaid work. To understand the organization of knowledge-intensive work in a time–space context, different possibilities and constraints must be taken into con-sideration. This thesis has a time–geographical approach. The case study examines knowledge-intensive organizations located in central Stockholm. The organizations are in PR/communications, management consultancy, and research and development sectors. Both private and public sector organiza-tions are considered. The empirical study combines interviews, time diaries and questionnaires. The NVivo software program is employed to analyze the interview data. The main conclusion from the thesis is that in order to under-stand knowledge-intensive work, different factors such as relations, attitudes and norms need to be considered. These factors affect the organization of work, which in turn is affected by the choices, possibilities, constraints, ex-pectations and negotiations of different actors (i.e. employees, employers, family, clients and colleagues). The working time of the knowledge workers investigated in this study is mainly spent at the office of their employers. Social interaction with col-leagues and clients is an important part of their work. Work routines involve many meetings, both face-to-face and virtual. Face-to-face interactions play a crucial role in shaping the geography of work; teamwork is important. The knowledge workers in this study are “working long hours,” and the norm is to work more than what have been expected.

This research explores the role of identity within a knowledge intensive organizational setting in which frequent change, ambiguous work, autonomous work practices, and pervasive client relationships mean that organizational members face many complex challenges in their day-to-day work life. On the basis of a longitudinal, multi-level, intra-and inter-organizational study of a group of people within a regional marketing agency, an integrated approach is proposed and developed as a way to explore and emphasise the complex role of identity, as both a resource and a struggle, in this organizational setting. The approach is generated from iterative cycling between data and existing theory in which the concepts of social identities and identity work are drawn together as a way to provide insight into the role of identity within the research setting. The research participants are seen to engage in identity work in order to create, change, protect and switch between multiple work-related social identities. It is argued that this is a crucial part of agency work, which agency employees work hard to achieve. It is also argued that they use this ‘fluid framework’ of identity as way of dealing with some of the challenges of their everyday work. The research itself is underpinned by a methodology guided by symbolic interactionism. The conceptualisation of identity as an ongoing process with occasional pauses is rooted in the Meadian concept of the ‘I’ and the ‘me’. The contribution of this study to the developing field of identity and organizations is in the building of a conceptual bridge between those whose main concern is with the dynamics of identity creation and those whose main concern is with the product or outcome of identity processes. A practical contribution is also made to further understanding identity at work through the insights gained within this research setting.

I denna studie undersöks hur personer med ledarskapsroller inom kunskapsintensivt arbete (LIKA) upplever att möjligheterna och utmaningarna med digitala arbetssätt på distans påverkar deras arbete och deras välmående. Studien baseras på semi-strukturerade intervjuer med 13 deltagare med sådan yrkesbefattning, och resulterar i en bred mängd möjligheter från digitala arbetssätt – som exempelvis att arbetet blir mer effektivt och kan utföras oberoende av tid eller geografisk plats. Eftersom dessa digitala arbetssätt däremot är så pass nya förekommer även en del utmaningar, då hanteringen av denna teknik fortfarande är under en inlärningsperiod. Några av utmaningarna som deltagarna i denna studie uttryckt är att förväntningarna på hastigheten som arbete utförs i ökar med digitala hjälpmedel, samt att det är svårare att särkoppla arbete och privatliv eftersom båda dessa är så lättillgängliga med hjälp av informations- och kommunikationsteknik (IKT). Under det distansarbete som deltagarna utövat upplevde de även en ökad svårighet att separera arbete från privatliv eftersom dessa delade samma fysiska yta: hemmet. Effektiviteten och tillgängligheten bidrar till en ökad upplevelse av flexibilitet och att själv kunna styra över sin tid. Detta upplevdes som positivt av deltagarna, och enligt föreliggande forskning är dessa faktorer centrala för att uppfylla delar av livsbalansens dimensioner, som enligt studier är väsentligt för välmående. Genom digitala arbetssätt får således deltagarna en förbättrad livsbalans eftersom de själva har möjlighet att styra över sin tid samtidigt som deras produktivitet ökar. Med uteslutande digitala arbetssätt blir däremot gemenskapen på arbetsplatsen bristande. Deltagarna önskade därför att efter rådande pandemi orsakad av COVID-19 kunna kombinera digitala arbetssätt med traditionella arbetssätt på sin arbetsplats, och på så vis kunna träffa sina kollegor fysiskt och känna en starkare tillhörighet till sin arbetsgrupp. Genom exklusivt arbete kunde deltagarna utföra sitt arbete, men saknade ändå traditionella arbetssätt på grund av de sociala faktorerna. Digitalt arbete kan därför ses ha praktiska fördelar, men emotionella utmaningar, och en kombination av båda – traditionellt arbete på arbetsplatsen och digitalt arbete på distans – torde därför kunna bidra till ökad produktivitet, en förstärkt frihetskänsla och en bevarad social gemenskap, och således gynna individens livsbalans och välmående.
This study examines how people with managerial positions within knowledge intensive work experience that the opportunities and challenges of remote digital work affects their work and their well-being. In the study, 13 semi-structured interviews were conducted with individuals of such positions, and resulted in a broad variety of possibilities derived from digital work – e.g. being able to work more efficiently and regardless of time or place. Nonetheless, due to digital work still being relatively new, challenges also arise as a consequence of being in a learning process of how digital work may be handled. Some of the challenges mentioned by the participants of the study include the speed of which work is expected to be performed at when utilizing digital tools, or that the separation between work and private life has been aggravated due to the increased accessibility. Additionally, as a consequence of the current pandemic, the participants were working remote from their homes, which was explained as a factor contributing to a heightened difficulty of separating their work life from their private life. The reason for this being work life and private life sharing the same physical space: their homes. However, the participants described the gained efficiency and availability from digital work as contributing to an increased experience of flexibility and being in control of their time and productivity. This was described as a positive effect of digital work, and according to theory essential to improve life balance. Hence, the participants have a possibility of improved life balance through digital work as it allows them to control their time whilst also improving their productivity. Nevertheless, the participants still aspired for a combination of digital work and traditional work post pandemic, due to the solidarity within the workplace being experienced as insufficient via solely digital mediums. Therefore, a combination of digital work and traditional work was desired to allow for effective work without social diminution. The employees could perform their work through exclusively digital mediums, yet still expressed missing traditional ways of working due to the social factors. Digital ways of working may therefore be seen as with practical benefits, and emotional challenges. A combination of digital and traditional work could therefore maximize productivity and increase flexibility whilst still maintaining social connections, thus favoring life balance and well-being.

Background ICU readmissions within 72 hours after discharge from the intensive care unit (ICU) is a problem because this leads to higher mortality and longer hospital stays. This is a particular problem for the hospital studied for this thesis because there are only three fully equipped ICU beds available.   Aim To prevent readmissions by introducing nursing rounds as a concept of “communities of practice” (CoP) and to identify supportive and prohibitive mechanisms in the improvement work and knowledge needed for further improvement work in similar settings.   Methods Questionnaires, focus groups, Nelson’s improvement ramp, and qualitative content analysis.   Results There were no readmissions from the participating ward after the nursing rounds started, but the reason for this is not clear. The staff experienced the nursing rounds as valuable and they reported greater feelings of confidence, increased exchange, and use of their own knowledge.   Discussion The findings presented here support that hypothesis that CoP builds knowledge that can improve patient care. The information provided to the participants during the improvement project was identified as the most supportive mechanism for improvement work, and a lack of resources was seen as the most prohibitive mechanism.

Introduction At the start of 2020 Sweden gets their first documented case of Covid -19. On March 16th the Public Health Agency of Sweden recommended that schools and universities should conduct their education on distance mode. These recommendations would also apply to businesses all around Sweden where it is possible to work remotely. Previous studies have shown that working remotely requires that leadership must take more responsibility. Additionally, the need for clear management control and communication. Purpose The purpose of this study is to research how management control and communication works and have changed within knowledge intensive organizations where daily operations has gone on distance mode due to the corona pandemic. Method The research has been conducted using a qualitative method where both managers and employees have been interviewed. The interviewed people represent three different organizations, a management company, the industrial unit within the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and a legal unit within Swedish Public Employment Service. Result and contribution According to our research, remote work during the Covid-19 pandemic has led to informal meetings on the workplace has been heavily reduced or completely seized. This change has affected managers ability to retain a healthy relationship to their employees. The study show that a management control based on trust and a leadership based on trust has been an advantage, especially within knowledge intensive organizations. The underlying challenge for the managers has been missing communication and knowledge sharing.
Inledning  Den 31 januari 2020 får Sverige sitt första konstaterade fall av Covid-19. Den 16 Mars presenterar Folkhälsomyndigheten rekommendationerna om att svenska gymnasieskolor, universitet, högskolor och övrig utbildning att ske på distans. Dessa rekommendationer kommer även att gälla för samtliga verksamheter i Sverige som har möjlighet att arbeta på distans. Under distansarbete visar tidigare forskningen på ett ökat behov av en medveten och välutvecklad arbetsledning, samt behovet av en tydligare styrning och kommunikation.  Syfte  Syftet med uppsatsen är att studera hur styrningen och kommunikationen fungerar samt förändrats inom kunskapsorganisationer där verksamheten har gått över till distansarbete, som en följd av pandemin.   Metod  Undersökningen är utförd med en kvalitativ metod där vi har intervjuat chefer och medarbetare. De olika kunskapsorganisationer vi undersökt är ett managementbolag, Industrienheten inom Naturvårdsverket och rättsavdelningen på Arbetsförmedlingen. Resultat och bidrag Distansarbetet har enligt samtliga respondenter, lett till att informella möten på arbetsplatsen minskat eller helt upphört. Det har påverkat chefernas förmåga att upprätthålla en viktig relation till medarbetarna, men även inverkat på informationsflödet. Denna studie visar att en tillitsbaserad styrning och ett tillitsbaserat ledarskap är fördelaktigt under distansarbetet, speciellt inom kunskapsorganisationer. De stora utmaningarna för de chefer som intervjuats kan härledas till bortfall av kommunikation och kunskapsdelning.

Bakgrund: Distansarbete som under de senaste åren har blivit allt mer vanligt innebär enannan typ av arbetssätt, vilket påverkar organisationens kultur. Varje organisation har en egen kultur, där ledaren har en viktig roll i att influera medarbetarna. Om kulturen är effektiv kan organisationen uppnå fördelar som ökad effektivitet och positiva resultat, både ekonomiska och gällande medarbetarna välmående. Det är därför viktigt att ledarskapet anpassas för att upprätthålla en effektiv organisationskultur, när arbetet går från en fysisk arbetsplats till distans. Då kunskapsintensiva organisationer har en teknisk vana som möjliggör att distansarbete fungerar, valdes ett IT-företag ut som studiens undersökningsobjekt. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att få en djupare kunskap om hur chefer och medarbetare på IT-företag upplever att distansarbetet har påverkat ledarskapet och deras organisationskultur. Teoretisk referensram: Studien utgår från tre huvudområden, kunskapsintensiva organisationer vilket är kontexten, ledarskap på distans och effektiv organisationskultur. Alla tre områden beskriver vikten av ledarskap och olika typer av ledarskapsförmågor inom de tre huvudområdena. Metod: Studien utgår från en fallstudiedesign där det empiriska materialet samlades in genom både en kvalitativ och kvantitativ undersökning, vilket utgör en triangulering. Den kvalitativa undersökningen har gjorts i form av intervjuer med chefer inom ett IT-företag, och den kvantitativa undersökningen genomfördes via en enkätundersökning med medarbetarna till de intervjuade cheferna. Slutsats: Ledarskapet påverkas av distansarbete i form av att ledaren inte längre kan läsa av stämningen på samma sätt, vilket leder till att det är svårare att stötta medarbetarna och se deras välmående. Ledarskapet måste därför förändras på distans, bli mer tydligt och ha tydligare kommunikation. Bristen på den sociala interaktionen bidrar även till att ledarens roll blir allt viktigare för att upprätthålla en effektiv organisationskultur, vilket kräver starka relationer och att vara en god förebild.
Background: Distance work, which in recent years has become increasingly common, involves a different type of way of working, which has affected the organizational culture. Each organization has its own culture, in which the leader has an important role in influencing the employees. If the culture is effective, the organization has the possibility to achieve benefits such as increased efficiency and positive results, both financially and the wellbeing of the employees. Therefore, it is important to adapt the leadership to maintain an effective organizational culture when work shifts from the physical workplace to working on distance. Since knowledge-intensive organizations have a technical experience which makes distance work possible, an IT-company was selected as the study's research object. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to gain a deeper knowledge of how managers and employees in IT companies experience how working on distance has affected the leadership and their organizational culture. Theory: The study is based on three main areas, knowledge-intensive organizations which is the context, distance leadership and effective organizational culture. All three areas describe the importance of leadership and different types of leadership abilities, within the three main areas. Method: The study is based on a case study design, where the empirical material was collected through both a qualitative and quantitative study, which constitutes a triangulation. The qualitative study was conducted in the form of interviews with managers in an IT company, and the quantitative study was conducted through a questionnaire survey with the employees of the interviewed managers. Conclusion: The leadership is affected by distance work when the leader can no longer read the atmosphere in the same way, which leads to it being more difficult to support employees and their well-being. The leadership must therefore change when on distance, to become clearer and to have clearer communication. The lack of social interaction also contributes to6the role of the leader becoming increasingly important to maintain an effective organizational culture, which requires strong relationships and being a good role model.

The complexity that digital transformation brings to the business environment requires new knowledge and expertise in different domains. To avoid the extensive costs of acquiring and managing this knowledge internally, organizations frequently collaborate with external consultancies. In this exploratory case study, we investigate what role the consultancy agencies take within client organizations' transformation journey and how this role is affected by the dynamic nature of digital transformation. The study reveals that the notion of digital transformation in the business environment is fuzzy and challenging not only to the client organization but to the consultancy agency itself which leads to the necessity to narrow down the notion of digital transformation and form a new role.

Dissertação de Mestrado em Gestão Estratégica de Recursos Humanos
A organização do trabalho de forma eficaz e eficiente tem sido uma constante preocupação do homem. Os motivos impulsionadores desta busca, no seio das organizações, apresentam as mais variadas naturezas, desde a necessidade de obter melhores resultados das acções e dos recursos, até ao aumento da qualidade dos bens e serviços, passando pela preocupação com a segurança no trabalho e com a garantia de uma melhor coordenação das várias equipas, entre outros. Partindo da certeza que o tema proposto não é novo, considera-se pertinente o seu estudo, num ambiente altamente dinâmico, com novos desafios que surgem quase diariamente e numa altura em que a inovação é indispensável para responder a mercados cada vez mais exigentes. As tecnologias de informação e comunicação surgem como um pilar que suporta e facilita essa inovação, quer em termos da execução das acções, quer em tempos de resposta, pois permite fazer adaptações e desenvolvimentos num mais curto espaço de tempo. Neste contexto, o presente estudo tem como objectivo estudar modelos de organização de trabalho numa empresa do sector das tecnologias de informação e comunicação. Partindo da análise dos modelos de organização do trabalho e da sua evolução, este estudo pretende focar a sua atenção nos novos modelos de organização do trabalho e nos modelos flexíveis de trabalho assentes em estruturas também essas flexíveis, numa competência de excelência, na confiança e numa maior participação por parte dos trabalhadores. A metodologia utilizada será o estudo de caso, recorrendo-se à observação participante, às entrevistas semi-estruturadas e à análise documental. Pretende-se, fazer uma caracterização da empresa através da sua actividade, história, estrutura e artefactos da cultura organizacional, bem como estudar a sua organização do trabalho. Os resultados obtidos permitem a identificação de modelos inovadores de organização de trabalho em empresas TIC, corroborando desta forma com a literatura existente. Permitem também o reconhecimento, neste sector de actividade, da tendência para a utilização de modelos flexíveis de organização do trabalho, nomeadamente: a natureza de trabalho assente em equipas semi-autónomas, a existência de funções variadas com um elevado grau de autonomia que permitem a mobilização e desenvolvimento de novas competências, e a adopção de práticas de gestão de recursos humanos que possibilitam o desenvolvimento de competências.
The organization of work effectively and efficiently has been a constant worry for mankind. The reasons for this search ,in the heart of the organizations, depends on its nature, from the need to obtain better results of actions and appeals, to the increasing quality of goods and services, taking into concern safe working conditions and ensuring better coordination of several teams, amongst others. Based on the certainty that the proposed topic is not new, it is considered appropriate, in a constantly changing environment with new challenges that arise almost daily and at a time when innovation is required to meet increasingly demanding markets. New technologies have emerged as a pillar that supports and eases this innovation, allowing the implementation of actions with less effort than the effort required to perform the same actions without using new technologies, both in time response, because it allows to adaptations and developments in the shortest time. In this context, this study aims to explore methods of work organization in a information and communication technologies company. Based on the analysis of models of a working organization and its evolution, this study intends to focus its attention on new forms of work organization and forms of flexible work structures based on a more flexible jurisdiction of excellence, confidence and greater participation by workers. The methodology used is the case study, resorting to the participating observation, semistructured interviews and documentation analysis. It intends to characterize the company through its activities, history, structure and organizational culture artifacts, as well as studying work organization. The observed results allow the identification of innovating ways of work organization in ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) companies, confirming what is already recognized in the existing literature. It also allows the acknowledge that flexible work organization forms tend to be used in this sector, including: the work nature based in semi-autonomous teams, the existence of various functions with a high degree of autonomy allowing new skills development and the human resources practices that enable the evolution of skills.

Inledning: Omorganiseringstrenden har varit stark i Sverige under 2000-talet. Ett av motiven har varit att HR-funktionens strategiska personalarbete kan bidra till kostnadseffektivitet och värdeskapande som behövs i en konkurrenskraftig miljö. Kunskapsintensiva organisationer i tillväxt är helt beroende av sitt humankapital och bör definiera behoven att ha ett utstuderat sätt att arbeta med HR.     Syfte: Syftet med studien är att förstå de behov och förväntningar som föreligger att implementera en formaliserad HR-funktion för kunskapsintensiva företag i tillväxt. Vi vill genom studien undersöka HR-funktionens roll och betydelse samt nyansera bilden av organisationens drivkrafter till att implementera en formaliserad HR-funktion.   Metod: Uppsatsen består av en induktiv ansats med en kvalitativ metod. Vi har genomfört en fallstudie på ett medelstort företag i tillväxt i en kunskapsintensiv bransch. All empirisk data har insamlats genom kvalitativa intervjuer på ledningsgruppnivå samt en enkät till samtliga medarbetare på fallföretaget.     Slutsats: De slutsatser vi kommit fram till är att behovet av att implementera en HR-funktion inom kunskapsintensiva företag i tillväxt beror på medarbetarnas attityder, motivation och beteende, som i sin tur påverkar organisationens resultat. De mjuka värdena bör gå hand i hand med de hårda värdena. Humankapitalet är en av de största konkurrensfördelar som morgondagens organisationer kommer att stå inför där tyngdpunkten ligger i att arbeta systematiskt med HR samt att transformera mål och strategier till att bli mer effektiva, värdeskapande och strategiska.
Introduction: Reorganization trend has been strong in Sweden in the 2000s. One of the reasons has been that the HR function's strategic in HR-work can contribute to cost efficiency and creates value, well needed in a competitive environment. Knowledge-intensive organizations in growth are entirely dependent on its human capital, and should examine the need to maintain a studied approach to working with HR.   Purpose: The purpose of this study is to understand the needs and expectations that are in place to implement a formalized HR function for knowledge-intensive companies in growth. We want to study the HR function's role and importance and nuanced the picture of the organization's incentives to implement a formalized HR function.   Method: The paper consists of an inductive approach with a qualitative method. We conducted a case study of a medium sized company in growth in a knowledge-intensive industry. We have collected all the empirical data through qualitative interviews in the management-team and a questionnaire/survey to all employees in the company.   Conclusion: The conclusion we reached is that the need to implement an HR function in knowledge- intensive companies in growth is context, expertise, size and leadership. Human capital is one of the major competitive advantages that tomorrow's organizations will face and the focus is on working systematically with HR and transform goals and strategies to become more efficient, value creation and strategic.

Cette thèse a pour objet d’étudier les tensions que traversent les activités de services professionnels (audit, conseil...) depuis une trentaine d’années, à travers le prisme des enjeux d’équilibre de vie. Alors que ces entreprises sont mises en cause dans les medias pour leurs pratiques managériales encourageant leurs salariés à se dépasser sans cesse, elles n’ont jamais été aussi actives dans leur communication sur les enjeux de qualité de vie au travail. A travers l’analyse des travaux existants, nous montrons que le système incitatif en up- or-out des organisations professionnelles repose sur le présupposé que les professionnels aspirent principalement à être récompensés de leurs efforts par des bonus et des promotions. A travers l’analyse de 58 récits de carrière de consultants, nous identifions deux autres dimensions clés de leur expérience au travail : la nature des projets qui leurs sont assignés et l’équilibre de vie. Nous explicitons les techniques qu’ils mettent en œuvre pour tenter de répondre à ces aspirations. Dans un deuxième temps, après avoir analysé le discours managérial en vigueur dans 9 cabinets sur ces questions, nous décrivons - à travers l’étude comparative de deux cabinets de conseil – les ajustements qu’ils mettent en place pour mieux les soutenir. Nous discutons l’ampleur de la remise en cause du modèle d’organisation traditionnel de ces entreprises par ces évolutions, dans un contexte où elles sont de plus en plus menacées, que ce soit par une faible croissance de leurs activités, une pression sur les coûts, la sophistication de la demande des clients ou par un phénomène d’uberisation qui touche de façon croissante les services professionnels
This thesis aims at studying the tensions that professional service firms (audit firms, consultancies...) have been facing for the past thirty years, through the lens of work-life balance. While these firms are increasingly questioned in the media for their managerial practices that encourage their salaries to excel themselves; they have never been so active in communicating on quality of work-life. Through a review of the literature, I show that the up- or-out incentive system of professional organisations lies on the assumption that professionals all mostly aspire to see their commitment rewarded by bonuses and promotions. Through the analysis of 58 consultants’ career stories, I identify two additional dimensions of their experience at work: the nature of the projects they are assigned and work-life balance. Then, the techniques they use to fulfil these aspirations are described. Second, after studying the managerial discourse on work-life balance in 9 consultancies, through the comparative case study of two firms I analyse the adjustments they have implemented to accommodate individual needs. I discuss the extent to which these evolutions challenge the traditional organisation of professional service firms, at a time when they are increasingly threatened by low levels of growth in the industry; pressure on cost; the sophistication of clients’ demands and the uberisation of the economy, which has also reached professional services

Cette thèse a pour but d’analyser comment se déroule le processus de construction de l’identité professionnelle et comment ce processus a lieu moyeannt la précarité de la reconnaissance au travail de part de ses pairs et par l’hiérarchie. L’identité professionnelle correspond à un processus qui commence lors de la fin des cours de formation; qui continue tout au long de la confrontation avec les relations, l’ambiance et le marché de travail et qui rend possible la construction d’une image personnelle que l’individu veut présenter. Par l’analyse du processus de socialisation du professionnel dans les relations de travail il devient possible non seulement de comprendre le processus de construction de l’identité professionnelle, mais aussi de s’approcher du concept de profession dans l’actualité. En faisant cette analyse, on vérifie, par conséquent, la construction de l’identité au travail, qui se fonde sur trois éléments – la reconnaissance, l’autonomie et la coopération au travail – et qui confère à l’individu la possibilité d’un retour sur soi même capable de lui faire se sentir inclus dans des cercles d’égaux. Afin d’analyser le processus de construction de l’identité professionnelle, on a décidé d’ajouter un quatrième élement, celui de la connaissance professionnelle, lequel, tout comme les autres éléments cités ci-dessous, est l’un des axes d’analyse de cette thèse. Comme source de matériel empirique, on a choisi l’analyse du professionnel physiothérapeute inséré dans une unité de traitement intensif, en vue de l’indéfinition éventuelle de ses attributions et de ses contributions au travail de l’unité de traitement intensif, par rapport au travail du médecin, par exemple. La méthodologie utilisée dans cette thèse s’est fondée sur une approche qualitative, avec des questionnaires demistructurés qui ont été présentés le long de 2009 à 20 physiothérapeutes, 17 médecins et 17 infirmiers qui travaillent dans 14 unités de traitement intensif dans la ville de Porto Alegre, aussi que sur l’observation directe de deux unités de traitement intensif. L’analyse de contenu des donnés collectées permis comprendre le matériel empirique associé au référentiel théorique. Comme résultat de cette étude, on voit le rôle du processus de construction de l’identité au travail comme une étape conditionnante de la construction de l’identité professionnelle. En plus, cette étude démontre l’importance de la connaissance professionnelle, caracterisée par la connaissance scientifique, contextuelle et réflexive, comme condition pour qu’un travailleur puisse construire une identité professionnelle stabilisée. Moyennant l’impossibilité que l’individu ne construise une identité au travail stabilisée à cause de la précarité de la reconnaissance au travail, on s’aperçoit de la difficulté que le professionnel trouve pour gagner de la visibilité et pour construire la connaissance professionnel dans les relations de travail. Ladite difficulté tend à compromettre la construction de l’identité professionnel.
Esta tese tem por objetivo analisar como ocorre o processo de construção da identidade profissional e como este processo acontece mediante a precariedade de reconhecimento no trabalho pelos pares e pela hierarquia. A identidade profissional corresponde a um processo que tem seu início na saída do curso de formação e que continua ao longo da confrontação com as relações, o ambiente e o mercado de trabalho e que proporciona a construção de uma imagem pessoal que o indivíduo quer apresentar. Entende-se que ao analisar o processo de socialização do profissional nas relações de trabalho torna-se possível compreender não apenas o processo de construção da identidade profissional, mas também permite se aproximar do conceito de profissão na atualidade. Ao realizar tal análise, verifica-se, por conseguinte, a construção da identidade no trabalho que tem por base três elementos – o reconhecimento, a autonomia e a cooperação no trabalho – e que confere ao indivíduo a possibilidade de um retorno a si mesmo capaz de sentir-se incluído em círculos iguais. Para analisar o processo de construção da identidade profissional, opta-se por agregar um quarto elemento, o conhecimento profissional, que junto aos elementos citados anteriormente compõem os eixos de análise desta tese. Como material empírico, optou-se por analisar o profissional fisioterapeuta inserido em UTI pela indefinição eventual de suas atribuições e contribuições no trabalho da UTI em comparação ao trabalho médico, por exemplo. A metodologia utilizada neste estudo amparou-se em uma abordagem qualitativa, com a utilização de roteiros de entrevista semi-estruturados que foram aplicados em 20 fisioterapeutas, 17 médicos e 17 enfermeiros atuantes em 14 diferentes UTIs na cidade de Porto Alegre ao longo do ano de 2009, bem como a observação direta de duas UTIs. Foi realizada uma análise de conteúdo dos dados coletados que permitiram a compreensão do material empírico associado ao referencial teórico. Como resultado deste estudo, destaca-se o papel do processo de construção da identidade no trabalho como etapa condicionante à construção da identidade profissional. Ademais, este estudo demonstra a importância do conhecimento profissional caracterizado pelo conhecimento científico, contextual e reflexivo, como condição para que o trabalhador possa construir uma identidade profissional estabilizada. Mediante a impossibilidade do indivíduo construir uma identidade no trabalho estabilizada em decorrência da precariedade de reconhecimento no trabalho, percebe-se a dificuldade do profissional em dar visibilidade e construir o conhecimento profissional nas relações de trabalho. Tal dificuldade tende a comprometer a construção da identidade profissional.
This thesis analyzes how the process of professional identity building takes place and, in particular, how it takes place in the context of precarious recognition by peers and superiors at work. Professional identity is a process that begins at the end of one’s studies, goes on throughout the period one faces labor relations, environment and market, and makes possible the building of a personal image that individuals want to present. By analyzing the professional’s process of socialization in labor relations, we can not only understand the process of professional identity building, but also approach the concept of profession in our days. By carrying out such an analysis, we see the building of identity at work, which is based on three elements – recognition, autonomy and cooperation at work – and which gives individuals a chance to return to themselves to feel included in peer circles. To analyze the process of professional identity building we choose to add a fourth element, professional knowledge, which, together with the other elements aforementioned, is an axe of this thesis. The empirical material source of this thesis was professional physiotherapists working at Intensive Care Units (ICUs), due to their frequently indefinite attributions and contributions to the work, in comparison to physicians’ work, for example. The methodology used in this thesis is based on a qualitative approach, with semi-structured questionnaires which were handed out to 20 physiotherapists, 17 physicians and 17 nurses working at 14 ICUs in Porto Alegre in 2009, as well as on direct observation of two ICUs. The content analysis of the data collected was used to understand the empirical material associated with the theory references. As an outcome of this study, we view the role of the identity at work building process as a stepping stone to professional identity building. Besides, this study highlights how important professional knowledge, characterized by scientific, contextual and reflexive knowledge, is as a condition for workers to build a stable professional identity. By being impossible for individuals to build a stable identity at work due to precarious recognition at work, we realize how difficult it is for them to gain visibility and build professional knowledge at labor relations. Such a difficulty tends to compromise professional identity building.

Knowledge and knowledge work are key factors of today’s successful companies. This study devises an approach for increasing the performance of knowledge work by shifting it towards a process orientation. Business process management and workflow management are methods for structured and predefined work but are not flexible enough to support knowledge work in a comprehensive way. Case-based reasoning (CBR) uses the knowledge of previously experienced cases in order to propose a solution to a problem. CBR can be used to retrieve, reuse, revise, retain and store functional and process knowledge. The aim of the research was to develop an approach that combines CBR and process execution to improve knowledge work. The research goals are: a casedescription for knowledge work that can be integrated into a process execution system and that contains both functional and process knowledge; a similarity algorithm for the retrieval of functional and procedural knowledge; and an adaptation mechanism that deals with the different granularities of solution parts. This thesis contains a profound literature framework and follows a design science research (DSR) strategy. During the awareness phase of the design science research process, an application scenario was acquired using the case study research method, which is the admission process for a study programme at a university. This application scenario is used to introduce and showcase the combined CBR and process execution approach called ICEBERG-PE, which consists of a case model and CBR services. The approach is implemented as a prototype and can be instantiated using the ICEBERG-PE procedure model, a specific procedure model for ontology-based, CBR projects. The ICEBERG-PE prototype has been evaluated using triangulated evaluation data and different evaluation settings to confirm that the approach is transferable to other contexts. Finally, this thesis concludes with potential recommendations for future research.
Computing
D. Phil. (Information Systems)

碩士
樹德科技大學
資訊管理研究所
93
Nowadays, the increasing use of work teams in organization to get competitive advantage has being received great attention in both academia and practice. However, in terms of work team effectiveness, it may ignore how such variables interact with each other. Therefore, this study proposes a term of “job embeddedness”. It goes further to employ job embeddedness theory to examine the relationship of moderating factor the relationship between knowledge workers’ autonomy and work team effectiveness in knowledge-intensive organizations. The objects of the project are questionnaire are surveyed from computer software industry and computer system integrated service industry.A total of 144 questionnaires are collected for data analysis.The results of the analysis indicate that (1) Knowledge workers’ autonomy (including product autonomy , planning autonomy , people autonomy) positively affects the work team effectiveness.(2) Organization learning (including commitment to learning ,vision identification) positively affects the work team effectiveness.(3)Job embeddedness (including organization fit , organization linking , organization sacrifice) positively affects the work team effectiveness.(4)The job embeddedness is served as a moderating factor between knowledge workers’ autonomy and work team effectiveness. (5)The job embeddedness are served as a moderating factor between organization learning and work team effectiveness.Besides enhancing a greater understanding of the issue of knowledge-intensive, hopefully, this study will provide advances in understanding the issue of work team effectiveness in knowledge-intensive organizations.

Managing knowledge work and knowledge workers is of growing importance in theory as well as in practice. Organizations are continuously evolving value added work. It is observed over a period of time, that manual work is reducing and educated work force is delivering, executing and successfully performing organizational activities. Particularly in Indian context there is a phenomenal growth in employment of knowledge professionals. They contribute towards building value through their innovation, new technology and its application. Knowledge professionals possess the talent and required skills to cater to organizational competitive demands. Knowledge professional creates knowledge and transfer knowledge to other professionals. There are several univariate studies focusing on satisfaction, stress, motivation, there are also studies which talks about knowledge transfer aspects, but they are not studied in the context of knowledge professionals and linking them to value added behavior and well-being. This is a multi-construct study with an attempt to explain causal relationship between knowledge professionals, organizational & knowledge practice, knowledge transfer modes, enhanced valued behavior and well-being, for which the existing literature is reviewed. Literature review for this study has been broadly classified into four major headings, i.e. knowledge professionals, organizational and knowledge practices, knowledge transfer modes and finally well-being of knowledge professionals. Knowledge professionals are dealing with the increase in knowledge intensive work and therefore there is a need to link knowledge professionals to over all organizational strategies and focus on their well-being. The different practices in both organizational and knowledge identifies the purpose of such different practices and how it affects the expertise in the professionals. Practices tend to vary based on the human processes in the different sectors. Several studies focused on knowledge transfer and also identified the modes of transfer of knowledge in terms of one to one basis, formal and informal, on the job trainings, apprenticeships etc., in the past. Lastly, work profile, different practices and modes of knowledge transfer tends to have a bearing on well-being. There are several univariate and bivariate research studies conducted on knowledge and knowledge management practices existing within the organization. Knowledge professionals are the most valuable resource of the organization as they contribute to maximum growth of their organization. Hence there is a need to understand their well-being. But previous research has not focused on this dimension of knowledge professionals. Earlier studies have not focused in detail about the knowledge intensiveness in knowledge professionals work profile, nor its impact on their well-being. Therefore we found a need to focus our study on understanding the knowledge professionals work profile and their well-being. Though there are various studies on knowledge transfer but there is a paucity of studies in the area of knowledge professionals, and its impact on the valued behavior of the organization. We further felt the need to study the relationship existing between well-being of knowledge professionals and knowledge transfer modes. Based on this we framed our objectives of the study as follows: To develop a framework for relating knowledge work, organizational & knowledge practices, and the role of modes of knowledge transfer on valued behavior and well-being. To understand the effect of different knowledge intensive work on valued behavior and well-being. To suggest appropriate managerial initiatives to sustain knowledge work and well-being of knowledge professionals. In order to achieve the above mentioned objectives, conceptual framework was formalized. Thorough literature review helped in identifying gaps in the research. Discussions with practitioners in the field were useful in selecting the variables for the study. The different variables studied were work profile of knowledge professionals, organizational and knowledge practices. Knowledge transfer modes to determine the influence of transfer process on well-being and valued behavior. We attempted to understand the effect of different practices and transfer modes on valued behavior and well-being of knowledge professionals. To achieve the objectives, survey methodology was executed for the main study. Questionnaire developed was a 5 point Likert scale where professionals had to rate with options choosing from strongly disagree, disagree, neither agree nor disagree, agree and strongly agree. This was combined with in-depth interview on a one to one basis, between researcher and professionals without any external disturbance in a secure silent place. The main sample consisting of 439 professionals from five organizations, out of which 2 of them are Government sectors and remaining 3 are private sectors. Sample comprised of knowledge professionals working in IT and R & D sector with a minimum of 2 years of experience and working in the same or similar kind of projects, both male and female professionals with varied qualifications, and age ranging from 19 to 61 years. To validate our objectives of the study different statistical analysis was computed. We first confirmed the reliability of the designed questionnaire by computing cronbach alpha. Factor analysis helped us identify the groupings of the variables. To understand the effect of demographic variables such as age, gender, educational qualification, work experience, type of organization on the work profile on the knowledge professionals, obtained sample was studied on each of these variables by computing ‘t’tests. The differences in the demographical variables was analyzed and reported. This was further analyzed to understand the effect of independent factors on output factors and the effect of mediating factors on output by computing multiple regression. Regression was first done without mediating factors by regressing independent factors on output and later by adding mediating factors to verify the mediating effect of the different factors. The obtained regression value results are analyzed for firstly validating if the model can be accepted by verifying the significance of F value, next by checking the goodness of fit of the model by looking at the R square value and finally we verified the items which had an impact on the output factors by looking at their Beta coefficient value. Significant beta coefficient values were accepted and discussed further. We further diagrammatically depicted the connections of the independent factors on the output factors from the obtained findings. The findings of this chapter show that mediating factors have improved the R square value showing that mediating factors increases the explanatory power. It can be observed that all the hypotheses are proved. To further understand the different knowledge intensive work of knowledge professionals, input factors, mediating factors and output factors were regressed for each group separately and presented in next chapter. Knowledge professionals were grouped based on the knowledge intensive jobs being performed by them. It was observed that 5 unique groups were being formed and we aimed at systematically understanding the differences in the groups. Discussion was done group wise. All the groups were analyzed and understood based on their age, educational qualification, work experience, gender, type of job etc. Further multiple regression was computed on each of the group separately. Here again multiple regression was done without mediating variable in the first step and in the next step to verify the effect of mediating factors they were included in the analysis. Regression model was checked for significance level through F value, goodness of fit was verified by obtained R square and later significant beta values were analyzed and diagrammatically represented. From the findings it can be observed that each group is exclusive and tends to have significant differences between the groups based on the knowledge intensive jobs being performed by them. The findings can be summarized as there are differences between the groups with regard to the extent to which the different input, mediating factors affect the output factors. There exist differences in the way the factors influence each group, indicating the uniqueness of each group. It can be concluded that this study provides a profound understanding about the different groups of knowledge professionals based on the knowledge intensive job being performed by them. This finding can be used by other organizations while recruiting, training, and charting out clear career growth for professionals, and for job analysis. This study has attempted to understand well-being of knowledge professionals and how it tends to affect and vary based on the different knowledge professional groups. This framework of studying knowledge professionals and their well-being is a unique contribution to the existing literature and for organizational as well as managerial practices. An attempt has been made to understand the different knowledge transfer practices and its impact as value add for the organization. This research has contributed theoretically and it is methodologically unique by adapting a multi construct model, the different practices being studied will help in framing effective knowledge management practices in organizations.

Professional identity is a social identity that is informed by the experience of being a member of a professional group and undertaking work activities within a specific professional jurisdiction. Despite a dominant ideology of professionalism within university based nursing degrees, in practice, professional identity among nurses is often marked by ambiguity and a lack of clarity. Some writers have described a disconnection between the ideology of professionalism that informs nursing’s professional identity, and the experience of nursing practice. This thesis uses a social constructionist approach and ethnographic methods to explore professional identity among Critical Care Nurses (CCNs). The research aimed to build an in-depth understanding of the ways that CCNs, as specialty nurses, construct their professional identity in the context of their practice. The research was conducted in a single Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in Tasmania, Australia over a six-month period. The data was collected from participant observation of 13 CCNs as they went about their work and semi-structured interviews with 8 CCNs. The fieldnotes and interview transcripts were analysed using a process of thematic analysis. The analysis found that CCNs actively construct their professional identity through subjective meaning making and multidimensional processes of similarity and difference (boundary work) within and across dynamic professional boundaries. CCNs were found to attach meanings to particular actions, symbols, rituals and utilisation of artefacts to construct their professional identity. These were then used to negotiate boundaries of difference between themselves and other nurses as well as other health professions. The analysis also revealed that CCNs’ experiences of professional identity are complex and contingent due to the influence of structural and organisational forces that shape and constrain their meaning making during everyday work interactions. These findings provide new theoretical and empirical knowledge about the ambiguity of professional identity and its contextual construction at inter- and intra-professional levels. They also show that for CCNs, professional identity is actively constructed through interactions and practice. This contributes to a more insightful understanding of the subjectivity of CCNs’ professional identities within the context of ICUs, and thus, not only offers the basis for comparative studies of professional identity between nursing specialties, but also between nursing and other health care professions/occupations. The thesis findings also suggest that there is incongruence between nursing’s ideology of professionalism and the structure of employing organisations that do not always acknowledge or support postgraduate nursing qualifications or the development of advanced nursing practice roles. A strong sense of professional identity appears to increase worker satisfaction and contributes to the capacity of professional groups to achieve improved working conditions. As such, barriers to the development of professional identity among CCNs have implications for the lived experiences and may help explain high levels of worker turnover in this nursing speciality.

Many researchers (e.g., Nation, 2001, 2015; Schmitt, 2000) have recognized the importance of vocabulary learning in second language (L2) or additional language (AL) acquisition. The strong effects of lexical and background knowledge on L2reading comprehension have similarly been found in various studies (e.g., Hu & Nation, 2000; Rokni & Hajilari, 2013). In the case of Japanese language, the opportunities for acquiring the lexical and background knowledge associated with Japanese history and culture, especially traditional culture, are scant, because only a small number of Japanese pedagogical materials deal minimally with these topics. Meanwhile, many learners are motivated to study Japanese because of their interest in Japanese history and culture, according to a survey conducted by the Japan Foundation in 2012. This project aimed to increase the opportunities for learning Japanese history and traditional culture through the development of new pedagogical materials based on kabuki, and then the empirical evaluation of the developed pedagogical materials. Nine Chinese-as-a-first-language Japanese learners at the upper-intermediate level participated in the nine-week online course, including the pre- and post-course tests in the first and last weeks. Employing a multi-method research approach, the study examined the changes in learners’ lexical and background knowledge related to Japanese history and culture, their reading comprehension, and their interest in kabuki. Four kinds of multiple-choice tests were administered to collect the quantitative data. In addition, the qualitative data were gathered through the pre- and post-course questionnaires and post-course individual interviews. Overall, the findings indicated that almost all participants increased their background knowledge of kabuki, as well as their vocabulary related to kabuki and general theatrical performances. The results in other areas, such as historical vocabulary, vocabulary depth, reading comprehension, and historical background knowledge were mixed. Further, concerning the depth of vocabulary knowledge, it was found that the learning of vocabulary depth was more difficult than learning of vocabulary breadth. Likewise, the knowledge of use, such as collocations and register constraints, was found to be more difficult to learn than other aspects of vocabulary depth. The participants’ reports in the post-course questionnaire and individual interviews showed that most participants seemed to have increased their interest in kabuki. Overall, the first-of-their-kind developed pedagogical materials contributed to the development of lexical and background knowledge, specifically knowledge associated with Japanese traditional culture and history. This study may provide a model for an evidence-based approach to the development of pedagogical materials that practitioners can adopt or adapt.
Graduate