Intermediary activities and agendas of regional cleantech networks in Sweden

2017. Brita Hermelin, Hans Rämö. Environment and Planning. C, Government and Policy 35 (1), 130-146

Article

A vision of cleantech has been implemented on an international scale with financial assistance, new organizations and programmes. Given the wider contexts of political and commercial promotion, this article investigates management and governance of eight cleantech networks operating in different regions in Sweden. The aim of this article is to explore how an integrated approach based on network theories of economic sociology and a regional development perspective can contribute to the study of network intermediaries. What roles do intermediaries play in triple-helix networks? A suggested answer to this question is a typology of three intermediaries: a brokerage function for business agreements, a facilitation function whereby actors facilitate various processes and co-ordinate arrangements and a legitimizing function involving activities conducted in the political and wider societal realms. The legitimiser role of regional cleantech networks has important feedback effects on the wider discourses of environmental development, of which cleantech is a particular and influential vision.

Styrning i rollen som samhällsutvecklare - en inledande studie inom Trafikverket

2017. Hans Rämö, Eva Wittbom.

Report

I samband med att Trafikverket bildades 2010 angavs i interna styrdokument att verkets identitet skulle betona rollen som samhällsutvecklare. Denna rapport undersöker hur medarbetare och chefer i Trafikverkets fem verksamhetsområden skapar förståelse för uppdraget som samhällsutvecklare. Studien baseras på dokumentanalys, deltagande vid workshops, intervjuer med tio medarbetare runt om i Sverige samt en enkätundersökning som fick 765 svar av chefer och medarbetare inom Trafikverkets fem olika verksamhetsområden.

Införandet av rollen som samhällsutvecklare syftar till att betona att Trafikverkets uppdrag inte kan reduceras till planering, byggande och underhåll av infrastruktur. Uppdraget är direkt kopplat till de transportpolitiska målen som berör transportsystemet i sin helhet vilket utgör en väsentlig del i samhällsutvecklingen. Ett proaktivt arbetssätt tillsammans med andra aktörer framstår då som nödvändigt för att kunna skapa ett tillgängligt, jämställt och säkert transportsystem med god miljökvalitet. Huvudfrågan i detta forskningsprojekt är hur styrningen kan utformas för att ge samhällsutvecklarrollen önskat genomslag.

Resultaten från denna första delstudie visar att begreppet samhällsutvecklare som sådant är otydligt och skapar utrymme för olika tolkningar och missförstånd. Det finns olika vägar att gå för att undvika missförstånd.

En tänkbar huvudriktning är att ge de olika verksamhetsområdena möjlighet att internalisera begreppet samhällsutvecklare genom att koppla Trafikverkets sex befintliga leveranskvaliteter – Punktlighet, Kapacitet, Robusthet, Användbarhet, Säkerhet samt Miljö och hälsa – till rollen som samhällsutvecklare. På så sätt kan begreppet och rollen som samhällsutvecklare fyllas med ett innehåll som både är konkret och meningsfullt för medarbetarna. Ett problem med denna väg är att leveranskvaliteterna har implementerats i Trafikverkets styrning som ett medel för att kunna vara tydligare i rapporteringen gentemot uppdragsgivaren, d.v.s. vertikalt i relation till regeringen. Risken finns att det horisontellt orienterade tjänsteperspektivet kommer i skymundan, d.v.s. att användarna av transportsystemet inte får tillräcklig uppmärksamhet.

En annan huvudinriktning är därför att bejaka att både begreppet och rollen som samhällsutvecklare ger olika tolkningsmöjligheter. På den vägen skulle det vidgade perspektivet av Trafikverkets uppdrag, att bidra till samhällsutveckling som sker genom att inta rollen som samhällsutvecklare, kunna leva utan begränsning. Det skulle ge incitament att tänka nytt, att fortsätta föra dialoger såväl internt som externt utan att ”lägga locket på” när transportsystemets funktion kan anses vara god nog enligt leveranskvaliteterna.

Time and temporality in online corporate pictorials

2015. Hans Rämö. Time & Society

Article

Many different social contexts are embedded in, and mediated by, visual practices, so too in corporate communication. The specific aim of this paper is to use the concept of scopic regimes as a means of understanding pictorial representations of time and temporality in online corporate communication. It is argued in this paper that the temporal reference has changed direction, from pointing backward to forward. What has been a matter of predominantly portraying important corporate achievements to posterity has increasingly become a matter of appearing for impatient online viewers today as responsible for the future. Three illustrative examples of time and temporality in online corporate pictorials are included and discussed, representing movement, moment, and the allegory of time.

Entrepreneurial Imagination

2011. Björn Bjerke, Hans Rämö.

Book

Entrepreneurial Imaginationinnovatively focuses on entrepreneurial and economic action in time, timing, space and place. Schedules and places of production, working times and working places, are no longer fixed due to the effects of the contemporary economy. The authors expertly bring together a focused and themed book that deals wholly with the subjects of time and space in a phenomenological understanding of entrepreneurial ventures and related business action. They discuss theories and thinking of human action, space, place, timing and time in various entrepreneurial and business arenas, including social entrepreneuring, environmental and corporate social responsibility, network forms of entrepreneuring, urban governance and regional development.Taking a phenomenological approach to enable readers to understand entrepreneurship and related economic action clearly will prove to be inspiring for students, academics and practitioners interested in all areas of entrepreneurship and similar issues.

Contents: 1. Entrepreneuring - When and Where?; 2. A Phenomenology of Entrepreneurial Action; 3. Our Entrepreneuring Society; 4. Various Kinds of Social Entrepreneuring, Networking and Social Capital; 5. On the Importance of Social Entrepreneuring to Local Government; 6. Entrepreneuring and Regional Development; 7. Entrepreneurial Action and Environment; 8. Entrepreneuring and ICT-Based Networking; 9. Summary and Conclusions; References ; Index

Visualizing the Phronetic Organization

2011. Hans Rämö. Journal of Business Ethics 104 (3), 371-387

Article

Aspects of phronetic social science and phronetic organization research have been much debated over the recent years. So far, the visual aspects of communicating phronesis have gained little attention. Still organizations try to convey a desirable image of respectability and success, both internally and externally to the public. A channel for such information is corporate reporting, and particularly CSR reporting embrace values like fairness, goodness and sustainability This paper explores how visual portrayals of supposedly wise and discerning values (phronesis) are used to reinforce the verbal features of CSR reporting. The two propositions underlying this study is (1) that phronetic action in organizations is subjected not only to textual documentation but also to visual expressions, and (2) that visual images form some of the major parts of the structures of contemporary corporate reporting (particularly CSR reporting). The paper also discusses how the Aristotelian concept of phronesis can be linked to contemporary concerns about responsibility, and how this is visually represented in CSR reporting. Finally, the paper addresses the symbolic and contextual signification of images in corporate accounts of wisdom and responsibility.

Three Facets of Management Research

2010. Hans Rämö. International Journal of Management Concepts and Philosophy 4 (1), 60-70

Article

Three different areas of management study: modelling, quantitative and qualitative are discussed in conjunction with three Greek philosophical notions of human action, namely: theoria/episteme, poiesis/techne and praxis/phronesis; together with three Kantian forms of scientific knowledge: exact knowledge, experience and experimental knowledge and knowledge in humanities. Balancing the pendulum between abstract, mathematical modelling (theoria/episteme), empirically oriented explanatory applications (poiesis/techne) and reflective understanding of wisdom and judgement (praxis/phronesis) has been conducted over the years with an emphasis on modelling and empirical problem solving; whereas aspects of discerning managerial decision-making and decorum have been more remotely addressed. Pressing management concerns surrounding, e.g., accountability, environment and ethics do however embrace the understanding aspects of praxis and phronesis, rather than more elaborate mathematical sophistication from the field of theoria and episteme.

Time Constraints in New Mobile Communication: Practices among Senior Managers

2008. Hans Rämö, Edenius M. KronoScope 8 (2), 147-157

Article

Based on extensive studies on the new working conditions for senior managers in a leading telecommunication company, and a previously unstudied form of mobile management practice by the use of mobile handheld smartphones (handling calls, data, emails, sms), this paper focuses on unexpected time-saving limitations and other constraints that result from the implementation and internalization of the mobile devices. Aspects of independence that were initially anticipated from the use of mobile smartphones are increasingly offset, not only by the well-known time pressure of swiftly filtering, replying and being online, but also by some less known and unexpected limiting and constraining factors of temporal freedom.

Finding time and place for trust in ICT network organizations

2007. Hans Rämö. 24/7, 235-254

Chapter

Time and Space in New Public Management Reform: A Case Study in Geriatric Care

2006. Hans Rämö, P Skålén. International Journal of Public Sector Management 19 (5), 513-525

Article

Purpose– The implications of new public management (NPM) have been studied from several theoretical perspectives. The present paper sets out to argue that there is a missing dimension to the theoretical debate regarding NPM reform – that of time and space. On the basis of two different notions of time‐space logics, the present paper seeks to develop a framework that contributes to a fuller understanding of NPM reform and organizational change/inertia in general.Design/methodology/approach– The theoretical framework of the paper draws on studies of time and space in organizations, research on public‐sector reform, and neo‐institutional theory. The empirical case study presented here focuses on an attempt to change geriatric care using NPM initiatives.Findings– The paper describes two paradigms of time‐space logics – the paradigm of “speed” (as used in finance and manufacturing) and the paradigm of “closeness” (as used in health care and associated care‐giving practices). The study argues that speed is a feature of almost all NPM programs, but that NPM programs are often directed at practices institutionalized by a time‐space paradigm of closeness. The study utilizes the two time‐space paradigms to understand the effects of NPM in the case reported. The use of time‐space paradigms in studies of public‐sector reform adds to the arsenal of theoretical tools for the analysis of NPM‐reform.Research limitations/implications– Although the methodology of a case study is an appropriate vehicle for introducing the time‐space paradigm to this area of research, the methodology is not well suited to generalizing the findings to other contexts. Future research could elaborate on the present study by applying quantitative approaches to the subject‐matter.Practical implications– The study presents an analysis of an NPM‐reform program in geriatric care – a context in which ideas of “speed” clash with the traditional practice of “closeness”. This potential clash has important practical implications for managers.Originality/value– The paper introduces notions of time and space into research on NPM‐reform. This novel approach to the study of NPM reform might be of value in future research.

Moments of Trust.

2004. Hans Rämö. Journal of Managerial Psychology 19 (8), 760-775

Article

Different forms of trust in the contemporary organizational settings of virtual organizations and time management (e.g., just‐in‐time, lean production, and total quality management) are discussed in conjunction with some Greek philosophical notions of human action, namely theoria/episteme, poiesis/techne, andpraxis/phronesis, together with the two notions of time, chronos/kairos and their spatial counterparts,chora/topos. It is suggested that time management concepts in production line settings are frequently based upon asymmetric power‐relations and rigid time‐control making most forms of organizational trust instrumental and/or weak. Virtual organization settings, on the other hand, are more likely to contain trust that appears to be fragile and temporal, and in demand of communication based on right moments to act judiciously.

Spatio-Temporal Notions and Organized Environmental Issues - An Axiology of Action

2004. Hans Rämö. Organization 11 (6), 849-872

Article

The aim of this paper is to bring together temporal and spatial notions into a different set of axiologic pairs, and to trace examples in which such a set of pairs might be illuminating in accounts of how environmental issues are perceived in various social science disciplines. The paper begins with a division of time into reified clock time(chronos) and timely kairos time, together with a spatial division between abstract space (chora) and concrete place (topos). To better comprehend these originally Greek spatial and temporal notions, some Aristotelian concepts of human action will also be used (i.e. theoria/episteme, poiesis/techne and praxis/phronesis). These extended notions of human action, time and space/place are discussed in conjunction with aesthetics, ethics and environmental issues in the different organizational settings of science, mass media, business management and environmentalism.

Doing Things Right and Doing the Right Things

2002. Hans Rämö. International Journal of Project Management 20 (7), 569-574

Article

This paper discusses the relationship between time and project management in the context of clock-time's rule of doing things right according to deadlines, and doing the right things at the right moment, irrespective of clock-time. It is argued that clock-time (chronos time) is the ruling factor in efficiency and timely moments (kairos time) are crucial in questions of effectiveness. This distinction is accentuated by the importance in managing project organisations to do the right things in that such organisations are less institutionalised than more permanent (going concern) organisations and have to deal with unplanned situations more frequently as compared with permanent organisations.

An Aristotelian Time-Space Manifold

1999. Hans Rämö. Time & Society 8 (2-3), 309-328

Article

The two Greek notions of time, chronos and kairos, and their spatial counterparts,chora and topos, are discussed in conjunction with some Aristotelian notions of human action, namely, theoria/episteme, poiesis/techne, and praxis/phronesis. From this discussion follows a unification of these Greek spatio-temporal notions intochronochora, chronotopos, kairochora, and kairotopos, which correspond to a move from abstract scientific time-space towards a concrete and meaningful time and place. Finally, these time and space notions are discussed in the contemporary organizational settings of time management (e.g. Just-In-Time) and virtual organizations, and their different forms of abstraction are alluded to.

Hans RämöProfessor

About me

Research projects

Publications

Intermediary activities and agendas of regional cleantech networks in Sweden

Styrning i rollen som samhällsutvecklare - en inledande studie inom Trafikverket

Time and temporality in online corporate pictorials

Entrepreneurial Imagination

Visualizing the Phronetic Organization

Three Facets of Management Research

Time Constraints in New Mobile Communication: Practices among Senior Managers

Finding time and place for trust in ICT network organizations

Time and Space in New Public Management Reform: A Case Study in Geriatric Care

Moments of Trust.

Spatio-Temporal Notions and Organized Environmental Issues - An Axiology of Action

Doing Things Right and Doing the Right Things

An Aristotelian Time-Space Manifold