OPERATIONALIZING THEORY - Moving from Insight to Action in a SME

Lars-Olof Johansson, Björn Cronquist, Harald Kjellin

2007

Abstract

This paper presents a method for operationalizing theory. The method has its basis in the empirical findings arising from collaboration between the researchers and a research partner, Flower Systems Ltd. The research partner is a software company characterized as a SME. The presented method is exemplified with theories from learning organizations, usability, and visualization – which are all connected to the problem articulated by our partner. The method is an iterative process characterized by a systemic and holistic long-term view that incorporates feedback. The method takes as its point of departure the problematic area described by Flower Systems ltd; the researchers both intervene and interpret in this problematic area, so the method is both described and verified.. The paper combines the case study and action research methods in what is sometimes referred to as a “hybrid” method, the action case method. The view of innovation presented in this paper is that innovation entails supporting change processes in order to create purposeful and focused change.. The underlying research question has been: How usable is our method for operationalizing theory in solving the problem of adapting to changes in an SME?

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Johansson L., Cronquist B. and Kjellin H. (2007). OPERATIONALIZING THEORY - Moving from Insight to Action in a SME . In Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems - Volume 3: ICEIS, ISBN 978-972-8865-90-0, pages 591-598. DOI: 10.5220/0002391405910598

in Bibtex Style

@conference{iceis07,
author={Lars-Olof Johansson and Björn Cronquist and Harald Kjellin},
title={OPERATIONALIZING THEORY - Moving from Insight to Action in a SME},
booktitle={Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems - Volume 3: ICEIS,},
year={2007},
pages={591-598},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0002391405910598},
isbn={978-972-8865-90-0},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF
JO - Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems - Volume 3: ICEIS,
TI - OPERATIONALIZING THEORY - Moving from Insight to Action in a SME
SN - 978-972-8865-90-0
AU - Johansson L.
AU - Cronquist B.
AU - Kjellin H.
PY - 2007
SP - 591
EP - 598
DO - 10.5220/0002391405910598