Samfundslitteratur – förlag

The cocktail of small firms and high technology creates a high level of uncertainty, which is one of the most dominant characteristics of high technology development and the conditions for management. 'Strategic Networking in Small High Tech Firms' is concerned with strategic management of knowledge in small firms and in networks of high tech firms. The focus is on innovation and advanced high technology, leading to problems of handling uncertainty at the boundaries of knowledge. Small firms have to depend on alliances and networks as to create resources for innovative projects. Strategic networking is based on an understanding of the mechanisms of network for organising, and a new perspective on management. Knowledge management is described as a social construction of management or as management of what we do not know. Small firms play an important role in Denmark, primarily due to the relatively few large firms in the country. Instead of focusing on the weaknesses of being small, the study has focused on how small firms develop platforms for management beyond the firm. Small firms form an interesting base for understanding the process of building networking strategies for innovation management under high levels of uncertainty, as they have to build power bases and create management as a social construction in a space between firms. The focus is on how small firm managers create a platform for manoeuvring and adapting to the conditions of the environment through various forms of collaboration and strategic use of networks.

This volume explores the role of the Internet in the creation and reconfiguration of political authority, community and identity in a globalising world. A string of case studies demonstrates how the Internet and connectivity facilitate the creation of political authorities 'within' and 'beyond' the nation state, and how it lies at the core of the formation of automated forms of power and the emergence of a plethora of communities with global reach and outlook, affecting identity formation processes and social dynamics. These developments have important repercussions for politics and democracy. Politics in the Information Age becomes a 'politics of presence' and a 'politics of becoming', as expressed through multiple practices, connections and organisational forms, as well as the complex formation of political identities. In such a set-up, democracy comes to depend more on ethics and less on procedures. This volume lays the foundation for further work on politics and democracy in the Information Age.

In less than ten years, the world wide web has become part of everyday life. During the 1990s, it was often perceived as a possible source of dramatic social change for business, politics, and the arts. Now, it is increasingly clear that the web has itself been shaped by the existing institutions of society -- businesses, parliaments, schools, families -- even while challenging some of their structures and premises. This volume takes stock of the web, a decade after its popular breakthrough. The articles examine websites as interfaces to contemporary culture and as resources for political participation. Following accounts of the history of computers and the web, the volume presents concrete analyses of how politicians, corporations, activists, cultural institutions, and media weave the web for the general public.

The public sphere is normally considered to be a forum for democratic deliberation. It can serve many other uses, however, such as an arena for strategic communication, a space for identity formation or a 'showcase' for celebrities. By bringing together researchers from political science, public administration, sociology and media studies, this book presents a comprehensive perspective on the transformation of the public sphere in the emerging network society. The book presents a series of theoretical and empirical contributions concerning current changes in political communication, participation, identity and the role of the media and journalists. Within a common framework of analysis, the individual chapters in the book cover a wide range of issues concerning the way political institutions, citizens, NGOs, firms and not least the media and journalists engage the public sphere, such as post-ideological politics, governance by performance and evaluation, transnationalisation, branding, Internet use and journalistic praxis. Although the book clearly suggests that the public sphere is an increasingly important medium of politically active and informed agents, it also insists that it proceeds far beyond the democratic publics of parliament and citizens in civil society.

Our current society has been called a 'network society'. But what lies behind this name? Has society changed, or has our observation of society? There can hardly be any doubt that the conditions for describing the world have changed. Since the turn of the 20th century, at least, we have known that there is no point for observing the world that lies outside the world. This book reflects the consequences of these conditions for observing society. What significance does the 'loss' of metaphysical guarantees have for the description and understanding of the society in which we live and for the epistemological tools at our disposal? The book is a sociological, philosophical and aesthetical study of what 'lies behind' the idea of calling present-day society a 'network society'.

Present-day society is often referred to as a knowledge society. But how can knowledge be defined and what role does it play, along with the related or connected concepts of learning and media/ICT? In what sense does learning lead to knowledge, what forms of learning are adequate in the so-called knowledge society, and how are appropriate forms of learning underpinned? How should media be conceptualised, and what is the role of the media, not least digital media, i.e. ICT, in society? These are the basic questions to which this book is devoted.

Sometimes, basic questions must be raised, and this is what this book does: What do we understand by a "medium"? How do we observe "communication"? What does it mean to say that communication is mediated? How should we interpret the idea of immediacy? The background for raising these questions is this important book which was published by Jay Bolter and Richard Grusin in 1999. Although it was published only a few years ago, revisions -- or, at least, reconsiderations -- already seem to be needed. The chapters represent a wide spectrum of different cases and media -- from television to computer, film and mobile phone. The main effort of the book is to put concepts like hypermediacy, immediacy, remediation, communication and the desire for the real into debate and practice. In nine articles, the last one written by Bolter himself, the writers are discussing and reconsidering these fundamental concepts.

User-driven product development is the art of interacting with users in all stages of the innovation process. The quest for user-driven product development creates a collaborative mindset of user-involvement in new product projects. Users are to be regarded as valuable, knowledgeable and innovative resources to product development. The book starts with the design elements of a user-involving product development culture. Based on this, managers and students are invited to study the complexity and challenges of performing user-driven product development in organisations. The significant mechanisms of user-driven product development are described and discussed in detail and through generous use of examples and cases. The main themes of the book are: The framework of user-driven product development; Information competencies demanded by user-driven product development; How to collaborate with users about new product projects; The user-interacting potential of information and web technologies.

The Copenhagen Studies in Language Series carries studies in both language for general purposes and language for special purposes (LSP). Its scope covers grammar, semantics, pragmatics, spoken language, text linguistics and translation, from a theoretical as well an applied perspective. It is the editors' policy to bring out thematic volumes. While based at the Copenhagen Business School, the series is open to contributions from linguists in all parts of the world. The present volume contains a collection of papers on spoken language: how to represent it, analyse it, and explain it, without resorting to preconceived notions from text-based linguistics. The papers were presented at an explorative symposium held in Mullsjö, Sweden in August 2009.

Problem and project-based learning (PBL) is a key pedagogical approach to teaching since it helps students become effective real-life problem solvers in organisations. Problem-based learning emphasises co-operative learning. Students actively participate in their learning process as they choose theories, models, and methods that they consider to be necessary to solve the "real-world" problem that they have agreed to address (under the guidance of competent and experienced supervisors).At Aalborg University we have observed that students who have backgrounds in traditional forms of university education find this problem-based pedagogy highly challenging. It is in this context that we see the contribution of John Kuada's book: Research Methodology: A Project Guide to University Students. The book provides a "hand-holding" guide to students that do not have any, or only very little, previous experience with problem-based learning. A major strength of the book is the simplicity and straightforwardness of the language used. This approach is quite inviting and provides students a friendly introduction to relatively complex ideas and methods. The book speaks to students directly and therefore encourages their engagement in the process of learning about how they can justify the various choices they make in their project work process. The book draws on Professor John Kuada's many years as lecturer and supervisor for students in the department of economics and business administration, and I believe that the book will serve as a useful reading for any students who are looking for a step-by-step pathway for their project work.

This book offers: a quick overview of how to write an academic research paper; ways to organise the process of writing an academic research paper; an overview of the most common problems encountered when writing academic research papers; practical guidelines that can be used throughout the writing process and during the examination; an understanding of some of the different research methodologies; advice on how to obtain good grades on examinations. The book is supported by the website: www.researchpaper.samfundslitteratur.dk. Here, you can find a range of potential research topics appropriate for short and long research papers. You can also find several examples illustrating and further explaining the advice contained in this book, including examples of research questions, analyses, theories, introductions, methodology chapters, and more.

This special issue of Copenhagen Studies in Language series is devoted to human and machine translation and human-computer interaction in translation, which were the two main foci of the 8th International Workshop on Natural Language Processing and Cognitive Science (NLPCS 2011), held at Copenhagen Business School, Denmark, in August 2011. The volume includes the 19 papers which were selected for presentation at the workshop and the text of invite keynote lectures. The workshop provided an attractive interdisciplinary forum for fostering interactions among researchers and practitioners in Natural Language Processing (NLP) working within the paradigm of Cognitive Science (CS). The overall emphasis of the annual NLPCS research workshop series is on the contribution of cognitive science to language processing, including human and machine translation, human-machine interface design, conceptualisation, representation, meaning construction, ontology building, and text mining.

The realities of organisational life seem a far departure from what is taught in the classroom, particularly if one has never before worked for an organisation. The examples presented in this book bring to life the challenges of managing and leading organisations and are relevant for students who must learn to analyse, discuss and assess what takes place within organisations, what ought to happen and why certain strategies fail. The book contains 24 case studies from a range of organisations, some anonymous and others known. Among other things the case studies include profiles of leaders or managers, the organisational structure, decision-making and information flow in each organisation. The businesses covered range widely, from anonymous government offices to the arcane peculiarities of university departments and to vast shipping conglomerates.

Good negotiation skills are increasingly relevant and important in all types of positions and professions including sales and marketing, purchasing, project management, HRM activities, supply chain management, service management, and much more. Real Negotiations focuses on must-have competences and knowledge, such as: selecting the right negotiation strategy and what drives that choice; tactics at the negotiation table a hands-on approach to the negotiation process; intercultural and communication issues; the role of personality and cognitive biases; ethics and trust as value drivers; tools for preparing and evaluating negotiations. The book is written with students in mind, but is equally useful for current professionals.

Good negotiation skills are increasingly relevant and important in most positions and professions including management, sales and marketing, purchasing, project management, relationship management, HRM activities, supply chain management, and much more. This book focuses on must-have competences and insights: selecting the right negotiation strategy, choosing tactics for the negotiation a hands-on approach to the process, trust and how to generate trust, dealing with unethical negotiator behaviour, cognitive biases and their impact on decision making, interpersonal and intercultural issues, tools for preparing and evaluating negotiations. Written for Master's students as well as Bachelor's students and it has also long proven itself useful for professional practitioners.

In this book, you get a comprehensive, concise description of 45 of the most important marketing models, what they can be used for and their weaknesses.

This book reflects the advanced and multidisciplinary process of app development. Easy to read and filled with concrete tools, models and tips for practical usage as well as for teaching digital concept development and innovation.

This book is about what leaderhip communication is, what recent research shows, and how, as a manager, you can translate this knowledge into an effective use of your communication resources.

In this book, the authors draw on both their own research and that of others ad their point of departure for describing the role and practice of the trusted communications advisor and combine it with extensive practical experience. Consequently, the book is relevant for professional communications advisors as well as students and teachers engaged in strategic organisational communication, management communication and the role and practice of the comunications advisor.