PhD course on Technological Practices and Innovation in Services
Roskilde University, Roskilde Denmark
May 3-5 2001
Purpose
The purpose of this cross-disciplinary course for PhD students is to
discuss recent research on the implications of new technology in
services in relation to innovation. The course will take account of
different ways to understand and conceptualise services, including
economics and sociological perspectives. We are interested in all kinds
of services, but will pay special attention to three areas: manual
services (e.g. cleaning, repairing, catering etc.), social services, and
knowledge intensive services. The course will, among other things,
emphasise different attempts to understand the roles that employees can
undertake in services in the context of technological changes. First and
foremost we want participants to focus on the concept of strategy as a
starting point for understanding how actors cope with technological
change. We think strategy-making and “strategic reflexivity” can be
central categories in understanding how new roles and identities are
shaped in services.
One assumption behind the course will be that services have become more
complex in the sense that they are more differentiated and tied into
multiple networks of mutual obligations. The new interdependencies,
including intersectorial interdependencies, are to some extent enabled
by the new technologies, particularly information and communication
technologies (ICT). By using such new technologies and through other
initiatives as well, services become closely attached to other
complementary services. In many situations, it becomes difficult, at
least for the customer or client, to distinguish one service from
another. Rather, what matters is the overall service process and the
co-ordination among services. One example is the mutual co-ordination of
social services within districts. This implies, on the other hand, that
service activities have to be better “programmed” in relation to each
other. Various kinds of strategic programming becomes more important for
the service organisation, where the organisation seeks to ensure a role
for itself by attempting to define and redefine the “scene” of services
as well as the overall service flow. Given these changes Intellectual
Property Right is still one, but not the only solution to the
appropriability problems of the firm. In addition, firms create new
roles, for example management roles and system-builders, in order to
deal with these matters.
The course will particularly focus on the application of ICT in services
and innovation. Questions such as the following will be examined: What
environment does ICT provide for service development? How is ICT used to
introduce new forms of communication and new “common languages” in
services? How does the single service organisation master this
situation? Broader issues will also be addressed such as the
applicability of “services” approaches to all sectors (since all have
service elements) and how services contribute to other sectors.
Program
The course will be divided into four themes. In each theme there will be
lectures followed by discussions in which the theme of the lecture will
be related to the PhD students’ projects.
Further, the PhD students’ projects will be thoroughly discussed in
separate sessions by the teachers and fellow students. The PhD students
must deliver a paper which describes a central issue from their PhD
thesis.
Thursday 3 May
Theme 1: Innovation processes in services
Is it possible to develop a general theory of service development?
13.00-14.30 Associate professor Faïz Gallouj, University of Lille 1:
Models of
innovation in services
14.30-16.00 Professor Jon Sundbo, Roskilde university: Strategic
reflexivity
as a concept to understand innovation in services
16.00-18.00 Discussion of PhD students’ projects
19.00-20.30 Research director Johan Hauknes, STEP-group Oslo: Services
in innovation – innovation in service. Results from a European project
20.30-22.00 Professor Jan Mattsson, Roskilde university: External actors
and
innovation in service firms: The importance of networks and
drawers
Friday 4 May
Theme 2: ICT in services
How does ICT apply to services? Through what strategies are they applied
and appropriated? What is the role of Intellectual Property Right in the
design of new ICT-based services?
9.00-10.30 Professor Ian Miles, University of Manchester (PREST/CRIC):
ICT and innovation systems in knowledge services
10.30-12.00 Associate professor Faridah Djellal, University of Lille
1: ICT in
manual services
13.00-15.00 Discussion of PhD students’ projects
Theme 3: Competencies in services
What new competencies are required of participants to undertake what new
roles in services? What new “informational service activities” are
introduced? 15.00-16.30 Professor Jacques De Bandt, LARAPSES/IDEFI,
CNRS, France:
Employment and skills in services and a new paradigm in
economic theory
16.30-18.00 Professor Sven Illeris, Roskilde university: Structure of
and mobility in the service labour market
19.30-21.30 Discussion of PhD students’ projects
Saturday 5 May
Theme 4: Changes in social and public services
What new roles are created in social and public services? How are these
services tied together in a new context?
9.00-10.30 Associate professor Birgit Jæger, Roskilde university:
Development of social services and ICT
10.30-12.00 Associate professor Lars Fuglsang, Roskilde university:
Leadership and new roles in social services
13.00-14.30 Associate professors Izaskun Igeregi and Mikel Olazaran,
University of the Basque Country and Katrin Simon, University of
Navarra, Spain: : Innovation and IT in the health care service of the
Basque region
14.30-16.30 Discussion of PhD students’ projects
Place
The course will take place in a hotel in Zealand (the island where
Copenhagen is situated). The exact place will be communicated 1 April.
Participation
The course is open to all PhD students within social sciences (including
business administration) from Denmark and other countries.
Participation is free.
The course is based on active involvement of the PhD students’ projects
and active participation. The PhD student must deliver a paper of 15-20
pages from their project before 15 April. It may be a description of the
project or an article/a chapter. The papers will be commented by the
teachers. The PhD students will also be asked to be opponent on two
other papers.
The participants will receive a compendium with articles and the PhD
papers about 15 April.
The course is part of the activities within the European NECSTS network
(Net of European Centres in Science and Technology Studies), but all PhD
students are invited.
Application
Application including name, affiliation, adress, e-mail adress and
tentative title of the paper
must be sent before 1 April to one of the two members of the
Organization Committe, by post, e-mail or fax.
Organization Committee
Professor Jon Sundbo, Department of social sciences, Roskilde
university, PO Box 260, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark, tel. +45 46742161,
fax +45 46743081, e-mail: [log in to unmask]
and
Associate Professor Lars Fuglsang, Department of social sciences,
Roskilde university, PO Box 260, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark, tel. +45
46742165, fax +45 46743081, e-mail: [log in to unmask]
Web page
The program will be updated at
http://www.ssc.ruc.dk/undervisning/phdseminarer.html
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