Knowledge Platforms
The process of forming knowledge platforms at the School of Business Economics
- Entreprenörskap och social förändring
Entrepreneurship and Social Change
is characterised by a broad take on entrepreneurship, where innovation and creativity within all sectors of society and organisations are included. Social, economic and ecological sustainability, globally as well as locally, are overall themes.
Contact: tillmar@lnu.se, anna.alexandersson@lnu.se
Administrative support: Helena Mallin helena.mallin@lnu.se
- Global Mind - konkurrenskraft i en föränderlig värld
Global Mind - Business competitiveness in changing landscapes
aims to provide the necessary knowledge and understanding to effectively manage the pressures of globalization, for the benefit of businesses concerned and the wider society.. Focuses on issues related to corporate social responsibility, sustainability and the impact of foreign trade on and investment in for example emerging markets.
Contact: richard.owusu@lnu.se, susanne.sandberg@lnu.se
Administrative support: Terese Nilsson terese.nilsson@lnu.se - Styrning av och i organisationer
through, for example, regulation, external accounting and capital markets, through, for example, various tools for business management and professional standards.
Contact: maria.martenssonhansson@lnu.se, andreas.jansson@lnu.se
Administrative support: Helena Mallin helena.mallin@lnu.se - eXperience
focuses on how experiences are expressed, shaped and made manifest in consumption and production processes, at different levels and from different perspectives, in society. Knowledge themes are digital, sustainable, customer, music festival, tourist and brand experiences.
Contact: per.pettersson@lnu.se
Administrative support: Diana Axelsson Olsson diana.axelsson-olsson@lnu.se
- Leadership and Organizational Renewal
contemporary leadership in context: how, by whom, and by what objects people are lead and organized by in the contemporary society?
Contact: saara.taalas@lnu.se, annika.schilling@lnu.se
Administrative support: Terese Nilsson terese.nilsson@lnu.se
- Sustainable co-creation through interdisciplinary solutions
Produces sustainable interdisciplinary knowledge in order to challenge the expression ”business as usual”. It utilizes the power of diversity between logistics, finance, marketing and statistics and creative co-creation, to contribute to a solution-oriented society and embrace its challenges.
Contact: helena.forslund@lnu.se, thomas.holgersson@lnu.se, asa.devine@lnu.se
Administrative support: Anna Wahlstam anna.wahlstam@lnu.se
- Demographic change and the public sector
Aims to create knowledge regarding ageing, immigration, labor force participation, gender equality, family formation and discrimination. Aims to create knowledge regarding how the public sector, the public transfer system and the tax system affect and is affected by demographic changes.
Contact: mats.hammarstedt@lnu.se
Administrative support: Anna Wahlstam anna.wahlstam@lnu.se
Process timeline from proposal to evaluations
More platforms are under construction. Here's how we continue.
Professor Leif Melin, professor Eskil Wadensjö and pro-dean Faculty of Social Science Daniel Alvunger act as external advisors. The design of the budget for 2019 will highlight the tasks and resources of knowledge platforms.
2018
- September: The Dean compiles the proposals and the two pilot platforms that are already in operation.
- October: The Faculty Board discusses the summary at the faculty board's October meeting.
- October-November: The Dean is conducting meetings with each presenter group.
- December: Dean and external advisors make proposals to the faculty board's December meeting when a first decision is taken. The Faculty Board decided upon the establishment of knowledge platforms at the School of Business and Economics. The decision was taken after a process during the year, with open application, hearings and external review (more information about the process in the annex). The documentation presented to the Board is given in the appendix. The Board members concerned did not participate in decisions on the respective platform.
- Entrepreneurship and Social Change and Global Mind - Competitiveness in a changing world that served as pilots during the past year, was established as knowledge platforms from January 1, 2019. Platforms will be evaluated in the third quarter of 2020.
- Leadership and Organization in Development is set up as a knowledge platform on July 1, 2019, provided that the platform presents a supplement to research focus by May.
- Experience is being established as a knowledge platform from 1 July 2019, provided that the platform by May last presents a research leader and supplementation on research focus.
- SPICED was not established as a knowledge platform. The group was invited to present a more developed and focused proposal during the autumn term of 2019.
- CMAR and Corporate Governance were not established as knowledge platforms, but were invited to explore opportunities for growth, for example through a common knowledge platform, and to present in May 2019.
2019
- January Entrepreneurship and Social Change and Global Mind - Competitiveness in a changing world were established
- May Hearing with each knowledge platform and board decision on establishing knowledge platforms from July 2019 and January 2020.
- July Styrning av och i organisationer (former CMAR and Corporate Governance), Sustainable co-creation through interdisciplinary solutions (former SPICED), Leadership and Organizational Renewal (former Leadership and Organisation in Development) and eXperience are established.
2020
- Demographic Change and the Public Sector is established as a knowledge platform from January 1, 2020. The knowledge platform will be assessed by external evaluators in the third quarter of 2022.
- The first quarter Sustainable co-creation through interdisciplinary solutions presents named and research focus to the faculty board.
- The third quarter Entrepreneurship and Social Change and Global Mind - Competitiveness in a changing world are evaluated
2022
- The first quarter Leadership and Organizational Renewal, eXperience, Styrning av and i organisationer are evaluated
- The third quarter Demographic Change and the Public Sector are evaluated.
Law in the global society was not established as a knowledge platform. The group should work to become a knowledge-based environment at Linnaeus University, where the School of Business and Economics offers itself a residence.
Why Knowledge Plattforms?
The School of Business and Economics has decided to start creating knowledge platforms.
It involves gathering skills and resources into sustainable, dynamic environments to further develop education, research and collaboration within a common area of expertise and interest. It is also about that co-creation needs for collegial forms of cooperation for both business development and the work environment that has been presented in, among other things, in employee surveys.
Organization
Knowledge platforms do not mean any formal organizational change. The change is made within the organization and with the same delegation. This means that we gather researchers, teachers, program managers and indirectly students in a common environment and joint assignments in our departments.
A knowledge platform is led by a platform leader for research and a platform leader for education that works in teams with colleagues in the platform. Platform Management reports to, and has regular contact with, departments and faculty management. Responsibility for the platform leaders for research and education is defined in particular the Decan decree.
Teachers and researchers are employed at the respective institutions, where the head of the department are in charge of the department, economics, personnel responsibility, recruitment and work environment according to the delegation scheme. The head of department holds the responsibility of the authority.
Each employee will eventually have a day-to-day residence in a knowledge platform and adhere to the platform that best matches their area of expertise and interest. As a staff member on a platform, competence is also expected to develop in accordance with the platform's knowledge area. Knowledge platforms and Departments form an organizational matrix.
Mission
The knowledge platform is responsible for managing:
- quality development of courses and programs together with postgraduate education
- internationalization
- interaction
- development of the subject area and research
- external funding and publications
The knowledge platform is responsible for proposing
- skills supply / employment
- educational
- admission of doctoral students
Background
The further development of School of Business and Economics is important through the application for accreditation by AACSB and various quality evaluations. Examples of such are UKÄ's evaluation of postgraduate studies in economics, Treklövern's evaluation of economics education and external assessors report in Linnaeus University's research strategy work.
Decisions on the introduction of knowledge platforms were taken by Dean 2017-11-29. At the end of January 2018 the two pilot knowledge platforms that have been created so far was presented.
FAQ - frequently asked questions about Knowledge platforms
How does it affect me?
Can an individual be part of more than one platform?
An individual can work with different tasks, as presently in agreement with your head of department. Allocation of funding and division of work will be given to the different platforms.
What happens with ongoing research projects which covers a topic belonging to another platform than the one the researcher chose?
One major gain of working in platforms is to work together, co-create, around themes, topics or subjects. All members of the platform are expected to work for the benefit of the group and the task, meaning that research has to be aligned with the platforms theme, topic or subject. Ongoing projects will be accomplished as planned without any change.
Is it possible to apply for external funding with people from different platforms? How will the external funding be managed in such a case?
Of course, nothing will change from the current system, with a project manager or head applicant, and allocation according to the pre-calculation and planning.
Will there be a process for individuals who wish to switch/join platforms?
All staff will be free to switch/join other platforms as long as their research or educational focus are in line with the focus of the platform. Talk to your head of department about it.
Who will be in charge for competence development and work environment agreement?
No change from current delegation, the head of department will still be responsible for economy, personnel, recruitment and working environment.
What will be the role of the lecturer (“adjunkter”) in the platform?
Lecturers connect education with research and collaboration. Lecturers are the link to continuous quality improvement in our education, dissemination of knowledge and fostering learning. Members of a platform will not be given any roles besides what you agree within the platform team.
What happens if an individual chose to not belong to a platform?
If an individual chose to not take part in a platform he/she will miss the opportunity for collaboration and skills development within a team. Resources will be allocated to platforms, to be used by platform members, so there will be limited resources for those not taking part in a platform.
How does it affect our programmes?
Does a program have to belong to a platform? E.g. program with a broader approach does it have to belong to a specific platform?
All Programs “belong” to the School of Business and Economics. If possible, the responsibility for the continuous development of a program and courses should belong to platform it is thematically connected to.
If yes, who owns the decision to which platform a program should belong?
The decisions related to courses and programs are described in the delegation order and will not be changed. But the ambition is that knowledge platforms shall be involved in the work preceding syllabus changes.
Why were professors asked to build platforms rather than building them around existing programs and the competencies of the people in the program?
In early 2017 two groups led by professors were asked to start the work with building knowledge platforms as pilots with the ambition to stand as good examples to get the process going. In both cases existing programs and research constituted base for the themes.
How does the platforms as such work?
To what extent are interdisciplinary collaborations desirable within platforms and between platforms?
All forms of collaboration, regardless of interdisciplinary form, that promote quality in education and research are desirable.
How do we handle continuous improvement given the rigidity of the system?
Continuous improvement is part of our mission, and a base for higher quality in research and education. No changes in the processes an systems are foreseen due to knowledge platforms
Are there going to be standardized rules for the platforms? If yes, when will they be presented or established?
As for now there are guidelines regarding the platforms, published on staff pages (Medarbetare), and also a decision by the Dean regarding definition of a platform. In pipeline there is statements regarding responsibility and obligation of the platform leaders as well as program coordinator, professors. As for now we do not see a need for (further) standardization.
Where do platforms fit into the “delegationsordningen”?
The knowledge platforms represent a new way of working which acknowledge teamwork that does not need a change in the delegation.
What about the leadership in the platforms?
The responsibility and obligation of the leadership will be described in a dean’s decision later this fall.
Is it prudent for the platform to start hiring from the 1st of January 2019?
New recruitments is an ongoing discussion among heads of department, the dean and for professors also the vice-chancellor. In future the knowledge platforms are invited to give voice in this process.
What resources will be avilable?
There will be a budget connected to each established platform, this will vary depending on the performance of the platform, the number of members, the responsibilities etc. The teamwork at the platforms is expected to result in more external funding to the platform work.
Should the platforms compete when it comes to funding? How are you going to manage the funding in such cases?
The basic principles for dividing the tasks and resources within the academic community and within LNU will prevail. And, as you know, much of research funding is based on performance, passed or potential. The expected change within the Business School is that we through platform promote team performance.
What policy for dividing resources? Is any specific resources as admin, available?
There is now new policy for dividing resources connected to platforms.
How will the power be divided?
The ambition with platforms is to empower all team members in their professional work. For formal power see the delegation order where no changes are planned for now. With the platform construction the function of academic leadership is in focus.
Will there be conflicts with the matrix organization?
The potential conflicts in a matrix way of working are expected to be fruitful and beneficial for the work at the School.
What is the difference between a knowledge platform and a knowledge environment?
The knowledge environments (Kunskapsmiljöer Linné, information in Swedish) that the vice-chancellor is working with particularly emphasize the importance of matching knowledge and skills within the university with societal challenges.