Creative Futures Conference Proceedings

Transcription

Marjo Mäenpää & Taina Rajanti (eds)
10. -11. October 2007 in Pori, Finland
Marjo Mäenpää, Taina Rajanti (eds.)
Publication of Creative Leadership
University of Art and Design, Pori School of Art and Media
Taideteollisen korkeakoulun julkaisu C 6
 2008 writers, Pori, Finland
Design and layout: Marjo Mäenpää
ISSN: 0786-1915
ISBN: 978-951-558-263-8
www.creativeleadership.fi
Preface
5
Katriina Siivonen Culture is basically creative. What is the relationship between
a culture as a whole, and heterogeneous cultural processes with individual traits,
change, variation and creativity?
1. Creative Leadership and Organizations
9
Marjo Mäenpää, Agile, Fragile, Flow - Management Strategies in Creative Processes
191
Pia Arenius , Tiina Mäkitalo-Keinonen and Sari Liikala, User toolkits for
innovation: Link between the knowledge of the firm and the knowledge of the user
205
Tomi Kallio, Creativity and Organizational Structures – Perspectives from
Mintzbergian Organizational Design
10
4. Leadership and Creativity
Päivi Mikkonen and Heidi Enkovaara, Practical approach: How to enhance
innovation democracy with the means of idea management in an expert organization?
20
Tuuli Penttinen-Lampisuo, Tuottaja omalla alalla, omassa ajassa
35
Johan Sandström, Creative organizing in the global network society:
the case of global trafficking networks
58
Juhani Tenhunen, New project management practices
68
2. Creativity in Futures Thinking, Futures Studies and Foresight
77
180
217
Tomi Kallio, Taina Rajanti, Tarja Toikka, Kirsi-Mari Vihermaa and Hanna Willner,
What do you mean, creative economy? A conceptual mapping from five fields of science
Perttu Salovaara, The beauty and the beast: Relationships between arts,
creativity and leadership
218
231
Anne-Maria Mikkonen, From ‘Manager of meaning’ to ‘Managers of many meanings’:
Social-constructionist approach to creative leadership
245
Eila Lindfors, How to teach innovation? – A case in teacher education
Kuinka opettaa innovaatiota? – Tapaus opettajankoulutuksessa
256
Jukka Hallikas, Mikko Pynnönen, Petri Savolainen, Kimmo Suojapelto:
Scenarios in the ICT Service Business
78
Tarja Toikka, Kompleksisuus luovan johtamisen paradigmana – muotoilun prosessit
mahdollisena komponenttina luovuutta tukevaan johtamiseen Jari Jussila, Anu Suominen, Jussi Kantola and Hannu Vanharanta,
Building Innovation Culture
89
5. Regional and Local Perspectives to Research and Education in the
Creative Industries
280
Pekka Huovinen, Enhancing creative foresight among design business
managers versus international construction markets
Eeva-Liisa Kronqvist, Hannu Soini, ”This will not work out!”
–How to take risks in developing innovations in higher education
102
120
Kirsi-Mari Vihermaa, Anu Ikonen-Kullberg, Does creativity create
measurable firm value?
136
3. Everyday Creativity and User Innovations
145
Veikko Ikonen, Human Driven Design and Innovation of Everyday
146
Taina Rajanti, Everyday Creativity in business
159
Tiina Rautakorpi, Taidon moniääninen reflektio
166
268
Essi Lindberg, Porin visuaalinen keskus -hanke – luovia kohtaamisia ja kipinöitä
281
Ulla Heinonen, Leadership and Virtual Teams Working Globally
299
Emma Susi, Rajoja rikkomassa:
Porin yliopistokeskuksen Luovien alojen ennakointitutkimus
311
6. Verification of Knowledge Creation and Enabling in the Finland Model 321
Junko Tohda, Creating Knowledge and Synthesizing Capability of Applications
322
Preface
Creative Futures Conference at 10th and 11st of October 2007 in the University Consortium of Pori
was an academic and multidisciplinary meeting place where the versatile discussion wandered
around business, leadership and future prospects of the creative industries really critically and
analytically. Special themes of the Creative Futures Conference were challenges of leadership
in the creative field and the creative production process and regional effects of the creative
economy.
The Creative Futures -conference shed a critical view on the prospects for the leadership, creativity
and innovations in the fields of technology, digital media, services and culture. The conference
surveyed creative economy, education and research in the international field and from the point
of view of future studies.
In the conference presentations the same questions were heard several times: what do we mean
when we speak of creativity? What kind of processes do creative leaders lead - or do we mean
creative processes and maybe not so much creative leaders? One evident thing in the conference
was that the innovators, researchers, creators, content providers are considered as creative
resources. Other topics discussed in the conference – from the leadership and creativity in the
business, engineering or software project to the use of semantic models of the language – lead the
participants really deep into the multidisciplinary studies about creativity and leadership.
The papers collected to this publication are – almost every one of them – asking what are the
organs and structures that prevent creativity. Also in many papers ask the question how can one
lead processes where innovations occur?
***
When we speak about the future of media and technology, we speak about ever growing networks
of social media, entertainment and games industry, ubiquitous media and other innovations. We
have to also think about designing high technology services for large audience, learning solutions
and applications that make culture accessible for multi-cultured communities.
University Consortium of Pori is great example of multidisciplinary community. When different
disciplines work, research and study together we will have larger prospects. Culture, technology,
design, sociology and economy all together cover major disciplines about human understanding
and life. The research of creative economy and leadership in Pori is an example of nationally and
internationally innovative research produced by such a community.
Creative economy as a field and term is new and rapidly developing. It is based on a view of a
societal shift from a mass production-based economy towards constant development of new and
individual products and services. Master’s degree program in Creative Business Management
will start at 2009 in the University Consortium in Pori. It provides multidisciplinary expertise in
managing creative processes and business and tools for research of creative economy. The CBM
program is offered in collaboration with Turku School of Economics, Pori Unit and University
of Art and Design, Pori School of Art and Media. The students will build contacts with the local
industry and business, and carry out research, development or design projects in cooperation with
companies from Satakunta region. The Creative Leadership –research project forms the basis of
the MA-program, collecting assets, material and knowledge for its the use.
***
Creative Futures Conference is a continuation of the Call for Creative Futures Conference 2006,
held in October 2006 in Oulu, Finland. The topic then was creativity, innovations and culture.
The conference gathered in all 165 participants.
The Pori Creative Futures Conference had also over 150 registered participants. There were
around 30 presentations in six workshops, which dealt with the themes: Creative Leadership
and Organizations- The Innovative Borderlines between Design and ICT- Everyday Creativity
and User Innovations- Creativity in Futures Thinking, Futures Studies and Foresight- Regional
and Local Perspectives to Research and Education in the Creative Industries. In this conference
proceedings are published 24 papers and one key-note lecture from professor Junko Tohda from
Japan.
The Conference was organized by the Creative Leadership project run by Turku School of
Economics, Pori Unit and University of Art and Design Helsinki, Pori School of Art and Media.
Other institutes involved with the organization of the conference were Tampere University of
Technology, Pori Unit, Advanced Multimedia Center; University of Turku School of Cultural
Production and Landscape Studies; Turku School of Economics, Graduate School in Future
Business Competencies TULIO.
Keynote speakers in the conference were professor Junko Tohda (Hagoromo University of
International Studies, Japan), professor Markku Wilenius (Turku School of Economics, Finland
Futures Research Centre), professor Slavko Milekic (The University of the Arts, USA), professor
Saara Taalas (Media Group, Turku School of Economics) and professor, senior researcher Jussi
Vähämäki (University of Joensuu, Department of Social Policy).
The article of professor Tohda “Knowledge Enabling - Verification of Knowledge Creation
and Enabling in the Finland Model” searches the mechanisms for enabling knowledge creation
and rejuvenating local economy, through knowledge based industry and education. Professor
Tohda strongly believes that innovation in knowledge based culture holds the key to economic
strength.
Ms Tohda is a pioneer among women in the field of designing business strategy in Japan. Her list
of clients includes many large Japanese manufacturing companies, spanning the pharmacological,
cosmetic, steel and other heavy industry, semiconductor, and BIO sectors, and she has presented
sessions at business conferences and published in technical periodicals. At present she serves as
an auditor of a company moving toward IPO and an external board member of an IT company.
We are assured that business will profit from design not just as a way of producing more attractive
goods, but from the methods used in collaborative design that make the everyday context accessible
in product design. And it is the collaborative design, projects, processes that urge the know-how
of creative leadership.
Pori 1st of April 2008
Marjo Mäenpää, Taina Rajanti
***
In business world the management strategies start from the presumption that there is a common
goal, a target, better income, better value and profit. The chain of tasks and value in flow charts
are easily drawn like one clear line from left to right. Stability is a goal. Managers usually want
a secure plan to commit them self. By making this commitment, they give up the ability to take
advantage of fortuitous developments in the business and technology environment. Managing
processes is a human act. Managing creative processes and creative teams is act that deals with
tacit knowledge, serendipity and flow.
In his paper professor Tomi Kallio from the Turku School of economics noted that if there is
something new in the currently mushrooming discourse on creativity, it is the fact that perhaps
only after Richard Florida’s book the topic of creativity has been explicitly connected to
economy, including such business oriented fields like marketing, accounting, and management
and organizations. This is not to say that the above mentioned fields would have ignored creativity
before – it’s just that the topic has only recently turned out to be very popular among the business
school scholars.
Research director Taina Rajanti explores an alternative approach to technology design and
development, especially ICT, proceeding from the perspective of everyday context of knowledge
production and problem solving. More than centering a product design process on the abstract
figure of the user, she explores the idea of driving it by appropriation and reinterpretation of real
people in their everyday practices and knowledge production. Rajanti stresses the need for userinnovation in fields of production where production and consumption/use intermingle.
Several articles of this publication explore the deeper theoretical issues behind everyday creativity
and knowledge production to better understand the dynamics of creative industry. Today
productivity, wealth and the creation of social surpluses take the form of cooperative interactivity
through linguistic, communicative and affective networks. This means that paying attention to
everyday context of creativity is not an ethical or political choice for design, but a necessity for
any business that seeks success.
Creativity and Organizational Structures
– Perspectives from Mintzbergian Organizational Design
1. Creative Leadership and Organizations
Tomi J. Kallio
Professor; PhD
Turku School of Economics
Pori Unit
[email protected]
Abstract
This work in progress paper combines some “old” and “new” topics of management and
organizational studies while searching for new directions for creative management and organizing.
Some key concepts of Minzbergian organizational design as well as some recent ideas and themes
of creative work are explicated in the paper. Two exemplar cases are used to illustrate how
completely different kind of organizational forms can produce amazing results. It is suggested
that not only adhocracies and other potentially “innovative” organizational forms – namely
simple structure and professional bureaucracy – produce creative outcomes. Accordingly, the
work carried out for example in a machine bureaucracy might be creative and produce technical
and social innovations.
Key words: Organizational studies, creativity, organization theory, organizational structures,
management.
10
1. Introduction
If there is anything new in the current discourse on creativity, it is the fact that perhaps only after
Richard Florida’s (2002) book, the topic of creativity has been explicitly connected to business,
including fields like marketing, accounting, and management and organizations. This is not to say
that the above mentioned fields would have ignored creativity before – it’s just that the topic has
only recently turned out to be very popular among business school scholars.
The point of departure of the paper is that creativity as well as management and leadership
styles promoting it is needed not just in organizations populated by highly educated professionals,
but in all kinds of organizations. However, at the same time it is suggested that the roles and ways
of manifestation of creativity vary (and should vary) between organizations. It is this reason why
the classical ideas of Henry Mintzberg (1979), concerning organizational structures and design,
are connected to some of the recently discussed ideas on creativity.
The purpose of this work in progress paper is to combine the classical analysis of
organizational structures with some more recent studies and perspectives in creativity. Accordingly,
the paper combines some “old” and “new” topics of management and organizational studies
in searching for new directions for creative management and organizing. The paper begins
by a short introduction of some key themes and concepts of what is known as Minzbergian
organizational design. Some recent ideas and themes of creativity related studies are explicated
next. After introducing Mintzbergian organizational design and some constituting themes of
creativity, the focus is turned to two real life examples and cases. The paper ends by conclusions
and discussion.
2. Mintzbergian organizational design
Organizational structures have been studied widely ever since the early days of scientific
management. In the field of management and organizational studies themes associated with
organizational structures are usually perceived as essential part of organization theory. In her
textbook on organization theory Hatch (1997) has noted that organization theorists are usually
particularly interested in social and physical structures. It is the former, i.e. the social structures
of organizations, that is in the interest of this paper.
As Hatch (1997, 161) has put it: “In organization theory, social structure refers to relationships
among social elements including people, positions, and the organizational units to which they
belong”. Consequently, topics such as differentiation and integration, hierarchy and bureaucracy,
division of labor, coordination mechanisms, as well as organizational charts and forms are among
key the themes of organization theory. Above-mentioned topics have been studied from various
perspectives over the history of management and organizational studies. One of the most widely
used approaches in understanding organizations’ social structures is known as Mintzbergian
organizational design after well-known Canadian scholar Henry Mintzberg.
What makes Mintzberg’s (1979) approach particularly useful for theoretical organizational
analysis is the way that he defines the topic by describing five parts, five coordination mechanisms
11
and consequently five generic organizational structures. It is obvious that organizational analyses
based on above-mentioned Mintzberg’s generic concepts produce outcomes that can be seen
as ideal types rather than one-to-one reflections of reality. Consequently, as common to all
ideal type approaches, the strength of Mintzbergian organizational design is the accentuation of
organizational forms’ “mental purity” which makes the approach particularly useful for theoretical
purposes (Kallio, et al. 2007; Weber, 1949).
Mintzberg (1979) suggests that the five parts of a generic organization are the strategic
apex (i.e. top management), the middle line (i.e. middle management), the operating core (i.e.
operational processes), the technostructure (i.e. design of systems, processes, etc) and the support
staff (i.e. support outside of operating workflow). The localization of the five parts of the generic
organization is traditionally illustrated as follows (see figure 1).
Figure 1. Organizational Parts (Mintzberg, 1979)
According to Mintzberg (1979) the five basic forms of coordination are i) mutual adjustment, ii)
direct supervision, iii) standardization of work processes, iv) standardization of outputs and v)
standardization of skills.
In mutual adjustment the coordination is carried out between two or more people through
informal communication. This form of coordination is especially common in small, entrepreneurial
organizations and on the other hand in large organizations that carry out particularly complex
tasks that cannot be coordinated otherwise than through mutual adjustment of the specialists
themselves. As an organization grows larger the coordination task turns out to be too complex
to carry out directly between individuals, and the task is usually given to a particular person
who is responsible for direct supervision. Consequently, in a way one brains become responsible
for coordinating the work of several pairs of hands. In sports the person responsible for direct
supervision is often called as playmaker and in firms as immediate superior. (ibid.)
Standardization means that, unlike in the cases of mutual adjustment and direct supervision,
the coordination is in a way carried out “on the drawing board” before the very work even took
12
place. There are three basic variations of standardization. In standardization of work processes the
assembly instructions or firm’s machinery itself makes sure that the work is carried out as planned;
consequently, there is only one way to perform. In standardization of outputs there are certain
specifications that the product or other work output must meet. However, aside the final product
or other output the workers are more or less free to perform as they wish. In standardization
of skills the coordination is literally produced already during the education. Highly educated
professionals such as doctors and lawyers learn during their training how to produce expected
results to potentially complex problems. Consequently, every doctor should be able to diagnose
and cure basic illnesses and send their patients to specialist when special health care is needed.
(ibid.)
After defining the five basic parts and five forms of coordination, Mintzberg (1979) defines
five ideal type organizational forms, namely: simple structure, machine bureaucracy, professional
bureaucracy, divisional form and adhocracy. Three of these forms are usually considered as
“potentially innovative”; namely, simple structure, professional bureaucracy and adhocracy. In
section 4 two exemplar cases are used to illustrate how completely different kind of organizational
forms can produce amazing results. However, first is necessary to take a short tour to the discourse
of creativity.
3. Studies and hypes of creativity
The academic research on creativity can be dated back several decades. It is often stated that
J. P. Guilford’s presidential address to American Psychological Association in 1950 was an
important boost to research on creativity (see e.g. Pope 2005). Guilford’s plea to make creativity
a focal point for psychological inquiry was responded by numerous scholars during the following
decades. Another, more recent, momentum for the creativity discourse has been Richard Florida’s
(2002) book The Rise of the Creative Class. Florida’s book had a major influence for creativity
in becoming one of the most topical themes in societal discourse and media. As a consequence of
creativity turning highly popular, several actors – including scholars, consultants, ministerial and
other governmental bodies, and NGOs – have produced their own reports, studies and pamphlets
concerning creativity (Tapola & Kallio 2007). This has let creativity becoming hype, while the
leviathan discourse surrounding the concept is damaging to the original academic and respectable
research on creativity.
One potentially harmful dimension of creativity hype is that of creative work. One should
recognize that themes of creativity should not be attached and to the work of organizations such
as universities and hospitals just to look quick returns. Consequently, the myriad challenges of
the healthcare sector in Finland, for instance, cannot be solved just by introducing creativity to
under-resourced organizations. Problems attached to financial, human and other resources need
to be solved properly. This is not to say, however, that new kind of innovative solution could not
be found if searched for. On the other hand, one should not forget that it is the potential product of
creativity – innovation – and especially the urge for commercialization of innovations that have
opened up the door for harmful hypes in working life.
13
With a slight simplification it can be stated that the main academic interest in phenomenon
known as creativity has focused either on the features of creative person, on the creative process or
on the products of creative work (Häyrynen 1994). On the other hand, the organizational structure
where creative work takes place has not received particular attention. This is an important defect
given the fact that the organizational structure literally defines how people interact with each
other and how their work is organized and coordinated. Moreover, when analyzing creativity in
organizations it is useful to distinguish creative work from creative working approach. Creative
work can be defined as expert work carried out by (usually) highly educated professionals in
organizations such as universities, research labs, hospitals, advertising agencies, law offices etc.
Creative working approach, on the other hand, underlines creative approach in all kind of work
regardless of the branch of business, and is thus applicable to different kinds of organizations
from universities to factories and cleaning firms. (Tapola & Kallio 2007)
As it comes to creativity and its potential outcome, innovation, another important
distinction should be made; namely, one between technical innovations and social innovations.
Unlike often perceived by mass media and laymen, some of the most important innovations
have nothing to do with technology. Accordingly, social innovations, should they be new kind of
management, organization, working etc. solutions, may have important effects on organizations
and their everyday work. Consequently, unlike technical innovations, which in many cases can
be commercialized rather directly, social innovations might be more or less organization-specific.
On the hand, many social innovations such as democratic decision-making, market economy
and separation of juridical legislation from law enforcement have had tremendous consequences
for humanity. While creative work and creative working approach are not mutually excusive,
as a general rule of thumb one it can be stated that creative work is more oriented in producing
technical innovations whereas creative working approach social innovations.
4. Creativity in organizations; two exemplar cases
In this section two historical – though completely different kind of – exemplar cases of creative
work are shortly present. The focus of the analysis is especially on organizational aspects of the
cases.
4.1 The Pyramids; machine bureaucracy
The Great Pyramid of Giza is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the World that has survived
to modern times, and often stated as the most amazing accomplishment of mankind. For long
scientists and engineers have wondered how it was even possible to build such a colossal building
without modern engineering and machinery. As far it is known, the pyramids were designed by
relatively small amount of engineers who made the actual technical innovation of the outstanding
project; i.e. they designed how to build the pyramids in the technical sense.
Without a doubt the technical innovations demanded to build the Pyramids must have been
groundbreaking as modern engineers are still amazed by the technical superiority of the project.
14
It was, however, the management and organization of thousands of workers – according to the
latest knowledge hired workers instead of slaves – for decades that made the execution of the
technical innovations possible. Undoubtedly this required numerous social innovations; i.e. the
management of blue-collar labor facilitated and made it possible to build the pyramids in social
sense.
Although there are little writings concerning the actual building sites and constructions
of the pyramids – as they were literally tombs of the pharaohs in their journey to afterlife and
consequently carefully protected secrets – it is likely that the very organizational structure of the
project falls into category of machine bureaucracy (see figure 2).
Figure 2. Machine bureaucracy (Mintzberg, 1979)
According to Mintzberg (1979), machine bureaucracy it characterized by highly specialized,
routine operations that are executed under strictly formalized, routine procedures in the operating
core. The operating core of the pyramid-building organization consists of workers (average
Egyptian citizens) working under the direct supervision of their immediate superiors. The role
of the immediate superiors is to make sure that workers keep on going. Accordingly, as the work
with heavy stones – should that be moving them or sculpting them – is not just back-breaking
but also highly dangerous, a standardization mechanism is needed. Therefore the most important
coordination mechanism must be the standardization of work processes; otherwise accidents
would happen and people would die unnecessarily often. Consequently, there is hardly any
creative working approach involved in the everyday work of the operating core. (Wikipedia)
The strategic apex of the organization consists of the pharaoh himself, most likely of his
high priest and perhaps the leading engineer(s) responsible for the construction project. The role
of the strategic apex in the pyramids case is less “strategic” than in most business cases. Rather it
was considered as divine. Even thought the pharaoh was not considered to be a god while he was
15
living, the work carried out was considered as work for gods. The fact that the pyramid-building
project was considered as holy let to the use of average Egyptians as workforce; the slaves were
considered to be not worth of building the pyramids and their role was thus just to unstuck stones.
(Wikipedia)
The role of the middle line was probably very bureaucratic and focused on solving conflicts
and problems and keeping up vertical communication. As in most machine bureaucracies, in the
pyramid-building organization the middle line were most likely highly hierarchical, as in ancient
Egypt the social status, positions and hierarchies were very important.
Due to the fact that a machine bureaucracy depends on the standardization of its operating
work processes, the technostructure is the key part of the organization (Mintzberg, 1979). The
engineers and other specialists within technostructure are responsible for designing the different
tasks and consequently coordinating the work of the operational core. Therefore the technostucture
was also the part of the organization that had to develop, or at least enforce, the technical and
social innovations necessary for pyramid-building. Consequently, in the case of the pyramids,
it was the technostructure that most likely was responsible for making possible the astonishing
project that in the case of the Great Pyramid of Giza is estimated to take 23 years and the work
contribution of at least 10,000 workers. (Wikipedia)
4.2 The Manhattan Project
In 1938 two German scientists, Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann, demonstrated a nuclear fission.
This led to theoretical innovation of nuclear chain reaction that made possible to build a nuclear
bomb – at least in theory. In practice many scientist felt that it was almost impossible to produce
enough the needed isotope of uranium to build a bomb. Consequently, only a few years before
The Manhattan Project was launched, there was no unanimity among scientists whether it was
practically even possibly to build atomic bomb. The British had already started their project
while the US joined only after the Japanese attacked to Pearl Harbor in 1941. Due to the war the
needed resources for this tremendous project was discovered. Under the codename Manhattan
Engineering District US, UK and Canada were secretly to develop nuclear weapons. (Holmström
2005; Wikipedia)
Depending the how one calculates it, the project employed almost 300,000 people, while
the financial costs of the project were approximately 23 billion dollars equivalent to 2007. The
scientific research was lead by physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer. Manhattan Project employed
23 scientists that had already received or who were to receive the Nobel Prize. Astonishingly,
the average age of the scientist at the project was under 30 years. In just a few years, from an
ad hoc basis, new towns and plants had been build to produce the needed nuclear materials.
Consequently, the prophecy of physicist Niels Bohr ”It can never be done unless you turn the
United States into one huge factory” had become reality. (Holmström 2005; Wikipedia)
The scientists of the Manhattan project were able to develop two types of atomic bombs:
uranium bomb, dropped to Hiroshima, and plutonium bomb, dropped to Nagasaki. While the
“social desirability” of the actual outcome of the Manhattan project might and should obviously
16
be questioned, the development of the atomic bomb works as an example of a successful ad
hoc project that employed numerous highly educated professionals and that aimed to a groundbreaking innovation. In organization theory terms The Manhattan Project organization was an
adhocracy (see figure 3).
Figure 3. Adhocracy (Mintzberg, 1979)
The only organizational form in Mintzberg’s (1979) typology able to be truly innovative is the
adhocracy. While the simple structure can be highly innovative, it can be so only in limited
scale, and while professional bureaucracy is populated by highly educated professionals, it
“merely” produces expected results to potentially complex problems. Consequently neither of
these organizational forms is oriented to wide-scale problem-solving. Thus, in problem-solving
adhocracy is by far the structure enabling open-minded and critical thinking, essential for
innovations.
While single experts are able to work alone in professional bureaucracies, in adhocracies
the work contribution of several experts must be brought together. This is the very strength of
the adhocracy form; it is able to bring together highly educated experts from various fields,
and merge them as ad hoc project teams to solve new, often unexpected, problems. (ibid.) This
was also essential for The Manhattan Project since before the actual nuclear weapon was even
possible to build, numerous innovations were needed to solve the technical problems attached to
the project.
Adhocracy is a highly organic structure with little formalized behavior and no standardized
coordination. Even in adhocracy some kind of coordination is necessary, however. The coordination
is often carried out through mutual adjustment within teams and between different teams by
team liaisons. Therefore there are exceptionally many managers (including functional managers,
integrating managers, project managers etc.) in adhocracies. As the managers are also functioning
members of teams, the distinction between line and staff disappears as illustrated by “fat” middle
line in figure 3. (ibid.)
Even though adhocracy is filled with (project) managers, especially challenging for the
17
coordination task is the fact that the team – and thus organizational – structures often constantly
change. Consequently, as new teams are established, “old” ones closed down or suspended, people
move between teams etc. there is hardly neither a stable organizational structure nor established
communication network. This was particularly demanding in The Manhattan Project as it literally
employed tens of thousands of people.
In adhocracies both the techostructure and support staff is usually absorbed into the middle
line. Consequently, the support staff has the key role in the organization. The role of the strategic
apex is to take care of the external relations, to solve conflicts and to take care of the division
of labor. In the case on The Manhattan Project members of the strategic apex were not just the
scientific and military leaders of the project, but as a matter of fact the political leaders of the
three allied nations; those who decided to use the nuclear weapons despite the counterclaims of
several scientists involved. (Holmström 2005; Wikipedia)
As characteristic to ambitious innovative projects, failures are not exceptions in adhocracies.
The Manhattan Project was a success and as well-known, in both good and bad, The Manhattan
Project permanently changed the lives of whole humanity. Unlike in the Pyramids case, it is
also reasonable to expect that in the everyday work of The Manhattan Project creative working
approach was present. This might also be one of the key factors for the success of the project, as
innovations often depend on this type of working approach.
5. Conclusions and discussion
The point of departure of this paper was that creativity as well as management and leadership
styles promoting it is needed not just in organizations populated by highly educated professionals,
but in all kinds of organizations. The purpose of this work in progress paper was to combine the
classical analysis of organizational structures with some more recent studies and perspectives
in creativity. Two exemplar cases were provided and shortly analyzed in order to show how
completely different kind of organizational forms might produce amazing results. While
adhocracies are organizations “designed” for innovations, one might not expect a machine
bureaucracy to produce innovations. Consequently, the basic argument here is thus that creativity
is needed in various kinds of organizations while the role and ways of manifestation of creativity
varies (and should vary) between organizations.
What has often been found problematic in adhocracies is that constant competition between
people makes the organizational atmosphere unpleasant and might even prevent creative working
approach and thus innovations. Professional bureaucracies on the other hand are often rigid and
formal. Because of this, Bayley and Neilsen (1992) have been developing a new organizational
form “bureau-adhocracy”, which tries to combine the best elements of both forms. During the
last few years many scholars have taken similar kinds of theoretical and empirical journeys to
develop new kinds of management doctrines and organizational forms to solve the problem of
innovation in organizations.
18
This paper has introduced the idea of creative working approach as one possible solution
for innovation in all kinds of organizations. It is important to understand how the creative
working approach finds its ways in different kinds of organizations (cf. Tapola & Kallio 2007).
Consequently, in future empirical analysis from different kinds of organizations will be built on
the basis that has been laid here.
References
Bailey, Darlyne – Neilsen, Eric H. (1992) Creating a Bureau-Adhocracy: Integrating Standardized
and Innovative Services in a Professional Work Group. Human Relations, Vol. 45, No. 7,
687–710.
Hatch, Mary Jo (1997) Organization Theory: Moderns, Symbolic and Postmodern Perspectives.
Oxford University Press: Oxford
Holmström, Timo (2005) Atomipommi havahdutti fyysikot: Mikä on tutkijan vastuu? Tiede, Vol.
25, No. 9, 18–25.
Häyrynen, Y-P. (1994). Luovuus yhteisössä ja arjessa: Johdatus jälkiteollisen yhteiskunnan
luovuuskehittelyyn. Helsinki: Valtionhallinnon kehittämiskeskus
Kallio, Tomi J. – Nordberg, Piia – Ahonen, Ari (2007) ’Rationalizing Sustainable Development’
– a Critical Treatise. Sustainable Development, Vol. 15, No. 1, 41-51.
Mintzberg, Henry (1979) The Structuring of Organizations. Prentice-Hall: Englewood Cliffs,
N.J.
Pope, Rob (2005). Creativity: Theory, history and practice. New York: Routledge.
Weber Max (1949) The Methodology of the Social Sciences. Shils EA, Finch HA (eds.). The Free
Press: New York.
Practical Approach:
How to enhance innovation democracy by means
of idea management in an expert organization?
Päivi Mikkonen, Development Manager
Heidi Enkovaara, Research Scientist
VTT, Business Solutions
Abstract: Innovation is changing from closed environments to more open platforms. It is claimed
to be become democratic. The opening democratization of innovation forces organizations to
rethink the practical methods of managing innovation both internally and externally. Researchers
claim that systematic management of innovation is a key success factor for most innovative
companies. The paper describes a case where an idea management tool was developed and
brought into practice in a demanding expert organisation.
The first phase of innovation process, idea generation, has been crucial for companies’ renewal
and success in closed environments. Idea generation should be rich and even chaotic process
and it has typically been carried out in forms of various idea calls and listings. Today, new
technologies offer companies a way to generate and further develop ideas in open virtual spaces
that can be shared globally and by all levels of an organization.
Nevertheless, chaos and numerous ideas and insights set prerequisites for idea evaluation. In
this case the challenge was tackled by introducing two entities: Firstly, the idea gardens, where
the ideas can be planted, further developed, commented and rated by all the users. Secondly,
an evaluation tool, with which the “ripe” ideas can be evaluated by specialists by using an
integrated web survey tool. However, introducing an idea management tool is only a starting
point on organisations’ journey towards successful innovations. The most demanding task is to
link innovation process development and organisation culture.
This paper contributes to the conversation of creation of an innovative organisation by a
practical point of view. The paper concentrates on the fuzzy front-end of the innovation process,
idea generation, and gives insight of how to develop innovation democracy within an expert
organisation.
19
20
Background
As innovating is shifting from closed environments to more open platforms, it forces organizations
to rethink the practical methods of managing innovation both internally and externally. The
best innovators have systematized the generation and testing of new ideas (Hargadon & Sutton
2007, 93). A systematic manner of managing ideas is rarely adopted; moreover, the ideas are
submitted rather an unfocused way (Gamlin et al. 2007, 13). Idea management as such is not
widely academically studied phenomenon. However, the difference between success and failure
can be only one idea, and therefore the subject should be further studied.
and integrative way of innovating. Later this model evolved based on greater use of advanced
electronic technology to make more tightly integrated with the external and internal innovators.
(Ahmed 1998).
Process challenges of a research based innovation
When looking at a simplified innovation process of a typical research based innovation (Figure
1), three obscure phases can be identified.
The problem is interpreted here as a research question “How to manage idea generation in open
platforms”. In this paper we discuss the development and implementation process of a webbased idea management tool as well as the challenges of innovation democracy in an expert
organization. The aim is to summarize some viewpoints on current state of idea management
and to provide some practical implications for managers struggling with similar challenges. At
first, the general theories of idea management and innovation democracy are discussed, which is
followed by a short introduction to the developed innovation management tool, and at the end a
managerial perspective to idea management practice is given.
New innovative practices in organisations
In a survey (Business Week 24.4.2006) 72 % of leaders named innovation as their top three
priorities but a half of them said that they are dissatisfied with the returns of innovation investments.
A weakness to innovate lead businesses to stagnation, however, innovation is a complex process
and it is identified to have a critical importance for organization’s success (Ahmed 1998).
Idea generation has been crucial for companies’ renewal and success in closed environments. It
has typically been carried out in forms of various idea calls and listings or by using a suggestion
box. New technologies offer companies ways to collect, evaluate and further develop ideas in
open virtual spaces that can be shared globally and by all levels of organization. The development
of hardware and software (von Hippel 2005, 121), and also the internet based solutions, make it
possible to create tools for managing innovation systematically but requiring less and less skills
and training (ibid.). Thus, innovation practices are changing.
Figure 1. The obscure phases of research based innovation process
The first phase, Idea Management, is a universal challenge in almost all types of organisations.
Still, there are some features that are vital especially for research and development organisations,
in which the real power lies in combining multidiscipline knowledge in new ways. For example,
at VTT, there are almost 2.000 research scientists with university degree representing different
disciplines. When these people are brought together and challenged for idea generation, the
results can be outstanding. The lack of time and geographically wide spread organisation makes
the utilisation of the multidiscipline knowledge potential demanding.
Ideatio n
According to Rothwell (1992), innovation process itself is evolving all the time, which makes
the theory even more difficult to be translated into practice (Ahmed 1998). The development of
today’s innovation process started with linear sequential processes that were dominant in the
60s. In the 70s and 80s the innovation process was somehow linear and at the same time market
oriented. This led to the coupling of the technological push and the market pull in the mid 80s.
In the early 90s the innovation process was perceived for the first time as a tight process and the
linear model was replaced by a more complex one. This model characterized a more collaborative
21
F o res ig h t
Idea
improvement
Idea
evaluation
Project proposal
Project phase
Commersialization
Figure 2: Research based innovation process in practice
In the Figure 2 the more practical project based innovation process is represented. The idea
management phase (idea generation, idea improvement and idea evaluation) is a vital part of the
22
front-end of the innovation process. If this cannot be organised in an effective, yet creative way,
many opportunities will be lost.
In figure 1, the middle obscure phase, Recognition of Business Potential, is especially tricky
in research and development environment. Some exploratory reasons can be found. First of
all, a researcher is usually intrigued by creating something totally new and easily loses his or
her interest when the research phase is over. Secondly, there is a huge unresolved gap between
research results and a market ready product or service. To crown all this, the researches lack
information of how to identify a research results with business potential and the following steps,
if such an opportunity should appear.
This paper addresses the first two of these obscure phases, and therefore, the last phase, Market
Entry, is left unhandled.
Innovation democracy
Idea generation is everyone’s job and no one’s responsibility. In other words, idea generation in
all organizational levels is vital for companies’ success but it is impossible to hire one person
to be responsible of all idea generation. The perspective of innovation democracy emphasises
that idea generation and development should be possible for everybody. Both the staff and end
users should be able to participate. But, how to make it possible and motivating for everybody to
participate in idea generation?
Before answering the question in detail, the open innovation and innovation democracy
phenomenon are lightened up a bit. The meaning of open innovation is that valuable ideas can
derive from inside as well as outside the organization (Chesbrough 2003, 43). In open innovation,
sourcing, integration and development of product and business system innovations do happen
through win-win external partnerships in attempt to capture maximum commercial value for
R&D investment. In terms of innovation democracy this means that users are increasingly able
to innovate for themselves, moreover, users do not have to do everything on their own but can
benefit from innovation developed and shared by others (von Hippel 2005, 1).
Customers expect to have customized, and even adaptive, products and services. Innovation
democracy is applicable to internal innovation as well. Not long time ago, the technical R&D
department developed products from A to Z by themselves. Today everybody from Rovaniemi to
Barcelona, from salesman to CEO, can contribute to product development since the early stages
of the process. At the moment the companies are often using the intranet for idea-sharing.
whole company instead of only the technical development unit or headquarters claims Turrell,
CEO of Imaginetik (www.baselinemag.com 1.9.2007). In addition Von Hippel (2005, 8) claims
that users and manufacturers tend to create different kinds of innovations. This is due to the
information asymmetries. These asymmetries may lead to radically new ideas. In a diversified
expert organization innovation democracy supports the aims of multi-disciplinary principles and
stimulant co-idea generation.
The difference between success and failure in business can be just one idea. How to manage
ideas in a way that the potential idea is on a whole discovered and then guided to successful
commercialisation?
Idea management tools
Idea management is defined on Imaginetik’s, which is one of the leading companies in idea
management business, webpages as “a discipline that enables the systematic capture, sharing, and
exploiting of ideas across the organization to achieve breakthrough innovation and continuous
improvement”. Idea management provides tools for systematically collect, co-develop, evaluate
and mobilize ideas from different sources, units and different levels in organizations.
The first generation of idea management tools started to develop in 90s while the Internet
breakthrough was taking place. Concentration led in cost reduction in idea collection methods.
Late 90s the second generation of idea management tools already aimed at improving the
idea collection process. The second generation idea management tools have not been proven
successful due to the same old problems as with “suggestion box”. The idea revivers get tired
of bad ideas. Now the third generation attempts to link both brainstorming and creativity to idea
management, which means increasing employee participation by helping them become creative,
while substantially improving the quality of the submitted ideas. (www.innovationtools.com
12.9.2007)
To give practical perspective, a short review on the experiences of idea management at Bayer
(Gamlin, Yourd and Patrick 2007, 13-16) is presented here. They managed to gather more than
3,000 ideas to their database through 36 web-based idea generation events. They listed five key
elements of successful idea management:
• Clear business purpose for gathering ideas
• Understand the window of opportunity
• Mix diverse backgrounds and experience to support the idea generation phase
• Find different ways of looking the challenges
• Develop idea through collaboration
Furthermore, they are creating collaborative knowledge management systems that may reach the
23
24
Idea management at VTT
VTT’s Seedea Idea Management Tool in Practice
At VTT the driving force to start systematizing the ideation process was the renewal of strategy
in 2006. It positions VTT as the best innovation partner for its customers. Nevertheless, external
innovativeness does not exist without internal innovativeness. To enhance this, it was decided
to obtain an innovation management tool suitable for virtual working and mixing competencies.
Seedea Idea Management Tool was developed to help management of innovation process with
extensive idea management.
A general process for idea generation and evaluation at VTT was identified as presented in figure 3.
Seedea Idea Management Tool was developed for and at VTT (Technical Research Centre of
Finland) in co-operation with Gamelion Oy and in the later phase with Korento Oy. The tool
was developed in-house because the commercial tools available at that time did not support the
defined needs well enough. Seedea is an open virtual idea space, rather than a system by which
ideas can be submitted into a state-gate process. The first version was developed and tested in
2006 at VTT in real life use and with real cases. The development of Seedea 2.0 started in late
2006 and the new version was launched in late September 2007. Today, there are more than 1.200
ideas in the database and more than 1/3 of VTT staff (over 1.100 people) has used the tool.
The main features of Seedea were designed to promote innovation democracy in practice. The
most important designing features were defined as follows:
• It should encourage people to generate ideas freely, without unnecessary criticism. In other
words it should be safe environment even for the wildest ideas.
• It should support idea improvement and assembling of multidisciplinary ad hoc teams
• It should be motivational e.g. visually fun and relaxing to use. This is because of two
reasons; this tool is not compulsory for anyone, and creativity benefits from fun and
relaxation.
• It should be time and place-interdependent.
• It should be democratic. In other words, it should give everybody equal opportunity to
join, but not make it compulsory.
• It should enable co-development of ideas among people in variously mixed groups
• It should give lot of information without being too aggressive (e.g. send e-mail of every
occurrence). This was tackled by designing the graphics, so that it formed a story as the
ideas grew and become more mature.
• In addition to ideas, the weak signals and problems should be able to be gathered inthe
same “bank”.
• It should support the whole ideation process from idea generation via idea improvement to
idea evaluation.
• The evaluation should be made as transparent as possible – Desouza et al. (2006) found
that when the evaluation process was transparent and standardized employees felt more
comfortable contributing.
25
Figure 3: Means of using idea management tools
In Seedea, ideas are always submitted under a certain theme, which can be anything from
electronics to saving the rainforests. These themes are called idea gardens (Figure 4). There
are two dimensions to be determined when creating a theme garden. Firstly, the time-scale can
vary from few weeks to several years. This means that each of the idea gardens can function as
a platform for a restricted idea call (e.g. support the project planning phase) or they can serve as
an idea bank for longer time idea storing (e.g. idea bank of a research team). The second variable
dimension is the publicity-scale. In publicity-scale, there are three levels. The most open one is
public. Public gardens are by definition automatically open to whole staff. The second level is
open. The open gardens are gardens, where the invited members are automatically eligible to
participate but all the other interested people can easily join as well (subscribe the membership
for themselves). The most private level is restricted. Restricted gardens are open to the invited
members only.
It is recommended that the audience of gardens should be as wide as possible in order to gain steady
flow of ideas. In online communities there are different kinds of participants. Only a fraction of
members will actively participate in the ideation and the majority can be described as “lurkers”
(e.g. Nonnecke and Preece 2000), that are silent but important members of the community.
26
should be fuelled by the pressure to compete and by the freedom to explore (Desoutza et al. 2007,
8). It is finding balance between playfulness and need.
Every idea garden has the garden owner, “the gardener” who is responsible for taking care of his
or her garden and ideas that grow in them. The gardeners are also responsible of taking the most
promising ideas to specialist evaluation and eventually (if rated high) further to organization’s
processes.
“Most companies are not short on new ideas, but they are short on ways to assess, screen,
prioritize, and execute those new ideas” (Nonaka and Takeuchi 1995). Amabile (2007, 59) adds
that when ideas are not met with open minds, they confront time-consuming layers of evaluations.
Mobilization is passing idea to a different physical or logical location. This stage is vitally
important to the progression of a new idea (Desouza et al. 2007, 9). Reviewing ideas effectively
and efficiently is as important as collecting them. It is highly important to follow a structured
review process which ensures that good ideas are identified fast and decisions are taken promptly
(imaginatik.com 1.9.2007).
Figure 4: Seedea Garden screenshot
One of the basic features of Seedea is the knowledge integration and promoting innovation
democracy. In practice, this means idea submission and improvement procedures that are equally
open to all the members of the garden. New signals and ideas can be submitted by any of the
members of the particular garden. They can be discussed and roughly evaluated (potentiality and
maturity of the idea) by all the members. All the ideas, signals and comments will be submitted
under the names of their contributors. Leonard and Straus (2007, 69) state that innovation takes
place when different ideas, perceptions, and ways of processing and judging information collide.
Also Florida and Goodnight (2007, 28-29) state that creativity is a product of interaction. Other
features that enhance involvement and social bonding are top lists, ratings, comment tool and
“send to a friend” -tool.
The evaluation is carried out by means of an incorporated evaluation tool (Figure 5). Garden
owner defines the right specialists (preferably from 3 to 6 persons) individually according to the
idea in hand. The evaluators should be able to examine the idea from different angles (technology,
business potential, customer needs etc.). The evaluation questions will also be tailored according
to the idea and its maturity level.
When submitting an idea to Seedea, it is to be determined, whether the idea to be submitted
is really an idea or rather a signal. The signals are weak signals, problems, observations, or
occurring trends while the ideas are suggestions of solutions. The separation was seen meaningful
in order to gather even the first remarks on occurring changes.
Figure 5: Seedea Garden screenshot - evaluation phase
One of the basic aims was to develop enjoyable and motivational tool. Therefore, the visual
projection of the first “ground-level” ideas and signals was decided to be illustrated as seeds.
Further developed ideas are illustrated as leaves, ideas sent to the expert evaluation as buds, and
evaluated ideas as flowers (Figure 4). Also Desoutza et al (2007, 8) stated that idea generation
27
In VTT case the idea reviewing and evaluation process varies according to the purpose of the
garden. Figure 6 illustrates the basic procedures to be followed. If the garden is restricted or open,
28
the owner of the garden is responsible to make appropriate actions. In case of public gardens, the
Idea Board reviews the ideas on monthly basis and decides on the actions to be taken. The Idea
Board consists of delegates of VTT’s different organisation units. The aim is to cover as much of
VTT’s expertise as possible.
systematically use old ideas as the raw materials for one new ideas. Storing ideas allows the
teams to come back even years after and find the information of the ideas once submitted.
Public idea generation. One of the drivers in development of the idea management tool was
the openness of idea generation according to the principles of innovation democracy. Extending
participation across functions produces highly innovative solutions (www.imaginetik.com
1.9.2007). Especially in a diversified company openness and transparency is sometimes hard to
achieve. Therefore, at VTT there were opened several public gardens. The ideas in public gardens
are scanned from time to time by the ideaboard, and guided to the right process as described in
Figure 6.
Meeting tool. Firstly, Seedea has been used for meeting preparations. In an ideal case Seedea offers
an opportunity to handle the subject in cooperation already beforehand. The meeting organizer
may stimulate idea or signal generation by leaving the first seeds. Secondly, teams may use the
idea management tool at place in the meeting to collect the new born ideas in one place where
they can be further developed time and place-independently.
Figure 6: Different processes of open and public gardens
Ways of using innovation management tools
By investing in development of innovation management tools organizations are looking for
concrete results. There are several different ways of drawing return on investments from these
tools. The ones in use at VTT are described in the following chapter. The methods of using
innovation management tools have developed during the test period and through explicit work of
program developers, and thus serve rather as examples than tested best practices.
Challenge. Challenge is a proactive way of searching ideas around specific theme in the
organization. The challenge is open for given period of time and requires clear ownership, need
for ideas, and vision of mobilization. Examples of challenges are diverse and vary from search
for a new name to a part of the organization to finding future research themes. Additionally,
the importance of active participation by commenting and reviewing the challenge owner may
impact on the amount and quality of ideas.
Idea bank. As described before idea gardens function also as idea banks. In a highly knowledgeintensive organization the ideas tend to be exceptionally future leaning. Some practitioners claim
that open-ended initiatives with no clear deadlines are likely to fail, as participants’ interest
decreases over time. On contrary, Hargadon and Sutton (2007, 94) claim that the best innovators
29
Motivating users
It is often easier to leave new tools unused. Therefore, motivating usage is crucial for successful
implementation. According to our experience, motivation arises from four dimensions: The idea
management tool itself should be motivating and inspiring to use, rewards of wanted ideas and
behaviour should be given, and internal marketing and communication should be well managed.
In addition to all this, training and support has to be provided to all who need it.
The developed tool helps in collecting, developing and evaluating the ideas in an organization
wide manner. Even partners and customers can take part in idea sharing with help of the tool.
The tool offers web-based virtual spaces were idea generation and sharing can take place under
specified themes. Idea calls or as we call them, challenges take place in these virtual spaces.
The tool itself has been introduced above and is proved to be motivating and fun to use.
Nevertheless, the tool itself is not enough. At VTT a lot effort has been taken to give information
about the availability and the potential of the tool. There have been several stories on the internal
journal as well as on the customer magazine. In addition to this, information of ongoing idea
challenges and the results of them have been spread out through the intranet. The tool has been
presented at different internal and external innovation fairs and events. Even leaflets and stickers
has been printed and dealt to the staff.
30
Rewarding has not played a big role at VTT. It seems that VTT staff is merely motivated when
they feel they can contribute to a meaningful challenge rather than submitting their ideas in order
to gain monetary rewards or goods. Also theory supports the practical notion: Amabile (1997, 3945) stated that especially knowledge-intensive employees are motivated merely by intrinsic, not
extrinsic matters. Still, some rewarding has been executed. The most active people of the month
get coffee mugs with the Seedea logo-print on them. In addition to this, their names are published
at Seedea’s main page. Idea challenges usually give away a special prize for the best idea. Idea
Board can also suggest fees for a distinguished idea submitter.
management must tell the same message in a constant manner in order to be accepted.
Training for using the tool is provided on need to have basis. It is usually necessary when a
new garden owner is launching his or her first own garden. The training is given face-to-face or
remotely via internet and telephone.
Fourthly, it is meaningful to encourage employees to submit ideas, no matter how obscure or
relevant they would turn out. The amount of ideas is more important than the quality of them. In
Seedea visual effects and game like user interface supports the freedom of idea generation.
As in any change process, internal marketing and communication is extremely central according
to Imagenetik’s idea management process. Firstly, the employees must be aware of new system
or method of idea management. Secondly, the information on how to use it must be available.
Thirdly, constant remainders of existent of the system are needed. Successful reference cases can
turn out to be very useful.
Fifthly, in order to capture more direct business value the focus should probably lie on focused
innovation calls. Targeted and bounded idea calls produce better results than open-ended idea
collection systems.
Findings – the means by which VTT has managed to enhance innovation
democracy
This paper dealt with some basic principles of idea management and innovation democracy inside
an expert organization. A developed tool for idea management was also presented. All in all,
idea management is not widely researched phenomenon and it is even hard to find an academic
definition for it. However, as the importance of innovation on company’s financial success gets
more widely understood, the intelligent methods of managing ideas are seen in a new light. Webbased tools have developed since beginning of 90s and operators such as Imaginetik and Jenni
have started to develop the first more controlled methods of idea management.
1/3 of the case organization can be identified as Seedea users but still it takes time before the
innovation process is fully democratic. The biggest challenge lies not in the tool itself but in
adapting the principles of innovation democracy and idea management practices to organisational
culture. Changing something as profound as organisational culture does not happen over night.
However, already on this phase of change process some results can be named.
• The introduction of tool itself is a concrete sign of change.
• The tool serves as internal communication channel.
• Grown cross-disciplinary communication and participation.
• Change is in old practices and in views of idea utilization by which we mean more open
means of innovating and decreased not-invented-here syndrome.
Thirdly, rewarding right behaviour is an ancient truth of guiding people towards the wanted
results. Likewise, it is commonly used method of motivating idea submitting and evaluation. The
rewards seem to work best when they are somehow linked to the mobilization of the winning
idea. Valuable but loose rewards like iPods and watches do not seem to work as expected. From
our experience, the employees in expert organizations are motivated mainly by seeing their ideas
grow and to be mobilized.
Conclusions
Innovation democracy is the buzzword of 2000s in the field of innovation and R&D. It refers
to equal possibilities to influence on product or service development. Internally this means
cooperation between different units like marketing and technical development. In diversified
company like VTT, it refers to cooperation between different fields of expertise.
Firstly, a systematic way of idea generation seems to support innovation democracy. At VTT the
innovation democracy come into flesh in the idea management tool Seedea. It is seen as a sign of
cultural change towards more democratic and open innovation culture.
A good question is whether innovation can in reality be democratic. Through web-based tools the
distance and time difference, even the language barriers can be confronted but the capabilities of
accepting other’s ideas (not-invented-here syndrome), the willingness to use certain democratic
systems, and abilities to participate, varies.
Secondly, the meaning of different ways of internal communication is seen to be vital, and therefore
internal communication must be carefully planned and managed. According to experiences
besides the basic means of internal communication the tool itself leverages a message. The middle
According to our experience, cultural change, as mentioned earlier, takes time. Implementation
and managing the adaptation process can never be overemphasized. Quoting Jack Welch,
the former CEO of GE, it is recommended to communicate and then communicate again. As
31
32
mentioned in the beginning, this is seen especially challenging in expert organizations. Therefore
the idea management process needs an apparent owner and full support from top management.
Besides well managed communication the motivational factors such as intrinsic rewards and
social acceptance are highly important.
In the near future big changes in ways of working will be taking place. The trend of customer
participation in R&D is already a reality. To name a few: remote working will be commonly
adapted and the pace of working is still speeding up. In addition the gaming generation enters
working life and new collaborative ways of idea generation are adapted. From our perspective
playfulness, fun and visual effects have growing impacts in attracting employees to spend time
online submitting, commenting and evaluating ideas. One future vision might even be a whole
virtual world where ideas would be merchandises as well as tangible goods nowadays.
Literature:
Ahmed, Pervaiz (1998): Benchmarking Innovation Best Practice. Benchmarking for Quality
Management and Technology. Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 45-58.
Amabile, Teresa M. (1997): Motivating Creativity in Organizations: On doing what you love and
loving what you do. California Management Review. Vol. 40, No. 1, pp. 39-58.
www.baselinemag.com/article2/0,3959,817939,00.asp
Business Week (2006): The World’s Most Innovative Companies. Vol. 3981, pp. 62. 24.4.2006.
Chesbrough, Henry (2003): Open Innovation. The New Imperative for Creating and Profiting
from Technology. Harvard Business School Press.
Florida, Richard & Goodnight, Jim (2007): Managing for Creativity. Onpoint Harward Business
Review. Spring 2007, pp. 24-34.
Gamlin, Janet & Yourd, Raymond & Patrick, Valerie (2007): Unlock creativity with “active” idea
management. Research Technology Management. Vol. 50, No. 1, pp. 13-16.
Hardagon, Andrew & Sutton, Robert I. (2007): Building Innovation Factory. Onpoint Harward
Business Review. Spring 2007, pp. 93-103.
von Hippel, Eric (2005): Democratizing innovation. MIT Press.
Imaginatik Research White Paper (2001): A New Approach to Idea Management Idea Central.
August. www.imaginetik.com.
Leonard, Dorothy & Straus, Susaan (2007): Putting Your Company’s Whole Brain Work. Onpoint
Harward Business Review. Spring 2007, pp. 66-78.
MIT Sloan Management Review (2007): The five stages of successful innovation. Vol. 48, No.
3, pp. 7-10.
Nonaka, Ikujiro and Takeuchi, Hirotaka (1995): The Knowledge-Creating Company.
Nonnecke, B and Preece, J. (2000). Lurker demographics: Counting the silent. Proceedings of
CHI’2000, pp. 73 – 80. The Hague
33
34
Kirjoittaja valmistelee aiheesta lopputyötä Taideteollisen korkeakoulun Porin taiteen ja median
osastolle.
TUOTTAJA omalla alalla, omassa ajassa
Tuuli Penttinen-Lampisuo
Satakunnan taidetoimikunta
Tutkimuksen pääkysymys on, mitä ammattinimike tuottaja tarkoittaa. Kirjoittaja haluaa koetella
käsitettä muotoillakseen vastauksen, joka on muutakin kuin luettelo tuottajan työtehtävistä tai
hyvistä ominaisuuksista.
Tuottajuutta tarkastellaan kirjoittajan oman työskentelyn näkökulmasta, jolloin
esimerkkituotantona on Itu – videotaiteen tuotantoprojekti vuosina 2004–2007. Itu on ollut
kuvataiteilijoille luotu, riippumaton ja voittoa tavoittelematon tuotanto-organisaatio riittävien
tuotantoedellytysten luomiseksi ja taiteilijoiden resurssien keskittämiseksi teosten taiteellisen
sisällön luomisprosessiin.
Itu – videotaiteen tuotantoprojekti on toteutettu kolmen perusorganisaation yhteistyönä.
Taiteilijajärjestö Muu ry on projektin tuotantoyhtiö ja suomalaista mediataidetta levittävä Avarkki ry sen levitysyhtiö. Tuottajan työnantaja on ollut Satakunnan taidetoimikunta. Projektissa
on tuotettu käsikirjoituspaja, neljän videotaideteosta ja kaksi näyttelyä.
Tutkimuskysymys juontaa havainnosta, että erilaisia tuottajahenkilöitä ja managereita kaivataan
taide- ja kulttuurialoille ilman tuottajuuden analysointia tai määrittelyä. Tutkimusta luovien
alojen tuottajista on vähän. Itu – videotaiteen tuotantoprojekti toteuttaa useiden tuottajia
peräänkuuluttavien julkisten asiakirjojen tavoitteita, joten on perusteltua tarkastella tuottajuutta
nimenomaan tämän pilottina toteutetun projektin kokemusten valossa.
Monialaisen kirjallisuuden tukemana suhteutetaan tuottaja-sanan etymologiaa, yleisen
organisaatiomurroksen piirteitä ja tutkimusta elokuvan ennakkosuunnittelusta projektilähtöiseen
tekstiaineistoon sekä kokemusperäiseen tietoon.
Suomen kielessä tuottaminen on tuomista, latinalaisissa kielissä edestä johtamista ja näkyväksi
tekemistä. Kirjoituksessa keskiöön nousevat muun muassa pohdinnat verkostomaisesta
toiminnasta, säännöistä, ajankäytöstä ja järjestyksen haastavasta harhailusta sekä siitä, miten
tuottajuus niissä toteutuu.
35
Tuottajien asemaa pyritään vahvistamaan lukuisissa maamme julkishallinnon ohjelma- ja
strategiapapereissa. Opetusministeriön (2002, 72) julkaisema Taide on mahdollisuuksia ohjelmaehdotus esittää kokeiluhanketta, jossa ”taiteilijat, manageri/tuottajatoiminta sekä taiteen
välityspalvelut yhdistyvät”. Taide- ja taiteilijapoliittinen ohjelma nostaa taiteen rahoittajat
ja tuottajat keskeiseen asemaan (Opetusministeriö 2004, 16). Kulttuurivienti-hankkeen
raportissa kehotetaan suuntaamaan ”mediataiteilijoiden tuotannollisten taitojen kehittämiseen
ja yhteistyömuotojen kehittämiseen alan tuottajien kanssa” (Opetusministeriö 2004:22, 83).
Audiovisuaalisen alan strategiassa ja toimintaohjelmassa luvataan tukea ”eri tavoin tuottajien
kansainvälistymistä, verkostoitumista ja koulutusta (Opetusministeriö 2005:8, 93). Työhallinnon
julkaisussa 345 (2005, 44) esitetään, että kulttuurielämän ja elinkeinoelämän ”[v]uorovaikutuksen
edistämiseksi tarvitaan yrityskentän ja kulttuurialan toimijoiden väliin sijoittuvaa rahoittajien,
tuottajien ja managerien toiminnan lisäämistä.”
Samanaikaisesti elää myös toinen tapa puhua tuottamisesta. Taiteen keskustoimikunnan
Taiteilija Suomessa -julkaisussa Robert Arpo (2004, 136) kirjoittaa, että ”ajatukset taideteoksen
ainutkertaisuudesta ja taiteilijayksilön asemasta ovat korvautuneet erilaisilla taiteen ja kulttuurin
tuotantomalleilla”. Tuotannollisuus näyttäytyy uhkana taiteen vapaudelle.
Tuottajauhkien maalailu kantaa kaikuja frankfurtin koulukunnan marxilaisesta kulttuuriteollisuuden
kritiikistä. Kuitenkin esimerkiksi Theodor Adorno (2002, 107–108) tiedosti kulttuurin
perusparadoksin: ”[k]ulttuuri kärsii vahinkoa, kun sitä suunnitellaan ja hallinnoidaan; mutta yksin
jätettynä eivät joudu uhanalaiseksi pelkästään kulttuurin vaikutusmahdollisuudet vaan koko sen
olemassaolo”.
Halu koetella käsitettä
Tuottajuus jää sitä perään kuuluttavissa asiakirjoissa lähtökohtaisesti määrittelemättä. Kuitenkin
”[k]äsitteiden, termien ja niiden välisten suhteiden määrittelyn pitäisi olla myös olennainen osa
strategista ajattelua, sillä se auttaa jäsentämään kompleksisia toimintaympäristöjä ja käynnissä
olevia muutoksia sekä ymmärtämään niitä syvällisemmin, suhteellisuudentajuisemmin ja
historiallisemmin” (Leppihalme 2006, 53–55). Vastaavasti kriittisissä näkökannoissa tuotannon
nähdään yksioikoisesti viittaavan ”suunnitelmalliseen valmistamiseen, jossa tuotantoprosessi
voidaan kuvata ja mallintaa siten, että sitä voidaan kontrolloida ja suunnata” (Arpo 2004, 136).
Tavallinen, alan koulutuksessa ja tekijöiden keskuudessa käytetty lähestymistapa tuottajuuteen
on luetella tuottajan työtehtäviä tai ominaisuuksia. Esimerkiksi televisiotuottaja ja toimitusjohtaja
Saku Tuomisen (2007) tiivistyksessä on ”tuottaja = se joka tekee päätöksiä”. Hän tekee päätöksiä
36
tai päättää, kuka päättää. Työssä menestyminen edellyttää ”tuottajageeniä”, joka sisältää
johtajuutta, järjestelmällisyyttä, ongelmanratkaisu- ja paineensietokykyjä sekä suoraselkäisyyttä.
Kaiken muun tarpeellisen tuottaja voi oppia.
Ei minulla ole mitään syytä olla eri mieltä Tuomisen ehkä provosoimaankin tarkoitetuista
määritelmistä, päinvastoin. Ne eivät kuitenkaan riitä minulle. Samaan tapaan esimerkiksi
yrittäjyystutkimuksessa etsittiin pitkään yrittäjän perusominaisuuksia, mutta tutkimussuunnasta
on tuloksettomana luovuttu (Arenius 2007). Olen omassa työssäni kaivanut tuottajuuden analyysiä
käsitteen kautta, saadakseni näkyviin sen erityisyyden, erotukseksi muista samoja ”geenejä”
vaativista ammateista.
Minusta tuottaja
Työskennellessäni tuottajana suomalaista mediataidetta levittävässä Av-arkki ry:ssä löysin itseni
innoittuneesta ryhmästä ideoimassa uudenlaista, videotaiteilijoille suunnattua tuotantoprojektia.
Mukana oli taiteilijajärjestö Muu ry:n sekä Av-arkki ry:n edustajia. Ryhmä oli vakuuttunut, että juuri
minun pitäisi tuottaa projekti ja syventää sen puitteissa omaa tuotannollista erikoisosaamistani.
Elettiin vuotta 2003.
Itu – videotaiteen tuotantoprojekti alkoi vuonna 2004. Samana vuonna työpaikakseni vaihtui
Satakunnan taidetoimikunta. Projekti kulkeutui mukanani Helsingistä Satakuntaan. Kun aloitin
opinnot Taideteollisen korkeakoulun Porin taiteen ja median osastolla (silloiselta nimeltään
Taideteollisen korkeakoulun visuaalisen kulttuurin yksikkö), oli selvää, että käsittelisin
lopputyössäni Itu-projektia.
Olin opiskellut televisio- ja elokuvatuottamista, vaikka suurin kiinnostukseni suuntautui
kuvataiteeseen ja näyttelyiden tuottamiseen. Sitten ”löysin” taide-elokuvan, mediataiteen ja
ennen kaikkea videotaiteen. Kuvan tekemiseen ja kuvataiteeseen olin suuntautunut opiskelemalla
kuvataidelukion jälkeen ensin piirtäjä-artesaaniksi, sitten oppisopimuksella taidevedostajaksi.
Taidevedostajana kuvataiteen kentän toimintatavat alkoivat avautua minulle. Kiinnostuin
organisatorisesta työstä ja olin mukana perustamassa nuorten taiteilijoiden taideyhdistystä ja galleriaa.
Tuottajan ammattinimike sopi minulle. Määritelmä ”luovan ryhmän johtaja” tuntui ylevältä.
Tuottajana saatoin tehdä kaikkea mitä halusin, järjestää näyttelyitä ja taidetapahtumia, tiedottaa,
kuratoida, olla lähellä taiteen syntyprosesseja ja tukea taiteilijoita.
Tätä kirjoitettaessa väikkyvät horisontissa niin projektin, läänintaiteilijapestini kuin myös
maisteriopintojeni päättyminen. On aika päivittää määritelmät ja koota kokemukset.
Itu – videotaiteen tuotantoprojekti
Itu – videotaiteen tuotantoprojekti käynnistyi Muu ry:n ja Av-arkki ry:n toimesta ja AVEK:n
tuella keväällä 2004. Järjestöjen jäsenille suunnattiin avoin haku käsikirjoituspajaan. Haku
peräänkuulutti teosideoita, joita sai hakemuksessa esitellä joko kirjallisesti tai kuvin. Valmiita
käsikirjoituksia ei pyydetty.
Satakunnan taidetoimikunta liittyi projektiin mukaan alkukesällä 2004. Tällöin muodostettiin
projektin ohjausryhmä, johon kuuluivat Muu ry:n toiminnanjohtaja Timo Soppela ja puheenjohtaja
Henriikka Oksman, Satakunnan taidetoimikunnan jäsen, Rauman taidemuseon amanuenssi
Henna Paunu, Av-arkki ry:n toiminnanjohtaja Kirsi Väkiparta ja puheenjohtaja Pirjetta Brander.
Myöhemmin Väkiparran tilalle tuli Av-arkin uutena toiminnanjohtajana Eeva Pirkkala.
Hakemuksia käsikirjoituspajaan tuli 27 kappaletta. Kokosimme juryn, johon kuuluivat AVarkin edustajana puheenjohtaja, kuvataiteilija Pirjetta Brander, Muun edustajana kuvataiteilija ja
tuottaja Pekka Niskanen ja Satakunnan edustajana elokuvaohjaaja Petri Hagner.
Jury valitsi 10 käsikirjoitusideaa, joiden eteenpäin viemiseksi järjestettiin käsikirjoituspaja.
Työpajan tarkoitus oli kehittää kullekin teosidealle tarkoituksenmukainen, videotaideteoksen
erityispiirteet huomioiva käsikirjoitus ja esittelymateriaalikansio, jota voi käyttää teosten
ennakkotuotannossa ja markkinoinnissa. Itu-käsikirjoituspajaan valitut taiteilijat olivat Pasi
Autio, Päivikki Kallio, Tanja Koistila, Jaana Kokko, Marko Lampisuo, Juha Mäki-Jussila, Hanna
Ojamo, Elina Saloranta, Lena Séraphin ja Maarit Suomi-Väänänen.
Käsikirjoituspajassa oli neljä lähiopetusjaksoa. Kolmesti kokoonnuttiin Muu galleriassa
Helsingissä. Yksi pitkä viikonloppu työskenneltiin Porissa ja Satakunnassa, jonne kutsuin
vierailevaksi luennoijaksi Lemmikki Louhimiehen.
Käsikirjoituspajan lopuksi taiteilijat jättivät laatimansa käsikirjoituskansiot uuden juryn
arvioitaviksi. Tällä kertaa juryn muodostivat Rauman taidemuseon amanuenssi ja Satakunnan
taidetoimikunnan jäsen Henna Paunu, Valtion nykytaiteen museo Kiasman erikoissuunnittelija
Perttu Rastas, taiteilija, aiemmin AVEK:in mediataiteen tuotantoneuvojana toiminut Veli Granö,
nykytaiteen kuraattori Paula Toppila sekä Pirjetta Brander. Juryn tehtävä oli valita taiteilijoiden
tuottamista käsikirjoituksista kansioiden perusteella 5-6 teosta, joita ryhdyttäisiin Itu-projektin
puitteissa kehittämään kohti tuotantoa. Jury kuitenkin päätyi neljään käsikirjoitukseen, joita se piti
valmiimpina. Ne olivat Tanja Koistilan käsikirjoitus Ruodot, Marko Lampisuon Poriutuminen,
Elina Salorannan Ei saa häiritä ja Lena Séraphinin Kello ja Kulta.
Kun tässä tekstissä kirjoitan taiteilijoista, viittaan yleensä yllä mainittuihin neljään henkilöön.
Seuraavassa esittelen heidän teostensa synopsikset.
37
38
Tanja Koistila: Ruodot
Lena Séraphin: Kello & Kulta
kuvaus välittämisen vaikeudesta
tarina rikoksesta, joka aiheuttaa rikoksen
Videoteos Ruodot on kuvaus välittämisen ja lähellä olemisen vaikeudesta. Se on tarina nuoren
naisen, tyttären, irtautumisesta ja erilliseksi kasvamisesta suhteessa isäänsä. Ruodot on kuvallinen
matka tyttären muistikuviin, hänen kokemuksiinsa ja tarinan nykyhetkeen. Teoksen tapahtumat
jaksottuvat lomittain toisistaan erottelemattomiin aikatasoihin.
Kello- ja kultaliike ryöstetään ja liikkeenomistaja pahoinpidellään. Ryöstö aiheuttaa toisen ryöstön,
joka puolestaan aiheuttaa uuden ryöstön. Ontuva, tunnevammainen kelloseppä, moraaliton huijari
Erik ja elintasobimbo Alisa kahmivat kukin tavallaan liikkeen kassakaapin ja kullalla katetut
vetolaatikot tyhjiksi. Toistuvat ryöstöt tekevät rikollisesta uhrin ja uhrista rikollisen, joka palaa
rikospaikalle.
Teos käsittelee perheen sisäisiä rooleja, tyttären ja isän suhteen uuden olemisen muodon etsimistä.
Riippuvaisuus toisesta ja itsenäistyminen ovat ristiriidassa. Vastuun kantaminen itsestään ja
läheisistään on vaikeaa. Eläminen turvallisuuden illuusiossa on helpompaa.
Marko Lampisuo: Poriutuminen
kuinka vieraasta kaupungista tulee koti
Poriutuminen on videoteos muuttamisesta, tottumisesta, tuntemisesta ja luopumisesta. Se
muodostuu kahdeksasta episodista. Kuvissa nähdään autioksi rajattu kaupunki, tyhjä huoneisto,
hiljainen merenranta, festivaalialue juhlien jälkeen. On vain avaria ja tasaisia tiloja. Ei mitään tai
ketään tuttua.
Monologeissaan mies kertoo tapetoimisesta, kaupassa käymisestä, polkupyöräretkestä,
auton huoltamisesta ja urheiluseuraan liittymisestä. Tapahtumia yhdistää kokemus uudesta
elinympäristöstä ja muuttuneesta sosiaalisesta verkostosta. Mies sairastaa yksinäisyyden
luulosairautta, mutta huokaisee helpotuksesta saadessaan apua todellisiin kipuihin.
Elina Saloranta: Ei saa häiritä
Tarinan kertoja on nainen, jolla on suhde naimisissa olevan miehen kanssa. Nainen ei ole koskaan
tavannut miehen vaimoa ja lapsia, mutta hän näkee näistä unia. Myös vaimo näkee unia kertojasta.
Paradoksaalisesti vaimo on ilahtunut naisen ilmaantumisesta, sillä se tarjoaa mahdollisuuden
epätyydyttävän avioliiton purkamiseen. Ainoastaan mies vastustaa muutosta. Kertoja odottaa
miehen eroavan vaimostaan, mutta epäilee, ettei näin tapahdu. Teoksen loppupuolella mies pitää
monologin, jonka aikana kolmiodraama saa selityksensä, vaikka ei ratkaisua. Rakkaussuhteen
pääosassa on poissaoleva kolmas osapuoli.
39
Erilaisia tuottajia ja etymologiaa
Tässä kirjoituksessa nousee keskiöön pari Itu – videotaiteen tuotantoprojektin ominaisuutta.
Tarkastelen tuottajuutta etenkin projektin muodon ja toimintatapojen valossa. Huomio on
projektin alkuvuosissa, esimerkiksi näyttelyiden tuottamista en juuri käsittele. Tarkoitukseni on
maisteritutkielmassani laajentaa käsittelyä kattamaan kaikki projektin vaiheet, jotta videotaiteen
tuottamisen erityispiirteet kuvataiteen ja audiovisuaalisen alan rajapinnassa tulisivat paremmin
esiin.
Lähteinäni ovat oma kokemus, projektin esittelymateriaali (2005) sekä muutamat muistiot.
Esittelymateriaalin (2005) työstin ryhmätyönä tehdyn projektisuunnitelman pohjalta työkalukseni
rahoituksen ja yhteistyökumppaneiden hankinnassa. Se sisältää muun muassa kymmenen vastausta
miksi-kysymykseen. Listaus sekä muut esittelymateriaaliin kirjatut teesit antavat käsityksen siitä,
miten käynnistäjäorganisaatioissa nähtiin videotaiteen asema ja tilanne vuosituhannen alussa.
Projektilähtöisen aineistoni keskustelukumppaneiksi olen valinnut muutamia kirjallisia lähteitä.
Kun puhutaan tuottajista luovilla aloilla, tulevat usein ensimmäiseksi mieleen elokuvatuottajat.
Se, miten elokuvatuottajan ammatti ymmärretään, heijastuu käsityksiin muiden taiteenalojen
tuottajista. Tuottaja Riina Hyytiän (2004) väitöskirja koostuu tuottajien, ohjaajien ja käsikirjoittajien
näkemyksistä. Hän kutsuu kolmen ammattilaisen muodostelmaa triangeliksi. Kolmikon valinnalla
hän (emt, 14) haluaa ”kyseenalaistaa auteur-ajattelua, joka tarkoittaa elokuvien tulkitsemista vain
yhden tekijän, lähinnä ohjaajan taiteena”. Ohjaaja ei ole elokuvan ainoa taiteilija. Lähtökohtaisesti
triangelimalli huomioi sekä yksilöiden arvon että yhteistyön.
Tätä Hyytiä (2994) ei suoraan sano, mutta triangelimallin voi nähdä myös osoittavan, ettei tuottaja
ole elokuvan ainoa johtaja. Näin triangeli vastaisi siis niin kutsuttua jaetun johtajuuden mallia
(Karkulehto & Virta 2006, 153–154). Triangelimallissa jaetaan töitä, valtaa, vastuuta, näkemyksiä
ja kokemuksia. Siinä arvostetaan erityisyyttä ja hyväksytään erilaisuus. ”[V]asta tuottajan,
ohjaajan ja käsikirjoittajan yhteinen työskentely mahdollistaa elokuvan ennakkosuunnittelun
onnistumisen.” Heidän yksilölliset ammatilliset taitonsa ja näkemyksensä terävöittävät triangelin
kärjet. (Hyytiä 2004, 15).
40
Televisiota sanotaan tuottajan taiteeksi. Televisioyhtiöissä ja tv-ohjelmia tuottavissa yhtiöissä
tuottajalla on selkeä ylimmän johtajan asema. London City Universityn viestintäpolitiikan
tutkimusyksikön johtaja Jeremy Tunstall on koonnut selvityksen brittiläisestä televisiotuotannosta,
joka sekin on voimakkaasti tuottajavetoista. Ilmiö on vain vahvistunut 1990-luvun tuotantokulttuurin
murroksessa. (Tunstall 1993, 207).
(Esittelymateriaali 2005). Tähän vaikutti mm. Eija-Liisa Ahtilan ja muutaman muun suomalaisen
videotaiteilijan saavuttama kansainvälinen menestys, joka puolestaan lisäsi yleistä kiinnostusta
suomalaiseen videotaiteeseen (kts. esim. Mäkelä & Tarkka 2002, 5). Suomalaista mediataidetta
levittävässä Av-arkissa se näkyi kasvaneena jäsenmääränä, teostarjontana, kysyntänä ja entistä
laajempana levityksenä.
Ajassamme on käynnissä organisaatioiden uudelleenjärjestäytyminen, jota Derrick Chong
kirjassaan Arts Management (2002) osuvasti kuvaa. Arts managementilla ja arts managerilla
tarkoitetaan yleensä julkisten taidelaitosten johtotehtäviä. Oma työnantajani Satakunnan
taidetoimikunta on osa valtion alueellista taidehallintoa. Siksi Chongin huomiot antavat mielestäni
mielenkiintoisen näkökulman omaan työhöni ja tuottajuuteeni julkisen ja kolmannen sektorin
välimaastossa.
Itu – videotaiteen tuotantoprojektista haluttiin luoda kuvataiteilijoille suunnattu, ”riippumaton
ja voittoa tavoittelematon tuotanto-organisaatio riittävien tuotantoedellytysten luomiseksi
ja taiteilijoiden resurssien keskittämiseksi teosten taiteellisen sisällön luomisprosessiin”
(Esittelymateriaali 2005). Toisin sanoen tuotannollista työtä haluttiin ulkoistaa taiteilijalta
tuottajalle. Tällä työnjaolla haluttiin nostaa sekä työskentelyn että syntyvän teoksen laatua.
Olen kaivannut tuottajuuden filosofista pohdintaa sitä löytämättä. Ranskalainen yhteiskuntaja kulttuuriteoreetikko Jean Baudrillard (1987, 80) on kuitenkin analysoinut tuottamisen
käsitettä pohjautuen sanan latinankielen etymologiseen merkitykseen näkyväksi tekeminen
(producere). Yritän tuoda Baudrillardin laajempaan, yhteiskuntateoreettiseen kontekstiin liittyvät
tuottamisen pohdinnat työni tasolle. Käytän myös etymologiaa ja sanakirjoja kaivaakseni esiin
tuottajuuden syvällisempiä tai historiallisempia ulottuvuuksia suhteessa omaan työhöni ja
lähdekirjallisuuteen.
Kuvataiteesta ja videotaiteesta
Kuvataiteessa elää edelleen vahva mielikuva taiteilijan ja taideteoksen autonomiasta. Itse
ajattelen tuottamisen osaksi jokaista taideteosta. Toisin sanoen jokaisella teoksella on taiteilija
ja tuottaja, mutta usein se on yksi ja sama henkilö. Kuvataiteessa taiteilija itse toimii tavallisesti
myös teoksensa tuottajana hankkimalla työtilan ja -tarvikkeet sekä rahoituksen työskentelylleen
ja teoksen esillepanolle. Havaintoni mukaan kuvataiteen kentällä toimittaessa ei tavata käyttää
tuottajan ammattinimikettä, mutta tuotannollisista tehtävistä voi taiteilijan sijaan vastata myös
esimerkiksi näyttelykuraattori tai galleristi.
2000-luvun alkaessa Suomessa työskenteli aiempaa enemmän kuvataiteilijoita, jotka olivat
erikoistuneet video- ja mediataiteeseen. Myös yhä useampi kuvanveistäjä, maalari, taidegraafikko
tai valokuvaaja laajensi ilmaisuaan videotaiteeseen. Tyypillisesti videoteostenkin tuotanto
perustui taiteilijan rooliin teoksen ainoana tekijänä. Tästä seurasi, että moni videoteos toteutui
tavalla, joka oli taiteilijalle taloudellisesti ja työmäärällisesti kestämätön tai lopputulokseltaan
teknisesti vajavainen. (Esittelymateriaali 2005).
Itu – videotaiteen tuotantoprojektin alullepanijoilla oli vankka usko siihen, että Suomessa on
varttunut taiteilijasukupolvi, jolta löytyisi valmiuksia ja rohkeutta suurempiin videotaidetuotantoihin
41
Videotuotantotekniikan digitalisoituminen oli vuosituhannen vaihteen tietämissä saanut aikaan
sen, että videoteoksista voitiin tuottaa eri versioita erilaisille esitys- ja levitysalustoille aiempaa
korkealaatuisempina. Monimediaisuuden nähtiin tarjoavan myös uusia levitysmahdollisuuksia.
Konkreettiseksi tulostavoitteeksi Itu – videotaiteen tuotantoprojektissa määriteltiin, että tuotetaan
maailmaa kiertävä videoteoskokonaisuus, jonka tuotannossa on huomioitu levityskanavat,
markkinointi, taiteellinen laatu ja siihen suhteutettu tuotantomittakaava sekä kokonaisuuden
temaattinen terävyys. (Esittelymateriaali 2005).
Keinoiksi määriteltiin tuotantojen kasvattaminen ja käsikirjoitusten kehittäminen sekä
verkostoituminen ja voimien yhdistäminen (Esittelymateriaali 2005). Keinot korostavat
videotaiteen sukulaisuussuhdetta elokuvaan. Projektissa tavoiteltiin olosuhteita, joissa
kuvataiteilija voi säilyttää kuvataiteilijuutensa ja tehdä silti suurisuuntaisempia videoteoksia.
Tuottajana koin asettuvani ja sitoutuvani varjelemaan taiteilijoiden kuvataiteilijuutta.
Projekti ja perusorganisaatiot
Itu – videotaiteen tuotantoprojektin keskeiset toimijaorganisaatiot ovat taiteilijajärjestö Muu
ry, suomalaisen mediataiteen levityskeskus Av-arkki ry ja Satakunnan taidetoimikunta. Kutsun
niitä perusorganisaatioiksi. Ne eivät olleet mitenkään ilmeiset tai ennalta erityisen läheiset
yhteistyökumppanit. Av-arkin ja Muun syntyhistoria on yhteinen, mutta yhdistykset eriytyivät
jo 1980-luvulla, jonka jälkeen yhteistyössä on ollut katkoja. Tietääkseni Itu – videotaiteen
tuotantoprojekti on ollut vuosi kausiin ensimmäinen, alusta alkaen yhdessä käynnistetty projekti.
Muu ry toimi Itu-projektissa tuotantoyhtiönä. Se on erityisesti kuvataiteen uusia aloja, esimerkiksi
ympäristö-, media-, video-, ääni- ja valotaidetta, performancea sekä taiteiden välistä toimintaa
edustava ja edistävä kuvataidejärjestö. Av-arkki ry toimi Itu-projektissa levitysyhtiönä. Av-arkki
on yli sadan suomalaisen mediataiteilijan yhdistys ja mediataiteen levitysarkisto. Se levittää
videotaidetta kymmenille kansainvälisille festivaaleille, järjestää näyttelyitä ja levittää videotaide-
42
ja mediataidetietoutta ja teoksia kotimaassa.
Työskentelin vuosina 2002–2004 Av-arkki ry:n tuottajana osallistuen alkuideoinnista lähtien
Itu-projektiin. Kuten Chong (2002, 137–138) ennustaa, ”ura” johdonmukaisena työhistorian
kertomuksena saattaa olla katoamassa. Projekteista on tullut työpaikkoja tärkeämpiä. Siirryin
keväällä 2004 julkiselle sektorille aloittaessani taiteen tuottamisen läänintaiteilijana Satakunnan
taidetoimikunnassa. Se on vuonna 1998 perustettu valtion alueellisen taidehallinnon yksikkö,
jonka tehtävänä on ”toimialueellaan edistää taidetta sekä sen harjoittamista ja harrastamista”
(Laki taiteen edistämisen järjestelyistä 14.7.1967/328).
AVEK:in pääsihteeri Juha Samolan kannustamana Itu – videotaiteen tuotantoprojekti seurasi
mukanani työnantajalta toiselle. Kun AV-arkki ry ja Muu ry olivat ajatuksen hyväksyneet, esittelin
projektin Satakunnan taidetoimikunnalle. Ennen työsuunnitelman hyväksyntää tein ensimmäisen
kontaktointikierroksen Satakunnan alueella esitellen projektia keskeisille audiovisuaalisen alan
sekä nykytaiteen toimijoille.
Itu-projektin kolmella perusorganisaatiolla on yhteisiä piirteitä. Kokoaikaisia työntekijöitä
on vain muutama, työsuhteet ovat määräaikaisia (poikkeuksena taidetoimikunnan kaksi
viranhaltijaa). Perustoiminnan rahoitus tulee osin samoista lähteistä opetusministeriöltä ja Taiteen
keskustoimikunnalta. Ylintä päätösvaltaa käyttää taiteen ammattilaisista muodostuva, kausittain
vaihtuva luottamustoimielin. Yhdistyksissä se on hallitus ja taidetoimikunnassa 11-henkinen
jäsenistö.
Kuluneiden reilun kolmen projektivuoden aikana kaikissa perusorganisaatiossa on ollut käynnissä
lähes jatkuva muutosprosessi ja useita perustoiminnan kehittämiseen tähdänneitä projekteja
(vrt. Chong 2002, 137–138). Satakunnan taidetoimikunnassa on koko henkilöstö vaihtunut sen
jälkeen, kun aloitin läänintaiteilijana. Av-arkissa vaihtui toiminnanjohtaja. Organisaatioiden
taloushallinnoissa on ollut henkilöstömuutoksia. Kaikki ovat myös uusineet internetsivustonsa ja
graafisen ilmeensä. Muu ry on muuttanut uusiin toimitiloihin. Yhdistysten luottamustoimielinten
kokoonpano on muuttunut.
Toisaalta, kun muistelen ensimmäistä iltaa, jolloin itse osallistuin Itu – videotaiteen tuotantoprojektin
ideointiin, on projektissa ollut jotain pysyvääkin. Av-arkki ry:n puheenjohtaja Pirjetta Brander
ja Muu ry:n toiminnanjohtaja Timo Soppela ovat olleet Itu – videotaiteen tuotantoprojektin
voimahahmoja kautta vuosien.
Edestä johtaminen
Tuottamista merkitsevässä, latinankielisessä producere-sanassa pro-etuliite tarkoittaa edessä ja
ducere on johtaa (Geitlin 1883/1995, 16, 58). Verkostoon perustuvassa projektissa tuottajan työ
43
vastasi vain osittain mielikuvaa edestä johtamisesta. Mielestäni edestä johtaminen kuulostaa
lähinnä militantilta hierarkkisuudelta.
Olen kolmen perusorganisaation verkostossa päässyt ja joutunutkin toimimaan itsenäisesti ja
epähierarkkisesti. Yhteinen päämäärä on ollut kirjattuna esittelymateriaaliin (2005). Isoissa
kysymyksissä tai mielipiteiden hajautuessa olen tukeutunut ohjausryhmän näkemyksiin.
Ohjausryhmässä ovat olleet edustettuina perusorganisaatioiden päätöksentekijät. Ohjausryhmä
kokoontui harvoin virallisesti, mutta kävi ajoittain tihentyneitä sähköposti- ja puhelinneuvotteluja
kanssani. Onkin helppo samaistua Chongin ajatukseen siitä, että organisaatioiden ääriviivojen
pehmetessä aina ei ole selvää, missä yksi yritys loppuu ja toinen alkaa tai missä menee tuottajan
ja asiakkaan raja (Chong 2002, 138).
Kahteen otteeseen Itu-projektin päätöksenteko ulkoistettiin asiantuntijajuryille. Juryt tekivät sekä
käsikirjoituspajan että tuotantovaiheen taiteilija- ja teosvalinnat. Juryissä oli mukana toimijoiden
edustajia sekä ulkopuolisia, korkeita videotaiteen asiantuntijoita. Se, etten tuottajana itse tehnyt
näitä taiteellisesti merkittävimpiä päätöksiä, oli yhteisen harkinnan tulos. Juryjen käyttämisellä
tavoiteltiin ulkopuolista näkökulmaa. Samalla loimme keskusteluyhteyksiä henkilöihin, joiden
haluttiin olevan tietoisia ja kiinnostuneita Itu-projektista. Samalla saimme heiltä myös arvokasta
palautetta.
Voimakasta edestä johtamista tein mielestäni rahoitus-, budjetointi- ja sopimuskysymyksissä sekä
käsikirjoituspajan ja ensimmäisen näyttelyn toteutuksessa. Edestä johtaminen tarkoitti asioiden
pitkälle vietyjä ennakkovalmisteluja ennen niiden käyttöönottoa tai yhteistä ruotimista. Tällaista
edestä johtamista tein tuottajana niin projektin sisällä kuin suhteessa ulkopuolisiin tahoihin.
Hyytiän sanoin sitä voisi kutsua version tekemisellä vaikuttamiseksi. Oman version tekeminen
on vallan käyttöä. (Hyytiä 2004, 180–181).
Vastaan tuleminen
”Vallan ottaminen on samalla vastuun ottamista” (Hyytiä 2004, 180). Tunstall (1993, 200)
näkee televisiotuottajien työssä toteutuneen paradoksaalisen muutosprosessin. Tuottajien asema
on entistä epävarmempi, mutta myös itsenäisempi. Heidän edellytetään tekevän ja hallitsevan
yhä enemmän asioita, mikä tarkoittaa enemmän työtä, enemmän valvontaa, suurempaa
itsemääräämisoikeutta – ja enemmän vastuuta (Tunstall 1993, 203).
Hyytiä jakaa tuottajan kokonaisvastuun ensinnäkin vastuuksi muista tekijöistä varmistaakseen
”suotuisat olosuhteet eri osa-alueiden yhteiselle työskentelylle” (Hyytiä 2004, 60). Toiseksi
”tuottajalla on merkittävä rooli sen varmistamisessa, että elokuva valmistuu ennakkosuunnittelun
myötä” (emt, 62). Kolmanneksi tuottaja kantaa taiteellista kokonaisvastuuta. Se korostuu
valinnoissa, joita hän tekee (emt, 61–62). Lisäksi Hyytiä (2004, 59 mukaan Hyytiä 1997, 70)
44
viittaa laadunvalvonnalliseen vastuuseen. Tuottajan tulee tunnistaa hälytyssignaaleja, etsiä
niihin ratkaisuja sekä vaatia ratkaisuja työryhmän muilta jäseniltä. ”Taitava tuottaja kykenee
johtamaan [elokuvan tuotantoprosessia] siten, että lopputuloksena on suunniteltuakin ’suurempi’,
merkittävämpi elokuva” (emt, 62).
Sanakirjamääritelmän mukaan vastuu tarkoittaa velvollisuutta vastata omana huolena omassa
hoidossa tai valvonnassa olevasta asiasta, omaisuudesta tai henkilöstä. Vastuu on seuraamusten
uhkaa, joka koituisi näille mahdollisesti tapahtuvista vahingoista. (Nykysuomen sanakirja 1966,
S-Ö, 405). Vastuu juontaa suomen sukukielten sanoista, joilla tarkoitetaan muun muassa vastassa
olemista, kohtaamista, vastakkain olemista, vastustamista, vastauksen antamista ja tukemista
jotakin vasten (Nykysuomen etymologinen sanakirja 2005, 1462–1463). Näin tuottaminen edestä
johtamisena toteutuu myös vastuussa, siinä, että tuottaja tulee ensimmäisenä vastaan.
Maantieteellisesti Itu jakautui pääkaupunkiseudulle ja Satakuntaan. Käsikirjoituspaja toteutettiin
osin Helsingissä ja osin Satakunnassa. Kaksi teosta kuvattiin Helsingissä, yksi Porissa ja yksi
Kankaanpäässä. Näyttelyt tuotettiin Raumalle ja Helsinkiin. Tuotantoryhmissä työskenteli
yhteensä noin viisikymmentä henkilöä, joista viidennes Satakunnasta, noin 70% Uudeltamaalta
ja loput muualta Suomesta.
Tunstallin mukaan toimintakentän sirpaloituessa ”langat” ja vastuu ovat yhä useammin tuottajan
käsissä (1993, 207). Kun projektin verkoston perusorganisaatioissa on muutoksia, ihmiset tulevat
erilaisista koulutustaustoista tai kaikki eivät asu samalla paikkakunnalla saati työskentele samoissa
tiloissa korostuu sen asema, jolla on laajin näkökulma, eli tuottajan.
Vähän sääntöjä, paljon sopimuksia
Ryhmiä, rajoja ja ulottuvuuksia
Derrick Chongin tutkimuksen (2002, 136–137) mukaan vaikeasti ennustettavassa
toimintaympäristössä asiantuntijoiden ammatillinen itseohjautuvuus ja vapaus kasvavat. Samalla
Jokaisella Itu-projektin neljällä tuotannolla oli oma tuotantoryhmänsä, joka koottiin teoksen ja
taiteilijan ehdoilla. Pienet tiimit vastasivat näyttelyiden toteutuksista. Chong (2002, 137–138)
kirjoittaa, kuinka tehtävät järjestetään ja vastuutetaan tiimeittäin ja alihankinta yleistyy. Suurinta
osaa Itu-projektin toiminnoista voikin luonnehtia alihankinnaksi. Perusorganisaatioiden sisäisiä
palveluita käytettiin vain taloushallinnossa, markkinoinnissa, levityksessä ja kahden videoteoksen
jälkituotannoissa.
ammattikuvien muuttuminen entistä vaativammiksi vähentää sääntöjä ja säännönmukaisuuksia. Itu
– videotaiteen tuotantoprojektissakin omaksuttiin epämuodolliset ja joustavat toimintatavat. Kun
työskenneltiin yhteisen päämäärän vuoksi rakennetussa verkostossa, ei useinkaan ollut olemassa
vanhoja sääntöjä siitä, miten toimia. Projektisuunnitelma ja siitä muokattu esittelymateriaali
(2005) loivat yleiset määritelmät sille, mitä oltiin tekemässä. Niiden alle kasvoi kuitenkin uusi,
merkittävä säännöstö, kirjalliset sopimukset.
Itu – videotaiteen tuotantoprojektin verkostot levittäytyivät yli sektorirajojen, kolmannelta
julkiselle ja yksityiselle. Taiteidenvälisiä rajoja ylitettiin etenkin tuotantoryhmissä, kun
kuvataiteen, television, elokuvan ja teatterin ammattilaiset tekivät yhteistyötä. Taiteilijat, eli
teostensa käsikirjoittajat ja ohjaajat, olivat keskeisessä asemassa omien tuotantoryhmiensä
kokoamisessa ja henkilövalinnoissa.
Elokuvataiteen alalla kirjallisilla sopimuksilla on pitkä perinne. Ne sisältävät myös
salassapitopykäliä, joten niistä on lähes mahdoton saada tietoa (Pihkala 2007). Hyytiä (2004,
181–182) viittaa sopimusten itsestään selvään olemassaoloon jo ennakkosuunnitteluvaiheessa.
Oli kirjallinen sopimus millainen hyvänsä, aukoton se ei voi olla koskaan. Sopimuksiakin
tärkeämpää on luottamus.
Tuottajaa tarvittiin välittäjänä, neuvottelijana ja kuuntelijana, jotta eri alojen ihmiset löysivät
keskinäisen luottamuksen. Pyrin yhteistyössä muiden alojen toimijoiden kanssa jämäkkyyteen
siinä, että niin taiteilijat kuin itsekin tuottajana olemme videotaiteen ja kuvataiteen
ammattilaisia. Samalla halusin olla avoin sen suhteen, että elokuva- ja televisio-osaamisesta ja
näyttelijäyhteistyöstä kokemusta meillä oli vähän tai vaihtelevasti.
Tunstallin (1992, esim. 112, 114, 207) tutkimuksesta välittyy kuva televisioalan sopimuksista
vakiintuneina käytänteinä. Niiden hallintaa osana tuottajan työtä ei erikseen analysoida.
Chong (2002, 61) antaa esimerkin taideinstituutiosta, jossa kaikki taiteilijat työskentelevät
määräaikaissopimuksin, itsenäisinä ammatinharjoittajina. Toisaalla hän tarkastelee sopimuksia
taiteen ja taiteilijan rahoituksen eli muun muassa teosmyynnin, tekijänoikeuksien myynnin ja
sponsoroinnin näkökulmasta (emt. 121–125).
Itu – videotaiteen tuotantoprojekti oli olemassa juuri tällaisten rajankäyntien turvalliseksi
mahdollistamiseksi. Projektissahan tavoiteltiin kehittyneempiä tuotantoprosesseja ja
toimintaverkostoja hyödyntämään koko video- ja mediataiteen alaa. Projektin katsottiin tukevan
alan ammattimaistumista ja kehittävän tuottajan ja tuotantoyhtiön erikoisosaamista videotaiteen
tuottamisessa sekä nostavan videotaiteilijoiden omia tuotannollisia valmiuksia. (Esittelymateriaali
2005). Toisin sanoen projektissa ei lähtökohtaisesti edellytetty kaiken osaamista.
45
Näyttelysopimusten laadinta on ainoa kuvataiteen kentällä vakiintunut, kirjallinen ja melko
yhtenäinen sopimuskäytäntö, jonka kanssa kaikki alan ammattilaiset ovat tekemisissä. Itu –
videotaiteen tuotantoprojektin alussa oli vaikea hahmottaa, mistä kaikesta projektin keskeisten
taiteilijoiden kanssa pitää ja kannattaa sopia kirjallisesti. Laadin kunkin taiteilijan, tuottajan ja
tuotantoyhtiön kesken samanlaisen kolmikantasopimuksen. Sen laatiminen oli pilottiprojektissa
46
niin työlästä, että sopimus saatiin allekirjoitettavaan muotoon projektin ollessa jo pitkällä. Siksi
psykologiset sopimukset, sitoutuminen ja luottamus toisiin olivat kaikkein tärkeimpiä.
tuottajien työajasta kuluu nykyään entistä enemmän aikaa rahasta neuvottelemiseen, hintojen ja
töiden kilpailuttamiseen ja kustannuslaskelmien tekemiseen (Tunstall 1993, 15).
Kolmikantasopimuksessa määrittelin taiteilijan, tuottajan ja tuotantoyhtiön tehtävät ja vastuut,
taiteilijakorvauksen suuruuden, myyntikäytännöt ja myyntituoton jakautumisen, teoksen
esillepano-oikeudet ja tavan, jolla teoksen tekijätiedot ilmaistaan. Samalla sovittiin käytännöstä,
jossa neljänsien osapuolten taiteelliset oikeudet keskitetään sopimuksin Muu ry:lle. Taiteilijoille
jäi oikeus itse tuottamansa taiteellisen aineiston vapaaseen käyttöön.
Kuvataiteen kontekstissa Itu – videotaiteen tuotantoprojektia voi rahassa mitattuna luonnehtia
suureksi, mutta elokuvatuotantoihin verrattuna hyvin, hyvin pieneksi. Vuosien 2004–2006 aikana
toteutunut budjetti oli noin 185 000 euroa. Hajautettujen toimintojen vuoksi kokonaisbudjetin
loppusummaa on vaikea laskea. Luvussa ei esimerkiksi ole mukana vuoden 2007 näyttelyä Muu
galleriassa, AV-arkin levitystoiminnan rahoitusta ja kuluja tai Rauman taidemuseon panosta
vuoden 2006 näyttelylle.
Kaikista muista taiteellisesti tai teknisesti keskeisistä töistä räätälöin kirjalliset sopimukset Muu
ry:n ja alihankintayhtiön tai itsenäisten ammatinharjoittajien välille. Tyypillisessä sopimuksessa
määriteltiin työtehtävät, työn toteutuspaikka ja -aika sekä käytettävä kalusto, korvaukset ja
krediittien ilmaiseminen. Sopimuksissa siirrettiin kaikki tuotettu kuva- tai äänimateriaali ja sen
sisältämät taiteelliset oikeudet Muu ry:lle. Kaikkien kanssa sovittiin riittävästä kertakorvauksesta,
tuottoperusteisiin royalteihin ei sitouduttu.
Tuottajan taloustyöt
Itu – videotaiteen tuotantoprojektin rahoitus koottiin monista lähteistä, koska keskitettyä
rahoitusjärjestelmää ei videotaiteen tuotannoille ole olemassa. Esimerkiksi lyhytelokuvia
voidaan Suomessa rahoittaa täysimääräisesti kolmiyhteistyöllä, johon kuuluvat Yleisradio,
Suomen elokuvasäätiö ja AVEK. Suomen elokuvasäätiö ei yrityksistäni huolimatta kiinnostunut
Itu-projektin teosten rahoittamisesta. AVEK:ssa mediataiteen tuotantotukien määrärahat ovat
huomattavasti lyhytelokuvien määrärahoja pienemmät.
Itu – videotaiteen tuotantoprojektin taloudellinen lähtökohta oli, että tuotannot ”myydään”
ennakkoon rahoittajille eikä taloudellisia riskejä oteta. Hakemuksia laadittiin kaikkiaan 39
kappaletta. Yleensä minä tuottajana tein hakemukset, jonka jälkeen Muu ry:ssä niihin liitettiin
tarvittavat yhdistysasiakirjat sekä allekirjoitukset. Välttääksemme kilpailevat hakemukset muiden
Muu ry:n projektien kanssa, neuvottelimme ennakkoon, mistä ja milloin rahaa anottaisiin.
Se, että käytin työaikaani kymmenien rahoitushakemusten laatimiseen, liittyy laajempaan
muutokseen tuottajien ammattikuvassa. Tunstallin (1993, 10–13) tutkimuksen mukaan viime
vuosituhannen loppuun mennessä aiempi resurssikeskeinen tuottaminen väistyi ja tuottajille
kasaantui huomattavasti enemmän taloudellisia velvoitteita. Nykyään televisioyhtiöiden sisäisten
tuottajien on toimittava yhteistyössä itsenäisten tuottajien kanssa ja hankittava rahoitusta ja
yhteistyökumppaneita talon ulkopuolelta (emt., 15). Juuri näin toimi Itu-projektissa YLE:n
Yhteistuotantojen tuottaja Sari Volanen, olkoonkin että aloite yhteistyölle tuli minulta. Kaikkien
Olen kirjoittanut rahoitusprosessista artikkelin Katse-verkkojulkaisuun, joka on luettavissa osoitteessa
ww.katse.org.
47
Projektin rahoituksesta 33% tuli av-alan rahoittajilta eli AVEK:lta ja YLE:ltä. 28% saatiin
perinteisiltä, taidetta ja kulttuuria tukevilta säätiöiltä. 39% oli opetusministeriön rahaa, kun
mukana on sekä Taiteen keskustoimikunnan, Satakunnan taidetoimikunnan että ministeriön
omat panostukset. Pääosa rahoista kulki Muu ry:n tilien kautta. Satakunnan taidetoimikunnan
kustannussuoritteet tehtiin kuitenkin suoraan taidetoimikunnasta. Osa rahoituksesta haettiin ja
myönnettiin taiteilijoille henkilökohtaisesti.
Hajautettu tilinpito oli taloushallinnon ja kuluseurannan kannalta etenkin projektin kiireisissä
vaiheissa haastavaa. Tehokas tuottaminen edellyttää ajantasaista tietoa kulutoteumasta.
Sopimuksemme mukaan Muu ry vastasi kirjanpidosta, mutta se oli projektin tarpeisiin liian
hidasta. Verkostomallisen projektin kokonaistalouden seurannan ulkoistaminenkin olisi ollut
vaikeaa. Projektin oma pankkitili olisi kertonut kassatilanteen yhdellä silmäyksellä. Erillisen
pankkitilin käyttö ei kuitenkaan olisi ollut mahdollista sen enempää projektin oman kuin Muu ry:
n muiden projektien likviditeetin vuoksi.
Tuottajan vahvuus ja valta kiteytyvät rahaan. ”Koska tuottajalla on elokuvan tekemiseen tarvittavat
rahat, hänellä on myös valtaa määrätä rahojen käytöstä. Tuottajan tapa käyttää rahaa määrittää
häntä ammatissaan.” (Hyytiä 2004, 61). Itu – videotaiteen tuotantoprojektissa rahat eivät siis
olleet konkreettisesti minulla eikä minulla ollut pääsyä perusorganisaatioiden pankkitileille. Sekä
Muu ry:n että Satakunnan taidetoimikunnan taloushallinnon kanssa muodostui muutaman väärin
ohjautuneen laskun jälkeen toimiva käytäntö. Minulla hyväksytettiin kaikki laskut ennen niiden
maksamista. Vahvuuteni ja valtani olivat toisaalta sen varassa, että laadin kaikki budjettiversiot
sekä sen, että oma kirjanpitoni oli ajantasaisempi kuin muiden.
Vapaudesta ja epävarmuudesta
Chongin (2002, 137–138) työkulttuurin kuvauksessa asiantuntijat määrittelevät omat erityistaitonsa
vaatien niille ammatillista kunnioitusta. Työntekijät järjestävät itse työtehtävänsä, määrittelevät
niiden tärkeyden ja perustelevat päätöksensä. Itu – videotaiteen tuotantoprojektissa taiteilijat eli
teosten käsikirjoittajat saivat itse hyvin vapaasti päättää, mistä muista videotuotannon työvaiheista
48
he ottavan päävastuun ja mihin tehtäviin palkataan ulkopuolisia. Ratkaisut vaihtelivat. Yksi
taiteilija ohjasi, kuvasi ja leikkasi itse teoksensa, toinen kuvasi, kolmas ohjasi ja lavasti, neljäs
ohjasi. Oman työn määrittelyvapaus lisäsi taiteilijoiden vastuuta ja haasteita tukien samalla heidän
omaa taiteilijuuttaan.
Tuottaminen on siis jonkin tuomista kaukaa lähelle. Tuottaminen tuomisena toteutuu tuottajan työn
vaiheissa, joita kutsun tarkennuspisteiksi. Toimijoiden kaoottinen maailma tarvitsee elementtejä,
jotka kokoavat kaaosta ja uudelleenjärjestävät sitä (Hyytiä 2004, 99). Tarkennuspisteet ovat
hetkiä, joissa asiat kootaan yhteen ja laitetaan toimimaan yhdessä.
Tuottajan ja taiteilijoidenkin työn haasteena oli olennaisen erottaminen. Omasta mielestäni ei
ollut vaikea tietää, mitä Itu-projektissa kulloinkin piti tai olisi pitänyt seuraavaksi tehdä. Vaativaa
oli suhteuttaa muiden töiden vaatimuksia Itu-projektiin ja tehdä valintoja niiden ensisijaisuuksien
välillä. Sama kokemus välittyy Hyytiän tutkimuksesta, jonka mukaan ”tekijät tunnistavat asiat tai
työvaiheet, joihin pitää lopputuloksen onnistumisen takia panostaa aikaa, mutteivät aina onnistu
sitä itselleen raivaamaan”. Tyypillisesti paineita kasvattaa usean projektin samanaikaisuus.
(Hyytiä 2004, 182–183).
Itu – videotaiteen tuotantoprojektin käsikirjoituspajan lopuksi jokaisesta teoksesta koottiin
kansio, joka sisälsi muun muassa synopsiksen, treatmentin, kuvia ja budjettiluonnoksen. Se oli
tarkennuspiste, joka teki erilaiset käsikirjoitukset vertailukelpoisiksi. Jokainen apurahahakemus
oli samanlainen tarkennuspiste. Hetki, jolloin videoteoksen kuvaukset alkoivat, edellytti tietyn
ihmisjoukon ja tavaramäärän tuomista yhteen paikkaan. Sekin oli tarkennuspiste. Silloin
tuottaminen eli tuominen tarkoitti konkreettisimmillaan autokyytejä ja tavarantoimituksia.
Käsikirjoituspajasta lähtien Itu – videotaiteen tuotantoprojektin taiteilijat joutuivat avaamaan
keskeneräisiä teosideoitaan muille ihmisille. Hyytiä (2004, 180) kuvailee, kuinka ”[t]ekijöiden
on paikoin vaikea luovuttaa oma työnsä toisen tekijän käsiin, luopua vallastaan kontrolloida
käsikirjoitusluonnosta”. Käsikirjoituspaja oli ryhmätyöskentelyä taiteilijoiden, tuottajan ja
luennoitsijoiden kesken. Pajassa pidettiin yhteinen esittelytilaisuus (pitching), jossa Yleisradion
edustajat antoivat palautetta. Myöhemmin käsikirjoituksia ruodittiin lisäksi rahoittajien kanssa,
kuvausryhmissä ja näyttelijöiden kesken.
Taiteilijoilla teettämäni riskianalyysin mukaan kollegoiden ja muiden ihmisten kesken puitu työ
tuli jo käsikirjoituspajan aikana niin tärkeäksi ja julkiseksi, että sen toteuttamiseen kohdistui
erityispaineita. Käsittääkseni ainakin omasta käsikirjoituksesta puhuminen helpottui, kun
siihen tuli rutiinia ja kun palautteen saaminen osoittautui kiinnostavaksi. Taiteilijat opettelivat
vähitellen ottamaan version tekijän roolia ja valtaa aiempaa julkisemmin itselleen jo työn ollessa
suunnitteluasteella.
Tuottaja ei ”ole tekijöistä se, jonka tulisi kyseenalaistaa omaa toimintaansa saati projektin
onnistumismahdollisuuksia. Epävarmoina aikoina vahva tuottaja tuntuu turvalliselta. Se antaa
käsikirjoittajalle ja ohjaajalle tilaa kokea omaa epävarmuuttaan, joka on taiteellispainotteisessa
suunnittelussa melko oleellinen ja usein jatkuvasti läsnä oleva tila.” (Hyytiän 2004, 60).
Tämä tuottajien ammattikunnassa vaalittu perusarvo erottaa tuottajat teosten muista tekijöistä.
Epäröinnin kätkeminen on edestä johtamista, pro-ducere. Mielestäni se voisi kääntyä suomeksi
myös kuten pro patria, isänmaan puolesta. Tuottaminen on johtamista muiden puolesta.
Tuottaminen on tuomista
Suomen kielessä tuottaa on tuoda-verbin johdannainen (Nykysuomen etymologinen sanakirja
2005, 1357). Niin tavaraa kuin työvoimaakin voidaan tuottaa juna-asemalta tai ulkomailta.
49
Tuotannon viettely
Jean Baudrillard (1987, 80) on pohtinut tuottamisen käsitettä pohjautuen sanan latinankielen
etymologiseen merkitykseen näkyväksi tekeminen (producere). Tuotanto on utopia, jolle meidät
on alistettu. Toisin sanoen näkyväksi tekeminen on mahdoton maailmanparannuksellinen
haavekuva (vrt. Nykysuomen sanakirja 1966, 221). Baudrillardin (1987, 41) mukaan annamme
arvoa vain näkyvän järjestykselle: ”Kaikkialla pyritään tuottamaan merkityksiä, jotta maailma
saataisiin merkitsemään ja näkymään”.
Itu – videotaiteen tuotantoprojektin tarkennuspisteissä tavoiteltiin nimenomaan mahdollisimman
hyvää, näkyvää järjestystä. Tuottajan tehtävä oli ensinnäkin tietää, mitkä asiat tarkennuspisteeseen
tarvittiin. Toisaalta piti kyetä tarkastelemaan niitä niin, että näki niiden ominaisuuksien vaikutukset
suhteessa kokonaisuuteen. Tarkennuspisteissä toteutui tuottajan työ sekä tuomisen että näkyväksi
tekemisen merkityksissä.
Itu – videotaiteen tuotantoprojektin käsikirjoituspajan vieraileva pääluennoitsija oli tuottaja ja
kouluttaja Lemmikki Louhimies. Hän toi projektiin kehittämänsä visuaalisen käsikirjoittamisen
metodin (Louhimies 2003). Metodi korosti käsitteellisyydestä irtautumista ja sattuman
mahdollistamista käsikirjoitusprosessissa. Louhimies (2004) käytti satuja kirjoittajan laitumina
ja kannusti niin unien kuin fyysisen aistittavuudenkin tutkailuun. Käsikirjoituksen tuli sisältää
mysteerio, jota ei koskaan paljasteta.
Baudrillard (1987, 42) kirjoittaa, ettei salaisuudessa ole tuotettavaa. Ymmärrän hänen
tarkoittavan, ettei näkyväksi tehty salaisuus ole enää salaisuus. Sitä yrittäessään tuotanto
harhautuu tarkoitusperistään ja ajautuu umpikujaan kohdatessaan voimattomuutensa. Mutta
Baudrillard kysyykin, onko mitään viettelevämpää kuin salaisuus. Viettely (seducere) on haaste,
joka esitetään tuotannon järjestykselle. (Baudrillard 1987, 40–42).
50
Sanakirjan mukaan sē-dūcō on syrjään viemistä, erottamista, pois kääntämistä (Latinalaissuomalainen sanakirja 1997, 690). Baudrillardille (1987, 15) viettely on esteettiseen ilmaisuun
perustuvaa mielihyvää.
”Tuotantotavan kyllästäminä meidän on löydettävä takaisin katoamisen estetiikan tielle. Viettely
on osa mainittua estetiikkaa. Se vie harhaan ja johtaa tieltä pois” (emt, 46). Haasteena näkyväksi
tekevälle tuottamiselle hän esittää, että me ja maailma olemme lopulta kuitenkin olemassa vain
vieteltyinä.
Vaikka tehtäväni oli näkyväksi tekeminen, tuottajana minun piti myös turvata se, että annos
salaisuuden epäjärjestystä läpäisee tuotannon tarkennuspisteet paljastumatta. Itu – videotaiteen
tuotantoprojektissa käsikirjoituspaja, taiteilijoiden vapaus oman työn määrittelyssä sekä joustava
tuotantoaikataulu tukivat salaisuuden säilymistä. Jopa rahoittajien palaute tuki salaisuutta.
Yleisradion edustajat rohkaisivat kuvataiteilijoita luottamaan visuaalisuuteensa. Samoin perustein
AVEK:n tuotantoneuvoja vaati taiteilijoita laatimaan teostensa kuvakäsikirjoitukset itse.
Latinalais-suomalaisen sanakirjan (1997, 599) mukaan tuottaminen on myös viettelyä. ”Viettely
ei ole tuotannon vastakohta. Viettely viettelee tuotannon”, kirjoittaa Baudrillard (1987, 47).
Näistä olen juontanut ajatuksen, ettei tuottaminen ole tuottamista ellei se sisällä sivuaskeleita ja
antautumista mielihyvälle.
Hyytiä näkee yhteisessä harhailussa hyvän lopputuloksen siemenen. Kun elokuvanteossa
keskeisten tekijöiden joukko ”luottaa toisiinsa, ei harhailu tunnu niin toivottomalta – aina voi
ajatella, että yhdessä päästään takaisin kiinni punaiseen lankaan” (Hyytiä 2004, 69). ”Sanat,
ilmaisut ja tarkennukset löytyvät keskeisten henkilöiden välisessä keskustelussa.” Hyytiä
(eml) pitää ”tätä keskustelua äärimmäisen tärkeänä siksi, että siinä osapuolet hakevat yhteistä
näkemystä myöntäen toisilleen, ettei kuva ole selkeä. Jotta se kirkastuisi on uskallettava käydä
myös harhapoluilla”.
Itu – videotaiteen tuotantoprojektin päätteeksi viisihenkinen jury kokoontui arvioimaan
käsikirjoituskansioita. He totesivat käsikirjoituskansioiden muodollisen pätevyyden asettavan
haasteita myös sisällöille. Yhtenäisestä esittelymuodosta huolimatta tai juuri sen ansiosta teosten
rytmiset erot, visuaaliset ideat ja taiteilijoiden persoonallinen tyyli erottuivat. Näin sanoessaan
tulkitsen juryn arvostaneen sitä, mikä oli tehty näkyväksi, mutta halunneen myös tulla vietellyksi.
Senkin pitää näkyä, että kaikki ei näy.
Samanaikaisesti ja eri tahdissa
Suunnittelu ja tuotanto sulautuvat toisiinsa ja kulkevat rinnakkain (Chong 2002, 137–138).
Itu – videotaiteen tuotantoprojektissa tuotettiin koulutusta, teoksia ja näyttelyitä. Erilaisia
peräkkäisiksi miellettyjä työvaiheita – suunnittelua, toteutusta, markkinointia ja levitystä
51
– tehtiin aina samanaikaisesti. Jo käsikirjoituspajan aikana julkaistiin projektin internet-sivut
ja teosten synopsikset. Samanaikaisesti laskettiin tuotantojen ensimmäiset kustannusarviot ja
sovittiin alustavasti näyttelystä Rauman taidemuseossa. Av-arkin View05-festivaalin näytäntöjen
alussa esitettiin Itu-projektin teaseria, vaikkei tuotannoilla ollut vielä juuri lainkaan rahoitusta.
Samassa yhteydessä käsikirjoituksia ja tuotantosuunnitelmia esiteltiin myös kansainvälisille
kuraattorivieraille. Myös tiedottaminen on näkyväksi tekemistä.
Aikataulutuksen ydinohjeen sain AVEK:in tuotantoneuvoja Milla Moilaselta sekä taiteilijoiden
palautteista. Neljää tuotantoa ei saisi pakottaa yhteiseen aikatauluun, vaan niiden olisi edettävä omilla
ehdoillaan. Jo käsikirjoituspajan yhteistahtisuus hankaloitti joidenkin taiteilijoiden työskentelyä.
Myös Hyytiän (2004, 182) tutkimuksessa todetaan, että etenkään työn suunnitteluvaiheessa ei
vielä ole varmuutta siitä, mihin aikaa kannattaa uhrata ja mihin ei, mikä johtaa uusiin oivalluksiin
ja mikä todetaan myöhemmin turhaksi. Siksi suunnitteluvaihetta ei voi tiukasti aikatauluttaa.
Aikataulutusta ohjailivat muun muassa käsikirjoitusten sisältämät vuodenaikakuvat,
rahoituspäätökset, yhteistyöorganisaatioiden muut projektit, taiteilijoiden ja tuottajan muut projektit.
Koska avainhenkilöiden korvaaminen sijaisilla ei tullut kysymykseen, projektissa mukauduttiin
myös useisiin isoihin ja aikaa vaatineisiin käänteisiin asianosaisten henkilökohtaisissa elämissä.
Oli myös pakko huomioida perusorganisaatioiden vuosirytmit tilikausineen, kokouksineen
ja toimintakertomuksineen. Minulle perusorganisaatioiden olemassaolo oli itseisarvo.
Mahtavinkaan projekti ei saisi kasvaa niin isoksi ja hallitsevaksi, että se alkaisi ohjailla saati
uhata organisaatiota.
Kahden teoksen kuvaukset toteutettiin kesällä 2005, vaikka kokonaisrahoitus ei ollut vielä
varmistunut. Kun niitä leikattiin, kuvattiin kolmas teos. Sitä leikattiin alkuvuonna 2006, kun
ensimmäiset teokset olivat ensi-illassa View06-festivaalilla. Kolmen teoksen kansainvälinen
levitys alkoi ja neljäs teos kuvattiin syksyllä 2006. Samaan aikaan kahdesta teoksesta koostettiin
installaatioversioita. Tiedotusponnistukset huipentuivat Rauman taidemuseon näyttelyyn
loppusyksyllä 2006. Toinen huipentuma oli kolmen teoksen esittely Muu galleriassa helmikuussa
2007. Neljäs teos vaati vielä puoli vuotta viimeistelyä ja sai ensi-iltansa toukokuussa 2007.
Lopuksi
Tuottaminen pro-ducere tarkoittaa edestä johtamista. Taiteilija, esimerkiksi kuvataiteilija voi
tuottaa oman teoksensa eli johtaa oman teoksensa tekemistä yksin. Kuitenkin, kun tarkastellaan
taideteoksia, jotka edellyttävät useamman ihmisen yhteistä työskentelyä ja erilaisia ammattitaitoja,
tuotannollisen työn voi tehdä tuottaja. Tällaisessa teoksessa ja työskentelyssä tärkein taiteilija ei
enää ole ainoa taiteilija. Samoin voidaan päätellä, ettei tuottaja edestä johtajana ole prosessin
ainoa johtaja.
52
Vaikka taideteoksen valmistusprosessissa tuottaminen ymmärretään niin sanottuna jaettuna
johtajuutena, on johtajuuden käsite taiteen kontekstissa mielestäni hieman ongelmallinen. En
usko, että vapaa kuvataiteilija kovin halukkaasti kutsuisi tuottajaa työnsä johtajaksi. Tämän
ristiriidan avaaminen voisi olla kiinnostavaa yhdessä niiden taiteilijoiden kanssa, joiden teoksia
tuotin Itu – videotaiteen tuotantoprojektissa. Yhteinen määritelmä voisi kenties löytyä ajatuksesta,
että tuottaminen on johtamista muiden puolesta.
Olen tässä artikkelissa tarkastellut tuottamista, omaa työtäni, etsien sille määritelmiä
poikkitieteellisesti muun muassa sanakirjoista ja audiovisuaalisten alojen tuottamista ja kulttuurin
hallinnointia käsittelevistä tutkimuksista. Kirjalliset lähteeni keskustelevat oman kokemukseni ja
Itu – videotaiteen tuotantoprojektin aineiston kanssa.
Itu – videotaiteen tuotantoprojekti käynnistettiin kahden taiteilijaorganisaation, Muu ry:
n ja Av-arkki ry:n aloitteesta. Lähtökohtana tuntuma siitä, että Suomessa oli kasvanut uusi
taiteilijasukupolvi, jolta löytyisi valmiuksia ja rohkeutta suurempiin videotaidetuotantoihin.
Suuremmat videotaidetuotannot edellyttivät tuottajan kanssa työskentelyä. Itu – videotaiteen
tuotantoprojekti tarjosi puitteet tuottajan ja kuvataiteilijan yhteistyölle ja sen kehittämiselle.
Tuottajan ja taiteilijan töiden eriyttämisellä haluttiin projektin puitteissa nostaa sekä työskentelyn
että syntyvän teoksen laatua. Samalla nähtiin, että taiteilijajärjestöjen omassa tuotantoprojektissa
voidaan varmistaa, että kuvataiteilija säilyttää kuvataiteilijuutensa. Tuotantoyhtiön tehtävät hoiti
Muu ry ja levittäjänä toimi Av-arkki ry.
Lopulta Itu – videotaiteen tuotantoprojekti toteutettiin kolmen perusorganisaation yhteistyönä.
Taiteilijajärjestöjen lisäksi mukaan tuli oma työnantajani Satakunnan taidetoimikunta.
Kolmiyhteistyöstä rakentui paitsi kivijalka, myös monimutkaisia asioiden seurannaisvaikutuksia.
Tuottajan työn kannalta keskeistä oli jatkuva perusorganisaatioiden muun toiminnan huomiointi.
Perusorganisaatiot olivat itseisarvoja, joiden etuja tuottajana halusin myös vaalia. Organisaatioilla
oli yhteisiä piirteitä, joista keskeisin oli jatkuva muutoksen tila. Yhteistyö pehmensi organisaatioiden
ääriviivoja eikä aina ei ollut selvää, missä yksi organisaatio loppui ja toinen alkoi.
Itu – videotaiteen tuotantoprojektissa taiteilijat eli teosten käsikirjoittajat saivat itse määritellä
oman tehtäväkuvansa teoksen tuotantoprosessissa. Kaikki päätyivät ohjaamaan, mutta muilta
osin valinnat vaihtelivat. Määrittelyvapaus lisäsi taiteilijoiden vastuuta ja haasteita, mutta se oli
myös konkreettinen esimerkki tavasta tukea heidän vapaata taiteilijuuttaan prosessissa.
Sen enempää oma kokemukseni Itu – videotaiteen tuotantoprojektin tuottajana kuin kirjallisten
lähteideni välittämä käsitys tuottajuudesta eivät korosta prosessin kontrollin ja mallinnettavuuden
merkitystä. Ennemminkin tutkimukset ja oma työni kertovat tuottamisen monimutkaisuudesta
ja monimutkaisuuden sietämisen merkityksestä. Taiteellisen prosessin vaikea kuvattavuus ja
moniulotteisuus ovat haaste tuottajalle.
Toimintakentät sirpaloituvat. Sirpaloituminen toistuu useilla elämänalueilla ja yhteiskunnan
tasoilla. Tuottajan työssä tämä tarkoittaa, että ”langat” ja vastuu ovat yhä useammin tuottajan
käsissä. Itu – videotaiteen tuotantoprojektissa sirpaloituminen oli esimerkiksi erilaisten rajojen
ylityksiä, useita tiimejä ja alaprojekteja sekä tuotantojen eri vaiheiden limittymistä ja lomittumista.
Myös keskeisten henkilöiden muun elämän ja muiden töiden vaikutukset sirpaloittivat projektia
ja sen aikatauluja. Yksi vaativimpia haasteita olikin suhteuttaa muiden töiden vaatimuksia Itu
– videotaiteen tuotantoprojektiin ja tehdä valintoja ensisijaisuuksien välillä.
Tuottaminen on näkyväksi tekemistä. Näkyväksi tekeminen on yksinkertaisimmillaan vastuuta
teoksen valmistumisesta. Videotaideteoksen syntyprosessin eri vaiheisiin kuitenkin liittyy
tilanteita, joissa keskeneräisiäkin asioita pitää tarkastella useamman ihmisen kesken. Kutsun
tällaisia näkyväksi tekemisen välivaiheita tarkennuspisteiksi.
Tuottajan on tarkennuspisteissä jäsennettävä työn osat niin, että niitä voidaan arvioida
kokonaisuutena. Yhtä tärkeää on antaa osien hajota, muuttua, elää ja hakea muotoaan
tarkennuspisteiden välillä. Suomen kielen etymologiassa tuottaminen tarkoittaa tuomista.
Tuottaminen tuomisena toteutuu tarkennuspisteissä, kun tuottajan tulee tietää mitä ja miten työn
eri osia tuodaan tarkennuspisteisiin.
Yleisesti ajatellaan, että nykyaikaisessa työ- ja projektiympäristössä sääntöjä vähennetään. Kun
asioita tehdään uudella tavalla, väliaikaisissa kokoonpanoissa ja ilman, että tarkka lopputulos
on tiedossa, ei tekemiselle ole olemassa valmista sääntökirjaa. Sääntöjen sijaan työtä ohjasivat
Itu – videotaiteen tuotantoprojektin esittelymateriaali, neljän tuotetun teoksen käsikirjoitukset,
teosten budjetit ja eri tahojen välille laaditut sopimukset. Tuottajalle tämä tarkoitti suurta
itsemääräämisoikeutta ja enemmän vastuuta.
Itu – videotaiteen tuotantoprojektin ”sateenvarjon” alla toteutettiin työryhmissä erilaisia
Oman version tekeminen on vallan käyttöä. Itu – videotaiteen tuotantoprojektin tarkoitus
määriteltiin projektisuunnitelmissa, joiden pohjalta laadin esittelymateriaalin. Siinä kuului sekä
kaikkien perusorganisaatioiden että tuottajan ääni. Käsikirjoitusten suhteen en ottanut valtaa omiin
käsiini. Käsikirjoitusvalinnat ulkoistettiin. Tietääkseni ratkaisu oli tuottajan työssä epätyypillinen,
joten sen syitä ja merkityksiä voi olla syytä avata jatkossa lisää.
alaprojekteja, kuten koulutusta, videoteosten tuotantoja ja näyttelyitä. Videotaiteen tuotantojen
kehittämiseksi rakennettu projekti antoi turvalliset raamit toiminnalle, sillä kehittämistyössä ei
lähtökohtaisesti edellytetty täysoppineisuutta. Myös tuottajalle Itu oli oppimisprojekti.
Videoteosten käsikirjoituksia johtivat taiteilijat itse. Tuottajana vaikutin niihin rakentamalla
käsikirjoituskoulutuksen sisällöt sekä kommentoimalla eri versioita. Keskeneräisten teosten
53
54
esittely ei ole kuvataiteen kontekstissa tavallista. Itu – videotaiteen tuotantoprojektissa
taiteilijat opettelivat ottamaan version tekijän roolia ja valtaa julkisesti itselleen jo työn ollessa
suunnitteluasteella. Samalla se sitoutti heitä jopa niin, että teoksen toteuttamiseen kohdistui
erityispaineita.
Yleiseen tuotantokulttuurin murrokseen liittyy, että resurssikeskeinen tuottaminen on väistynyt
ja tuottajille on kasaantunut huomattavasti aiempaa enemmän taloudellisia velvoitteita. Itu
– videotaiteen tuotantoprojektissa tuotetut teokset pyrittiin rahoittamaan täysimääräisesti
ennakkoon. Rahoituksen suunnittelu ja hankinta olivat sekä keskeinen osa tuottajan työtä että tapa
vaikuttaa projektiin. Myös menopuolen ajantasainen hallinta antoi tuottajalle valtaa ja vahvuutta
päätöksentekoon.
Kirjallisten sopimusten kulttuuri on kuvataiteessa ohut mutta elokuvataiteessa vakiintunut. Itu
– videotaiteen tuotantoprojektille luotiin omat sopimusmallit. Sopimusten laadinnassa versioiden
laadinnan tuoma vastuu ja valta olivat tuottajalla. Tuottaminen edestä johtamisena toteutuu
vastuun käsitteessä. Tuottaja tulee ensimmäisenä vastaan, jos jokin ulkopuolinen asia tai taho tai
asia vie ihmisten huomiota.
Yleisesti ajatellaan, että ansaitakseen luottamuksen tuottajan ei tule näyttää epävarmuuttaan.
Toisaalta yhteinen harhailu voi yhdistää tekijöitä ja olla tie parempaan lopputulokseen.
Konkreettisesti tämä tarkoittaa sitä, että harhailun mahdollistamiseksi suunnitteluvaihetta ei voi
tiukasti aikatauluttaa.
Päädyn kirjoituksessani siihen, että tuottaminen ole tuottamista ellei se sisällä sivuaskeleita ja
antautumista mielihyvälle.
Tuottajan pitää turvata se, että annos salaisuuden epäjärjestystä läpäisee tuotannon. Tarkennuspisteet
ovat tärkeitä, mutta ne eivät saa paljastaa kaikkea. Toisin sanottuna senkin pitää näkyä, että
kaikki ei näy. Tätä ajatusta olen kehitellyt Jean Baudrillardin tuottamisen ja viettelemisen
pohdintojen avulla. Se on samalla esimerkki ehkä korkeammalle tai yhteiskunnallisemmalle
tasolle tarkoitetusta analyysistä, jonka soveltaminen konkreettiseksi miellettyyn tuottajan työhön
kirvoittaa vastustusta teoreetikoiden keskuudessa.
Oman tutkimukseni tavoite on ollut ja on edelleen löytää tapoja pohtia tuottajuutta muiltakin
kannoilta kuin nippuna tiettyjä tehtäviä tai henkilöominaisuuksia. Etsin samalla tapaa, jolla
sellaisten ajattelijoiden kuin Michel Foucault’n, Pierre Bourdieun tai Theodor Adornon tuottamista
käsittelevät filosofoinnit voisivat löytää tiensä omiin tuottajuuspohdintoihini.
Toinen, lähinnä ulkopuolelta asetettu tavoite tai toistuvasti esitetty kysymys on tuotantoprosessin
tai tuottajuuden mallintaminen visuaalisesti. Jos sellaisen nyt piirtäisin, olisi kuvassa aikajana,
kenties mutkitellen etenevä. Janaa ympäröivässä avaruudessa leijailee sirpaleita tai pieniä
palasia, jotka toisinaan järjestäytyvät aikajanalle erilaisiksi muodostelmiksi, tarkennuspisteiksi,
55
hajotakseen ja järjestäytyäkseen janalla myöhemmin uudelleen.
Työ jatkuu. Valmistelen tässä kirjoituksessa käsittelemistäni aiheista lopputyötä Taideteollisen
korkeakoulun Porin taiteen ja median osastolle.
Lähteet
Adorno, Theodor. 2002. The Culture Industry: Selected Essays on Mass Culture. Edited with an
introduction by J.M.Bernstein. Lontoo: Routledge.
Arenius, Pia, Nieminen, Lenita, Penttinen-Lampisuo, Tuuli.. 2007. Freelancer, tuottaja, manageri,
projektipäällikkö, kulttuuriyrittäjä… Rakkaalla tekemisellä on monta nimeä [esitelmä]. Turun
yliopisto, Kulttuurituotannon suunnittelu, 1.11.2007. Pori.
Arpo, Robert. 2004. Taiteilija tietoyhteiskunnassa. Tietoyhteiskuntastrategioiden taiteilijakuva ja
tekijänoikeuslainsäädännön muutosten vaikutus taiteilijana toimimisen edellytyksiin. Teoksessa:
Taiteilija Suomessa. Taiteellisen työn muuttuvat edellytykset. Taiteen keskustoimikunnan
julkaisuja n:o 28, 131–151. Toim. Arpo, Robert. Helsinki: Taiteen keskustoimikunta.
Audiovisuaalisen politiikan linjat. 2005. Opetusministeriön julkaisuja 2005:8. Kulttuuri-, liikuntaja nuorisopolitiikan osasto. Laatija: Kunnas, Veikko. Helsinki: Opetusministeriö.
Baudrillard, Jean. 1987. Ekstaasi ja rivous. Suom. Minkkinen, Panu. Helsinki: Gaudeamus.
Chong, Derrick. 2002. Arts Management. Lontoo: Routledge.
Geitlin, Joh. Gabr. Suomalais-latinalainen sanakirja. Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seuran
Toimituksia 65. Näköispainos saman julkaisijan vuonna 1883 Helsingissä ilmestyneestä teoksesta.
Helsinki 1996.
Hyytiä, Riina. 2004. Ennen kuin kamera käy. Ideasta kuvauksiin – tekijät kertovat. Taideteollisen
korkeakoulun julkaisu A50. Helsinki: Taideteollinen korkeakoulu.
Häkkinen, Kaisa. 2005. Nykysuomen etymologinen sanakirja, 3. painos. Juva: WS Bookwell
Oy.
Karkulehto, Sanna & Virta, Ann-Mari. 2006. Johtamisesta mahdollistamiseen. Muuttunut
yhteiskunta, luovat toimialat ja uudet johtamismallit. Teoksessa Minne matka, luova talous?
Toim. Inkinen, Sam, Karkulehto, Sanna, Mäenpää, Marjo & Timonen, Eija. Pello: Kustannus Oy
Rajalla, 139–164.
Koivunen, Hannele. 2004. Onko kulttuurilla vientiä? Opetusministeriön, ulkoasiainministeriön ja
kauppa- ja teollisuusministeriön Kulttuurivienti-hanke. Selvitysmiehen raportti. Opetusministeriön
julkaisuja 2004:22. Helsinki: Opetusministeriö. Kulttuuri-, liikuntaja nuorisopolitiikan osasto.
Laki taiteen edistämisen järjestelyistä 14.7.1967/328
Latinalais-suomalainen sanakirja.. 1997. Adolf V. Streng (toim.). Suomalaisen kirjallisuuden
seuran toimituksia 196. 5. painos. Helsinki : Suomalaisen kirjallisuuden seura.
Leppihalme, Ilmari. 2006. ”Käsite koetukselle?” Sisältöliiketoiminta-alan käsitteiden kriittistä
reflektointia. Teoksessa Minne matka, luova talous? Toim. Inkinen, Sam, Karkulehto, Sanna,
Mäenpää, Marjo & Timonen, Eija. Pello: Kustannus Oy Rajalla, 53–74.
56
Louhimies, Lemmikki. 2002. Nosta luovuuden taikurinhattua, kautta spatiumin!
Visuaaliset kohtauskortit elokuvakäsikirjoituksen opetuskokeilussa. Tampere: Tampereen
ammattikorkeakoulu.
Louhimies, Lemmikki.. 2004. Visuaalinen käsikirjoittaminen [esitelmä]. Järjestäjä: Satakunnan
taidetoimikunta, Porin taidemuseon luentosali 19.8.2004. Pori.
Luova työote – tuottava työ. 2005. Työhallinnon julkaisu 345. Helsinki: Työministeriö.
Mäkelä, Tapio & Tarkka, Minna. 2002. Mediataide. Kotimaiset toimijat ja kansainväliset mallit.
Opetusministeriö, Kulttuuri-, liikuntaja nuorisopolitiikan osaston julkaisusarja nro 8 /2002.
Helsinki: Opetusministeriö.
Penttinen-Lampisuo, Tuuli. 2007. Apurahat ja Itu – videotaiteen tuotantoprojekti. Eräs
rahoituskertomus. http://www.katse.org/index.php?id=187. Luettu 2.12.2007.
Penttinen-Lampisuo, Tuuli. 2005. Esittelymateriaali. Itu – videotaiteen tuotantoprojekti.
Otsikoimaton kansio. Ensimmäinen sivu alkaa sanoilla: Olipa kerran pieni kylä… Julkaisematon.
Tekijän hallussa.
Pihkala, Jaana. 2007. Tekijänoikeus. Musiikki ja AV-tuotannot [esitelmä]. Tekijänoikeuskoulutus
14.4.2007. Järjestäjät Satakunnan Elävän Kuvan Keskus ry, Tekijänoikeuden tiedotus- ja
valvontakeskus ry ja Voltti ry. Kaharin nuoriso-kulttuuritalo. Eurajoki.
Raunig, Gerald. 2007. Creative Industries as Mass Deception, Framework Issue 6/2007, 8–12.
Sadeniemi, Matti (toim.) Nykysuomen sanakirja. 1966. Lyhentämätön kansanpainos. Osat V ja
VI. S-Ö. Porvoo – Helsinki: Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö.
Taide on mahdollisuuksia. Ehdotus valtioneuvoston taide- ja taiteilijapoliittiseksi ohjelmaksi.
Taide- ja taiteilijapoliittinen toimikunta TAO. 2002. Helsinki: Opetusministeriö.
Taide- ja taiteilijapoliittinen periaatepäätös toimenpiteiksi. 2004. Pdf-tiedosto osoitteessa http://
www.minedu.fi/opm/hankkeet/tao/. Luettu 14.12.2005.
Taiteen mahdollisuuksista enemmän. Taide- ja taiteilijapoliittisen ohjelmaehdotuksen
oheisjulkaisu. 2002. Helsinki: Opetusministeriö.
Tunstall, Jeremy: 1993. Television Producers. New York: Routledge.
Tuominen, Saku. 2007. [esitelmä]. Tuottajuuden syvin olemus. Asiaa luovien alojen tuottajuudesta
ja manageritoiminnasta -seminaari 15.9.2007. Järjestäjät: LUNE – Luovien alojen neuvottelukunta,
SILE-projekti ja IADE. Taideteollinen korkeakoulu. Helsinki.
Valtioneuvoston periaatepäätös taide- ja taiteilijapolitiikasta. Opetusministeriön julkaisuja
2003:20. Kulttuuri-, liikuntaja nuorisopolitiikan osasto. Helsinki: Opetusministeriö.
Creative organizing in the global network
society: the case of global trafficking networks
Johan Sandström (PhD)
Department of Business Studies (ESI)
Örebro University
Abstract
This paper outlines the contours of the global network society and then searches for ‘the masters’
of this new environment. Judging from management talk, these masters are found in global
corporations, but closing in on practice, evidence rather point in the direction of global trafficking
networks. This raises several issues of which the role and responsibilities of business studies are
elaborated upon in the paper. Two kinds of arguments are given to why we should study these
networks. Keywords: business, globalization, morality, network, research, trafficking.
57
This is a working paper and it has not been proofread.
58
Creative organizing in the global network society:
the case of global trafficking networks
In its own raw and sordid way, illicit trade shows us some of the places globalization is going.
(Naím, 2007, p 36)
changing context. And the reverse of course, there are fewer opportunities for those maintaining
their faith in constructing rigid control structures and bureaucracies that only with great pains
can respond to the advance of the network society. Put bluntly, in this context, it is the global
networked organizations and entrepreneurs – the network enterprises – that are the winners.
‘The winners’, in theory
The global network society
As it goes, we live in an emerging global network society, in which the world’s flatness (Friedman,
2005) and fluidity (Bauman, 2000) create the need for new forms of management and organizing.
Manuel Castells argues that this is driven by a new technological paradigm: “What is new in our
age is a new set of information technologies” and since “information processing is at the source
of life, and of social action, every domain of our eco-social system is thereby transformed” (2000,
p 10). Castells adds to this, the feature of a global economy in which actors have the capacity
to act on a planetary scale, and the feature of a networked economy with so-called networked
enterprises. “These networks”, Castells claims, “connect among themselves on specific business
projects, and switch to another network as soon as the project is finished”, shifting the focus from
the formal organization (the company) to the temporary network (the project) (2000, p 11). The
primary example of the global network enterprise he takes here is the exterritorial global financial
players.
The network is here a key word in Castells’s analysis:
For most of human history, and unlike biological evolution, networks were outperformed by organizations
able to master resources around centrally defined goals, achieved through the implementation of tasks
in rationalized, vertical chains of command and control. But for the first time, the introduction of new
information/communication technologies allows networks to keep their flexibility and adaptability,
thus asserting their evolutionary nature. [---] It follows an unprecedented combination of flexibility
and task implementation, of co-ordinated decision making, and decentralized execution, which provide
a superior social morphology for all human action. (2000, p 15)
In the network society, flexible work therefore becomes “the predominant form of working
arrangements” (Castells, 2000, p 11) as networks demand continuous movements by their ‘nodes’:
“If a node in the network ceases to perform a useful function it is phased out from the network,
and the network rearranges itself – as cells do in biological processes” (2000, p 15). The moral
side of this story is striking: “Networks, as social forms, are value-free or neutral. They can
equally kill or kiss: nothing personal” (Castells, 2000, p 16).
This global network society and the image of the network enterprise have many proponents
among business scholars, managers and consultants. Creativity and flexibility are called for since
there are great business benefits to reap for those re-orienting their activities to better match this
59
Searching for descriptions and recipes of these winners, in theory, we find the shady contours of
a continuously emerging, flexible, transcending, informational, empowered and very adaptive
network of nodes. This network, in which the company is interwoven consist of both individuals
and organizations and knows no geographical borders in its pursuit of satisfying ever-changing
customer demands in the exchange for the highest possible profit. In its ideal version, this network
does not risk being sedimented in any long-term formal agreements that might hinder rapid
adaptation to changing circumstances and preferences. Loyalty is to the opportunity and not, in
the first place, to the owner or the customer.
Castells and Himanen (2002, p 21) state that: “At the level of company structure, informational
enterprises increase their productivity, profits, and market value by organizing themselves
(globally) as networks, by applying information technology, and by focusing more and more on
information (symbol) operations.” John Kotter, a well-known leadership consultant, talks about
‘doing it now’ and about new information systems that honestly and rapidly report how the specific
node in the network is performing. The single node usually gets too little information about how
she or it is doing, performance wise. Kotter here targets the stiff bureaucracies that do not value
leadership and teamship, flatter organizational structures, less bureaucracy and risk-taking. He
calls for more responsibility to employees and less internal interdependencies in the company.
The effective companies will, he predicts, regularly scrutinize its couplings and eliminate those
that are not any longer relevant. And there is a need to be aware as those nodes that do not
pass such evaluations will have to face adaptive companies with adaptive cultures, i.e. terrifying
machines of competition, in Kotter’s words. Kotter concludes by also arguing that most people
would actually enjoy this environment and these types of organizations since people thereby can
contribute to something meaningful.
Kotter is a consultant to top managements of world-leading corporations and such managers might
like to hear about the central importance of their formal position while simultaneously hearing
about the need to decentralize the risk and responsibilities of their decisions to the outskirts of
the network. However, critical organizational scholars, such as Stewart Clegg and colleagues,
also predict the continuation of these developments: “we are likely to see many organizations
adopting more distributed and network structures, with responsible autonomy in each of their
nodal points” (Clegg et al, 2007, p 369). The rhetoric about what type of organization that matches
the emerging global network society cuts across different perspectives in business studies.
60
Objections
Alas, these statements claim similar things, albeit from different viewpoints. They also give
indications to how things might be out-there in practice. When searching for these ‘informational
enterprises’, ‘terrifying machines of competition’ or ‘network structured organizations’, in
action, it is, however, only with great difficulty that these characteristics are matched by
contemporary global companies, regardless of industry or niche. One reading of this is that
movements along Castells and others’ lines are ‘under construction’ as well as combated by
a responding bureaucratization of business. This objection boils down to that even though we
might experience less formal hierarchies and bureaucracies as in the rigid and local pyramids of
corporate structure, bureaucracy comes in many disguises (c.f. Sennett, 1999; Alvesson, 2007).
Quality management systems, project management systems, information management systems,
environmental management systems, codes of ethics etc., can all be considered as modern
examples of bureaucracy. New patterns of bureaucracy eat away at, or retract, what the network
society has set loose. A loss of control is regained by new control instruments, making it, in a way,
a different-but-same situation.
However, the point here is that a loss of control to the forces of the network society and efforts to
regain this control does not render the forces less real. What it says is that there are new forms of
control that try to handle the advance of the network society. The examples with the new forms of
bureaucracy also indicates the fact that the predominant users of these new forms of control are
larger companies that operate across national borders, which means that we cannot really expect
to find the winners in the global network society, the ones truly mastering the new economy, in
these organizations, in the global corporations. These organizations have too much emphasis on
controlling every aspect of their often fragmented global supply chains.
Another objection to Castells and others, and their observations and predictions of the network
society, is based on the predominant part of the people in the world not really being caught up in
the flows of the network society. The global network society is not for everybody, or, it is not for
most people. The digital divide is one example; the few percent of China’s population having a
Westerner’s living standard is another; the still strong divide between skilled and generic labor
yet another. Castells himself even argues that:
Globalization is highly selective. It proceeds by linking up all that, according to dominant interests,
has value anywhere in the planet, and discarding anything (people, firms, territories, resources) which
has no value or becomes devalued, in a variable geometry of creative destruction and destructive
creation of value. (2000, p 10)
However, those left outside, or never involved, are still part of the analysis. Castells again, “we
have witnessed in the last 20 years a dramatic surge of inequality, social polarization, and social
exclusion in the world at large” (2000, p 12). “Some of the world’s residents are on the move”,
61
Zygmunt Bauman states, but “for the rest it is the world itself that refuses to stand still” (2000, p
58).
Combining the insights of Castells and Bauman with those of Ulrick Beck, Anthony Giddens,
Richard Sennett and others, there is clearly a changing context in which individualization and
globalization put pressures on the nation state, on the purposes and legitimacy of traditional
institutions, and on many individuals to construct their own life-story. One way to acknowledge
and deal with this objection is to speak of power. Turning the attention to those with more formal
positions of power in the network society, it can be assumed that they will speed rather than hinder
the overall (free trade, new technologies etc.) diffusion of the network society. Their actions
have more global consequences than many of those characterized as outside the network society.
Castells labels these actions the “core activities” and takes the examples of financial markets,
science and technology, multinational production firms, communication media, and others.
Hence, the assumption is basically evolutionary in that we might expect more developments
in the direction of a global network society: “Once introduced, and powered by information
technology, information networks, through competition, gradually eliminate other organizational
forms, rooted in a different social logic” (Castells, 2000, p 16). There is, though, a paradox here
since those fueling the growth of it are not the ones that empirically provide us with the ‘best
practice’ example of how to successfully organize in this environment.
‘The winners’, in practice
Taking into account these two objections, it is time to return to where, in practice, we might find
the networks making the most use of this emerging global network society. Given that the global
corporation, despite relying on the rhetoric of the network enterprise, leans towards the adoption
of new bureaucratic control systems, one global player which while not using the talk, seems to
be flourishing in the emerging environment is the global trafficking network: “Although human
trafficking is not a new problem, the dynamics of globalization are fueling its growth” (Jones et
al, 2007, p 118).
These networks are not the mob, or the mafia, as in the days of Bugsy Siegel and Jimmy Hoffa,
even though this image still seems to be strong among the public and those fighting illicit trade
(Marine, 2006). The mafia is local and basically a geographically determined organization. It
is about controlling a specific physical territory. The La Cosa Nostra, for example, consists of
“approximately 24 organized crime groups called ‘families,’ with each family controlling organized
crime activities in a particular region of the US” (Marine, 2006, p 216). Their geographical anchor
is also usually accompanied by a cultural one: “A person must be of Italian descent to be a ‘made
member’ of any of the LCN organized crime families” (ibid). These traits are not strengths in
the emerging global network society and global trafficking networks do not limit their actions or
discriminate actors in such ways.
62
Naím (2007, p 32) compares the global trafficking network with the corporation:
Rigid hierarchies in which authority is centralized don’t do well in a high-speed global marketplace
where opportunities and risks change too fast. The more organized crime groups resemble corporations,
the more their hierarchies and their routines prevent them from optimizing their activities. The new
environment gives an advantage to organizations capable of responding and adapting rapidly to new
opportunities and able to constantly shift locations, tactics, and ways and means to make the most
money possible. As a result, “organized crime” itself is changing – becoming less organized in the
traditional sense of command and control structures, and more decentralized.
the annual profits from human trafficking range between 7 and 10 billion dollars. For forced labour
(a.k.a. slavery), the figures are between 22 and 44 billion dollars in annual profits. Estimates also
have it that animal trafficking generates larger revenues than human trafficking and that guns
surpass both of them while drugs by far are the largest in turnover.
This means that we cannot fend them off as insignificant for the global economy; side-step them as
‘within the limit of miscalculation’; or downplay them as the small and unintended consequence
on the path of progress.
These networks seem to follow the outline and predictions of Castells and others, but they also
seem, as common with creative entrepreneurs, to be at least one step ahead of ‘regular’ global
businesses. They have, in practice (I don’t know if they care about theory or ever listen to overpaid management consultants), shifted their focus from commodities to skills: “Their work”,
Naím argues, “has grown easier to initiate, organize, and dissimulate, and they have adapted to
take maximum advantage of these new possibilities” (2007, p 36). “They are flexible, responsive,
A key point with Naím’s analysis (not one that he necessarily shares) is that we can also not really
fend them off for moral reasons since their capacity to use this emerging context has made them
difficult to separate from ‘legitimate’ businesses. There is a clear risk that some of your money (in
funds, accounts, wallet), and the products and services you buy, to some extent have been either
part of a laundering exercise, or handled by nodes in a trafficking network, or produced by illegal
workers etc (Marine, 2006, p 216). Naím’s (2007) experience is that the licit and the illicit “are
and rapid”, he continues, and “no itinerary is too complex, no supply deadline too urgent” (ibid).
This means that they can move “from product to product and market to market” and “arrange the
procurement, transport, and payment of whatever ‘merchandise’ needs moving at any given time”
(Naím, 2007, p 182). Flexible work, for instance, here means flexible in a much fuller sense then
in the multi-project environment of IBM or ABB.
coming together – ever harder to distinguish, both conceptually and in practice” (p 36) and that
the global network society here adds fuel to the complexity of the dilemma:
When describing how one of these trafficking networks operates, Naím tells us that:
Even a sophisticated mass-consumer, multinational corporation would have a hard time successfully
pulling off such a dizzying array of coordinated activities in the fields of manufacturing, international
trade, transportation logistics, inventory control, human resource management, distribution, product
fulfillment, and financial control – not to mention security and secrecy. The existence of organizations
with such fantastic managerial capabilities points to a business model capable of not only attracting
talented managers but also generating huge profits. (2007, p 100)
This means that what the global network society has become for the traffickers, is “a rather
special kind of world map”, and for these networks, “it is a map of incentives to trade, where the
grayer the area, often the greater the opportunity for profit” (Naím, 2007, p 185).
In this way, it seems difficult to deny that these networks make efficient use of the global network
society. We might even here see a role model of organizing for the 21st century. The global
trafficking network operates in global, fluid, flexible, informational, creative and, not the least,
highly profitable ways. And these networks are no small players. They represent a significant
part of the global economy. Correct figures are of course difficult to present, but estimates from
different governmental agencies and Non-Governmental Organizations on broad activities, such
as money laundering, and more specific activities, such as the amount of money sent home by
prostitutes working abroad, amount to percentages of many countries’ GDP. Figures estimating
63
After all, illicit trade by definition takes place outside the rules. But herein lies a complicating problem:
whose rules? They are hardly uniform from nation to nation. And that too is a strategic difference that
the traffickers have learned to exploit. Of course, some forms of trafficking are both morally abhorrent
and criminal everywhere. But not all cases are that straightforward. [---] So in practice what may be
‘illicit’ in one country may not be in another. Often, the laws have to catch up with the evolution of
illicit trade, creating new concepts and definitions such as ‘cyber crime’ or ‘digital piracy’ in order
to draw lines between innovative practices that are considered positive for society and ones that are
viewed as harmful. (pp. 184-185)
Confirmed by the response
One way of emphasizing the pro-activity of these networks; their capacity to read and deal with
the global network society, is to look at how the crime fighters are responding to the threats
of these trafficking networks. The simple answer is: with more bureaucracy. The fighting of
these trafficking networks, and other organized crimes, reinforces the pro-activeness in how the
trafficking networks make use of the emerging network society. In short, the crime fighters are
not able to brake free from the structures of the ‘old’ modernity. Naím tells a story:
One senior customs veteran told me: ‘I used to lose sleep wondering what new trick the smugglers
and crooks and – since September 11 – the terrorists would pull on us, but now I found myself awake
worrying sick because I knew that our own internal strife was making life far easier for all of them at
a time when we needed to be at our most effective. I knew how quick, creative, and dangerous the bad
guys are. And here we were spending all the time in meetings and watching PowerPoint presentations
by lawyers and politicians.’ (2007, p 177)
64
One issue is of course bureaucracy and Naím takes a big swing at it: “bureaucracies tend to
be organized in rigid hierarchical fashion, making them less nimble in sharing information or
coordinating efforts with others outside their vertical lines of command” (2007, p 182). Marine
(2006), however, working for the U.S. department of justice on these issues, shows how this is
not only a problem of bureaucracy when he despite pointing out these ‘non-traditional organized
crime groups’ (the global trafficking networks) simultaneously categorizes them into “Chinese
criminal enterprises”, “Vietnamese criminal groups”, “Russian organized crime activities” and
“Albanian-based groups”. Jones et al also talk about the Yakuza in Japan and the transnational
crime networks developed after the collapse of the Soviet Union (2007, p 114). These groups
make it to the U.S., where they pollute legitimate businesses. These groups then, which often
set up what Marine calls, quasi-businesses or “pseudo-legitimate companies”, “cannot be true
participants in the free market, where success is determined by which company best (most
efficiently and cost-effectively) meets supply and demand” (Marine, 2006, p 228).
Following Naím, though, how can we really separate one from the other when they are not
just Chinese or Albanian, or when they are not just legitimate or illegitimate? Simple forms of
categorization do not capture the complexity of these trafficking networks. Not surprisingly, as
shown by Jones et al (2007), this has led to a “lack of a common, accepted definition”, which “has
resulted in much confusion on how governments and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)
ought to respond” (p 111).
Implications
The discussion of who/what performs as a ‘winner’ in the emerging global network society raises
the issues of the consequences of globalization on work and organization, and of the role and
responsibilities of scholars, practitioners and policy-makers in dealing with this. In this discussion,
however, I have limited the argument to business studies. I will present two arguments for why we,
as business scholars, should be more attentive to these global trafficking networks and tone down
our insatiable interest in the big and powerful corporations. These arguments, the ideological
argument and the scientific argument respectively, are derived from Alf Rehn (2006). They are
mutually exclusive, but the consequences of adopting them are similar.
The ideological argument
As business scholars, we represent a discipline with a traditionally strong empirical connectedness
and with no real own theory of our own (psychology and sociology tend to be heavily ‘translated’
by business scholars). This means that business studies, according to most proponents, has a
responsibility to contribute to business practice, to forward more effective business practices.
Taking this task serious, one implication of this paper is that we ought to study these trafficking
networks, bring their creative organizing under scrutiny, and go tell our stories not only to scientific
65
journals, but also to managers. The need for a new, empirically driven, research program on
global trafficking networks in business studies is thus needed.
From this ideological, pro-business viewpoint, these networks represent creative players from
which those saluting the image of global companies on global markets can learn. It is obvious that
these global trafficking networks are adapting well and they have proven some degree of mastery
of globalization, which means that they have stories to tell and lessons to learn those curious
about better conquering the emerging network society, which, following the neo-classic economic
theory lurking behind most pro-business approaches, will lead to the best of all possible worlds.
Alas, the first implication is that these trafficking networks deserve more attention from business
scholars and practitioners in order to help businesses in becoming more effective, more successful,
in better understanding the dynamics and consequences of globalization. Business demands
success, growth, and as business scholars we should be a part in this creation of more effective
business. The global trafficking network constitutes one of the prime examples of business
success, but we, as scholars, do not study them so that more business operations can be assisted
on their insatiable quest for success.
The scientific argument
From the scientific viewpoint, these networks should be studied since they are a part of ‘what
is’ of contemporary business life. A scientific discipline cannot limit itself to arbitrary decisions
on what is legitimate to study and what is not illegitimate to study within its field. A scientific
discipline should study what is, what is done, and by whom, how and why, within its field of
inquiry. This means that business studies is about what business do and as these global trafficking
networks are business operations – often even run and upheld by ‘legitimate’ business companies
– business studies should study them. One objection might be that: As business scholars we do
not study actors or organizations that clearly include criminal or immoral elements. But this is
not a particularly fruitful position. Arguing that illicit or immoral activities will not be studied
first of all neglects a significant part of what is out-there, of what is actually happening, and
second of all, makes the moralizing discourse of business studies even more problematic: What
is then really illicit, what is then really immoral?
There is a strong tendency to categorize ‘nodes’ involved here as either criminal or non-criminal,
illegitimate or legitimate, immoral or morally good (c.f. Marine, 2006; Jones et al, 2007).
Alf Rehn (2006) talks about the orthodox business studies, about how to do business well, in
which the management of a construction firm is included as morally good, but the creation and
marketing of pornography is morally bad. Pornography in this case, however, happens to be
both legal and a very big and profitable industry, whether we hold it as immoral or not. Still, the
problem here, according to Rehn, is that pornography is basically left untouched by business
66
scholars. The same, he continues, goes with criminal activities (which are a prime example of
entrepreneurship) and the toy industry (which celebrates creativity and innovation). Behind these
choices lie assumptions about what is good and appropriate, and what is not.
Rehn’s main point is that if business studies are for the special needs of the (morally good parts
of the) business community (see the ideological argument), than business studies cannot be a
science. Science should serve humanity and truth, not some chosen parts of it. Science should
be interested in what is and not only in what is ‘good’. For this reason as well, business studies
should allow and encourage the study of the global trafficking networks.
New project management practices
Juhani Tenhunen
References
Abstract
Alvesson, Mats (2007) Tomhetens triumf. Atlas/Liber: Malmö.
Bauman, Zygmunt (2000) Liquid modernity. Polity Press: Cambridge.
Castells, Manuel (2000) Materials for an exploratory theory of the network society. British Journal of
Sociology, 51(1), 5-24.
Castells, Manuel and Himanen, Pekka (2002). The information society and the welfare state. The
Finnish model. Oxford University Press: Oxford.
Clegg, Stewart R., Courpasson, David, and Phillips, Nelson (2006) Power and Organizations. Sage:
London.
Friedman, Thomas L. (2005) The world is flat: a brief history of the twenty-first century. Farrar, Straus
and Giroux:
Kotter, John P. (1996) Leading change. Harvard Business School Press: Harvard.
Marine, Frank J. (2006) The effects of organized crime on legitimate businesses. Journal of Financial
Crime, 13(2), 214-234.
Naím, Moisés (2007) Illicit. How smugglers, traffickers and copycats are hijacking the global economy.
Arrow books: London.
The myth is that there are differences in displaying to the work with the technical and other media
project workers. If there are and if they have some effects to the working practices it must be
found out and proved.
Strange habits are threats. Other cultures and disciplines do have strange habits and processes.
Complexity of digital media and growth of project sizes present, that projects need more effort
and knowledge, which can be offered just by one culture or company. That causes that more and
more people from different cultures and disciplines must be involved in projects. In new media
projects both technology and the so-called artistic disciplines are joined together to make a
successful project. As projects are put together for a short period, everyone in the project should
immediately understand their own and the others role in the.
The new media projects must be created both contentually and technically. On a contrary to
traditional film or TV production, the amount of work in new media productions can contain more
technical disciplines than traditional media work discipline. On the other hand also so called
technical projects do often use rich media content and that sense it can be said that these two
disciplines are merging.
This paper states the need for deeper knowledge of project management methods in new media
projects.
Rehn, Alf (2006) Företagsekonomin och “la trahison des clercs”. Pinc Machine Books: Stockholm.
Juhani Tenhunen . New Project management practises
to be updated later
67
68
Often it is said that there are two kinds of people, artists and technicians. It is also said that
their attitude to work is different, the others are bohemians and they can and should behave
uncommonly. Their behaviour is unpredictable because they are so creative. The others are just
like programmed to behave rationally and all their deeds are predictable and planned. Of course
this is a caricature and in real life an engineer can also be a musician or dancer and an artist can
program C++ or maintain car. We can’t judge a person because of his profession or discipline.
Media productions are now more often targeted to many data terminal equipments, like mobile
phone, computer, and TV or even film. More work must be done, which will the budgets will be
increased, and in order to divide the production costs, the productions must be delivered to larger
more international and multidisciplinary work must be done just. This article will handle the
change from traditional media production to the new media project.
What is a project?
The quite unanimous determination for a project concept is, that it is a unique whole, which
has a determinate goal, in which many complex tasks are related to each others, and which is
defined temporally, costly and by extent. Project is a methodology of managing a series of
work, which have a start and end, and limited budget and wished but uncertain result. Many
financiers, like EU Commission for instance, most often requires project form, when financing
research and development projects. It is no doubt a safe way to manage big money flows when
the result is unpredictable. Some of the projects fail and some will succeed. Project management
is a methodology, which gives tools to manage the risk of unknown - uncertainty. That’s why
it is a perfect method of managing uncertain research and development projects, and why not
media productions, which always are unique, and which always are delimited both budgetary,
temporally, costly and by extent.
We all have experienced by ourselves or at least have heard stories about funny or embarrassing
misunderstandings caused by cultural differences, like laughed at the wrong place, taking food
with the wrong hand or tried to drive on the wrong side of the street. It has been accepted by all
that differences between national cultures exist.
others know what they are doing and to verbalize decisions fully”.
Media and design research projects are usually both international and multidisciplinary and
because the projects are put together from people and organizations strange to each other and
as their working cultures differs, it is essential that share common rules directing and gluing the
work together. The personnel of a project must quickly and easily learn the goals and objects of
a project, the working methods and perhaps the most important, their own role in the project.
The globally working companies in service or maintaining business have already had to face
the difference problems concerning cultures, professions, and even organizations. For example
energy production machine business and aviation industry have already long traditions in that.
Building up an energy plant is a huge project with hundreds or even thousands of suppliers and
workers. Local workers from the area and workers from other countries must be get to work
together. The common factor for the workers in energy plant construction project is that they all
are from the technical branch (of different levels though) and thus they at least at some extend
share similar rules and manners. If we simplify, their only difference is their national culture,
language and their company culture.
Taik, Media Lab projects
In Media Lab at University of Art and Design I’ve been working as producer in several European
Union IST research projects, which contains in addition to media and design development work
also a huge amount of technical development work. One of them, New Media – New Millennium
(NM2), will develop technical platform for interactive broadband TV. Through the project
we have seen, that the budgets and the amount of work are growing because of the technical
development.
During the project work lots of practical methods must be invented to suit the use of project team,
financiers, and organization. The born and used tacit knowledge is very important and it will be
the core of the research.
In the productions of TV and film independent producers, the teams have always been working
(at least in Finland and Europe) in so called virtual organizations (VO), which is researched in
EU Commission project called ECOLEAD, which claims following:
“In ten years, in response to fast changing market conditions, most enterprises and
specially the SMEs will be part of some sustainable collaborative networks that will act as
breeding environments for the formation of dynamic virtual organizations.”
Global business and intercultural projects
Because people but also businesses have become global, it is necessary to recognize the differences
of other cultures. Multi-cultural working environments are now very common and they have both
negative and positive aspects. On the negative side are frustrations of difficulties in communication,
but communication can also be seen positively, namely according to the surveys done by Robert
The approaches to the project management of the so-called creative industry (like film, design,
and so on) and of more technically oriented industry, like for-example software developers, differ
from each other. Even the designations of the person, who leads the project is usually called in
L Helmrich in the avian industry many workers had reported, that “they try harder to make sure
Helmreich, 2000, 3
Artto Martinsuo Kujala 2006, 26
http://crucible.lume.fi/, projects
http://www.nm2-ist.org/
European Collaborative Networked Organisations Leadership Initiative
69
70
the creative industry a producer, where as in software business (s)he is called a project manager.
Of course there are also structural differences in the description of the work.
On the other hand it seems that the areas are increasingly merging at least in the media projects,
in which sophisticated Internet-based solutions are often implemented as part of the work or at
least for marketing purposes. TV broadcasting system is turning to digital all over the world in a
few years time and other form of audiovisual broadcasters, like IPTV and mobileTV will soon be
everyday life. The development of the technology and especially because it is possible the media
will be more and more interactive and thus requiring multidisciplinary point of view.
Shared facto: Flow
Although creation of an artistic work implies myths about artists and their special attitude to their
work, the process is more often bread and butter. On the other hand Linus Thorvalds has said:
“…when hacker is sitting in front of his computer, he doesn’t think, where from he’s getting
his next supper or roof above his head.”
This is more or less the same look or attitude as artists are believed to have in their work. Mihaly
Csikszentmihalyi launches in his book ‘Good Business – Leadership, Flow and the Making of
Meaning’ the concept of ‘flow’, which means that a person regardless of age, gender, or education,
can feel a deep sense of enjoyment of their work in certain conditions10. It is quite reasonable to
claim that the work itself has not much to do with the attitude towards the work. Csikszentmihalyi
stresses the importance of achieving a flow status in one’s work not only because of the productivity
matters for the organization but also because of the wellbeing of worker.
“Many leaders are already implementing the main conditions that make flow possible or
at least they understand how to do so in theory. For instance, Mike Murray of Microsoft
describes the three “common things” that determine the success of a business team:”
“[Number one:] If the manager makes sure that every team member has very clear goals
that line up to what the company needs to be doing… Number two: if the manager is really
good at planning all the incremental activities that need to get done so that the work flows
smoothly through the team. And number three, if the manager is really good at keeping
communication and feedback…”11
Csikszentmihalyi12 also says in the same book that it’s impossible to create an environment
that will foster flow without commitment from top management, which is about the same as
what Harold Kerzner claims in his book ‘Advanced Project Management – Best practices on
implementation’. Project management must be seen as method how projects are carried out. It
contains the comprehensive control over the project, which supports the goals of the organization.
To achieve excellence in project management means that all the organizational levels, from the
10
11
12
Hyytiä 2004, 198
Thorvalds 2000, 15
Csikszentmihalyi, 2003, 39
71
executives to the workers must support and understand the principals of it. It is important to
notice that, the organization must firstly find out right project management methods most suitable
for the organization and secondly implement the appropriate tools to make it possible, not the
other way round.
Project management has bureaucratic characters in that sense that there is need of control
of the costs and the usage of the resources. In my view, however, the one of the purposes of
implementing the project management method should be to achieve wellbeing of personnel in
the form of better understanding of the project and the goals of the organization. According to
Kerzner, project management has been implemented in many big companies like for-example
Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems and it has shown increased sales and customer satisfaction.
Project management is also used in European Union research projects. To fully understand and
excellence it needs to study and create methods how the excellence would be possible media
projects, which contain media, design and technical development aspects.
From project management offices to new project management methods
The best results of a project or of all human action will be received when people, who do the work,
are motivated to do it. A big factor in motivation is a feeling that you can affect to work what you
are doing. Things will not be done properly if you are told to do it and you don’t know why doing
it. That’s why it is necessary to research the action in the projects rather than the management
structures and money flows. It is obvious that more money savings will be done when motivated
people do proper job. How the work is done or should be done and what are the needs of the
project must be in focus when trying to find new methods of managing the projects. Companies
and organizations must be flexible enough to make the work be done in the best possible way not
the other way. The goals of the new project managing methods are
• to find out practices (methods) for project management of design and media
projects, which supports the work in the project,
• to raise wellbeing in crews of new media projects, and
• to help project work quickly to start the project by helping people better to
understand other discipline and national cultures in the project.
Harold Kerzner describes in his book ‘Advanced Project Management – Best Practices on
Implementation’ the implementation of project management methods in many big multinational
companies. In the book he propagates strongly on the behalf of project management offices
(PMO) and project management practices. I am not arguing, that the practices he describes are
directly usable in interactive media and design projects, but they can be a good starting point to
mastering the projects also in media projects.
The implementation of PMO can initially distributed into seven phases: 1) Background analysis,
2) Practices and Processes, 3) Tools and project management methods, 4) Testing the methods, 5)
Organizational structure, 6) Building of an informal project management office, and 7) Building
of a project management office (PMO).
72
Background analysis
The needs of multicultural and multidisciplinary projects can be found out by Geert Hofstede’s
model. Hofstede researched national culture differences but the same methods can be used in
the research of disciplinary culture differences. Power distance for instance is one of the factors,
which can be used. The power distance measures the distance of your attitude to your boss and
what is your relation to authorities, individuals and groups, the concept of masculinity femininity
and the ways of dealing with uncertainty.13
Comparison between technical project and media project workflows by the means of interviews
and surveys in purely technical project organizations and in media or art project organizations
will be done.
Practices and processes
The best practices must be found out from the needs of the organization and the projects itself.
Methodology models and processes will be studied and enforced in to practice. At this stage of
the research it is too early to make decisions both for and against any methodology. The project
management process will certainly be one, what will be researched properly.
Tools and project management methods
It is not very rare that tools are bought and forced to use by the organization executives without
thinking how well they will suit to organization purposes and are they increasing or bringing
down the costs. The excellence of project management needs also proper tools to make it happen.
In the market there are plenty of project management applications of which MS Project may be
the most popular. It and also the other tools are designed for other cultural purposes than Europe
and they can’t for-example produce a proper budget for media purposes. That’s why in this work
the tool development has thought to be done. The concrete programming of the tool is not really
an issue. It is the way to find out flexible processes from the research group point of view.
Testing the methods
It is important that the project management systems are taken in use throughout the organization
or at least where the projects are carried out. The training of the persons working in the projects
and also in the administration must therefore start in quite early stage. The training will be
continuous and if there is a need the project management procedures can be an issue for instance
in the University of Art and Design.
In cooperation with VTT in the project called eMari – Mobile support for e-maintenance the focus
is to research the shared factors both in national cultures and in disciplinary cultures. Cooperation
in the project just started and the first results will be out spring 2008.
Organizational structure
What kind of organization will best support the projects? In the organizations, where project
management has been implemented, must usually go through organizational changes to better
13
Hofstede, 1991, 13
73
serve the projects. As Kerzner have mentioned many big companies have taken the project
management as a solution. In Finland some companies implemented PMO, have failed, especially
if main business of company is something else than to run projects. The chang from traditional
functional organization to project organization is a big step and requires remarkable changes
throughout the organization.
Informal project management office
It is not necessary to first change the organization and then start PMO. Also smoother steps can be
done. When the needs have been analysed and methodology, processes and at least the principal
of the tools have been mapped it can be reasoned to establish an informal project management
office (PMO). Through the PMO the methodology can be fully refined and the PMO organization
can be proved.
Project management office
If the organization carries out lots of projects or if it has ambitions to coordinate projects
successfully, PMO is probably the solution to master it. The research projects financed by
European Commission are more often so large that they need educated professionals to fulfil
them. Many project professionals prove PMO as a good approach.
The framework of the research is the activity theory, where individuals are the workers in the
projects, and the object is the goal of the project, and the tools are the act and the used methods.
My hypothesis is that combining the used methods and the methods of project management
would be an answer to find new, more suitable tools of managing the media and design projects.
Further research
When writing this article the research of new project management methods suitable for new
media productions is only in the very beginning. In many projects I’ve been with, the work has
been done but also some conflicts with organization, crew and the whole consortium have been
witnessed. I’m sure that not all the problems can be solved and new will come, but there certainly
are needs to find and improve methods for new kind of projects.
This research will one way improve the methods and practices of multidisciplinary art and
also design projects. The benefits of the research will firstly aim to get better results from the
projects. Secondly, better management methods will help project managers to achieve the goals
of organization.
The research will help to understand the project work and through the understanding the found
tools can help to manage and minimize all kinds of risks of constantly growing project sizes. It
will
• help to run projects more economically by the new methods
• help to get more and better results form the projects and make them
contentually richer, and
• increase the wellbeing in the project workers.
74
Literature
Books and articles
Karlos Artto, Miia Martinsuo, Jaakko Kujala, 2006: Projektiliiketoiminta, WSOY Oppimateriaalit Oy,
Helsinki
Khosrow-Pour, Mehdi, 2001: Managing Information Technology in a Global Economy: IRMA
Proceeding, Business & Economics
Rosenau, Milton D. & Githens, Gregory D.: Successful Project Management: A Step-by-Step Approach
with Practical Examples, 4th Edition
Wenger, Etienne, 2004: Knowledge management is a donut: shaping your knowledge strategy with
communities of practice. Ivey Business Journal
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly, 2003: Good Business – Leadership, Flow and the Making of Meaning,
Penquing Books, London
Helmreich, Robert L., 2000: “Culture and Error in Space: Implications from Analog Environments”,
University of Texas Crew Research Project Website:www.psy.utexas.edu/psy/helmreich/
nasaut.htm
Himanen Pekka, Torwalds Linus (prologue), Castels Manuel (epilogue) 2000: Hakkerietiikka, WSOY,
Helsinki (original work The Hacker Ethic – and the Spirit of the Information Age, Random
House, New York, N.Y. 10171)
Hofstede Geert, 1991: Cultures and Organizations, Software of the Mind, Intercultural Cooperation and
its Importance for Survival, Harper Collins Publishers, London, UK
Hyytiä, Riina, 2004: Ennen kuin kamera käy – Ideasta kuvauksiin | tekijät kertovat, Taideteollisen
korkeakoulun julkaisu A 50, Hollola
Kerzner, Harold, 2004: Advanced Project Management : Best Bractices on Implementation / Harold
Kerzner. -2nd ed. p. cm. Rev. ed. of : Applied Project Management c2000, John Wiley &
Sons. Inc. Hoboken, New Jersey
Other sources
ECOLEAD, European Collaborative Networked Organisations Leadership Initiative, EU Commission
FP6-IST 6th Framework Programme, http://www.ecolead.org
Crucible Studio web site, http://crucbile.lume.fi/ à productions
New Media New Millennium NM2 EU Commission FP6-IST 6th Framework Programme, http://www.
ist-nm2.org/
Initial list of reading
Cleve, Bastian, 2000: Film Production Management
Dinsmore, Paul C. & Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin: The AMA Handbook of Project Management
Engeström, Yrjö, 2005: Developmental Work Research, Herausgegeben von Georg Rückriem, Lehmanns
Media, Berlin
Kerzner, Harold PhD, 2006: Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and
Controlling, 9th Edition
Kevin, Forsberg; Mooz, Hal & Cotterman, Howard: Visualizing Project Management: Models and
Frameworks for Mastering Complex Systems, 3rd Edition
75
76
Scenarios in the ICT Service Business
Jukka Hallikas, Mikko Pynnönen, Petri Savolainen, Kimmo Suojapelto
Technology Business Research Center & School of Business, Lappeenranta
University of Technology Lappeenranta, Finland.
2. Creativity in Futures Thinking, Futures Studies
and Foresight
Abstract: The objective of this paper is to outline the future of ICT sector (Information and
Communications Technology). ICT sector is currently changing due to convergence development
and transforming industry structure. We have created a framework for identification of driving
factors and uncertainties, developing alternative future scenarios of ICT. The linkage to the
innovation process is highlighted by exploring the alternative business innovation opportunities
for actors to operate in a selected scenario environment.
Keywords: Industry dynamics, Delphi, Scenario planning, Business innovation
1. Introduction and background of the study
It has been argued that order to anticipate the future of industry or single business, it is important to
understand the changes that drive the business environment. The external events and development
paths that change the competitive environment create the most essential strategic risks to the
incumbent actors (e.g. Gilad, 2004). In particular, changing competitive environment changes
the competitive power structure in an industry causing opportunities and threats to the existing
actors. This paper concentrates on examining the industry development of ICT service business
environment, which is an example of the converging sectors within ICT industry. In order to
be succesful in a new industry order, the alternative development paths of the future have to be
recognized. Furthermore, companies have to match the external opportunities and threats with
their existing business models in a creative ways in order to be succesful also in the future.
Challenging issues in business environment is to understand the big picture and dynamics of
the industry change, and to recognize indicators and discontinuities anticipating this change.
In general, vastly recognized problem in corporate business intelligence is that there is very
much information available about the development of business environment, however, there
ain’t explicit methodology to define the context for that information (Gilad, 2004). This makes it
77
78
difficult task to monitor the current development of business environment.
The essential information related to changing business environment is on recognizing the change
drivers and uncertainties in the industry development. These change drivers have a remarkable
role in identification of the future development of an industry. Change drivers can arise from
the changes in technological development, regulatory environment, social environment, industry
structure, and competitive environment. Furthermore, in order to exploit the complex structures of
alternative industry futures, and combine the change forces and uncertainties the scenario method
can be exploited. Scenarios can be further used as a platform for monitoring and anticipatiing
the development of ICT sector, and developing new business innovations based on emerging
opportunities and threats.
In order to shed some light on the context of ICT sector we firstly have to define the industry.
The definition of ICT industry is not necessarily a straightforward task. There are various angles
to be considered, as for example Smith (2001) has declared: “The question here is not simply
whether we can think of ICT as an industrial sector, or even a more or less unified industrial
activity. It is also whether it makes sense to speak of ICT as a unified technology, or whether it is
in fact many technologies, perhaps only loosely related to each other.” Gruber (2001) defines the
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector as the technological convergence of
the Information Technology (IT) and (tele) Communication technology (CT).
Figure 1. Overlap between the IT, Telecommunications and Information Content Activities of
Firms (adapted from a Finnish Model) (OECD, 2006)
Information and communications technology (ICT) industry is currently changing rapidly due to
the convergence of media, telecommunication and IT industries. ICT and its (sub) sectors have
been in such a fast progression throughout its entire history that not many other industries can be
79
compared with it. It has been continuously under some sort of conversion, but the ongoing change
including mobility and ubiquity is perhaps the biggest one it has ever faced.
This division can be also illustrated as a figure to give a better picture of the industry as a
combination of several activities and their interfaces. Referring to the Figure 1, OECD proposes
that the ICT sector can be viewed as the activities which fall into the union of the Information
Technology and Telecommunications activities illustrated in the Figure 1. It includes therefore
the intersections between them and the Information Content activities.
2. Environmental scanning and scenarios
To be successful, companies have to continuously monitor and scan their external environment.
According to Ansoff (1987), key to successful strategy is to recognize that if a company is
functioning, it is part of the environment surrounding it and any firm that operates in a high
change business environment will have to give increased attention to ‘weak-signals’ and ‘surprise’
strategic management practices. It follows that effective strategy formulation requires effective
environmental scanning and this enable decision makers to understand the dynamics of current
and potential changes. Strategic planning that includes environmental scanning will produce
as one of its outputs a listing of key factors that could either prove to be opportunities worth
exploiting or threats that need to be countered (Subramanian et al., 1994). Identification of these
factors, which can be general or industry specific, is the first task in the environmental scanning
process. Essential is that these factors have a significant effect for the industry development if/
when they materialize.
The factors that are relevant for industry change can be gathered from any source or method.
For example public sources, the Internet, industry literature or interviews can be used for this
search. The Delphi method is an alternative expert method to collect the future information to
frame the different future possibilities. It can be used for identification, validation or assessment
of the factors relevant for the future. Delphi process can be argumentative (Linstone & Turoff,
1975) where the consensus is secondary if the process provides diverging arguments of possible
future scenarios. Fowles (1978) has determined 10 steps in a Delphi process. In general, Delphi
process share the characteristics of iterative commenting rounds and can be arranged in order to
form a coherent view of the factors. During or after these rounds the validation of the factors by
the expert panel is done and they are rated by their importance and probability. This assessment
is used for clustering the driving factors. In general, most important and uncertain factors are
selected as plots for scenario development.
Scenarios address the plausible futures of the future development. Their purpose is to tackle the
inherent uncertainty in present and future business environment and facilitate strategic decision
making. The scenario process offers a systematic and creative way of thinking about possible
future environments, and developing strategies and then testing them for these environments (van
80
der Hejden, 1998). The objective of the scenarios is not a prediction or plan, rather than to change
in the mindset who use them (DeGeuss, 1998). The real power of the scenario process underlies
in the way it process information about the environment. Where traditional forecasting tries to
represent a probable future trajectory, the scenarios describe plausible future paths.
There are several processes and methods that are used to formulate future scenarios. Many of those
processes start by identifying particular driving forces and factors which are interrelated to the
key issues or decision (Schwartz, 1991). Furthermore, identification of driving forces emphasizes
the underlying circumstances relevant to the focal issue. Several practitioners have argued that
scenario method is more art than science (e.g. van der Heijden, 1998; Schwarz, 1991). It follows
that there are not necessarily any right ways of producing scenarios.
The scenarios are often structured with the scenario plots, describing the tensions of alternative
attributes e.g. vertical versus horizontal development. The objective of the scenario plotting is
an attempt to give a logical presentation of plausible futures. As stated by Schwartz (1991),
the scenarios describe how the driving forces might behave in different settings. Furthermore,
scenario plots are used to describe how plausible scenarios might unfold by using important and
uncertain driving forces as building blocks. The scenario development and realization should be
continuously monitored with specific indicators (Gilad, 2004). Here, scenarios can be used as a
basic element in strategic early warning system, and to identify weak signals i.e. less plausible
alternatives in development paths (Fink et al., 2005).
Scenario building is widely used methodology in future studies providing insightful platform for
analyzing opportunities and risks in changing business environment. In general, scenarios can
be used to describe the circumstances of alternative futures and connect these structures to the
competitive forces of single actors (Gilad, 2004). The competitive 5 force model of Porter (1980)
can, for example, be used as a framework for analyzing changes in competitive positioning.
In this model, the changes in new entrant and substitute threat, buyer and supplier negotiation
power, and rivalry among existing firms are the competitive forces to be explored. Scenarios can
also be used for developing resources capabilities to match the future environments (Fink et al,
2005). This connects scenarios also to the innovation process.
According to Garcia et al. (2002), there are two important aspects in innovation. Firstly, the
innovation process includes both technological development and market introduction aspects.
Secondly, the process is iterative, and therefore it includes an introduction of a new innovation
and the reintroduction of an improved innovation. The iterative nature of the innovation process
leads to different types of innovations. (Garcia et al., 2002) Typically these types are called radical
innovation and incremental innovation (Garcia, Calantone and Roger, 2002; Hamel, 2000).
Radical business innovation has potential to change the industry dynamics. Incremental business
innovation concentrates on improving that which already exists, not on creating something
completely new.
In a business concept innovation process the idea of open innovation plays a central role. As
81
several parties are involved that have functioning businesses, it is essential to integrate their
contribution and knowledge into the process. Otherwise, the result of the innovation process will
not represent the actual situation. The main idea in open innovation paradigm is that the value is
created not only inside a single firm but also between several firms. As well the innovation can
end to the market from inside or outside the firm (Chesbrough, 2003). This is the main idea also
behind the value network (Bovet and Martha, 2000; Cartwright and Oliver, 2000; Fjeldstad and
Haanæs, 2001; Tapscott et al., 2000).
Research framework
The purpose of this paper is to present a framework for applying the industry change and scenario
method into competitive positioning of actors in the industry. Furthermore, we illustrate an
example of how actors’ innovation process could be connected to the change drivers and scenarios.
Scenarios and industry drivers can be used as triggers for improving the competitive positioning
in the industry through business innovations. Our empirical research applies the Delphi process
and group brainstorming sessions with experts.
Driving forces &
uncertainties in ICT
development
Future scenarios
of ICT
Service providers’
environment
in different scenarios
New opportunities
& business innovations
Figure 2. The framework of the paper to link the scenario process into innovation process
Figure 2 depicts the research framework of the study. Firstly, the general driving forces and
uncertainties in the ICT are identified and assessed. Future scenarios are developed based on
these driving factors and uncertainties. Finally, we show how to exploit the most threatening
scenario as a trigger for developing targeted business innovations.
Delphi study for scanning the environment
In this study, the Delphi process is used to identify and asses industry driving factors and
uncertainties in order to anticipate the future of the ICT industry. The Delphi study have naturally
importance as itself, but the main reason for conducting it is that these results form the basis for
scenario building for ICT industry. The variables chosen to the Delphi questionnaire were ones
that derived from various sources and interviews made during 2005-2006. Invitation to the Delphi
panel was sent to 20 experts. These persons were experts from different sides of ICT industry,
82
firms and governmental bodies. The task of the panelist was twofold: first to comment the given
list of variables, and then validate the variables by their importance and confidence.
I Round:
–To identify and list the focal change variables affecting to the industry future
II Round:
–To rank (1-5 scale) the listed variables (48 variables) by:
–Importance of how much change impact, positive/negative the variable has on the development of ICT industry.
–Confidence level representing the uncertainty of the variable outcome.
After the panelists were commenting the variable in first round, the variables were clustered
according to their qualities into five clusters: Demand and Societal variables, Industry Structure
variables, Political and Regulatory variables, Economical variables, and Technology variables.
Altogether 48 variables were included to the assessment.
In the second round, the questionnaire was sent back to the experts, who ranked the selected
variables according to their importance and confidence level. For this second round, some
additional experts were asked to join and to become involved to the process. The variables were
rated in the scale of 1-5, both by their importance and confidence level. Importance refers to how
big influence the variable in question has on the ICT industry development during the next 5-15
years. Confidence level refers to the how probable the realization of that variable in question in
the future is. Altogether 15 individual answers were given in the second round.
upright and Wild Cards upleft. The factors located lower were named underlying Context Shapers”
down right (factors that are probable, but not very important for ICT industry development) and
Potential Jokers down left, which were not seen very important and probable, or potentially
factors whose importance was not understood properly. Example of variables categorized in Wild
Card cluster is presented in Table 1.
Table 1. Example of “Wild Card” variables and their mean values
Factor Name
Importance
Probability
Internet services take into account the requirements of mobile environment
3,9
3,1
Aging of end-users create new types of services
3,9
3,0
End users participate actively to the content creation of services (communities)
3,9
3,0
There are rational revenue sharing and valuation models for joint production of mobile services
4,2
3,1
Bandwidth of mobile networks becomes sufficient to provide all demanded services effectively
4,0
3,0
Regulators’ cooperation globally increases
3,8
2,7
Regulation is influenced by industry incumbents and it affects on free competition
There is seamless interoperability between customer access channels
Modular and standardized product architecture becomes dominant solution in ICT infrastructure
3,9
4,1
4,1
2,9
3,1
3,1
In the real terms, both of ranked objectives (importance/uncertainty) showed very high results.
In fact, none of the ranked variables had mean average under 2.5 and in importance not even
under 3.0. Therefore it can be concluded that we were dealing with important factors, which all
will happen rather certainly in the future. However this was not a surprise, since all the variables
had been already selected and commented, therefore the not meaningful variables were already
dropped out on the first Delphi round, or more probably, had not ever been considered by the
group.
Scenario development
Scenarios can be created in many ways. We wanted to develop interesting scenarios that could be
reasonably acceptable as plausible industry outcomes, yet also be distinct and divergent. For that
purpose, we built the scenarios around two carefully thought-out differentiators that were used to
characterize some key aspects of the outcomes. The first one differentiates scenario aspects along
a “bottom-up - top-down” axis, whereas the second axis ranges from “segregated” to “converged”.
Thus we got four unique differentiator combinations that we can use for scenarios.
To construct the scenarios, we then applied the differentiators to describe the collaboration
characteristics, structure & environment, and R&D and innovation characteristics of the industry
under each scenario. In practice, the effect of each differentiator was described against a set of
questions about industry development, for example:
How technological infrastructure and services are confronted by the convergence development?
Figure 3. Categorization of factors to fourfold table
A fourfold table was created to categorize the driving factors as shown in Figure 3. The factors
were divided into four tables on the grounds of the mean average where Trends can be found from
83
How bottom-up vs. top-down factors act as industry & innovation drivers?
What is the effect of segregated vs. converged development paths of the customer interfaces,
service production, technological platforms, and business environment?
84
How integrated or open the different levels in the technological and business system are?
Whether the innovation and network development is driven by bottom-up or top-down factors?
Finally, to further improve the expressiveness of each scenario, we connected the scenarios with
the 48 variables from the Delphi study. The fit of each variable with each scenario was estimated,
one by one. A plausible good fit with (the differentiator combination of) a scenario, for example,
was taken to suggest the variable expression as a good candidate for characterizing the scenario.
OLDIES AND GOLDIES
Collaboration
Industry
structure and
environment
• Symmetric relationships
with partners
• Segregated collaboration
networks
• Collaboration through
standardization
• Clear and stable
collaboration roles
• Vertical architecture
structures
• Segregated distribution
channels
• More stable and predictable
business environment
• Fewer, controlled
convergence points
• Vertical infrastructure &
Integration
• High barriers of entry
• Inertia as threat
ORGANIC NETWORK
• All actors are forced to
collaborate
• A lot of high-trust
collaborative and innovative
linkages
• Open communities of
practice and a lot of unofficial
interactions
• Fast response to the changing
customer needs (sensibility)
• Knowledge spillover in open
source development as risk
• Large amount of business
models
• Fast response to the changing
• The convergence occurs in
many points in the network
(channels, services, products,
content)
• Turbulent and chaotic business
environment
• A lot of connections among
actors (no large bottlenecks)
• Stronger connection of
society in the industry (more
influential power and interest)
• Positive feedback and
systemic nature of industry
structure
Figure 4 Generated scenarios plotted into the differentiator axis map
We gave the developed scenarios the following names:
“Oldies and Goldies” (segregated & bottom-up differentiator combination)
“Oligarchy Rules” (converged & top-down)
“Organic Network” (converged & bottom-up)
R&D and
innovation
• Active search for control
points from value chains
• Lot of standards are needed
because lack of convergence
• Bottom-up innovations
• Closed Innovation
(proprietary solutions
dominate)
INDUSTRY
EXAMPLES
85
• Restricting the
availability of
technology by using
IPRs as a control point
tool.
• Aim to use convergence
to extend control to
neighbouring markets
• Large companies
lead the industry
development
• Economies of scale and
scope
• Vertical infrastructure
& Integration
• Rigid structure for fast
changes
• Inertia as threat
• High barriers of entry
• Consolidated industry
structure
• Open technological interfaces
and open source development
• Open source platforms as a
driver of convergence
• A lot of need-drive and
smaller standards emerge
• De facto standards emerge by
real competition
• De Facto standards are
created by leveraging
market power
• Internal innovations
as primary source of
competitiveness
• Proprietary innovation
and technologies,
(no trust for outside
innovation)
• Risk aversion and
search for stability
• Small group develops
standards
• VOIP penetrates the
market(s) in many ways
experiencing varying
success levels
• Terminal development
driven by intensely
fluctuating market impulses
• Infrastructure development
driven by cost and creative
means of deployment
• Little regulation, often too
late
• VOIP merely an
underlying technology
to be phased in when
convenient
• Operators drive
terminal development
in small, safe steps
• Myopic view of
infrastructure halts
any non-optimising
development
• Communist
regulation; oligarchy
and regulator
determine what’s
needed and good
“Business as is” scenario represents, as the name implicates, the continuum of the current business
model, therefore it was left out from further analysis. A simplified illustration can be seen in the
figure 4. A more detailed description of each scenario is in the table 2.
• VOIP brought in through
industry standards cooperation
• Terminal development
driven by multi-party
standards development
• Predictable development
of infrastructure as well
• Openly discussed goodenough consumerist
market-developing
managed regulation
OLIGARCHY RULES
86
3. Linking innovation process into scenarios
To link the innovation process to the created scenarios we chose the incumbent operator as a
demonstration case. For incumbent operator the “Organic network” scenario is the most difficult
business field because of the increased competition and the open source business models. The
customers are not willing to pay for services that can be used for free. This forces a incumbent
operator to change its business model and find alternative earning logics. In following we present
an innovation based example of adjusting the business model to a changed situation.
The nature of the “Organic network” scenario is collaborative and open and therefore the goal of
business innovation process is to create business innovations that enable collaboration.
We chose Information Retrieval Service Provider’s (IRSP) business model as collaboration partner
for incumbent operator because the model fits the “Organic network” scenario. A panel consisting
of ICT industry experts was told to brainstorm ideas how incumbent operator could collaborate
with the IRSP in “Organic network” scenario. The first phase of the business innovation process
(Pynnönen and Kytölä, 2007) was to define the possible business concepts that are related to
the case applications. This phase was implemented by a group innovation session (Elfvengren
et al., 2004; Laaksonen, 2005). The steps of the group innovation session were brainstorming,
categorization and commenting the ideas, and finally clarification and specification of the ideas.
This session provided us with 20 business ideas.
The second phase of the business innovation process was prioritizing the business concept
proposals by combining the innovations into groups and evaluating their importance in an ecommerce business model from incumbent operator perspective. We used Hamel’s (2000)
innovation horizon frame to categorize the ideas and to evaluate their potential to change the
industry structure. At this point we limited the analysis on the Mobile Service Operator (MSO)
to highlight the growth of the mobile internet. Figure 5 presents the business idea groups in the
innovation horizon frame.
87
88
Introduction
Building Innovation Culture
Jari Jussila, Anu Suominen, Hannu Vanharanta, Jussi Kantola
Industrial Management and Engineering, Tampere University of Technology, Pori,
Finland
Abstract
Purpose The future of organizations is dependent on their ability to innovate. In management
literature the building of innovation culture has been seen as the key enabler of innovativeness
in organizations. Each organization faces the same challenge, how to develop innovation
culture. Yet development calls for common understanding. However, finding common vocabulary
for ambiguous phenomenon is challenging. Therefore this article deals with the question, can
metaphors be used to create common understanding of innovation culture.
Design/methodology/approach – This conceptual paper deals with the concepts of creative
tension and proactive vision, innovation competence and culture, and the ontology of innovation
culture. The special focus is on metaphoric ontology building.
Findings –The results of the study suggests that both creative tension and proactive vision are
crucial for building innovation culture. Also for building innovation culture, a common vocabulary
e.g. ontology, is required. Metaphors provide a good way for building such ontology.
Originality/value –The novel Hydro Power Plant –metaphor provides an illuminating basis for
innovation culture ontology building and can be used also for further development of the ontology.
Furthermore this Hydro Power Plant –metaphor can be used for advancing organizational
dialogue for innovation culture.
Keywords Proactive vision, Creative tension, Innovation culture, Innovation competence,
Ontology, The Hydro Power Plant -metaphor
Paper type Conceptual paper
89
Innovation has become crucial interest of business life globally. According to Ahmed (1998, p.
30), for organization to turn an innovative one calls for an organisational culture which fosters
innovation and contributes to creativity. Building innovation culture requires a clear picture of
the current reality and a vision what the organization desires to move towards. Senge (1990,
pp. 141-142) points out the importance of seeing the current reality clearly: “…in moving
towards a desired destination, it is vital to know where you are now”. It is possible to build the
innovation culture of an organization in a participatory manner that involves all the members
of the organization. However, most organizations face difficulties approaching this ambiguous
phenomenon. The problem is that each person has a distinct perception of innovation culture.
When building innovation culture, there should be a shared understanding what is innovation
culture and how to advance it. This calls for common vocabulary and concepts to be able to
describe this phenomenon. Ontology provides a way to reach this common understanding.
This paper deals with the questions what are the possible methods that can be used for evaluating
the current and the desired future state of the innovation culture. Also it is dealt with, can
metaphors be used to build ontology for innovation culture. In answering these questions the
following discussion first describes the concepts of innovation culture, creative tension and
proactive vision. Then the discussion deals with the concepts of metaphor and ontology. As a
result a new metaphor for innovation culture Hydro Power Plant is presented together with the
main level of the ontology.
Innovation Culture
Innovation culture is a phenomenon lacking one explicit definition. It combines two very
ambiguous phenomena: culture and innovation, which both have many definitions depending on
the source or field of research. Innovation culture is considered here as a part of organizational
culture that produces innovation: radical or incremental of all kinds. Like organizational culture,
all organizations whether commercial or social, large or small, have innovation culture.
Many culture scientists have divided culture into various levels or layers according to their view.
Barth (1994, 183–191) claims culture to lie in three levels: micro for individuals, meso (Norwegian:
mellomnivå) as for corporate level and macro for national and international culture. Therefore also
in this paper the innovation culture is divided into two levels: individual and corporate.
According to Ahmed (1998), the ongoing, daring innovation is the common factor for the front
line organizations. In other words, some organizations are able to produce plenty of novel
products, processes or other types of innovation, some fall behind with slow pace progress. Yet all
organizations have potential to let their innovation culture grow for more a flourishing foundation
for innovation.
Innovation culture itself can be approached from multiple angles. A dynamic concept of
innovation culture proposed here includes the actors or active innovative persons, teams and the
organization.
90
Individual and Organizational Perception of Innovation Culture
Building innovation culture requires a clear picture of the current reality and a vision of the
direction the organization desires to move towards. Therefore it is vital to know where they are
heading for real. Innovation culture of an organization can be build with a participatory manner
that involves all the members of the organization. Yet is it possible to assist and manage this
change process?
Innovation culture is created and re-created by the individuals in the organization. The
individuals inside the organization are therefore the best experts also in evaluating the innovation
culture. Each individual has a unique perception of the current state of innovation culture in an
organization. Each individual can also form an opinion or a vision where the organization should
be heading. According to Zwell (2000, p. 165), a vision is a changing state that one desires, but
never reaches. By combining the individual perceptions of the current and desired future level
of the organizations innovation culture it is possible to reveal the general state of the innovation
culture and the direction the organization should be heading.
More specifically, at the individual level it is possible to evaluate the individual’s perception of his
or her current and desired level of innovation competence. The difference between current level
(reality perceived) and vision (what we want) generates creative tension: a force to bring these
two together (Senge 1990, p. 142). Creative tension serves as a source of energy and motivation
for moving towards the perceived vision.
At the organizational level it is possible to evaluate how the organizational environment currently
enables innovation and how it should in the future. Focusing attention on the outside world and its
processes enables people to form their perception of how things should be related to the current
situation. This process also generates a force, what we refer to as proactive vision (see Vanharanta
et al. 2005, p. 2). Proactive vision activates the people to mould the environment into their liking.
At a collective level proactive vision reveals the most critical areas where the organizations needs
to develop its innovation culture.
For the self-evaluation to be sensible, the people should evaluate themselves and the organization
by using the same constructs, concepts, terms, variables etc. This requires the building of
a unitary framework e.g. ontology, to which the evaluation should be based on. According to
Longman Dictionary of the English Language, ontology is “A particular theory about the nature
and categories of being”. ‘
Metaphoric Ontology Building
In this paper the topic of innovation culture is approached through a metaphorical illustration
(cf. Beer 1984, scientific modelling). Metaphor is “An imaginative way of describing something
by referring to something else which has the qualities that you are tying to express; something
that you say, write, draw, etc. that does not have its ordinary meaning but that is meant to be
a symbol of something else that you are trying to express” (Collins Cobuild English language
dictionary 1987). Also metaphor is defined to be “A figure of speech in which a word or phrase
91
literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or
analogy between them (e.g. in the ship ploughs the sea); also an object, activity, or idea treated as
a metaphor” (Longman dictionary 1991).
Tsoukas (1991) submits a methodology for the metaphor development in order to generate more
profound organizational scientific knowledge. He argues that metaphorical language and literal
language are different, yet not incompatible, if the literal core of the metaphors is revealed. Tsoukas
has based his methodology (Figure 1) on Beer’s (1984) methodology of scientific modelling.
INSIGHT
Vehicle
Topic
Extra
samples of
the class
Perception
Perception
ANALOGY
Conceptual
model
Yo
Conceptual
model
Yo
Homomorphism
Homomorphism
ISOMORPHISM
Rigorous
formulation
Rigorous
formulation
Generalization
Generalization
SCIENTIFIC
MODEL
Figure The transformation of metaphorical insights into scientific models (Tsoukas 1991, p. 575).
The metaphor serves as a vehicle to study the target phenomenon and to find analogies between
the two systems. By rigorous formulation this approach leads into a model and eventually to a
new theory.
According to Vanharanta (1995, p.14), this metaphoric theory formulation of Tsoukas (1991) can
be presented as a sequential transformation process as follows:
metaphor — analogy — model — theory.
However, Tsoukas (1991) emphasizes that the process is not a top-down procedure in isolation,
rather then an oscillatory movement, which Beer calls (1984) descriptively a yo-yo -movement.
It is like forging iron, with each hammering the iron finding the wanted shape.
Tsoukas (1991) mentions three types of metaphors: live, dead and dormant. The words of live
metaphors are substitutes for literal phrases. Frozen or dead metaphors, due to their familiarity,
are no longer recognized for their metaphorical nature and so they are used as literal terms, such
92
as strategy or organization. Due to their literal use, the dead metaphors are rather discontinuously
altered than continuously developed. Dormant metaphors are quasi-literal terms that people use
for determining a distinct way to see the world. Therefore the dormant metaphors can be used to
encourage individuals to picture the topic through a different source domain, vehicle.
The sections of the HPP (Figure 3) are fitted into Samuelson’s (1981) visualization of Miller’s
(1978) Living Systems Theory as freedom of flow corresponding information—communication,
direction of flow corresponding command–control, transformation of flow corresponding
operation–production and maintenance of flow corresponding maintenance–support.
Innovation Culture Ontology
Ontology is “A branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of being or existence; a particular
theory about the nature and categories of being” (Longman dictionary 1991).
In science of philosophy there are two main functions: the ontological and epistemological
analysis. Logically, ontological analysis has precedence as it solves the nature of research subject.
In order to set the assumptions reflecting the basic nature of the problem and select the proper
methods for testing, the structure of the subject i.e. the basic nature has to be either known or
taken a stance on. (Rauhala 1990, p. 28)
In philosophy, there are several ways to discuss ontology; there are at least three types of ontological
concepts. Classical ontology aims to portray in speculative manner the basic categories of being
as a sort of a priori principals. Reality ontology questions how phenomena exist and what types
of descriptions are required for their research; the categories are concluded from the phenomena.
Fundamental ontology justifies with the analysis of being what are the ways the reality ontological
categories get their nature; the aim is to enlighten the conditions where the existence can be
determined valid. (Rauhala 1983, p. 171)
We have based our ontology building on a new metaphor called “The Hydro Power Plant” (HPP)
(Figure 2). The main idea behind the metaphor is to provide an easy way to examine a complex
issue; for this purpose HPP was created. HPP metaphor has been basis for both innovation
competences for individual level and framework of innovation culture for organizational the
level. The HPP metaphor is composed of four consecutive metaphors: freedom of flow, direction
of flow, transformation of flow and maintenance of flow.
Figure Hydro power plant.
93
Figure The four forms of innovation culture in HPP-metaphor.
Metaphor of Innovation Competence
The HPP metaphor helps to visualize, which individual competencies are needed for innovation.
The functioning of HPP metaphor is divided into four consecutive metaphors, which illustrate
how flow is related to the functioning of a hydro power plant and in the same time provide
a vehicle to compare the hydro power plant system to the innovation competence system.
Innovation competence system refers here to all the competencies that define individual innovation
competence, i.e. all the things that an innovative actor needs.
Freedom of flow represents a metaphor of freely flowing water or a current. The free flowing
water is able to overcome obstacles, when blocked for example by rocks, the water finds new
paths and eventually can erode the rocks blocking its path. Analogous to the freely flowing water
is the freedom of thought of individuals.
Individuals that exhibit independence are able to react to new problems and emergent situations
naturally like the water finding its own way (Amabile 1997; McCrae 2000; Simonton 2002). They
also show flexibility in their behaviour when facing sudden changes like current is able to go
over and around rocks that block its path (Spencer and Spencer 1993; Goleman 1998; Sternberg
and Lubart 1999; Zwell 2000). In the same way as flowing water is able erode the obstacles in
94
its path; people with self-confidence are able to face even the most dreaded challenges head on
(Boyatzis 1982; Spencer and Spencer 1993; Ford 1996; Goleman 1998; Sternberg and Lubart
1999). Accurate-self assessment relates to the paths, where the water flows. Over estimating ones
abilities leads to paths that are impossible or not good to follow, while underestimation makes
the individual very careful and often ends in choosing the paths that are not most optimal but safe
(Goleman 1998).
Direction of flow is a metaphor of river bed that gives direction to the flowing current. Without
direction the current will run with a mind of its own. If people have no direction their creative
efforts will not be focused on the outcomes the organization desires. People need direction and
goals.
People strong with achievement orientation set challenging goals and work with enthusiasm to
reach their goals with best possible results (McClelland 1973; Spencer and Spencer 1993; Ford
1996; Zwell 2000). Some people more than others require that the direction is given from an
outside force, i.e. management. If you think of a river, outside forces can shape it and with great
effort even reverse its flow. But the most natural direction comes from inside, people that are
willing to take initiative can guide themselves through new and unexpected situations (Boyatzis
1982; Goleman 1998; van Assen 2000). Some times however the direction must change, like a river
choosing a more favourable path. In these situations individuals change orientation determines
whether to follow the current or to swim against the current. Related to change orientation is risk
orientation. Risk orientation determines how individuals choose their actions. Risk aversion leads
to playing safe and not trying something that might promise improvement, because of the fear of
failure. Risk oriented people more often take chances, sometimes against the odds, and in doing
so make also more mistakes (Amabile 1997; Van Assen 2000).
In transformation of flow metaphor, the flowing current, like the flow of ideas of human beings,
have to be transformed in order to produce value for example from water to energy or ideas to
innovation. Transformation of ideas can be thought in a similar ways as the hydro power plant
needs to transform the flow. You need to able to think of the transformation as a sequential
process and calculate on the basis of facts how big machinery and what kind of machinery is
needed to get the optimum transformation result, hence analytical thinking (Ohmae 1982; de
Bono 1990; Spencer and Spencer 1993; Zwell 2000). Planning the transformation also requires
seeing the big picture, for example the natural and social impacts the power plant will have and
including this in decision making where to exactly establish the power plant, which is referred
to as conceptual thinking (Boyatzis 1982; Spencer and Spencer 1993; Zwell 2000; Smith 2003).
Building a power plant that performs better that current power plants on the market, requires
at looking at new solutions and often creating something new to achieve better results. This
is referred to as divergent thinking, where a multitude of ideas are generated into open-ended
problems (de Bono 1990; Ford 1996; Taggar 2002; Simonton 2002; Williams 2004, p. 187).
Lastly, the power plant solution could benefit greatly from imagination and intuition in finding
solutions that are not obvious, for example bringing and idea or a solution from a totally different
domain to this context or modifying the nature in way that provides a better environment for the
power plant (Ohmae 1982; Tesolin 2007; Manu 2007).
95
Maintaining the flow metaphor relates to the activities that keep the river healthy and flowing.
When thinking of innovation activity there are numerous things that support and maintain the
people involved. Like the rain falls in to the current, so too can individuals absorb knowledge
and ideas from the outside. This is referred to as absorptive capacity in the literature (Cohen and
Levinthal 1990; Szulanski 1996). The current can be imagined as the experience and expertise
of people that produce the ideas and innovations for the organization. Expertise involves the
domain related skills and abilities that a person requires to perform his or her work, also to
ability to share and acquire these skills and abilities is often considered as a part of a persons
expertise (Spencer and Spencer 1993; Ford 1996; Amabile 1998; Zwell 2000; Farr et al. 2003).
Zwell (2000) emphasises the role of self-development in the persons profession, in addition to
the ability the need and want to develop oneself is crucial. Maintenance of creativity also requires
gathering information that may prove to be useful in the future and a curiosity to all things new
(Spencer and Spencer 1993; van Assen 2000).
In addition to expertise and information processing competences also the maintaining of
relationships is often considered vital to the creativity of an individual. More specifically the
following relationship management competences are seen important: conflict management
(Goleman 1998; Zwell 2000; Farr et al. 2003), communication (McClelland 1973; Glaser et al.
1983; Ford 1996; Goleman 1998; Zwell 2000; Goleman 2007), relationship building (Spencer
and Spencer 1993; Ford 1996; Zwell 2000) and also teamwork and collaboration (Spencer and
Spencer 1993; Van Assen 2000; Zwell 2000; Goleman et al. 2003). Maintaining the flow in human
relationships require also empathy (Glaser et al. 1983; Spencer and Spencer 1993; Zwell 2000;
McCrae 2000; Bar-On 2000; Goleman et al. 2003; Goleman 2007)
Metaphor of Innovation Culture Framework of an Organization
Additionally to individual competence, The HPP metaphor can be used to visualize also the
innovation culture framework for organization level. Innovation culture framework refers here to
all the organizational attributes that can either enhance individual’s innovation competences or
hinder them.
Freedom of flow, similarly to individual innovation competences, is a metaphor of free flowing
water, a current. There are many sources for water to run to the current: through rain, from little
brooks, from other currents etc. As long as the current is on move, the original source of water
has no significance. When blocked, water has ability to move its direction, to find new paths; if
forced, even to carve a stone.
The analogy of free flowing water for organization level is the freedom of mind and though. To be
able to receive information, come up with new ideas, have time to use creativity and imagination,
communicate them freely regardless of hierarchy, and get respect and equality as human beings
regardless of the status. (Nonaka&Takeuchi 1995; Ekvall 1996; Amabile 1997; Ahmed 1998;
Amabile 1998; Martins&Terblanche 2003; Trott 2005) Also Farr et al. (2003) point out that there
96
has to be adequate amount of diversity in a work group which metaphorically can be seen as the
various sources of the water. Additionally, the term flow carries a meaning of working with such
enthusiasm that one loses the track of time (Csikszentmihalyi 1991).
Direction of flow is a metaphor of river bed giving the wanted direction to the flowing water. If
the flowing water has no direction it will run with a mind of its own. Similarly, if the creativity,
imagination and new ideas of people working in an organization have no goal, no direction, they
will run all over the place with no desired productive outcomes (Ekvall, 1996; Amabile 1997;
Amabile 1998).
Therefore the analogy of the direction of flow is management of an organization. The management
providing adequate organizational flexibility (Ahmed 1998) From short perspective, occasionally
the direction, leadership and management of an organization, seem to have curves on the way while
new management isms and tools are applied, but in the end the management of an organization
gives the ultimate direction. For almost every industry, the winning companies have a distinct
strategy that distinguishes them from the competitors – and it’s never a strategy of imitation
(Robert, 2000). Therefore, if adequate attention to the long-term strategic management is not
paid, it is very likely that instead of future, the organization will flow to the past; competitors
overcoming with novel products, services and solutions.
Transformation of flow is a metaphor of hydro power plant that transforms the power of running
water into a new form: electricity. Without the transformation machinery the power of water does
exist, but with transformation process it can be harnessed applicable also for other purposes and
domains.
This transformation process is an analogy at organizational of a well-functioned innovation
process. One element of the successfulness of innovation in the market is the structured and
systematically conducted idea management e.g. the concept t identification phase (Boeddrich,
2004). Therefore innovations, both incremental and radical, might occur without well-conducted
procedure, but when there is structured process for idea generation, documentation and screening
the outcome is more guaranteed.
Maintaining the flow is a metaphor of keeping the water flow ongoing even thought there
most certainly will appear obstacles, such as rocks, hills, mountains etc. in the waterway. The
flow has to be maintained in order to keep the water bringing each round ever growing output.
Similarly there are obstacles in the organizational knowledge input and transfer, yet they have to
be overcome.
The analogy for maintaining the flow in individual level is to ensure the expertise and knowledge
input, for organizational level enhancing the collaboration and teamwork (Amabile 1997; Farr et
al. 2003) and keeping the resources, mainly physical, in such a level that resources rather improve
the flow of information and ideas than hinders it (Tannenbaum 1997; Amabile 1997; Amabile
1998; Martins & Terblance 2003)
Yet, it should be noticed that this metaphor is a sequence of four consecutive metaphors;
one cannot exist with full potential without the existence of the others. First there has to be
the freedom in order it to directed, the flow has to managed to right direction in order it to be
transformed to applicable novelty, and there has to be a working transformation procedure in
97
order the flow to be maintained uninterrupted. Additionally, this sequence of four flow-sections
has to be functional both in individual and organizational levels in order to innovation culture to
emerge with exponential outputs.
Additionally, the system described in HPP-metaphor does not exist in vacuum (Figure 4). It has
both inputs and outputs to the system. Some of the outputs also returned to the system as input
as back flow, such as organizational memory that accumulates constantly with all the various
experiences in the organization.
INF O R M A T IO N
INP U T S
Information - Communication
Command - Control
E xternal
innovations
E xternal
knowledge
S earc h for
unexploited
opportunities
INF O R M A T IO N
O UT PUT S
Innovations
DIRECTION
DIRECTIONOF
OFFLOW
FLOW
FREEDOM
FLOW
FREEDOMOF
OF
FLOW
C reative
produc ts
Innovation Culture
MAT T E R E NE R G Y
INP U T S
F ores ight
REGULATION
OF THE
FLOW
MAINTAINING
FLOW
TRANSFORMATION
TRANSFORMATION OF
OF
FLOW
FLOW
O rganizational
memory
S trategy,
mis s ion and
vis ion
Maintenance - Support
Operation - Production
MAT T E R E NE R G Y
O UT PUT S
O rga niza tiona l
c a pita ls :
S oc ia l,
s truc tura l,
inte lle c tua l
O rga niza tiona l
me mory
Figure The HPP-system with inputs and outputs to the system
Conclusion
Organizations depend on their innovation building ability; therefore building innovation culture
has become organizations’ interest. Yet the phenomenon is ambiguous. The needed common
understanding for building innovation culture calls for creating a shared vocabulary e.g. ontology.
In this paper we have sought to offer a brief illustration of the problem area.
Our claims in this paper have been as follows:
First, the possible methods for building a common understanding by evaluating the current and
the desired future state of the innovation culture found in the literature are creative tension of
individual level and proactive vision at organizational level.
Secondly, the usability of metaphors for building ontology for innovation culture, together with
the metaphoric ontology building method discovered in literature has been illuminated.
Thirdly the new Hydro Power Plant -metaphor for ontology building of innovation culture has
been presented with the main levels of the ontology.
98
With the help of the HPP –metaphor the innovation culture is here seen as a part of organizational
culture that produces innovations of all kinds: both incremental and radical. As such innovation
culture can be considered as cross-functional framework of two levels composed of individual
innovation competences and innovation culture framework of organization level. This framework
is in constantly in interchange with the environment having inputs from and giving outputs.
Discussion
The new Hydro Power Plant –metaphor could be used for both building the ontology for innovation
culture and for continuous development of the ontology further. The further research possibilities
lie in building the ontology construct and testing the validity and verification of the construct.
References
Ahmed, P.K. 1998. Culture and climate for innovation. European Journal of Innovation
Management. Vol. 1, No.1. pp. 30–43
Amabile, T.M. 1997. Motivating Creativity in organizations: on doing what you love and loving
what you do. California Management Review. Vol. 40, No. 1. pp. 39 - 58
Amabile, T.M. 1998. How to kill creativity. Harvard Business Review. September-October 1998.
pp. 77-87.
Bar-On, R. 2000. Emotional and Social Intelligence. Insights from the Emotional Quotient
Inventory. Bar-On, R., Parker, J.D.A. (Eds.). The Handbook of Emotional Intelligence. San
Francisco, Jossey-Bass. pp. 363-388.
Barth, F. 1994. Manifestasjon og prosess. Universitetsforlaget, Oslo.
Beer, S. 1984. The Viable System Model: Its Provenance, Development, Methodology and
Pathology. The Journal of the Operational Research Society. Vol. 35, No. 1. pp. 7-25.
Boeddrich, H.-J. 2004. Ideas in the workplace: a new approach towards organizing the fuzzy
front end of the innovation process. Creativity and innovation management. Vol. 13, No. 4. pp.
274–285.
Boyatzis, R. 1982. The competent manager. New York, John Wiley & Sons.
Collins Cobuild Englinsh language dictionary: Collings Birmingham University International
Language Database. 1987. Harper Collins, London.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. 1991. Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. New York, HarperCollins
Publishers.
de Bono, E. 1990. Lateral thinking. A Textbook of Creativity. London, Penguin Books.
Ekvall, G. 1996. Organizational Climate for Creativity and Innovation. European Journal of Work
and Organizational Psychology. Vol. 5, No. 1. pp. 105-123.
Farr, J.L., Sin, H-P., Tesluk, P.E. 2003. Knowledge Management Processes and Work Group
99
Innovation. Shavinina, L.V. (ed.). The International Handbook of Innovation. Oxford, Elsevier.
pp. 574-586.
Ford, C.M. 1996. A Theory of Individual Creative Action in Multiple Social Domains. Academy
of Management Review. Vol. 21, No. 4. pp. 1112-1142.
Glaser, E.M., Abelson, H.H., Garrison, K.N. 1983. Putting Knowledge to Use. San Francisco,
Jossey-Bass. 636p.
Goleman, D. 1998. Working with emotional intelligence. London, Bloomsbury.
Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R., McKee, A. 2003. The New Leaders. Transforming the art of leadership
into the science of results. London, Time Warner.
Goleman, D. 2007. Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships. New York,
Bantam.
Longman dictionary of the English language, new ed. 1991. Harlow, England.
Manu, A. 2007. The Imagination Challenge: Strategic Foresight and Innovation in the Global
Economy. Berkley, New Riders.
Martins, E.C. & Terblanche, F. 2003. Building organisational culture that stimulates creativity
and innovation. European Journal of Innovation Management. Vol. 6, No. 1. pp. 64–74.
McClelland, D.C. 1973. Testing for Competence Rather Than for “Intelligence”. American
Psychologist. Vol. 28, No. 1. pp. 1-14.
McCrae, R.R. 2000. Emotional Intelligence from the Perspective of Five-Factor Model of
Personality. Bar-On, R., Parker, J.D.A. (Eds.). The Handbook of Emotional Intelligence. San
Francisco, Jossey-Bass. pp. 263-276.
Miller, J.G. 1978. Living systems. New York, McGraw-Hill.
Nonaka, I., Takeuchi, H. 1995. The Knowledge-Creating Company. New York, Oxford University
Press.
Ohmae, K. 1982. The Mind of the Strategist: The Art of Japanese Business. New York, McGrawHill.
Rauhala, L. 1983. Ihmiskäsitys ihmistyössä. Helsinki, Gaudeamus.
Rauhala, L. 1990. Humanistinen Psykologia. Helsinki, Yliopistopaino.
Robert, M. 2000. The power of strategic thinking: Lock in Markets, Lock out competitors. New
York, McGraw-Hill.
Samuelson, K. 1981. InformatiCom and multiway video communication as a cybernetic design
and general systems technology. 25th Annual Conference of Society for General Systems Research.
Toronto, January 5-10 1981. pp. 207-214.
Senge, P.M. 1990. The fifth discipline: the art and practice of the learning organization. New
York, Currency Doubleday.
Simonton, D.K. 2002. Creativity. Snyder, C.R., Lopez, S.J. (Eds.). Handbook of Positive
Psychology. Oxford, Oxford University Press. pp. 189-201.
Smith, G.F. 2003. Towards a Logic of Innovation. Shavinina, L.V. (Ed.). The International
Handbook of Innovation. Oxford, Elsevier. pp. 347-365.
Spencer, L.M., Spencer, S.M. 1993. Competence at work: models for superior performance. New
York, John Wiley.
100
Sternberg, R.J., Lubart, T.I. 1999. The Concept of Creativity: Prospects and Paradigms. Sternberg,
R.J. (Ed.). Handbook of Creativity. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. pp. 3-15.
Taggar, S. 2002. Individual creativity and group ability to utilize individual creative resources: a
multilevel model. Academy of Management Journal. Vol. 45, No. 2. pp. 315-330.
Tesolin, A. 2007. Don’t Stifle Intuition in Your Workplace. Workplace Training & Development
Magazine. June 2007. pp. 76-78.
Trott, P. 2005. Innovation management and new product development. 3rd ed. Pearson Education
Limited, Essex.
Tsoukas, H. 1991. The missing link: a transformational view of metaphors in organizational
science. Academy of management review. Vol. 16, No. 3. pp. 566–585.
van Assen, M.F. 2000. Agile-based competence management: the relation between agile
manufacturing and time-based competence management. International Journal of Agile
Management Systems. Vol. 2, No. 2. pp. 142-155.
Vanharanta, H. 1995. Hyperknowledge and Continuous Strategy in Executive Support System.
Acta Academiae Aboensis. Åbo, Åbo Akademi Printing Press.
Vanharanta, H. Kantola, J. Karwowski, W. 2005. A Paradigm of Co-Evolutionary Management:
Creative Tension and Development Systems. HCI International 2005, 11th International Conference
on Human-Computer Interaction, July 22-27, 2005, Las Vegas, Nevada USA.
Williams, S.D. 2004. Personality, attitude, and leader influences on divergent thinking and
creativity in organizations. European Journal of Innovation Management. Vol. 7, No. 3. pp. 187204.
Zwell, M. 2000. Creating a culture of competence. John Wiley & Sons, inc., New York.
ENHANCING CREATIVE FORESIGHT AMONG DESIGN
BUSINESS MANAGERS VIS-À-VIS INTERNATIONAL
CONSTRUCTION MARKETS
Pekka Huovinen
TKK Helsinki University of Technology, International Construction Business
ABSTRACT
Triggers for this paper include internationally leading construction-related design firms who
are facing many challenges such as embedding high-creativity in their future solutions and the
increasing influence of creativity and innovation throughout businesses, markets, and strategies.
The main aim is to enhance creative foresight among (primarily Finland-based) managers so
that they can sustain their architectural and urban design businesses, infrastructure engineering
businesses, and structural and other engineering businesses within evolving international
construction markets. The three preferred aspects of an international design business (IDB)
manager’s creative foresight include a managerial competence, process, and targeted outcomes.
Creative foresight was approached via a literature review. Only 11 foresight-related concepts
could be identified among a population of 51 competence-related IBM concepts published via the
20 journals between the years 1990-2006. The elements of these 11 concepts are herein quoted
and exposed vis-à-vis enhancing creative foresight among construction-related IDB managers.
Only the applicable elements are synthesized along three modes of foreseeing (i) opportunities
(e.g. via the reconstruction of business boundaries), (ii) logics, models, and strategies (e.g. across
turbulent landscapes), and (iii) organizations, competences, and processes (e.g. being stretched
toward aspirations). Finally, some conclusions are put forth for designing better foresightmanagement concepts in the future.
Keywords: Business management, construction, design firms, foresight, future studies, literature
review
101
102
1. INTRODUCTION
On the one hand, this paper has been triggered by many challenges that internationally leading
construction-related design firms and their managers have both envisioned in the long term
and recognized in the short term in international construction markets. These markets
involve foreign and local design firms, contractors, suppliers, service providers, and financiers
participating in ownership, design, implementation, use, operations, maintenance, servicing, and
life-cycle aspects of investments in natural resources usage, energy supply, telecommunications,
transportation, infrastructure, manufacturing, and general building concerns. Dynamism includes
a spectrum of static, dynamic, and even chaotic markets. Within such markets, the management
of a firm’s international design business is defined as managing a dynamic 6-element system,
i.e. (i) targeting the most attractive clients in the preferred markets and competitive arenas, (ii)
advancing contract-specific design offerings and competitive strategies, (iii) integrating global,
local, and contract -specific design business processes, (iv) nurturing core knowledge and
competences, (v) governing a flexible business organization, and (vi) collaborating selectively
with key stakeholders beyond a firm’s legal boundaries.
In the year 2006, the five internationally leading building design firms included Dar Al-Handasah
Consultants of Egypt, Fugro NV of the Netherlands, WSP Group, Arup Group Ltd and Atkins of
the UK. In turn, the five leading transportation design firms included The Louis Berger Group
and Aecom Technology Corp. of the USA, Dar Al-Handasah Consultants, Mott McDonald of the
UK, and Arcadis NV of the Netherlands. In Spring 2007, the largest firms described the world
design market vibrant, but also challenging. Further internationalization remains important.
For example, in trans-portation the focus is shifting toward [creative] technology that can assist
in with the improved utilization of infrastructure (Reina and Tulacz 2007).
and innovation can be viewed as the successful implementation of creative ideas within an
organization. Thus, creativity by individuals and teams is a starting point for innovation; the first is
a necessary but not sufficient condition for the second (Amabile et al. 1996: 1154). Aligning with
Bourguignon (2006: 3), creativity was originally expected only from those individuals considered
to be creators such as architects, structural engineers, and transportation system engineers.
However, under the pressure of international construction perceived as increasingly turbulent and
competitive, reactivity and flexibility have emerged as key factors also in international design
business (IDB) strategies. In such a scenario, creativity is viewed as a necessary condition for
a design firm to survive. All the firm’s innovation, design, and life cycle servicing processes are
today areas for creativity.
In turn, foresight is generally defined as having the three facets of (i) an action or a faculty of
foreseeing what must happen (prevision), (ii) an action of looking forward and a perception
gained by looking forward (a prospect, a sight or a view into the future), and (iii) care or provision
for the future (Oxford English Dictionary 1989). Herein, creative foresight is seen as one of
critical competences in managing a design business more successfully in evolving international
construction markets in the future. The three preferred aspects of an IDB manager’s creative
foresight include a managerial competence, process, and targeted outcomes.
The main aim of this paper is to enhance creative foresight among (primarily Finland-based)
managers so that they can sustain their architectural design businesses, urban and infrastructure
engineering businesses as well as structural and other engineering businesses within highly
evolving international construction markets. Namely, a design firm’s successful transition into
the future depends upon a degree to which the creative and causal thinking of its managers will
coincide with future market developments.
Typically, Fugro NV (2007) defines its mission to be, worldwide, the leading company and services
provider in the collection and interpretation of data related to the earth’s surface and sea bed and
the soils and rocks beneath and advising clients regarding these matters. This mission is achieved
through the provision of high-quality, innovative services, professional, specialized employees,
advanced, generally state-of-the-art, unique technologies and systems (mostly developed inhouse), and a worldwide presence in which the exchange of knowledge and cooperation, both
internally and with the client, play a central role. The company’s decentralized character and the
Fugro-Academy increase the creativity and involvement of the entire organization. Recruiting,
employing, and retaining professionals and skilled people is increasingly important, especially in
a growing [world design] market.
During the years 1999-2007, the author has been readily conducting a multi-year literaturereview process with a focus on generic and international business-management (IBM) concepts
and construction-related business-management concepts published between the years 19902006 (e.g. Huovinen 2003, 2006a-b, 2007). It turned out that there is a lack of creative concepts
(e.g. foresight-based management) for managing primarily a design business in international
construction markets. Instead, many authors of the IBM concepts (addressing non-construction
contexts) have approached and specified some key elements for foreseeing and strategizing for
the future (better than competitors do). Accordingly, the sub-aims of this paper are as follows:
(i) To identify the foresight-related IBM concepts from among a population of 51 competencerelated IBM concepts published via the 20 journals between the years 1990-2006, (ii) to retrieve,
to quote, and to expose the 11 identified IBM concepts and their foresight-related elements for
On the other hand, this paper has been triggered by the widening and increasing influence of
creativity, innovation, and foresight across different businesses, market contexts, and strategies.
In general, creativity can be defined as the production of novel and useful ideas in any domain
sustaining international construction-related design businesses, and (iii) to make a synthesis of the
applicable elements for enhancing creative foresight among construction-related IDB managers
in practice, and (iv) to put forth some conclusions on designing better foresight management
concepts in the future.
103
104
2. IDENTIFYING 11 IBM CONCEPTS FROM AMONG A CONCEPT
POPULATION PUBLISHED BETWEEN THE YEARS 1990-2006
For the original review, a business management (BM) concept (incl. models, frameworks) was
defined as an abstraction representing an object, i.e. a firm managing its dynamic business. A BM
concept serves as (a) the foundation of a communication, (b) a way of looking at the empirical
world, (c) a means of classifying and generalizing BM situations, e.g. stating the conditions when
the management’s efforts are likely to be (un)successful, and (d) a component of a theory or a
model and thus of an explanation, prediction [and prescription] (applying Ghauri and Gronhaug
2002: 31).
Competence relatedness was rationalized as follows. When looking through a “how” lens, the
overall picture of BM research had become very messy and, thus, intellectually challenging enough
in terms of different meanings and uses of the term “how” within various research traditions
during the late 1990s. Thus, this reviewer chose to analyze the roles of the organizational or
organization-level “how” elements called a firm’s competenc(i)es, capabilities, capacities, or
abilities, and their roles as part of the targeted IBM concepts. As the inherent unit of analysis, a
firm’s competences were then coupled with the choice to broaden the competence-based approach
(competence is the primary element within an BM concept) to the competence-related one
(competence is at least one of its key elements).
For the comprehensive search of eligible scientific articles from among journals, a population
of 42 journals was identified and relied upon. The review involved a set of replicable ways
of searching, browsing, in-/ excluding, retrieving, systemic inferring and coding, describing,
analyzing, and interpreting the outcomes of primary IBM research. The three landmark concepts
- Prahalad and Hamel’s (1990) core competencies, Teece et al.’s (1990) dynamic capabilities, and
Barney’s (1991) resource sustainability - have triggered a growing flow of published concepts
also via journals.
In total, it turned out that the 51 competence-related IBM concepts have been published in the
20 journals between the years 1990-2006. The numbers of the concepts belonging to each of the
eight schools of thought on business management vary between no competence-related IBM
concepts within the Porterian school and 19 (37 %) concepts within the dynamism-based school
(Table 1). The organization-based school has produced 9 (18 %) concepts. The knowledgebased school has produced 7 (14 %) concepts, followed by the competence-based (5/10 %),
process-based (4/8 %), evolutionary (4/8 %), and resource-based (3/6 %) schools. There are 75
individual authors. Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahalad have been involved in co-publishing 5 (10
%) dynamism-based concepts. Danny Miller and Henk Volberda have both co-authored 3 (6 %)
concepts. Richard D’Aveni, Yves Doz, Michael Hitt, Ron Sanchez, and George Stalk Jr. have
(co)published 2 (4 %) concepts, respectively. This reviewer will submit a complete list of these
references on request.
105
For this paper, the reviewer re-read analytically the 51 references and, thus, identified only 11
foresight-related, competence-related IBM concepts, i.e. 7 (14 %) dynam-ism-based, 3 (6 %)
competence-based, and 1 (2 %) resource-based concept (Table 1).
Table 1. Distribution of (a) 51 competence-related IBM concepts (published via 20 journals
between the years 1990-2006) and (b) 11 IBM concepts with the foresight-related elements, by
eight schools of thought on BM.
Schools of thought on
business management
Dynamism-based school
Organization-based school
Knowledge-based school
Competence-based school
Process-based school
Evolutionary school
Resource-based school
Porterian school
SUM
(a) All IBM concepts
1990-2006
No.
(%)
19 (37 %)
9 (18 %)
7 (14 %)
5 (10 %)
4 (8 %)
4 (8 %)
3 (6 %)
0 (0 %)
51 (100 %)
(b) Concepts with foresight-related elements
No.
(%)
7 (14 %)
0 (0 %)
0 (0 %)
3 (6 %)
0 (0 %)
0 (0 %)
1 (2 %)
0 (0 %)
8 (20 %)
3. QUOTING THE ELEMENTS OF 11 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESSMANAGEMENT CONCEPTS FOR THE ENHANCEMENT OF CREATIVE
FORESIGHT AMONG CONSTRUCTION-RELATED IDB MANAGERS
The identification of the 11 foresight –related, competence-related IBM concepts was based
on the authors’ (in)direct replies in the eligible articles, respectively, to two key questions: (1)
How can business managers develop and leverage their creative foresight (CF) as an managerial,
organizational competence and process? and (2) What highly competitive outcomes of CF
management are worth pursuing?
The perceived, most relevant replies of the 11 authors are quoted and compiled in Tables 2, 3,
and 4. CF management is defined as the primary element (or dimension) within the 9 IBM
concepts. Thus, CF is being enhanced and exploited as a managerial competence/process and its
targeted outcomes as follows.
Among the seven dynamism-based IBM concepts, Prahalad and Hamel’s (1990: 91) core
competence concept was launched as the wellspring of new business development. They
advocated [a foresight of managing businesses based on] a hierarchy of core competencies, core
products, end products, and market-focused business units. Later, Hamel and Prahalad (1993: 76-
106
78) posited that a firm’s long-term competiti-veness depends managers’ willingness to challenge
their managerial frames. By [foresight-based] design, creating stretch or a misfit between an
aspiration and current resources is the single most important task. Hamel and Prahalad (1994:
127-128) emphasized that managers must build their foresights based on deep insights into trends
in technology, demographics, regulations, and lifestyles.
D’Aveni (1995: 48-49) introduced strategic soothsaying as a means for pioneering firms to co-create
the targeted future through market disruptions. He posited that every advantage is temporary in
hypercompetitive markets. It is not enough to adapt to such fast-evolving environments. Instead,
he advocates a [foresight-based] building of a series of temporary advantages.
Hitt et al. (1998: 25-26) argued that a new competitive landscape is developing based on
technological revolution and globalization. They advocate the [foresight-based] building of
strategic flexibility to allow managers to reduce the periods of complex instability. Managers
need to engage in nonlinear thinking for radical innovations and to adopt a systemic perspective
of firms. They can use vision and foresight during periods of destabilization to transform their
firms into a new temporary state of equilibrium.
Hamel and Välikangas (2003: 52-55) have pointed out to a turbulent age when the only dependable
advantage is a superior capacity for reinventing a firm’s business model before circumstances force
it to. Strategic resilience refers to a capacity for continuous [foresight-based] reconstruction.
It is about (a) anticipating deep secular trends that can permanently impair earning power, (b)
adjusting to strategy decays by being replicated, supplanted, exhausted, or eviscerated, and (c)
having a proactive capacity to change.
Table 2. Creative foresight (CF) related elements of four dynamism-based IBM concepts
(published between 1990-1995). Key: Within [ ], the original terms have been replaced with the
design business–related ones.
Reference
(quoted pp)
Prahalad
and Hamel
(1990: 81,
85-86, 89)
Hamel and
Prahalad
(1993: 7678, 84)
Elements corresponding to CF as
targeted outcomes
Long term competitiveness of [design] firms derives from (a) an ability to build, at lower cost and more
speedily than competitors, core
competencies that spawn unanticipated products, and (b) an ability to
consolidate firm-wide [expertise] and
skills into competencies that empower
businesses [with core/end services,
and solutions] to adapt quickly to
changing opportunities.
(Dynamism-based concept)
At three levels, targeted outcomes
include: (i) best core competencies
for developing core [design solutions and services], (ii) maximum
shares in providing core solutions
[and services], and (iii) positions to
shape the [applied design] solutions
and markets. All this is based on a
strategic architecture, i.e. a road map
of the future that identifies which
core competencies to build and their
constituent knowledge.
Global competition is mind-set vs.
mind-set. Long-term competitiveness depends managers’ willingness
to challenge continually their managerial frames. Creating stretch, a
misfit between resources and aspirations, is the single most important
task. Stretch can beget risk when
arbitrarily short time horizon is set for
long-term leadership goals.
The outcomes of stretch include (i)
a view of competition as encirclement, an aspiration that creates by
design a chasm btw. great ambition
and resources, the accelerated
acquisition of market knowledge and
[service-]development cycle, crossfunctional teams, a focus on a few
core competencies, strategic alliances,
and the programs of employee
involvement.
Managers must build their [business] foresights as an ongoing
project based on deep insights into
Hamel and
trends in technology, demographics,
Prahalad
regulations, and lifestyles. Under(1994: 127standing of implications of trends
128)
requires creativity and imagination.
Foresight is a synthesis of many
people’s visions, defining the future.
Managers’ role is to capture and
exploit foresight that exists in the
organization. The outcomes of
‘competing for the future’ stra-tegy
include re-written [business] rules
and new competitive space, a firm’s
transformation that is revo-lutionary in
result and evolutionary in execu-tion,
and getting ahead of the [business]
change curve.
Strategic soothsaying is based on
managers’ ability to predict future
trends, to control the development of
key technologies that will shape the
future, and to create self-fulfilling
prophecies.
This soothsaying (i) allows mana-gers
to see and create future needs that they
can serve better than any competitor
does, even if only temporarily, and
(ii) contributes to the vision of the
next advantage and the future market
disruption.
D’Aveni
(1995: 5051)
107
Elements corresponding to CF as a
competence and a process
108
Table 3.Creative foresight (CF) –related elements of three dynamism-based IBM concepts
(published between 1998-2004). Key: Within [ ], the original terms have been replaced with the
design business–related ones.
Reference
(quoted pp)
Hitt et al.
(1998: 2526, 33, 39)
Hamel and
Välikangas
(2003: 5355)
Kim and
Mauborgne
(2004: 77,
80, 83-84)
109
targeted outcomes
Driven by technological revolution
and globalization, a new competitive landscape is highly turbulent,
chaotic, producing disorder and
uncertainty. Managers need to
engage in nonlinear thinking and
to adopt a systemic perspective
of design firms. They use vision
and foresight during periods of
destabilization to transform their
[design] firms into a new state of
equilibrium (albeit temporary).
Strategic (proactive, responsive.
networking) flexibility allows
managers to reduce the periods of
complex instability by making their
firms transnational, predicting attractive
businesses to enter, using cross-border
synergies and new [expertise], building
dynamic core competencies, balancing
local demands with the global vision,
engaging in valuable strategies, and
networking with clients and other
stakeholders.
Strategic resilience refers to a
firm’s capacity for continuous reconstruction. It is about (a) anticipating deep secular trends that can
permanently impair earning power,
(b) adjusting to strategy decays (by
being replicated, supplanted, exhausted, or eviscerated), (c) having a
proactive capacity to change.
Managers can adopt a reconstructionist’s worldview: market boundaries and businesses are reconstructed by the actions and beliefs
of competing firms. They can
create, exploit, and protect blue
oceans in the regions where a firm’s
actions favorably affect both its cost
structure and value proposi-tion to
clients, i.e. make a major marketcreating business offering.
The outcomes include three forms of
innovation with respect to (i) one’s
traditional business model (renewal),
(ii) [business] rules (revolution), and
(iii) those organi-zational values,
processes, and behaviors (cognitive,
strategic, political, and ideological
challenges) that systematically favor
perpetuation over innovation.
The outcomes of ‘blue ocean strategy
and strategic moves’ include blue
oceans, i.e. businesses not in existence
today, unknown market spaces, and
untainted by competition. In most
cases, new demand is created from
within a red ocean (an existing
business) by altering its boundaries.
The ample opportunity for rapid,
profitable growth is exploited.
Table 4. Creative foresight (CF) –related elements of three competence-based and one resourcebased IBM concepts (published between 1997-2004). Key: Within [ ], the original terms have
been replaced with the design business–related ones.
Reference
(quoted pp)
Sanchez
(1997: 7173, 80-82,
90)
Sanchez
(2004: 520,
530)
Chiesa and
Manzini
(1998: 116118, 122)
targeted outcomes
In assuring long term viability,
strategic flexibility is a condition of
having strategic options based, in turn,
on coordination flexibility in acquiring
and using flexible resources; imagining
new configu-rations in resource
chains. A syn-thesis of planning and
emergence based on modular product,
process, and knowledge architectures
constitutes a new dominant logic.
(Competence-based concept)
[Design] firms can manage more
readily and spontaneously input and
output uncertainties by allowing
locally emergent strategies and being
flexible in coordinating resources in
alternative uses. Re-cognizing the
flexibility properties of resources
permits ex ante an assessment of
their relative strategic values over
some defined range of imaginable
future outcomes.
For surviving in dynamic [design]
markets, managers can develop five
competence modes: (i-ii) cognitive
flexibilities in defining alternative
strategic logics and management
processes, (iii) coordination flexib-ility
in redeploying resource chains, (iv)
resource flexibility, and (v) operating
flexibility; assessed via higher-order
control loops. (Competence-based
concept)
The corresponding outcomes include
the five portfolios of (i) perceived
opportunities to create value, (ii)
approaches to managing value
creation processes, (iii) accessible
resource chains, (iv) uses of flexible
resources in processes, and (v)
feasible ways to bring offerings to
design markets.
[Design] firms can formulate their
dynamic [competence or] technol-ogy
strategies based on the future-oriented
internal and external analyses as well
as the understand-ing of the evolution
of the dominant [expertise] paradigm
that is able to satisfy future customer
demands. (Competence-based concept)
In pursuing ‘strategy from the
inside out’ capability managers and
Miller et al. opportunity managers must balance
(2002: 49- reflection and action, put time aside
51)
to reflect on capabilities and to initiate
experiments during joint quarterly
sessions. (Resource-based concept)
Managers can (i) identify critical
future skill base and (ii) decide
which new and existing skill/application combinations to invest in.
An investment actions cycle (as a
trajectory) may consist of competence deepening, fertilizing, complementing, refreshing, and destroying.
The best outcomes of reflection are
(i) imaginative “re-framings” of the
value of resources, experiences, and
relationships, (ii) explored emerg-ing
competencies and the opport-unities
they bring, and (iii) opport-unities
that shape capabilities.
110
Kim and Maubourgne (2004: 77-78, 83-84) advocate the adoption of a reconstruct-ionist’s
worldview: market boundaries and businesses are being reconstructed. While red oceans represent
all the businesses existence today, blue oceans denote new businesses, i.e. unknown spaces,
untainted by competition. A [foresightful] firm can create, exploit, and protect such blue oceans
(even from within red oceans) in the regions where a firm’s actions favorably affect both its
cost structure and its value proposition to clients, i.e. a firm can make a major market-creating
business offering.
In addition, two competence-based IBM concepts include CF as their primary element. Sanchez
(1997: 71-73, 76-77) has emphasized the development of a firm’s strategic flexibility to respond
to changing opportunities. It is a condition of having strategic options as part of managing a
virtuous [foresight-based] circle of competence building and leveraging. Recently, Sanchez (2004:
520, 530) enlarged strategic flexibility and specified it along [foresight-related] five competence
modes: (i) cognitive flexibility in defining alternative strategic logics, (ii) cognitive flexibility in
designing alternative management processes, (iii) coordination flexibility in redeploying resource
chains, (iv) resource flexibility, and (v) operating flexibility.
Instead, CF management is defined as the complementary element (or dimension) within one
competence-based and one resource-based IBM concept as follows. Chiesa and Manzini (1997:
111, 116-118) address industries where boundaries are weakly defined and competition is mostly
played out on the ability to generate new product/market combinations. Thus, they advocate
firms to formulate dynamic technology strategies based on the [foresight-based] analyses and
understanding of the evolution of the next technology paradigm that is able to satisfy future
demands.
Miller et al. (2002: 37, 49-51) have recommended a ‘strategy from the inside out’ in terms of
growing capabilities that sustain a firm’s advantage by identifying and growing asymmetries
and shaping market focus to exploit them. Asymmetries are hard-to-copy ways in which a firm
differs from its rivals. Capability and opportunity managers need to put time aside to reflect
on capabilities. The best outcomes of reflection are imaginative “re-framings” of the value of
resources, experiences, and relationships.
the synthesis and Tables 5-7 - when it is dealt with in the article in the way that clearly justifies
its use and instructs IDB managers to adopt, understand, develop, and/or exploit this element as
part of her, his, or their creative foresight (as a competence, a process, or targeted outcomes). The
assessment of the high, medium, or low degrees of applicability was excluded due to the fairly
single-level writings, i.e. the authors do not address or reveal any deeper causal relations inside
their foresight-related elements (and between all the elements) of their IBM concepts.
Creative foresight management is herein seen as one of the prerequisites for successful dynamic
business management. It is proposed that a design firm’s successful transition into the future
depends upon a degree to which the causal thinking of its IDB managers will coincide with future
developments in targeted, construction-related design markets. A firm can manage its design
business in international construction markets successfully by enhancing and exploiting the
creative foresight of its IDB managers along three modes as follows:
•
•
•
Mode 1: Foreseeing future IDB opportunities and their boundaries. Construction-related
IDB managers can target to deepen the understanding of underlying (hidden) causal
demand and supply mechanisms and their future evolution with and without assumed, selfimposed, random, or ‘lucky’ major changes in the future with the help of 5-6 applicable
ways compiled in Table 5.
Mode 2: Foreseeing future IDB logics, models, and strategies. IDB managers can target
to co-create the dominant business logic, model, and strategy and to assume a role of a
sole creator or one of many (r)evolutionary inventors of future IDBs with the help of 10
applicable ways compiled in Table 6.
Mode 3: Foreseeing future IDB organizations, competences, and processes. IDB managers
can (gradually or as major shifts) set more and more challenging international business
goals and also attain them by managing both business performance and competitiveness
development in balanced, integrated ways, with the help of about 15 applicable principles
compiled in Table 7.
4. MAKING A SYNTHESIS OF THE APPLICABLE ELEMENTS FOR
ENHANCING CREATIVE FORESIGHT AMONG IDB MANAGERS
Herein, a synthesis is made by taking into account only the perceived applicable elements of
the 11 IBM concepts for enhancing creative foresight along its three modes among constructionrelated IDB managers in practice. An element is considered applicable - and, thus, included in
111
112
Table 5. Suggested Mode 1 of creative foresight (CF) on future IDB opportunities and their
boundaries, and the applicable elements of 11 IBM concepts.
Table 6. Suggested Mode 2 of creative foresight (CF) on future IDB logics, models, and strategies,
and the applicable elements of 11 IBM concepts.
Future IDB opportunities and their boundaries (Mode 1)
Future IDB logics, models, and strategies (Mode 2)
CF as a competence and a process
¤ Business foresight based on many
people’s deep insights (creativity,
imagination) into trends in engineering,
demographics, regulations, and lifestyles
and potential implications (Hamel and
Prahalad 1994)
CF as targeted outcomes
¤ Re-written business rules and competit-ive
space, getting ahead of the business change
curve (Hamel and Prahalad 1994)
¤ Strategic soothsaying, vision of the next
advantage and the future market disruption
(D’Aveni 1995)
¤ Ability to anticipate deep secular trends
that can permanently impair earning power ¤ Understanding of technological revolu-tion
and globalization, and predicted attractive
(Hamel and Välikangas 2003)
businesses (Hitt et al. 1998)
¤ Cognitive flexibility in foreseeing
¤ Understanding of evolution of a new expertise
alternative opportunities (Sanchez 2004)
paradigm for satisfying future demands (Chiesa
¤ Ability to predict trends and to create
and Manzini 1998)
self-fulfilling prophecies (D’Aveni 1995)
¤ Business rules revolution (Hamel and
¤ Reconstructionist’s worldview
Välikangas 2003)
(Kim and Mauborgne 2004)
¤ Opportunities to create value (Sanchez 2004)
¤ Nonlinear thinking (Hitt et al. 1998)
¤ Maximum shares in providing core solutions
¤ Ability to control the development of key [and services], positions to shape the applied
technologies and expertise that will shape design solutions and markets, and a road map
for future development of core competencies
the future (D’Aveni 1995)
and their constituent knowledge (Prahalad and
¤ Understanding of highly turbulent, chaHamel 1990)
otic, competitive landscape that produces
¤ Aspiration that creates by design a chasm
disorder and uncertainty (Hitt et al. 1998)
between great aspiration and resources (Hamel
¤ Strategic (proactive, responsive, netand Prahalad 1993)
working) flexibility (Hitt et al. 1998)
¤ Competing for the future strategy (Hamel and
¤ Ability to adjust to strategy decays by
Prahalad 1994)
being replicated, supplanted, exhausted, or
¤ Foreseen and created future needs to be
eviscerated (Hamel and Välikangas 2003)
served best, temporarily (D’Aveni 1995)
¤ Cognitive flexibility in defining
¤ Business model renewal (Hamel and
alternative strategic logics (Sanchez 2004)
Välikangas 2003)
¤ Dynamic competence or technology
¤ Blue ocean strategy and moves, i.e. new
strategy formulation based on the futurebusinesses, unknown spaces, untainted by
oriented internal and external analyses
competition, by reconstructing them from
(Chiesa and Manzini 1998)
within an existing business by altering the
boundaries (Kim and Mauborgne 2004)
¤ Blue oceans that can be created, exploited,
and protected for rapid, profitable growth
based on its better cost structure and value
proposition, i.e. a new market-creating business
offering (Kim and Mauborgne 2004)
¤ Dominant logic as a synthesis of planning
and emergence, and locally emergent strategies
(Sanchez 1997, 2004)
¤ Strategy from the inside out with imaginative “re-framings” of the value of resources, experiences, and relationships, explored emerging competencies coupled with
opportunities (Miller et al. 2002)
113
114
Table 7. Suggested Mode 3 of creative foresight (CF) on future IDB organizations, competences,
and processes, and the applicable elements of 11 IBM concepts.
Future IDB organizations, competences, and processes (Mode 3)
¤ Ability to build, at lower cost and
more speedily than competitors, the core
expertise and competencies that spawn
unanticipated products (Prahalad and
Hamel 1990)
¤ Ability to consolidate firm-wide
expertise and skills into competencies
that empower businesses with core/end
services, and solutions to adapt quickly
to changing opportunities (Prahalad and
Hamel 1990)
¤ Willingness to challenge continually
their managerial frames (Hamel and
Prahalad 1993)
¤ Strategic resilience is a capacity for
reconstruction and proactive change
(Hamel and Välikangas 2003)
¤ Strategic flexibility is a condition of
having strategic options, e.g. cognitive
flexibility in designing and exploiting
alternative management processes
(Sanchez 1997, 2004)
¤ Capability managers and opportunity
managers must balance reflection and
action, put time aside to reflect on
capabilities and to initiate experiments
(Miller et al. 2002)
115
¤ Long term competitiveness and the best
core competencies for developing core design
solutions and services
(Prahalad and Hamel 1990)
¤ Creating stretch, a misfit between resources
and aspirations, is the single most important
task (Hamel and Prahalad 1993)
¤ Accelerated solution-development cycle,
strategic alliances with sub-consultants, and
employee involvement programs
(Hamel and Prahalad 1993)
¤ Transformed firm is revolutionary in result
and evolutionary in execution (Hamel and
Prahalad 1994)
¤ Alternative configurations in resource chains,
flexible resources, and their uses based on
modular service, process, and knowledge
architectures, over some defined range of
imaginable future outcomes (Sanchez 1997,
2004)
¤ Portfolio of approaches to managing value
creation processes (Sanchez 2004)
¤ Operating flexibility, ways to bring offerings
to design markets, managed input and output
uncertainties (Sanchez 2004)
¤ Critical future skill base, investments in
new and existing skill/application combinations, investment actions cycle/traject-ory
consisting of competence deepening, fertilizing,
complementing, refreshing, and destroying
(Chiesa and Manzini 1997)
¤ Transformed firm in a new (temporary)
state of equilibrium during the periods of
In particular, the creative foreseeing processes of construction-related IDB managers should
aim at producing novel competitive outcomes that strengthen their international positions in
profitable ways. Novel outcomes may come about through inventions, new principal architectural
designs or pioneering engineering solutions, new ways of performing design work and processes,
new (inter)national partners, etc. Each highly novel outcome may, indeed, set a new standard
for competition along the dimensions of design firm’s interaction with offering markets and/or
resource markets.
5. PUTTING FORTH CONCLUDING REMARKS
Herein, the concluding remarks are put forth on (a) the validity of this piece of reviewing
the published conceptual BM research published, (b) advancing the current and new foresightrelated (I)BM concepts further within the disciplines of strategic management and organization
theory, and (c) foreseeing the future advancement of creative foresight-management concepts
through synergic collaborative research with scholars from within other relevant disciplines such
as system and complexity sciences, psychology, architecture, engineering, and arts.
Within the published conceptual BM research, (a) the overall validity of this review of the 11
eligible foresight-related, competence-related IBM concepts is assessed to be fairly high in terms
of (i) the focus on business-specific and business-level management concepts (with the exclusion
of upper, corporate level concepts and the lower, partial ones), (ii) the selected competencerelatedness (instead of a sole competence focus), (iii)
the pre-limited contextual originality (limited to the businesses of focal firms based in one of
the OECD countries, with the exception of Singapore and Hong Kong), (iv) the reviewed 17year period of publishing, (v) English as the sole language of publishing (with admitted biases
in author nationality profiles), (vi) the selected formal publication channel (a population of 42
journals), (vii) the extensive search comprehensiveness (the electronic browsing of the abstracts,
issue by issue), (viii) the identification of eligible foresight-enhancing and foresight-exploiting
IBM concepts (based on OED’s definition with an emphasis on CF as a competence, a process,
and outcomes), (ix) the neutral, documented, low-inference coding, exposure (in Tables 2-4), and
synthesis (in Tables 5-7), and (x) the exclusion of the review of the ontological, epistemological,
and methodological attributes of the 11 references (mainly due to the missing information).
It is concluded that there is definitely room for (b) the advancement of existing and new
foresight-related IDB management concepts further within the two focal disciplines of strategic
management and organization theory. Prior any major advancement efforts, some complementary
sub-reviews should be, however, conducted among I(BM) and IDB concepts published via
monographs, edited books, and international conference proceedings. New sub-reviews may also
target the concepts without any explicit relatedness to a firm’s competences and the ones published
116
in 2-3 other major languages. In part, such new sub-reviews enable a future reviewer to enhance
her or his preunderstanding that is required for succeeding in the concept advancement task in
hand. Preunderstanding refers to prior knowledge, insight, and experience into the targeted areas
of (I)BM, IDB and prior social environments. A blocked preunderstanding can come from or
create a bias against some positions or even against creativity (Gummesson 2000). For example,
any foresight-related concept ‘designer’ will certainly benefit from her or his preunderstanding
of what kind of causal mechanisms are inherent, embedded, within globalization, digitalization,
energy saving technologies, sustainable environment-policy making, etc. that all influence future
IDBs and their management in converging and diverging (and even contradictory) ways.
In Tables 2-4, the exposed elements of the 11 IBM concepts needed to be modified only a bit
in order to accommodate in the text their applications to the focal IDB management (with the
reservations concerning the fact that they are fairly single-level writings). Nevertheless, some
degrees of uncertainty remain vis-à-vis the possible high applicability of the reviewed elements of
the 11 IBM concepts whose authors have been targeting generic or non-service business contexts.
Namely, one can easily find many counterarguments such as those of Maister (1993: xv-xvi) who
has posited that construction-related design firms, like other professional service firms, must
manage customized activities where little, even management information, can be reliably made
routine. Management principles and approaches from the industrial or mass-consumer sectors
are not only inapplicable in design businesses but they may be dangerously wrong. Instead, the
management problems of design businesses may require their own “management theory”. In
turn, Lowendahl (2000: 179) takes a step further by arguing that for those design firms that intend
to remain flexible and innovative, restraining growth may be critical to future performance.
Finally, this reviewer is (c) foreseeing a high potential for the future advancement of creative
foresight-management concepts through collaborative research between interested scholars
across many disciplines such as strategic management, organization theory, economics, system
and complexity sciences, psychology, architecture, engineering, and arts. For example, Aaltonen
(2007: xvii, 9-10) advocates the adoption of the third ontology (‘lens’) of complexity, to
complement those of order and chaos, for foreseeing, for example, a firm’s IDB as a complex
system with an emergent order that arises from the local interaction of native, foreign, and global
actors, each of whom behaves according to their own principles, logic, and knowledge. Thus, the
major source of a design firm’s organizational flexibility and effectiveness stems form the ability
to make sense of the visible and hidden properties and dynamics of a firm’s strategic landscape
and the choice of tools and methods accordingly. In turn, Kern (2006) argues that we need to
overcome the limits of the cognitive-rational paradigm of current management and organization
research. Instead, we can study the causal relations between creativity (e.g. creative foresight)
and rules with a new framework based on theories originating in cultural-historical psychology.
117
LIST OF REFERENCES
Aaltonen, M. (2007) The third lens – Multi-ontology sense-making and strategic decision-making.
Aldershot, Burlington: Ashgate.
Amabile, T. M., Conti, R., Coon, H., Lazenby, J. and Herron, M. (1996) Assessing the work
environment for creativity. Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 39, No. 5, 1154-1184.
Barney, J. B. (1991) Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management,
Vol. 17, No. 1, 99-120.
Bourguignon, A. (2006) Preface: Creativity in organizations. International Studies of Management
& Organization, Vol. 36, No. 1, 3-7.
Chiesa, V. and Manzini, R. (1998) Towards a framework for dynamic technology strategy. Technology
Analysis & Strategic Management, Vol. 10, No. 1, 111-129.
D’Aveni, R. A. (1995) Coping with hypercompetition: Utilizing the new 7S’s framework. Academy
of Management Executive, Vol. 9, No. 3, 45-57.
Fugro NV (2007) Annual report 2006.
Ghauri, P. and Gronhaug, K. (2002) Research methods in business studies – A practical guide. 2nd
edition. Harlow: Financial Times/Prentice-Hall (Pearson Education).
Gummesson, E. (2000) Qualitative methods in management research. 2nd edition. Thousand
Oaks: Sage Publications.
Hamel, G. and Prahalad, C. K. (1993) Strategy as stretch and leverage. Harvard Business Review,
Vol. 71, March-April, 75-84.
Hamel, G. and Prahalad, C. K. (1994) Competing for the future. Harvard Business Review, Vol. 72,
July-Aug, 122-128.
Hamel, G. and Välikangas, L. (2003) The quest of resilience. Harvard Business Review, Vol. 81,
September, 52-63.
Hitt, M. A., Keats, B. W., and DeMarie, S. M. (1998) Navigating in the new competitive landscape:
Building strategic flexibility and competitive advantage in the 21st century. Academy of
Management Executive, Vol. 12, No. 4, 22-42.
Huovinen, P. (2003) Firm competences in managing a firm’s dynamic business in particular
in construction markets. Unpublished licentiate thesis in construction economics and
management. Espoo: TKK Helsinki University of Technology.
Huovinen, P. (2006a) Contextual platform for advancing the management of construction and
engineering businesses: 52 concepts published between the years 1990-2005. In Songer,
A., Chinowsky, P. and Carrillo, P., eds., Proceedings of the 2nd Specialty Conference on
Leadership and Management in Construction and Engineering – International Perspectives.
Grand Bahama Island: CIB, ASCE et al., 381-388.
Huovinen, P. (2006b) Theoretical 52-concept platform for advancing construction-related business
management. In Pietroforte, R., De Angelis, E. and Polverino, f., eds., Proceedings of the Joint
International Symposium of CIB W55, W65, and W86 on “Construction in the XXI Century:
Local and Global Challenges. Rome, Italy: Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane. CD-Rom, 1-12.
Huovinen, P. (2007). Competence-related international business management concepts and
118
dynamism-based reinvention – based on the review of the volumes of the 42 journals
published between the years 1990-2006. In: Proceedings of the 9th Vaasa Conference on
International Business, 1-25. Vaasa: University of Vaasa. CD-Rom.
Kern, A. (2006) Exploring the relation between creativity and rules – the case of the performing arts.
International Studies of Management & Organization, Vol. 36, No. 1, 63-80.
Kim, W. C. and Mauborgne, R. (2004) Blue ocean strategy. Harvard Business Review, Vol. 82,
October, 76-84.
Lowendahl, B. R. (2000) Strategic management of professional service firms. 2nd edition.
Copenhagen: Handelshöjskolens Forlag.
Maister, D. H. (1993) Managing the professional firm. The Free Press.
Miller, D., Eisenstat, R. and Foote, N. (2002) Strategy from the inside out: Building capabilitycreating organizations. California Management Review, Vol. 44, No. 3, 37-54.
Oxford English Dictionary (1989). 2nd edition. http://dictionary.oed.com (as of 16 Aug 2007).
Prahalad, C. K. & G. Hamel (1990) The core competence of the corporation. Harvard Business
Review , Vol. 68, May-June, 79-91.
Reina, P. and Tulacz, G. J. (2007) The focus is on margins: The top 200 international design firms.
Engineering News-Record (ENR), 23 July 2007.
Sanchez, R. (1997) Preparing for an uncertain future: Managing organizations for strategic
flexibility. International Studies of Management and Organization, Vol. 27, No. 2, 71-94.
Sanchez, R. (2001b) Managing knowledge into competence: The five learning cycles of
the competent organization. In Sanchez, R., ed. (2001a) Knowledge management and
organizational competence. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 3-37.
Sanchez, R. (2004) Understanding competence-based management: Identifying and managing
five modes of competence. Journal of Business Research, Vol. 57, 518-532.
Teece, D. J., Pisano, G. and Shuen, A. (1990) Dynamic capabilities and strategic management.
Consortium on Competition and Cooperation Working Paper #90-8. Center for Research in
Management. University of California, Berkeley.
“THIS IS NEVER GOING TO WORK OUT!” – HOW
TO TAKE RISKS IN DEVELOPING INNOVATION IN
HIGHER EDUCATION
Eeva-Liisa Kronqvist and Hannu Soini
University of Oulu, Department of Educational Sciences and Teacher Education
1. MODEL OF ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING AND ITS OBJECTIVES
This article describes a model of organizational learning simulated in the form of a higher
education study module. The objective of the module was to give students an opportunity to
examine the functioning of organizations and leadership in a creative manner and to learn from
their own behavior as members of an organization and teams.
The experiment aimed at finding new forms of cross-scientific collaboration models. Earlier
attempts at collaboration across faculties have failed, partially due to the faculties’ unwillingness
and resistance to collaboration across faculty borders. According to the theme of the conference,
studying collaboration between leadership and creative industries in universities is a challenge
that should be given more attention. This experiment aimed to find new and innovative educational
models.
The module aimed at:
• Offering students of different subjects in higher education an opportunity for collaborative
learning
• Developing concrete teaching methods by combining expertise from different branches of
science
• Giving the participants an opportunity to learn organizational dynamics through their own
experiences and interaction with their peers.
The experiment was organized as part of the organizational psychology course at the Faculty
of Education. The students were selected from different faculties so that around a third of the
students were from the Faculty of Education, around a third from the Faculty of Humanities and
around a third from the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration. Participants also
included postgraduate students from the university departments.
119
120
New educational models also challenge university teachers. It is by no means easy to throw
yourself into trying a model that rattles the traditional framework of university teaching. The
required courage can be induced by basing the teaching model on collaboration and emphasizing
the foundation of a few years of testing and development.
2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
The two major theoretical frames of reference featured in this article, which over the last few
years have in fact steered the model of innovative organizational learning discussed in this article,
are on one hand new learning-related theories and on the other psychodynamic organizational
theories. As far as perspectives go, these two theoretical orientations initially sound relatively
far apart, but they both share common elements relating in particular to systemic theoretical
orientation.
New learning theories emphasize the importance of self-regulation and active participation of
the individual, personal goal setting and collaboration skills. Learning is approached more as a
social than a personal phenomenon and this challenges behavioral studies and their traditional
role division.
It is easy to accept the meaning and importance of these factors, but both teachers and students in
university education are often fazed by situations in which they are expected to start setting goals
for their own learning. This may also be the case if setting goals is difficult or if students find it
hard to grasp the goals and become aware of their own actions. This is often seen as the student’s
problem, but the situation should be examined more comprehensively as both a problem affecting
the entire organization and as the organization’s inability to evolve into a system that would
better meet the students’ requirements. A good team and an innovative learning environment can
encourage and help learners to learn from their own actions and to accept more responsibility
for themselves and their own learning. Teaching arrangements that emphasize collaboration
have become increasingly important in educational organizations, and their significance has
been recently brought to the fore. At the same time, however, it has become apparent that the
execution and practical implementation of these models is a demanding task for both educators
and students.
What learner-oriented research and studies on knowledge and learning really give to learning
in organizations, nevertheless, is the observation that learning is not so much guided by how
researchers and teachers perceive learning but above all by learners’ own perception of learning,
which is often based on their personal approach to everyday life and their previous learning
experiences. Based on this, learners are naturally guided towards building their own personal
learning strategy (Soini 2001). Studies indicate that, above all else, learning is about personal
121
growth and development, and the evolution of one’s own personal theory (Rauste-von Wright
1986). The individual and the social come together through the learners’ own experience, which
acts as a bridge between the two. According to Dewey (1988), experience does not happen inside
us but is instead connected to everything that happens in our environment.
The spectrum of different schools of thought on the study, development and change in organizations
is wide and their examination problematic. The schools are not clearly defined, and they rarely
have a strong theoretic background. This is why concepts and methods are varied (Totro 2005).
On one hand, organizations have been studied at a macro level, with emphasis on finding more
widely spread trends; on the other, the goal has been to apply explanatory models derived from
personality psychology to understanding how organizations function. Two more widely spread
trends can be discerned in the history of development in this field: productivity-based models,
i.e. technostructural models, and models that aim at the wellbeing of humans (human procedural
models). Today, development models relating to productivity and management-by-objectives as
well as process management represent the first category, while the second category includes
various human relationship models, group interventions and operational methods (Totro 2005).
New tendencies include various ideologies associated with the transformation of organizations
and with postmodern views. Psychodynamic study of organizations, for example, can be classified
in this category. The psychodynamic perspective in organizational research is based on the
pioneering work of the Tavistock Institute.
Wilfred Bion was one of the best-known researchers in the field of organizational dynamics and
his views on the unconscious aspects of organizations are frequently used to help understand the
way in which organizations function. Bion’s thoughts on two operational levels of organizations
can be used to describe the functioning of different kinds of groups. According to him, groups
can function rationally and systematically as what he calls a ‘working group’. However, groups
are conversely drawn towards states of ‘basic assumption’, which is based on the misconceived
reality that evolves inside a group. Above all, leadership should aim to establish whether a group
is acting in accordance with its task or whether it has abandoned its objectives. Abandoning
objectives is not a conscious choice but an unconscious effort to distance oneself from the task.
Basic assumption groups demonstrate the strong tendency of individuals in a group to lose their
ability to function, particularly in difficult situations, and to decline into irrational action with
the group. Unconscious expectations begin to guide groups (Lönnqvist 2000). The group leader
should ensure that the group continues to function. The tendency of groups to stray from their
basic task is very typical and not at all pathological behavior, but acknowledging the phenomenon
helps to maintain leadership. Bion distinguishes between three basic assumption groups: the
dependency group, the fight-flight group and the pairing group.
The weaker the teamwork, the more likely a group is to activate a state of basic assumption.
Clear goal setting helps to promote teamwork. Goals act as guards against the group falling into
decline. Genuine teamwork is possible when the individuals involved know what they need to
122
do and what their own tasks comprise. A clear and straightforward group structure is another
guard against basic assumption states. This means working together according to a clear division
of responsibilities. A third guarding element is the group’s relationship with the realities of the
outside world, which, in an open system, is subject to continuous testing (Lönnqvist 2000).
In recent years, a new paradigm has been developed to address the challenges of new forms
of organization. The main assumptions of this paradigm can be summarized as follows (Prins,
2006):
• behavior is often the result of conscious and unconscious mental processes;
• people create a subjective, emotional reality of organization. The attribution of meaning,
through social interaction, mediates between organizational reality and the human
experience;
• individual and group behavior and the structural features of organizational life are in
dynamic interaction: the organizational structures stimulate particular patterns of individual
and group processes, and these processes, in turn, influence how particular features of the
organization are developed;
• most human beings are inclined to avoid anxiety, uncertainty and threats to their selfesteem. Therefore, they try to achieve control, predictability and ways to enhance their
self-esteem;
• there is an underlying assumption of a “healthy” organization, characterized by wisdom,
humanity and the ability to help itself to overcome defenses.
These features of the new paradigm emphasize that a collaborative organizational process can
be rational, but it is always influenced by hidden, emotional and unconscious motives (Prins,
2006).
Both learning and emotion are dynamic concepts. Learning, at best, should have an empowermental
and liberating quality. Yet, organizational learning and change tend to focus more on negative
emotions like resistance to change, threat and fear instead of positive emotions to change
(Antonacopoulou & Gabriel, 2001).
Common themes can be observed both in new learning theories and organizational theories,
and it is possible to look for these in different kinds of systemic approaches. It is difficult to
separate human action from its context: a human being and his environment form a single system
(Järvilehto 1996). In terms of learning, this perspective could be construed so as to mean that
learning moulds and shapes human action, causing the entire system to evolve. For any system,
change is a vital condition: stability does not create regeneration. Learning leads to changes.
In organizational theories, on the other hand, systemic approach means accepting the chaotic
side of organizations. Most organizations strive to control change by introducing more strategic
measures and elements of control and management, which only adds to the anxiety and chaos.
However, a social system can only change when it reaches a state that enables something new to
123
develop (double-loop learning), a state that takes the organization from chaos to almost the bring
of disintegration. Rigidity and single-loop learning do not guarantee regeneration; a transition
state from which new things can emerge does (Totro 2005).
3. DESCRIPTION AND REALIZATION OF THE MODEL OF
ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING IN HIGHER EDUCATION
In this context, ‘model’ means a higher education study module in organizational psychology that
has been built differently from modules based on traditional lectures and practicals.
The organizational learning model was constructed as follows:
1. Introductory meeting and organization
The module began with an introductory meeting at which participants were given instructions on
how to complete the module. The participants included students from different faculties. Upon
entering the room, the students observed that the participants comprised almost thirty students
from different faculties and that they did not know each other. The chairs had been arranged in
a circle and the entire traditional classroom environment had been stripped away and rebuilt in
accordance with the basic idea of the module: organization. The instructors were a professor of
educational psychology and a teacher in psychology. Only some of the students were previously
acquainted with the instructors.
As part of the instructions, the participants were informed that the module comprised setting up
an expert organization whose task it was to produce educational services to both the private and
public sectors. In order to produce high-quality educational services, the participants would have
to establish as efficient an organizational structure as possible, within which all participants of
the module would have to be able to play a part and commit to the activities of the organization.
The participants were asked to:
o come up with a name for the organization and design its logo;
o define the organization’s areas of expertise;
o plan internal and external communications for the organization;
o ensure that the teachers in charge of the module would also be kept up-to-date with any
information that they needed to report onward;
o appoint a CEO and an Executive Management Group for the organization;
o ensure that all students were fully committed to the module;
o produce a feasible action plan for an educational event, the theme, structure and other
aspects of which the group could choose freely, and to execute any assignments and orders
that the organization would potentially receive as well producing feasible plans for their
execution.
124
2. Speeches by experts
The module included a guest speaker for each session. The objective of the speeches was to
introduce perspectives – sometimes by some quite unexpected people – and also to push the
participants to anticipate and identify trends that are emerging in modern organizations. The
following speeches were held during the last academic year:
- Is this creativity? – Digitalization and media in organizations
- Crisis management case: the Finnish Defense Forces
- Organizational cultures
- PMC company – how to launch a new organization
- Consultant’s link to an organization.
3. Interventions
The structure of the module included interventions – or “orders” – which were aimed at driving
the organization’s operation, at bringing elements of surprise to the functioning of the organization
and at forcing the organization to adopt an active state. Some of the interventions were “real”,
hands-on orders, such as planning educational events, while others had been devised to get the
organization to step things up. One of the interventions was a situation where the “CEO” of the
organization was pulled out on “sick leave” to observe and comment on the way the organization
performed.
4. Feedback sessions
Feedback sessions were held at the end of each class, with the aim of detaching the participants
from the organization and getting them to review their own learning and experiences together
with the instructors/consultants.
5. Exercises
The students were asked to keep a diary of what they were learning. In addition, they were given
a literary exercise. At the end of the module, each student filled in an assessment form, which
evaluated:
- how the organization approached its tasks, whether responsibilities were divided in a sensible
manner, and whether the organization had been able to change its operating methods and
reorganize itself;
- how leadership demonstrated itself, what role the leaders played in executing tasks, and whether
changes took place in leadership;
- how the activities were managed and planned, whether everyone’s resources were put to use and
if not, why not, and whose resources were not put to use;
- how successful interaction was within the organization, what worked well and what did not, and
125
why;
- how individuals performed within the organization, who made themselves visible and who
did not, and whether everyone was committed to executing the tasks and what kinds of things
hindered or helped to keep things moving along;
- how good the respondent’s own performance had been, what his/her contribution to executing
tasks was, and what he/she had learned from his/her own methods and behavior during his/her
time with the organization.
6. Consultants and their role
After the introductory meeting, the instructors told the participants that they would take on the
role of observers and would no longer be available to answer questions. However, the instructors
offered consultancy throughout the module. The instructions specified that consultancy would
only be available at certain times. Time with the consultants was reserved for questions and
advice.
4. AIMS, OBJECTIVES AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The objective of the study was to describe the implementation of a new, innovative learning
model in higher education. Of particular interest are the subjective experiences and descriptions
of personal learning during the whole process. The phenomena of organizational learning, like
leadership and personal commitment during the organizational learning, are also the focus of the
investigation.
Data gathering and data analysis: the aim of data gathering was to obtain as rich and diverse
information as possible, described by the participants. Study diaries were reviewed and analyzed
using the method of content analysis. Written assessment of the organization’s functioning,
leadership and own actions and learning formed part of the material’s assessment. Instructors/
consultants also kept diaries of their observations.
During the study, the content analysis of the written descriptions was used to capture the process.
The data were first divided into three phases: starting, middle and end. This was justifiable,
as previous experiments had given provisional findings clearly indicating that the process had
distinct phases, the first of which was dominant throughout the process. The central purpose of the
content analysis was to generalize and abstract from the complexity of the original descriptions
in order to look for evidence of the processual nature of organizational learning (De Laat &
Lally 2004). On the basis of the content analysis, descriptive narratives were produced on the
progression of the whole learning process. The narratives were based on the experiences that the
students described in their diaries and were structured chronologically, from the starting phase
to describing the process, and finally its completion. This article aims to bring this narrative to
126
the fore; to give the participants a voice. The participants’ voice will also relay their emotional
experiences, which ultimately formed the very core of the whole organization’s development. The
participants would describe the process strongly through their emotions. Finally, the experiences
would be summarized into a concise description of the organization’s learning and the basic
orientations that were identified.
5. MAIN RESULTS
The language and concepts we were presented with were from God knows where, in any case from
areas that I have wanted to stay well clear of.
It was all very unclear. I would have liked more support from the instructors but I understood that
I needed to mature as an independent learner.
Chaos and despair dominated.
I felt like an outsider.
Descriptions of enthusiasm:
5.1. Starting phase: chaotic and diffused
The students’ experiences during the learning process are described on one hand as chronological
narratives that progress in phases, and on the other in the light of two basic orientations, which
we call developmental and implemental.
The students described the first steps of getting organized as chaotic and different. However,
organization got underway before long and an enterprise called InnoDreams (ID) was founded.
Its mission and line of business were defined, and a CEO and Executive Management Group were
appointed along with a few teams to take charge of key tasks. The Executive Management Group
comprised the team leaders and the CEO.
The content of the module was a surprise. At first I was annoyed but then I started to get the hang
of what was going on. It was interesting to see how the organization came together.
The methodology is surprising; we’re in for something different. I feel apprehensive.
I feel a bit unsteady but everything got off to a smooth start. The day was interesting, one of the
most pleasant surprises this semester.
I expected a boring series of lectures. I got a shock but I trusted that our instructors, who had
proven competent before, would have definitely determined grounds for the necessity of this
particular kind of exercise.
The first work order created enthusiasm.
My emotions were half panic and half excitement.
Descriptions of confusion:
5.2. Middle phase of learning and organization: crises and elucidation
It’s not possible to set up an organization out of thin air!
We were given very few instructions. It was chaotic and difficult. I started to contemplate dropping
out.
Surprise, surprise – we were left to fend for ourselves. We weren’t given any instructions, but on
the other hand, that freed us.
Everyone was completely lost, but Marja took control very efficiently.
Is this going to work at all?
I was surprised by the confusion and the lack of information. I felt angry. They left us to our own
devices on purpose, so that we would learn from our mistakes. Perhaps it served a purpose.
The beginning was very sticky; the task we were given was far too generalized and it lacked
structure. I’m used to working to a clear framework.
Do I have anything to give?
The instructions baffled me, and the fact that I have no idea of what’s to come and what we will
need to do add to that. The way students from different faculties use language was confusing.
This is not going to work – I have always been a strong promoter of studying alone.
We got organized too quickly.
I wish this were a normal module with lectures!
We were all numb, full of panic and terror.
127
As the process advanced, criticisms began to emerge. They targeted both the structures and the
instructors in charge of the module, who the participants felt were not providing enough information.
On the other hand, antagonism towards the organization’s CEO and Executive Management
Group also began to emerge. The leadership system was considered too hierarchical.
Descriptions of crises:
Some wanted to drop out.
The CEO’s role set tongues wagging.
I felt disappointed. I felt like I wasn’t “essential”. I felt like dropping out.
I felt frustrated by how unclear and half-done everything was. I was expecting somebody to do
something.
Everyone was expecting somebody to do something.
There are issues with trustworthiness. We began to look more closely into the role of the CEO.
How much do we trust our leaders? Do we feel secure; do we feel like we can raise topics that
are playing on our minds?
The organization feels like it’s too closely tied to the CEO. This calls for change.
Personnel issues begin to rear their head. A human resources manager was appointed.
128
The confusion is weighing the organization down; structures are unclear.
The atmosphere is chaotic and aggressive.
Confusion remains due to the shortage of information. We are drifting in an open sea without any
destination or goals.
Anger, frustration, despair – that’s exactly what this module is about!
At this stage, participants began to feel more committed and individual differences become more
evident. The participants began to discuss which role each of them played. Active participants were
given credit without hesitation. The participants steered the discussion towards what the input of
quiet and seemingly passive students gives to the work. This theme has emerged frequently during
previous experiments as well. Experiences have shown that learning can occur in many different
ways. One method of learning is observing and learning from one’s own methods. Some students
found it challenging to develop their own role and efforts within the group towards a more active
status. At this stage, work was gradually starting to stabilize, but participants also had the guts
to bring up difficult questions and crises. The organization functioned seemingly efficiently but
there were still issues under the surface that the participants did not have the courage to raise.
Descriptions of elucidation:
It’s amazing how mundane matters that affect every organization are coming up even though the
organization has only been up and running for a few days.
I learned that everyone has to work independently; it’s rare that anyone comes to ask.
The wheels got into motion once teams were set up.
I found my place in the organization. I feel committed: I feel like I matter and like I’m a part of a
bigger whole. Anxiety is not a bad feeling.
This is so different! It’s nice to work when you feel motivated.
I received encouraging feedback.
I actually felt at home.
This is a good feeling; I believe that we can get through our tasks.
Discussions with the whole group are eye-opening experiences; it’s good to hear what others
think.
Discussions are important; they help to drive self-analysis.
ID is not an easy organization to run.
Morale is high.
Teamwork is excellent.
Collaboration is starting to work; sad – it’s all coming to an end soon.
The gradual elucidation indicated that the participants had found their place and position in the
organization and now felt motivated in their work. The descriptions of elucidation convey the calm
stages in the development of an organization, during which the participants typically enjoy their
work and feel comfortable in their positions but are not as driven by innovation as at other times.
129
5.3. End phase: satisfaction and learning successes
The final stages of the module were dominated by phenomena that are typical to group dynamics:
sadness, letting go and also relief for the fact that a challenging module had come to an end. The
outcomes of the learning experience are approached from two perspectives – personal learning
and organizational learning.
5.3.1. Descriptions of lessons learned about personal learning
The module was great. I learned more about organization, controlling confusion, other people
and my own behaviour than I would have at lectures. Thank you!
I learned a lot on every occasion that the team got together. I can take on challenges but I would
like to develop my skills as someone who takes charge of the whole process.
It has been a great experience to be able to apply my studies in administrative science and
information studies to this module. Universities’ traditional examination practices are
passivating.
I have learned a lot about my own behaviour but I have also tried to understand other people’s
perspectives.
Awareness of personal learning and courage to take responsibility give food for thought.
I’m indecisive about my own role. I’m trying to decide whether I would like to be a leader.
The module began and ended in an atmosphere of confusion.
I was happy with my own input; I felt safe.
I was annoyed at having been made redundant.
This was one of the best modules I’ve ever attended. For once I was pushed to really think
about things and to reflect on my previous learning. I got to learn through trial and error, by
doing. Differences of opinion between students from different faculties were highlighted, in a
good way.
I learned a lot about my own personality. I learned a lot through listening. I took part in the
module more for myself than for the whole organization.
The module opened my eyes a little: perhaps I’ll be able to push my own boundaries later in
life.
The module taught lessons on self and others.
I have gained self-confidence.
It was surprising how seriously we took things. I’m glad our other modules aren’t like this; I
wouldn’t have the energy. I found myself thinking about the organization over the weekend.
I had a very vivid dream about the organization, its members and the problems between them last
night. I came to the lecture feeling charged up.
How can one module evoke so many different emotions – encouraging experiences, confusion,
tolerance for uncertainty, continuous scrutiny and contemplation?
130
5.3.2. Descriptions of lessons learned on the functioning of organizations
The module was interesting. Observing phenomena in a laboratory setting clarified many things.
The module gave a very illustrative view on organization, leadership and group dynamics.
The role of an active participant can be taxing. There must be room for others as well.
I learned how much safety there is in structure. The no-lectures approach resulted in chaos. This
is what we need in higher education.
The module was well organized and it taught skills that will be needed later in working life
(flexibility, tolerance of uncertainty, receptiveness, listening).
Organizations do not collaborate, people do, and trust is a key phenomenon for enabling
creativity and innovation (Inkinen 2006). Trust can easily be perceived as a quality associated
with individuals. It is also, however, a social and dynamic quality and therefore also touches
teams and organizations. Trust is a social asset and a kind of lubricant for interaction and systems,
protecting the members of organizations from difficulties. It reduces the need for supervision
and inspires responsible independence (Miettinen 2005). Offering sufficient autonomy promotes
creativity, and this is possible in an atmosphere of trust. The development of trust in such a shortlived organization is demanding, but when functioning at its best the group of students excelled in
this as well. This is evidenced by the participants’ narratives and the results that the organization
achieved in a short space of time.
5.5. Basic orientations in organizational learning
The findings of the content analysis can be summarized in a description of basic orientations.
Basic orientations are used to describe the participants’ relationship with their own learning and
organization. The experiences of the participants revealed two basic orientations, which were
named developmental and implemental. These methods have also arisen in previous studies in
connection with teamwork, in situations that have lacked clear structures (Kronqvist & Soini
1994).
Developmental orientation
Implemental orientation
• Tasks were adopted slowly and
pensively.
• The organization of the task
force was based on assessing the
participants’ skills.
• Tasks were adopted quickly
and hastily.
• The organization of the task force
followed an earlier, familiar model.
• The task was analyzed critically.
• The details of the task were
forgotten.
• Leadership was decided through
discussion and on the basis of
knowledge.
• Leadership was decided quickly
without much reasoning. The task
force shied away from electing a
leader.
• The level of commitment varied
according to how strongly the
participants felt that their own personal
knowledge and skills contributed to the
whole.
• The level of commitment depended
on whether the participants had
the right amount of things to do;
participants who were more active
seemed more committed. Some
participants took on a lot of work
for themselves and did not delegate
to others.
• Satisfaction with the way the
organization was running was linked to
how much the participant contributed to
the organization’s functioning personally
and how much he/she was prepared to
do for the organization.
• Satisfaction with the way the
organization was running
was linked to whether it was
“producing results” and whether
it was able to get through things
quickly.
It appears that higher education favors the implemental learning orientation at the expense of the
developmental. There are numerous reasons for this. It is understandable that it is not possible to
fully commit to every module due to constraints of time and resources. It wears participants out
and unavoidably adds to the stress of studying. Increasing implementality can, however, act as
an estranging experience and create other kinds of fatigue problems. Then again, the structures
of higher education do not in reality favor innovative solutions, and developing these is a slow
process. The work of university teachers and researchers in an objective-orientated university
can also contribute to the organization favoring the application of familiar learning and teaching
models.
131
132
6. DISCUSSION
Experiences from studying the functioning of organizations in higher education by means of the
innovative simulation model described in the article are encouraging. Traditionally, university
studies are based on learning through lectures and practical exercises, but different kinds of
reflective diaries have also been used increasingly in theoretical studies over the last few years.
Social study modules that reach across the borders of scientific branches and faculties have
not been received particularly well. The parties have not been keen to share information, let
alone enthusiastically developing shared study modules together. The authors of the article have
personal experience of this. Nevertheless, universities’ strategic guidelines and plans emphasize
the importance of cross-scientific collaboration in teaching and research. Integrating new methods
in higher education is poorly received and is a relatively demanding task. The process calls not
just for innovative teachers and students but also for committed support from the management.
An important observation in this study was the fact that the students considered the participation
of different scientific fields and studying together with students of different subjects an extremely
useful and fruitful experience. In other words, students are ready for this, while it is the readiness
of teachers that still has room for improvement.
The organizational simulation called attention to the phenomenon of leadership and gave it
meaning through the students’ experiences. During the module, the “CEO” took criticism for
his hierarchical approach to leadership. The “CEO” himself justified this by saying that the
module was just one amongst many and his commitment to it was purely implemental. Many
different theoretical trends can be discerned in leadership theories, but the strongest tendencies
are various theories that emphasize charismatic, inspirational and visionary approaches to
leadership (Goleman, Biyatzis & McKee, 2003). Brookfield (2001) criticized these kinds of
leadership theories and emphasizes that leadership is by no means a stable entity but a complex
and constantly changing process, which would be better described as a means of understanding,
discussing and recording social reality in a certain time and place.
The core message of this exercise is that in order to function, an organization needs to have a
structure, but it must be possible to change the structure if the tasks so require. It is also important
to note that the reticence or activeness of the students is not just dependent on the students’
psychological qualities or individual skills. The way in which students commit to working
together is crucially dependent on the structures that have been created for studying. One key
problem and challenge for the students in this exercise was the way in which the traditional
teacher-led structure had been demolished and no other clear operating model offered in its stead.
Only after the students had successfully structured their own actions and begun to trust that they
really were allowed to decide on the operational structures themselves, things began to move
forward. Students who were waiting for the instructors to intervene were particularly easily left
outside of the main action for long periods of time.
Results have shown the interdependence between emotion and learning, especially in the context
of changing organizations (Antonacopoulou & Gabriel 2001). This article uses a three-month
simulation model to describe the kinds of emotions that rise to the surface when an organization
is undergoing a period of change. In the simulation model the phenomena appear exaggerated
and powerful because, in a way, the participants are operating in a laboratory environment,
which allows the phenomena to be studied out of context. It also offers an opportunity to see the
phenomena more clearly as in long, drawn-out change processes where emotions and learning
can become overshadowed by the intensive attention that the organization is giving to its basic
mission. Learning from experience is central to psychodynamic and systemic traditions with
their focus on development, insight and understanding. Of course, the psychodynamic approach
differs from other approaches in that it highlights the meaning of unconscious phenomena in
organizational learning (Trehan 2007).
Today’s organizations, which exist in a constant state of turmoil, challenge both the learning
and emotions of the individual. Many organizations highlight learning and the adoption of new
operating models. Organizations allocate a lot of resources to retraining their personnel, with
emphasis on innovativeness. The concept of ‘the learning organization’ has become a buzzword.
At the same time, however, organizations are emphasizing short-term utilitarian, implemental
practices that virtually destroy the individual’s opportunities for learning and developing.
The latest educational research can be made use of in higher education and the knowledge
applied to innovative and creative development models for learning. According to Häkkinen
(2003), learning from executing complex and authentic projects requires resources, adopting
new learning concepts, support for reflection, and expanded mechanisms for collaboration and
communication.
References:
Antonacopoulou, E. & Gabriel, Y. (2001). Emotion, learning and organizational change. Towards
an integration of psychoanalytic and other perspectives. Journal of Organizational Change and
Management, 14 (5), pp. 435-451.
Brookfield SD (1987). Developing critical thinkers. Oxford:Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Brookfield SD (1991). Understanding and facilitating adult learning. Buckingham:Open
University Press.
Brookfield SD (1994). Using critical incidents to explore learners’ assumptions. In: Mezirow J
(ed) Fostering critical reflection in adulthood. San Fransisco:ossey-Bass Publishers, pp. 177193.
Dewey J (1988). Experience and Education. The later works of John Dewey 13, pp. 1-62.
133
134
De Laat, M. & Lally. V. (2004). It’s not easy: researching the complexity of emergent participant
roles and awareness in asynchronous networked learning discussions. Journal of Computer
Assisted Learning, 20, pp. 165-171.
Häkkinen, P. (2003). Collaborative learning in networked environments: interaction through
shared workspaces and communication tools. Journal of Education for Teaching, 29(3), pp. 279282.
Hyyppä, H. & Miettinen, A. 2005. (editors) Johtajuus ja organisaatiodynamiikka. Oulu: Metanoia
Instituutti.
Does creativity create measurable firm value?
Kirsi-Mari Vihermaa & Anu Ikonen-Kullberg
Turku school of economics, Pori unit
Inkinen, S. (2006). Homo creativus. Havaintoja eräistä aikalaiskäsitteistä. In: Inkinen, S.,
Karkulehto, S., Mäenpää, M. & Timonen, E. (2006). Minne matka, luova talous. Jyväskylä:
Rajalla.
Kronqvist, E-L. & Soini, H. (1994). Developing a learning organization at the university level. pp.
177-182. In: Hoot, H.C. et al (1994). Group and Interactive Learning. Computational Mechanics
Publications.
Lönnqvist, J. (2000). Johtajan ja johtamisen psykologiasta. Helsinki: Edita.
Miettinen, A. (2005). Luottamus organisaatioiden välisessä dynamiikassa. In: H. Hyyppä &
A.Miettinen (editors). Johtajuus ja organisaatiodynamiikka. Oulu:Metanoia Instituutti.
Prins, S. (2006). The psychodynamic perspective in organizational research: making sense of the
dynamics of direction setting in emergent collaborative processes. Journal of Occupational and
Organizational Psychology, 79, pp. 335-355.
Rauste- von Wright, M. (1986). On personality and educational psychology. Human Development,
29, pp. 328-340.
Soini, H. & Kronqvist, E-L. (1994). The significance of group dynamics in peer tutoring in
higher education, pp. 477-482. In: Hoot, H.C. et al (1994). Group and Interactive Learning.
Computational Mechanics Publications.
ABSTRACT
Creativity is central to human activity. As a core ability of mankind, it is our intangible asset to
create something new, innovative and valuable. To what extent creativity contributes to economic
growth is very interesting topic. When talking about the connection between creativity and
accounting information, the concepts of knowledge capital, intellectual capital and knowledge
based economy come up. Value in the firm is created in the interaction between the human capital
and the organizational capital. A new way for measuring intangibles can be done by taking
a lateral perspective into accounting and address value creators such as alliances, networks,
cultural context and know-how on the balance sheet. Intellectual capital is one of the concepts
that link accounting, finance and creativity. In the past, the value of a firm was more directly linked
to value of its physical capital. Nowadays the intangible assets make it increasingly complicated
to understand or valuate the actual value of a company. In this paper, we attempt to find ways
to localize creativity in the balance sheets of companies and consider if creativity really creates
firm value.
Soini, H. (2001). Oppiminen sosiaalisena käytäntönä. Psykologia 36 (1-2), pp. 48-59.
Totro, T. (2005). Tavistock-tradition syteemis-psykodynaaminen organisaation kehittämismalli.
In: H. Hyyppä & A. Miettinen (editors). Johtajuus ja organisaatiodynamiikka. Oulu: Metanoia
Instituutti.
Trehan, K. (2007). Psychodynamic and critical perspectives on leadership development. Advances
in Developing Human Resources, 9(1), pp. 72-82.
135
136
Introduction
Creativity is central to human activity. As a core ability of mankind, it is our intangible asset to
create something new, innovative and valuable. Creativity takes place in the interaction between
a person’s thoughts and a socio-cultural context. Creativity has been recognised as an economic
driver for generating wealth and employment, sustainable development, technological changes,
business innovation and enhancement of competitiveness of individual cities and countries. To
what extent creativity contributes to economic growth is very interesting topic.
When talking about the connection between creativity and accounting information, the concepts
of knowledge capital, intellectual capital and knowledge based economy come up. According
to these theories, investments into knowledge will improve the wealth of organizations and
trough that entire nations. For a financial executive or a stock analyst it is crucially important
to understand the non-financial performance drivers that will create the future value of the firm.
Value in the firm is created in the interaction between the human capital and the organizational
capital.
Intellectual capital is one of the concepts that link accounting, finance and creativity. In the
past, the value of a firm was more directly linked to value of its physical capital. Nowadays the
intangible assets make it increasingly complicated to understand or valuate the actual value of
a company. The financial statements of companies are becoming less informative concerning
the firm’s current financial position and future prospects. There are signs that the accounting
information is loosing its relevance; there is an increasing gap between the market value and the
book value of equity of most companies in most countries (see eg. Cañibano, Covarsi & Sánchez
1999). Also, several empirical studies have found a consistent relationship between innovation
and the firm’s future performance (Brynjolfsson, 1999; and Stiroh, 1999). This supports the idea
that financial statements should include information on the amount of resources firms invest in
innovation. This way the accounting statements could provide relevant information for decision
making. Determining the value of Intangibles is a topic of great debate. Many researchers criticize
present approaches and point out the disconnection between the book value and the stock value
of many intangible assets (Bouteille2001). This is why we feel that accounting and financial
methods are incapable to fully capture the value of creativity for a company.
Accounting information and firm creativity do not come up often in the same discussion, although
the whole idea of accounting information is to provide a true and fair view of a firm’s financial
state and the future earning power. In today’s society creativity is becoming more and more
important factor of the future competitive advantage, and hence the future earning power. There
are hardly any studies on creativity as a firm quality and accounting information, although many
studies see creativity as an essential part of the intangible assets and intellectual capital of a firm.
We believe that it both important and interesting to study how the creativity can be localised in
the provided accounting information, and also how it could be measured.
137
This paper focuses on the connection between creativity and future value of a company and aims
to find out where and how does the creativity show in the financial statements. We attempt to
contribute to the measurement of creativity in its own right and find out if it is possible to trace
it in the balance sheet and income statement. We argue that creativity is an essential part of the
future earning power of a firm and hence should be recognized when the total value of a company
is evaluated. In order to do this, we need to define creativity, make some remarks on accounting
information as a whole and from there gain understanding of the link between a firm’s creativity
and the financial value of a firm.
Creativity
There are several definitions of creativity, here we just go trough few of them. We are especially
interested in those definitions that link the concept of creativity to the innovation capacity of a
firm. We see creativity as the ability to produce work that is both novel (i.e. original, unexpected)
and appropriate (i.e. useful, adaptive concerning task constraints). (Lubart 1994; Ochse 1990;
Stenberg 1988a, Sternberg & Lubart 1991, 1995, 1996).
At individual level, creativity is relevant in problem solving and in daily life whereas at societal
level, creativity can lead to new findings, new movements in art, new inventions and new social
programs. The economic importance of creativity is linked to the fact that innovation in the form
of new products or services create jobs and help to raise the productivity of nations. Organizations
and societies, and the individuals acting in them, have to adapt existing resources to the ever
changing task demands in order to remain competitive. According to Sternberg and Lubart (1995)
creativity is the successful solution of problems that require some degree of insight. Many see
creativity as a production of original ideas, and a process that involves realization of an analogy
between previously unassociated mental elements (Amabile 1996; Sternberg & Lubart 1995). It
is agreed that for something to be creative, it is not enough for it to be novel: it must have value,
or be appropriate to the cognitive demands of the situation (Weisberg 1993). According to M.
Csikszentmihalyi (1996, 28) “Creativity is any act, idea, or product that changes an existing
domain, or that transforms an existing domain into a new one. What counts is whether the novelty
he or she produces is accepted for inclusion in the domain.”
The ability to innovate and creativity are nowadays seen as essential attributes of successful
companies. Cox (1993) has stated that in order to introduce creativity in the organization, firms
need to welcome a creative spirit into their corporate culture, generate new ideas by introducing
a creative program, encouraging team work, improve communication, use creativity for strategic
planning, and seek new perspectives (Cañibano et al 1999). At organisational level, the notion of
“learning organization” is one of the elements that link individual and organisational creativity.
Senge (1990) defines learning organizations as places where people continually expand their
capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are
138
nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning how
to learn together.
From these definitions, we have reasoned that the creativity of an organisation could be found
in the human resource measurements. One of the definitions of organizational creativity we both
agreed on (and could not find from the literature), is that organisational creativity is hard to see
and hard to measure, it is one of those assets that you recognize very clearly after you lost it. This
is one of the points that could be researched trough financial statement analysis later on when we
continue the research.
Intangible Assets
Nowadays firms need to allocate growing amounts of resources to R&D and other innovative
activities, and invest in their human resources in order to achieve higher levels of knowledge and
technological improvement. These actions then allow them to exploit competitive advantages.
This is why it is not surprising that in developed economies, intangibles have become the focus
of attention of many different stakeholders: investors, creditors, managers, policy makers and
researcher, among others. (See also Cañibano et al. 1991).
There are certain items which are generally considered as intangible assets (IA) of firms, such
as goodwill, intellectual capital (IC), human capital, organizational innovation, investments in
R&D and advertising, brands and patents. Still, there seems to be little agreement in the literature
as to what exactly intangibles are, when they should be recognized, whether or not they should be
reported in the financial statements, how they should be measured, accounted for and depreciated.
(Cañibano et al.1999).
Intangible assets can be defined as assets which lack a physical substance, result from legal or
contractual rights and are likely to produce future benefits (Belkaoui 1992; Cañibano, et al. 1999).
Bouteiller (2001) define intangible assets as those that generally arise as a result of past events
and possess three main attributes: they are non physical in nature, they are capable of producing
future economic net benefits, and they are protected legally or through a de facto right. Belkaoui
(1992) divides intangible assets into two groups: identifiable intangible assets such as patents,
and unidentifiable assets, such as goodwill. Investments in intangible assets are mainly intended
to acquire or maintain competitive advantage.
According to IAS 38 the intangible asset should be identifiable, controlled and clearly
distinguishable from an enterprise’s goodwill in order to be recognized in the financial statement.
Also, future economic benefits are expected to flow to the enterprise as a result of the IA. The
IAS 38 frames the accounting recognition of IA. Still, from an economic perspective they are
not qualified and no indicatives of the values of the intangible assets are presented in the IAS 38.
139
Cañibano et al. find this definition very restrictive as it explicitly excludes from the scope of the
standard some of the firms’ most significant intangible investments, such as resources allocated to
human resources and advertising. Tollington & Liu (1998) state that “something is clearly wrong
with a situation where the mainstay of a business’s financial strength and future economic benefit
is excluded from the published balance sheet.”
Among others, Edvinsson and Mallone (1997) name intangible resources as the most important
company resource missing on the balance sheet. This argument often leads to the conclusion
that this weightless wealth’ is the reason for the difference between a company’s book value and
market value. That is, the difference between the book value of the company and the amount of
money someone is prepared to pay for it. (Brooking 1997). In a weightless economy, success
comes not from having built the largest factory but from knowing how to organise understanding
into forms that others will demand. The recognition of many valuable internally created intangible
assets, currently fall outside the scope of the definitions and often go unreported on the balance
sheet. (Tollington & Liu 1998)
The inability of the accounting system to cope with intangibles is seen as problem Many authors,
including Kaplan and Norton (1996) use phrases like “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage
it”. With these statements they justify the search for new measures for intangibles. From the
fact that the accounting system is unable to cope with intangibles many conclude that we need
to rethink the balance sheet. The financial statements of today recognize intangible assets only
when they are acquired from others (Cañibano et al. 1999). We can again argue that here is a clear
conflict with the definition of creativity. The current accounting system is about 500 years old and
it is based on historical costs and transactions reporting. The purpose of accounting, is to show
a portray of a firm’s incomes and its financial state in a realistic way. In today’s world, it seems
to get increasingly difficult to do this only based on transaction recording and historical cost
analysis. The backward looking approach may lead to growing inaccuracies in the understanding
of value creation. To repair the balance sheet it can be argued that we also need to develop a
basis for the recognition, valuation and capitalization of internally generated intangible resources.
(Andriessen 2002)
Intellectual capital, firm value and creativity
Stewart (1997), states that “intelligence becomes an asset when some useful order is created
out of free brainpower”. The concept of Intellectual Capital is defined from a valuation point of
view by Sullivan (2000). He sees it as “knowledge that can be converted into profit.” Here we
see a clear link between an organisations’ intellectual capital and the concept of organisational
creativity. Bouteiller (2001) uses the definition of intellectual capital with the notion that it is an
“intellectual material that has been formalized, captured, and leveraged to produce a highervalued asset. He then continues, that this intellectual material is often made of tacit knowledge
140
embedded in the brain of employees and is not owned by the firm. Here we can see parts of
intellectual capital that, for us, is not included in the concept of creativity. When it comes to
creativity, the tacit knowledge hardly captures the essence of it. At this point we can get more
into the detail into the definition of intellectual capital, and rule out some parts of it that are not
included in the concept of organizational creativity.
Andriessen (2002) has classified a company’s resources into tangible, intangible and financial
assets (see Picture 1). The intangible assets are further divided into human based resources and
structural resources, and creativity is seen as a component in the human resources. We argue, that
the organisational creativity can be found also in the structural capital of a firm, namely in the
intellectual assets.
M ark et value
Intellectual capit al
Financial capital
Human capital
Stuctural capital
Or ganisational capital
Innovation capital
Customer capital
Process capital
Picture 2. Framework of value creating processes within the organization by Skandia
Picture 1 Classification of company resources (Andriessen 2002)
Different classifications of intangibles and intellectual capital have been proposed by private
companies, which are often based on the balanced score card concept. In the side of its annual
report, Skandia has presented a framework for understanding the value creating processes within
the organization. In the model presented by Skandia, market value is driven by financial capital
and intellectual capital. Intellectual capital is determined by human capital and structural capital,
which in turn is based on customer capital and organizational capital. The organizational capital
is then grounded on innovation capital and process capital. (Cañibanoet al. 1999) This definition
is represented in the picture below, and this is the model that we find useful to recognize the
value of creativity in the balance sheet. In our opinion, the concept of creativity lies firstly, in
the human capital and secondly in the organisational innovation capital (both marked red in the
picture below).
141
The Skandia model is a good starting point for us to localize the creativity in the financial
statements. From here we can continue building our model to recognize the value of creativity.
There is a clear need to provide in the financial statements more comprehensive, more reliable
and more timely information on intangibles. This could be done by broadening the current
accounting model and encouraging voluntary disclosure by management, explaining the impact
that intangibles are likely to have in the future profitability of the firm, as in the case of Skandia
above. According to Mavrinac and Boyle (1996,) the use of non-financial measures seems to be
common practice nowadays among financial analysts. Based on a content analysis of over 300
investment reports and they concluded that: (i) analysts considered a wide variety of non-financial
issues; and, (ii) those who frequently take into account non-financial issues have, on average, a
higher predictive accuracy.(Cañibanoet al 1999)
Also, there is obviously a significant risk associated to underinvesting in intangibles (creativity
among them). Investments in intangibles are usually intended to maintain and gain market share,
and may be understood as a consequence of competitive pressures. This way, it seems clear that
such investments are likely to strengthen the firm’s competitive position. There is evidence
provided by Abrahams and Sidhu (1997), Barth and Clinch (1997) Aboody (1998), Hall (1998)
and Lev (1998), indicates that there is a consistent association between the amounts of R&D
investments and their market value.
There is a great risk associated to the underassessment of intangibles when analysing the
142
financial position of a firm. If financial statements provide investors with biased estimates of the
firm’s value (the book value of equity) and its capability to create wealth in the future (current
earnings), inefficiencies may appear in the resource allocation process which takes place in the
capital markets. On the basis of publicly available financial statements investors might decide
to allocate resources to firms investing little or nothing in intangibles and thus reporting higher
levels of earnings and book values in the short- term. This way they are not supplying capital to
companies undertaking large investments in intangibles that may seem less attractive in the short
run, but ensure higher future earnings. Failure to correctly reflect the impact of intangibles on the
current and future performance of the business implies that accounting statements fail to present
true and fair view of the firm’s financial position. We may argue that investors are provided with
non-relevant and non-comparable financial information and will most likely not be able to assess
the value of companies. (Cañibano, Covarsi & Sánchez 1999).
Where to go from here?
In this paper, we have argued that creativity is one of thee boosters of the economy of today, and
that is increasingly important for firms to be creative and innovative in order to compete. We have
also argued that the current accounting methods do not see creativity as an asset for companies,
although its value to future economic benefits has been recognized.
We see that accounting needs to be developed in order to give more valuable information of a
firm’s value to managers, shareholders and other stakeholders. We tried to localize creativity in
the financial statements, because we believe that it should be represented as a company value. We
still need more research and financial statement analysis to prove our conclusions, but we suspect
that a company’s creativity may lie in the human capital and innovation capital of a firm, and that
it is important to develop models to measure these. We also believe that voluntary disclosure,
such as indexes on creativity, could be the key for better informed stakeholders.
SOURCES:
Amabile, T. M. (1996) Creativity in context. Boulder, CO: Westview.
Belkaoui, A.R. (1992), Accounting Theory. London: Academic Press.
Bouteiller, C. (2001), “The evaluation of intangibles: advocating for an option based approach”,
working paper, Reims Management School, Reims, .
Brooking, A. (1997), Management of intellectual capital. Long Range Planning, Vol. 30, No. 3,
p. 364-365.
Brynjolfsson, E. (1999), The intangible benefits and costs of computer investments.
Cox, H. (1993), Encouraging creativity. Business & Economic Review, Vol. 40, No. 1,
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly (1996). Creativity : Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and
Invention. New York: Harper P
Currency/Doubleday, 1997
Edvinsson, L. (1997), Developing intellectual capital at Skandia. Long Range
Planning, Vol. 30, No. 3, p. 366-373.
Kaplan, R.S. and D.P. Norton (1996), Strategic Learning and the Balanced Scorecard.
Lubart, T.I. (1994) Thinking and problem solving, 1994 - New York: Academic Press
MIT.
Ochse, R. (1990) Before the gates of excellence. Cambridge University Press, New York. p. 26-27.
P. Sullivan, Value-Driven Intellectual Capital: John Wiley and Sons, 2000.
Senge, P.M. (1990) The Fifth Discipline, the Art and Practice of the Learning Organisation.
Doubleday Currency. London erennial.
Sternberg, R. J. & Lubart, T. I. (1996) „Investing in creativity”. American Psychologist, 51, 677–688.
Sternberg, R. J. (1988) The triarchic mind: A new theory of human intelligence. New York:
Viking–Penguin
Sternberg, R.J., Lubart, T.I., 1991b. Creating creative minds. Phi Delta Kappan 72 (8), 608-614.
Sternberg, R.J., Lubart, T.I., 1995. Defying the Crowd: Cultivating Creativity in a Culture of
Conformity. Free Press, New York.
Stiroh, K.J. (1999), Computers and Productivity. Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Strategy and Leadership, Vol. 24, n. 5, p. 18-24.
T.A Stewart, Intellectual Capital: The new wealth of organizations, New York:
Weisberg, R.W., 1993. Creativity: Beyond the Myth of Genius. Freeman, New York.
143
144
Human Driven Design and Innovation of Everyday
Veikko Ikonen
Senior Research Scientist, Team Leader Digital Life, Human-Driven Design
VTT, Tampere, Finland
3. Everyday Creativity and User Innovations
Abstract.
User and usability studies have been conducted in order to get better effectiveness, efficiency,
and user satisfaction and user acceptance for new products and services. Even though the design
approach is said to be human-centred or user-centred the design of new products and services has
been quite technology or market driven. Instead of putting technology or market to the core of design
process and product development the human needs of everyday life should form the fundamental
basis of design. Human Driven Design and Innovation (HDDI) refers to the new design approach
which tries to broaden the perspective from focused product development process model to the
more holistic design perspective. Scenario-Based Design (SBD) has been implemented widely
to the concept and product development processes. Especially in the development of Information
and Communication Technologies the Scenario-Based Design approach has been utilized widely
though with different variations and modifications. Scenarios have been used in human-centred
design of computing applications and they seem to be especially useful and popular when
designing smart environments and inventing new possibilities to utilise new technologies in our
living environments. In this paper I’ll present revised scenario-based design model as a possible
human driven design tool instead of being currently still quite technology driven and humancentred.
145
146
Introduction
The level of information technology in our everyday life is increasing and getting more and more
ambient in our daily environments. Environments are, in the future, supposed to be intelligent,
adaptive, intuitive and interactive. The combination of mobile computing and technologically
embedded environments brings new challenges to the design, implementation and introduction
of applications. New solutions for various fields of work and leisure also challenge the potential
users and inhabitants of, or visitors to, these smart environments. These kinds of environments
and computing applications are called ubiquitous, pervasive or ambient depending on the
stakeholder’s point of view. Mark Weiser (Weiser 1991; Weiser and Brown 1996) also had a
vision of a computerised future, but in a way that people would not even notice that their lives are
supported by ubiquitous computing. He called this vision Calm Computing and this is also our
goal: everyone can utilise and be supported by technology in the way in which technology is a
comfortable, natural, undisturbing and almost unnoticeable part of our daily living environment.
Naturally, not all computing applications can and will be calm. Some applications are designed to
attract the user’s attention (e.g. games in virtual reality) and others might be adjusted to comfort
the human need to be able to control these computerised environments in a more conventional
way when preferred. In any case, it is nowadays widely recognised that intelligent compound
systems, where many users and devices communicate simultaneously, clearly require a new
approach to system design and evaluation.
User participation for future concept building is essential but challenging when designing
appliances that may be unfamiliar in their appearance, functionality and impressiveness compared
to the user’s current everyday life. New allocated methods and viewpoints are needed for user
experience design and evaluation of intelligent environments to build systems that naturally support
users in their daily life. The new Human Driven Design and Innovation approach strives to tackle
challenges and problems confronted in current design approaches. The profound human-centred
design and evaluation of forthcoming applications is a key factor when developing technologies,
applications and services for tomorrow but a broader concept of the user experience is needed.
We should not just study applications and their usability but to take into account more holistic
perspective when designing and evaluating Ambient Intelligence. Ethical issues (including e.g.
privacy and security) are naturally always present and covered in Human Driven Design and
Innovation approach.
New everyday: technology, design and research
The technological shift of computing (including applications and services) directed to two
dimensions, embeddedness and mobility, has already changed a lot of our relationship to our
environment (both social and technological). Technology has always been embedded in our
living environment somehow. The technological infrastructure has been fading from our sight
when technology has reached a more mature status. In the electronic and computer era the wires,
147
base stations and servers are usually hidden in our technologically enhanced environments and
we usually see just our personal technological appliances. The embeddedness of technology
is however moving from particular, computer situated spaces, towards computers everywhere
philosophy. The idea that we have a place where our interaction with our environment is supported
by computers is changing because soon we will have technological components (communicating
with each other) everywhere, out of our sights, obtaining and utilising information gathered from
the environment. The increasing level of mobility of information and communication technologies
has also changed our relationship to our environment a lot. With mobile computers we can carry
with us lots of data (e.g. books, music and photos) but at the same time we can also create new
expressions of ourselves and share this information with others at the same time. This connection
to the global network enables continuous information sharing and communication in various ways.
When these two dimensions work together, when the person with mobile technology interacts
with the situated smart environment, we are approaching the area of ubiquitous (or pervasive)
computing, also called ambient intelligence. (e.g. Lyytinen and Yoo 2002)
Even though research in the area of technologically embedded intelligent environments is expanding
very fast the development of the design approaches other than technology-driven ones is still in
its early stage. The methodologies commonly used in designing and evaluating information and
communication technologies have bee quite goal-oriented but new approaches and methods have
been introduced and tested along the way. Design principles for intelligent environments have
been published but in these statements the technological issues are also emphasized to a greater
extent. More profound co-operation between different designers, developers and researchers
is needed to be able to put forward new theories and methodologies that will help to develop
solutions that naturally support humans in their living environment and take into account both the
complexity of the systems and technological aspects as well as social, ethical and cultural issues.
(e.g. Coen 1998, Holmquist et. al 2004, Remagnino et. al 2005, Cook and Das 2005)
Future computerised smart environments are a challenging design target. This issue is especially
tricky when designing public places and multiuser environments. Private or semi-private spaces
(i.e. work, car, and home) can be adjusted more easily according to individual users or a certain
user group. It is also easier to compose common rules and regulations e.g. for work places than
for public spaces. One of the great challenges and opportunities would be to integrate the designer
and the user again and give back to the user control over his computerised environment. We want
to test our approach in multifaceted environments where contexts are overlaid, interruptions in
simultaneous tasks are more regulation than exception and where various user groups with different
skills and technologies want to accomplish their primary and secondary goals. Usually, the only
valid way to evaluate the concept is in the real-life longitude studies and follow-up studies. The
technical development and consideration of technological issues of smart environments is going
to be a huge job for our global society. Equally important is to consider cultural (including social
and ethical) issues related to this technological progress of future computerised environments.
User involvement and contextual studies of human technology interaction in general are going to
148
be a largely accepted curriculum of society in the near future. The great challenge is to be handling
a holistic or ecological approach as a part of this curriculum, due its inner multidisciplinary
nature. (Ikonen 2006)
Human Driven Design
The human world has always been technologically embedded. One of the main arguments behind
the human culture is the definition of a technologically enhanced living environment. The human
relationship with technology has always been goal-oriented. Our basic needs have been fulfilled
with the help of technological inventions. Furthermore, we have also used technology to satisfy
our secondary needs (e.g. need for communication in distance and self-expression). In the very
beginning the design of human technology has been quite near to the actual usage situation and
the need for design has been also rather self-evident. Often the designer, manufacturer and user
have been the same person. In more complex societies the skills and professions have been
differentiated: the user, or in a more general terms the human, is no longer the same person as
a designer or maker. In our times the computers and programs are tools which are assumed to
satisfy our needs for everyday living. The design and development of computer-based applications
and services has long been separated from the actual users. Human-Centred Design (HCD) of
technologies has tried to narrow the gap between developers and actual users or those who utilise
the technology. Participatory design (also called co-design) and standardised HCD processes
were introduced more than two decades ago, but mainly for task-oriented desktop computing.
The world, and especially the computing world, has changed since and new methods and theories
for design have also been introduced.
Human Driven Design and Research process has been introduced for ICT development projects
for developing countries. Brand and Schwittay (2006) bring out four dimensions that should be
taken into account in developing information technologies for developing regions: local practises,
participatory design processes, socio-cultural contexts and political conditions. Furthermore they
emphasise that so called rapid ethnography is not the right answer in these research contexts but
what is needed is long-term participant observation. However in our context (developing new
technologies and interfaces) of Human Driven Design we believe that there is place for both
kinds of approaches: rapid ethnography for inspiring totally new design and long-term living
laboratory type of studies for validating the adaptation of technology in particular situation.
Human driven design and innovation of everyday studies and develops e.g. interactive and
intuitive user interfaces and services, as well as methods for human-centred design. When studying
for example intuitive user interfaces, people and their natural behaviour is the starting point in
the research Extensive user requirements gathering (interviews, observations, focus groups or
group interviews) should be interlocked seamlessly to the technological work of defining system
requirements and e.g. reference architecture. There should be special emphasis for integrating
social and technical requirements by enabling authentic dialogue between different stakeholders
149
during the early developmental phase. The objective of the early phase of development (i.e.
requirements gathering) is to build a common vision and starting point for the developmental
work, where all partners and other stakeholders (including potential users) take part in order
to define the detailed scope for the work and detailed requirements (user, social, technical,
economical, system) for the developmental work of applications and services.. When defining the
user requirements, the end-users are often not the only actors whose requirements should be taken
into account. In addition to the actual end-users it is important to take into account the points of
view of the user organisation, the service providers and society as a whole. There will also be
business and technical requirements for the system, which will be identified and developed in
parallel with the user and organisational requirements.
As a result of a recent joint effort (Kaasinen and Norros 2007), a theoretical basis for a new design
framework for smart systems was presented. The framework was labeled ecological approach
to design of smart environments. This approach focuses on the entity of people and different
technological objects embedded in the environment (i.e.the modern ecosystem). According to this
framework, the target of the design is not mere technology but the practices made possible with
technology. The approach states that the traditional product design approach needs to be extended
to two new design, immediate design and remote design levels, due the current design tensions
and demands. According the framework immediate design focuses on local and immediate user
needs and experiences, and emphasises the increasing role of users in the design. Design alone or
technology by itself cannot create practices but they offer possibilities that users utilise and shape
into their practices. Remote design is more distant or strategic in a sense that it aims at abstracting
from the immediate and creating more general solutions (eg. physical or technical architecture,
standard, platform, political decisions) that provide possibilities and prerequisites for the future.
Remote design targets technical, social and other infrastructures that influence many application
features although the users do not directly see them. In future we should validate and testify the
framework (Ecological Approach to Design of Smart Environments) in practice.
As a part of the immediate design it is necessary to develop co-design methodology that allows
different stakeholders to take part to the design as equal partners. Changing the shift from research
objects to research partners or stakeholders (research subjects) could be called an empowering
design practice for potential end-users of a product or a service. Added to this empowering design
should focus also to other design levels and to the all stakeholder perspectives and not just to the
end-users. Empowering design practice should give an opportunity to influence to the design
in all levels and by different actors so that the dialogue built in design process could be open
and mindful between different levels and between different kinds of stakeholders. Part of the
empowering design practice is to perform an ethical assessment for the whole design. Ethical
issues should be studied throughout the design process: from the requirements gathering phase
to the testing including all stakeholders perspectives for the design and implementation of the
system.
150
Need Based Design
Everything that is designed should have its basic argumentation in human needs. However human
needs can be categorised various ways and this makes our task little bit more difficult. Maslow
is one of the greatest authorities in this field. Maslow (1946) separates our needs from primary
to secondary ones. According to him human needs are fulfilled as stages. Once you have fulfilled
your vital needs for survival (e.g. food, rest and shelter) you are noticing needs upper in the
pyramid (figure x) and are willing to fulfil them. In that sense we are always fulfilling our needs
in some level. In fact some actions of course realise our needs in amore than one level. Basically
al needs are already there waiting for to be invented and fulfilled. The need for experience at first
seems to be most relevant with the highest needs as self-actualisation and esteem needs. However
in many cases in experiences we are confronting also the lower level needs.
For example Navigation is one of the key features of nomadic computing. Personal navigation is a
concept that tries to fulfil human needs for wayfinding, route planning, safety and location-based
services and entertainment. Needs are not invented or new but it is the novel way of delivering
these experiences and services which is something that has not been experienced before. In general
user experience of the product or service is composed of the usage of the product (usability,
utility, and functionality) and of the presentation of the product (showing it, status, fashion). It is
motivated action in a certain context where user’s previous experiences and future expectations
influence the present experience. Among the new products and services there are traditional and
presumed ways of use, but users are also inventing whole new ways to use the product to better
satisfy their needs. Novelties (products, habits, and way of life) are produced, adapted, modified
and fade continually and the users’ experiences of these novelties are determining their destiny
on the route of the product’s life cycle.
Part of the idea of Human Driven Design and Innovation of computerised environment is to
emphasis on values which leads us to examine more closely ideas that emerged in the mid 1990s
(van den Hoven 2007). The most noticeable of these ideas is the Value Sensitive Design which is
an approach to the design of information and computer systems that accounts for human values
throughout the design process (Friedman & Freier 2005). Value Sensitive Design approach
wants to be proactive about human values in system design, and to do so in a manner that is
principled, comprehensive, and systematic. VSD particularly emphasizes values with moral
import, including privacy, trust, human dignity, respect for person, physical and psychological
well-being, informed consent, intellectual property, access, universal usability, freedom from
bias, moral responsibility, and moral accountability. While emphasizing the moral perspective,
VSD also accounts for usability (e.g., ease of use), conventions (e.g., standardization of technical
protocols), and personal preferences (e.g. aesthetic tastes). VSD is an interactional theory in
which values are viewed so that people and social systems affect technological development, and
on the other hand new technologies shape individual behavior and social systems. Value Sensitive
Design also emphasizes the position of so called indirect stakeholders which refer to parties or
151
its output. Indirect stakeholders refer to all other parties who are otherwise affected by the use of
the computer system but who do not interact directly with the computer system. (Friedman and
Freier 2005)
VSD systematically integrates and iterates investigations on three separate levels (Friedman and
Freier 2005): “Conceptual investigations comprise philosophically informed analyses of the central
constructs and issues under investigation. For example, how does the philosophical literature
conceptualize certain values and provide criteria for their assessment and implementation?
What values have standing? How should we engage in trade-offs among competing values in
the design, implementation, and use of information systems (e.g., access vs. privacy, or security
vs. trust)? Empirical investigations focus on the human response to the technical artifact, and on
the larger social context in which the technology is situated. The entire range of quantitative and
qualitative methods used in social science research may be applicable, including observations,
interviews, surveys, focus groups, experimental manipulations, measurements of user behavior
and human physiology, contextual inquiry, collection of relevant documents, and interaction logs.
Technical investigations focus on the design and performance of the technology itself…Technical
investigations can involve either retrospective analyses of existing technologies or the design
of new technical mechanisms and systems ….“.. All investigations (conceptual, empirical, and
technical) are employed iteratively in a way that the results of one type of investigation are
integrated with those of the others, which, in turn, influence additional investigations. (Friedman
and Freier 2005)
Scenario-Based Design as a Human Driven Design and Innovation tool
Scenario as a term can be originally traced to the early theatre and/or film terminology. In this
context scenario is a synonym to the screenplay, manuscript, copy or a script. Basic scenario
elements (setting, actors, dialog, actors’ goals, actors’ plans and interpretation of the situation,
actions, events and plot) are virtually same in the original notion and in the scenario definition
applied as a method in human-centered product development process (Rosson and Carrol
2002). Scenarios that include these elements and are used in human-centred design can be more
specifically defined as user scenarios, use scenarios, usage scenarios or interaction scenarios.
Scenarios can also be called stories, narratives or descriptions of user interaction or anecdotes.
Scenarios can also be called stories, narratives or descriptions of user interaction or anecdotes.
Scenario concept is also typical to future studies where technical innovations, value shifts,
geopolitical tides, environmental perturbations, economic developments, demographic patterns,
and other trends of change are examined. Based on this data researchers create scenarios of possible
alternative futures, which are then used as contingencies within strategic planning initiatives. In
future studies scenarios forecast future under one or more affecting factors, rather than describe
how people accomplish tasks like in scenario-based design. In software engineering, the term
152
“use case” is often used in a bit similar sense as “scenario” and these terms can be confusing. A
use case specifies the sequences of actions that a system or a subsystem performs when interacting
with outside actor(s) (Jacobson, 1992).
Product development process is a cycle where scenarios in general can be utilised in many ways.
During the early phases of the design process scenarios can for instance consolidate different
stakeholders’ view of the project and the future. This scenario usage refers to future studies where
scenarios are used for predicting the possible futures in various areas. Scenarios can further be
used to build up a common vision or a starting point for the forthcoming activities and procedure
in the system development project. In this way scenarios are applied as a tool to assemble a
common picture of the project’s goals and aims as well as possibilities and limitations of the work
to be done.
Scenario building is a way to generate design ideas for new products and to identify potential user
groups and contexts of use for the product. The design team can generate one or more ideas (or
system concepts) for the new system. The most feasible concepts can then be selected for further
elaboration toward user and application requirements specification. Cultural and social issues
affect the building of the scenarios. Usually in scenarios the world is described as ready-made
where everything is fully automated and technology is available everywhere and everything is
compliant with one another. In our own scenario work we have tried to become conscious of
this and also include user evaluations of the scenarios as early as possible or include users in our
scenario building sessions so to be able to build more user-driven concepts later
The value of scenarios is that they make ideas more concrete and describe complicated and rich
situations and behaviours in meaningful and accessible terms. It is often easier and more fruitful
to generate scenarios rather with a group of people than individually. Optimally the group should
include people with different expertise: designers, end users, application field experts, marketing
people and usability experts. It is vital to involve end users in the scenario work in order to
generate and refine the process and to enable genuine user feedback for the system development
as early as possible.
As a design instrument scenarios are stories about people and their activities in a particular
situations and environments (contexts). Scenarios can be textual, illustrated (for example picture
books or comic strips), acted (for example dramatised usage situation) or filmed (for example
videos) descriptions of usage situations. The users in these descriptions are usually fictional
representatives of users (personas) but might also be the real ones. Scenarios can be evaluated
with potential end users. Both qualitative and quantitative methods can be used, depending on the
goals of the evaluation. Qualitative methods give concrete feedback on the user actions presented
in the scenarios whereas quantitative methods can be used to rank different scenarios e.g. in terms
of credibility or acceptability.
Scenarios have been used actively in system design in past decades. (Weidenhaupt et al., 1998;
153
Jarke 1999, Rosson & Carroll 2002; Hertzum 2003; Ikonen 2005; Ikonen 2007). Besides using
scenarios as a design tool for product development, scenario-based methods have often been used
to enhance user involvement to design e.g. artefacts or work. (Löwgren 2004, Bodker &Iversen
2002, Strömberg et al. 2004; Ikonen 2007) Recently Alexander and Maiden (2004) has edited a
comprehensive book for using scenarios as an effective technique for discovering, communicating
and organizing user and technical requirements at any stage in the system life-cycle. Go and
Carrol (2004) have looked back the ways in which scenarios has been used more generally. They
distinguish four different fields that have had a rather different approach and purpose for using
scenarios in design: strategic planning, human-computer interaction, requirements engineering,
and object-oriented analysis/design. Our own cases and approach are naturally linked closely to
the human computer interaction and more generally user experience research and we agree greatly
with their analysis of the scenario-based design usage this far. Moreover presenting scenarios
only as a common language we want to emphasize the possibility to integrate these distinguished
fields to the more coherent system design approach and especially in the field of future oriented
design of intelligent applications and ubiquitous computing. In addition the user involvement
in product development life cycle enables users both to give their feedback to the pre-designed
solutions as well as innovating totally new designs for their purposes. (von Hippel 2005; Kelley
2005)
Human-driven scenario-based design
The starting point in human-driven scenario usage is the current situation of the target group
(Figure 1.). Designers collect user requirements for the early concepts via different methods. This
approach fits very well to the situation where the current tasks (e.g. work) could be improved with
the new technology. The background for this approach is in ethnographical studies of workers
and in participatory design. (Suchman 1987, Ehn 1989) In designing ubiquitous computing
applications and future intelligent environments the human-driven approach is a very natural
choice. The user need’s assessment at the moment is an important starting point for any product
development process. The importance of understanding basic user needs (in these possible usage
contexts) is however essential in the field of e.g. technologically embedded environments with
nomadic users. This basic understanding of the user needs is important in innovating new possible
ways to fulfill these needs. Then the possible application areas should be further studied. The
scenarios are now added with the ideas of technological solutions to the possible problems of the
analyzed situation..
Scenarios can also be utilized in the very end of the product development cycle. Launching new
technological services and applications, which are discontinuous on the market, is often difficult.
For example the introduction of WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) and location-based
services to the potential users suffered from failures in presenting these technologies credibly
to new customers. Similar problems where found when Interactive Television was introduced
to the audience few years back. Similar problems where found when Interactive Television was
154
introduced to the audience few years back. In addition understanding of potential users was not
supported enough. Scenarios or usage stories of a service or an application could be used as
a powerful tool to enhance potential user’s understanding of the product (why to acquire the
product and how to use it). (Ikonen et al. 2002)
Collec t ma t erial
from t he u se r s –
build a day in
t he
life scenario
H u m a n Drive n
S ce n a ri o B a se d
D e sig n
Anal y ze t he eval u a t i on
results
Anal y ze t he sce n ario –
revise t he sce n ario
according t he p r oblems
and s olu t io n s table
Revise t he scen a rio
(and requirements
and co n t exts of
use)
Design and
implemen t a t ion
Revised design
Build Low - fi
pr o t o t ypes
E mbed t hem to
scenar i o
E v alua t e scenar i os and / or
pr o t o t ypes
wi t h use r s
Scena ri o s facili t a t e the
produ c t launching
Help t he user t o
under s t and t he new
produ c t or fe a t ur e s
by using t he
scenar i o
Build evolved prototypes
and eval u a t e t hem p referably
in
realis t ic condi t i ons (sce n ar i o in real life)
Figure 1. Human-driven scenario-based design model
Discussion
Human Driven Design and Innovation refers to the new design approach which tries to broaden
the perspective from focused product development process model to the more holistic design
perspective. The starting point is the human needs for a product or a service and the basic
assumption is that in fact we don’t have to invent new needs but new ways to fulfil some specific
human needs. By exploring current usage cultures of fulfilling these specific needs we can start
thinking new and in many cases holistically better ways to fulfil these specific human needs. In
Human Driven Design approach it is also important to understand that the humans continually
reform themselves at the different stages of the community and society.
In the early phase of evolving cultural usage for the product, the community and individuals are
negotiating basic ‘rules’ for the use of the product. These rules or models for using the product are
affected both by its presumed usage and the context of use, and by the inventions from the users
themselves as a group or as individuals. The product has a presumed, guided and desired model of
155
usage, but people who use the product modify it culturally so that it suits their mental and social
world. People may use the same product or service differently in different kinds of situations
and with different groups (e.g. work usage, family usage, interest group usage) and sometimes
people may not take the developed technology into use at all if it is not suitable or formable for
their everyday life context. Novelties (products, habits, and way of life) are produced, adapted,
modified and fade continually and the users’ experience of these novelties are determining their
destiny on the route of the product’s life cycle.
Human Driven Design and Innovation approach emphasises then strongly user involved design
which should be integrated to the all parts and levels of design. In HDDI both the laboratory and
field studies are seen equally important but contextually depending on the actual developmental
situation. HDDI furthermore aims to develop the design approach both for the emergent and flexible
and formalised and validated design practises. As modelled and structured design approaches aim
to achieve more effective and routine like a way of building good smart environments at the
same time we need agile and impugned design practises for testing new ideas. The basic idea is
to observe and study human behaviour: to see, hear, listen and learn from how people have done
things before and how are they doing things at the moment and what could be their preference for
the next generation of services. Then involving all stakeholders to the innovation process enables
us to imagine new solutions that could solve emerging problems or make everybody’s’ life little
bit more comfortable.
The notice that the traditional product design approach needs to be extended to two new design
levels is included to the Human Driven Design and Innovation practice. The remote design or
strategic design, which is kind of enabling framework for actual design work and the immediate
design, which focuses on local and immediate user needs and experiences, and emphasises the
increasing role of users in the design, form a holistic perspective to the design practices in any
context. As a part of the immediate design it is necessary to develop co-design methodology that
allows different stakeholders to take part to the design as equal and authentic partners. Changing
the shift from research objects to research partners or stakeholders (research subjects) is an
empowering design practice. But empowering design should also focus to other design levels
and to the all stakeholder perspectives and not just to the end-users. Empowering design practice
should give an opportunity to influence to the design in all levels and by different actors so that
the dialogue built in design process could be open and mindful between different levels and
between different kinds of stakeholders. Part of the empowering design practice is to perform
an ethical assessment for the whole design. Another important notice is to develop that kind
of potential to our environments by different design levels that the future user can be an active
developer, designer and first user in his personal technologically augmented world.
156
References
Alexander, IF and Maiden, N (eds.). (2004). Scenarios, Stories, Use Cases. Through the System
Development Life-Cycle. John Wiley & Sons Ltd.. Chichester.
Brand, P. and Schwittay, A. (2006). The Missing Piece: Human Driven Design and Research in
ICT and Development.
In Proceedings of the International Conference on Information and Communications Technologies
and Development, May 2006.
Bødker S. and Iversen, O. (2002). Staging a Professional Participatory Design Practice-Moving
PD beyond the Initial Fascination of User Involvement. Proceedings of Second Nordic Conference
on Human-Computer Interaction. 11 – 18.
Technology
Ikonen Veikko (2007): Scenario-Based Design as an Approach to Enhance User Involvement and
Innovation. Proceedings of HCII 2007. The HCI International 2007
Jacobson, I., Christersson, M., Jonsson, P., & Overgaard, G. (1992). Object-Oriented Software
Engineering: A use-case driven approach. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley
Kaasinen, E. & Norros, L. (eds.). (2007) Älykkäiden ympäristöjen suunnittelu – Kohti ekologista
systeemiajattelua [Design of Smart Environments – Towards Ecological System Approach].
Teknologiateollisuuden julkaisuja nro 6/2007. Teknologiainfo Teknova, Helsinki [in Finnish].
ISBN 978-951-817-944-6
Kelley, T. (2005) The Ten Faces Of Innovation. Doubleday. New York.
Coen. M.H. (1998) Design principles for intelligent environments. In Proceedings of the Fifteenth
National Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI’98).. 547-554.
Lyytinen, K. and Yoo, Y. (2002) Issues and Challenges in Ubiquitous computing. Communications
of the ACM. December 2002. Vol. 45, No 12. 62-65.
Cook, D.J. and Das, S.K. (2005) Overview. In Cook and Das (Eds.). Smart Environments.
Technology, Protocols and Applications. Hoboken. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 3-10.
Löwgren, J. (2004). Animated Use Sketches as Design Representations.ACM Interactions.
Volume XI.6 22-27.
Ehn, P. (1989). Work-oriented design of computer artifacts. Erlbaum. New Jersey.
Maslow A. H. (1943). A Theory of Human Motivation. Originally Published in Psychological
Review, 50, 370-396. Available at http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Maslow/motivation.htm
Friedman, B. & Freier, N. G. (2005). Value Sensitive Design. In K. E. Fisher, S. Erdelez, &
E. F. McKechnie (Eds.). Theories of information behavior: A researcher’s guide (pp. 368-372).
Medford, NJ: Information Today.
Remagnino, P., Foresti, G.L. and Ellis, T. (Eds.), (2005) Ambient Intelligence.A Novel Paradigm
Springer.
Go, K and Carroll J,M. (2004). The Blind Men and The Elephant: Views of Scenario-Based
System Design. ACM Interactions. Volume XI.6. 44-53.
Rosson, M.B. and Carrol 2002: Usability Engineering. Scenario.Based Development of HumanComputer Interaction. Morgan Kaufman.
Hertzum, M. (2003). Making use of scenarios: a field study of conceptual design. International
Journal of Human Computer Studies. 58.215-239.
Strömberg, H., Pirttilä, V., and Ikonen, V. (2004): Interactive scenarios -– building ubiquitous
computing concepts in the spirit of participatory design. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing.
Vol. 2004 No: 3 - 4, 200 – 207
Holmquist, L.E., Gellersen, H-W., Kortuem, G., Scmidt, A., Strolbach, M., Antifakos, S.,
Michahelles, F., Schiele, B., Beigl, M., and Maze, R. (2004) Building Intelligent Environments
with Smart-Its. IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications , Vol. 24, no. 1, 56-64, January/
February, 2004.
Ikonen, V., Ahonen, A., Kulju, M. and Kaasinen, E. (2002): Trade description model helping the
users to make sense of the new information technology products. Proceedings of ECOM-02 2nd
International Interdisciplinary Conference on Electronic Commerce. Gdansk, Poland
Ikonen V. (2005). Scenarios in Ubiquitous Computing System Design: User-driven vs.Technologydriven Usages. in The 11th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (HCII
2005), (Las Vegas, Nevada, 2005), Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. (2005)
Ikonen, V (2006) Designing Smart Environments: Concepts, Theories and Challenges. Proceedings
of the Workshop on Human Centered Technology HCT 06, (Pori 2006). Tampere University of
157
Suchman, L. (1987) Plans and situated actions. The Problem of human-machine communication.
Cambridge University Press.
Van den Hoven, J. (2007) ICT and Value Sensitive Design. in IFIP International Federation for
Information Processing. Volume 233, The Information Society: Innovations, Legitimacy, Ethics
and Democracy, eds. P. Goujon, Lavelle, S., Duquenoy, P., Kimppa, K., Laurent, V. Boston.
Springer.
Weidenhaupt, K., Pohl, K., Jarke, M., & Haumer, P. (1998). Scenarios in system development:
Current practice. IEEE Software 15(2), 34-45.
Weiser, M. (1991) The Computer for the 21st Century, Scientific American, vol. 265, no. 3,
September 1991 (reprinted in IEEE Pervasive Computing: Mobile and Ubiquitous Systems, vol.
1, no. 1, January-March 2002
158
Everyday creativity in business
Taina Rajanti
Doc.Pol.Sci, Research Manager
Helsinki University of Art and Design, Pori School of Art and Media
First of all it is seen that users can have valuable ideas and experience about the use of products,
which can help the designers design better – and better selling – products. But furthermore it is
seen that eventually the success of any product depends on its becoming adapted by the users,
wherefore involving users at the early stages of product design is a way to avoid producing flops.
This is especially relevant for ITC products and other immaterial products and services, many of
which are actually realized as products only through their usage.
In my work in the ARKI-research group I have explored an alternative user-centered approach
to technology design and development, especially ICT. More than centering a product design
process on the figure of an abstract user, we explored the idea of driving it by appropriation and
reinterpretation of real people in their everyday context of practices and usage. Ultimately our
proposal was that technology design needs to be reframed as a societal innovation process, and
that societal innovation occurs through everyday knowledge production and problem solving.
In my previous work in the ARKI-research group I have explored an alternative approach to
technology design and development, especially ICT, proceeding from the perspective of everyday
context of knowledge production and problem solving. More than centering a product design
process on the abstract figure of the user, we explored the idea of driving it by appropriation and
reinterpretation of real people in their everyday practices and knowledge production. We conducted
co-design projects engaging with users embedded in a social context - existing communities - at
the early stages of a design process; and giving them tools to participate in the process as actors.
The specific value of this approach, termed collaborative design or co-design is that it engages
users at different stages of the design process so that the users participate also in the conceptbuilding i.e. defining what the eventual product will be, not just testing usefulness and usability
of an already defined product. Additionally it looks at the users as actors in their social context,
not as anonymous users of a product. The design is thus grounded in the everyday practices of the
users, which is a stage any application or product will have to go through in the last instance.
In this paper I want to explore the deeper theoretical issues behind everyday creativity and
knowledge production to better understand the dynamics of creative industry. Today productivity,
wealth and the creation of social surpluses take the form of cooperative interactivity through
linguistic, communicative and affective networks. This means that paying attention to everyday
context of creativity is not an ethical or political choice for design, but a necessity for any business
that seeks success.
From the theoretical point of view, practices refer to the habitual ways of doing that give our
lives continuity. Practices are also a shared activity in the sense that they are meaningful within
concrete communities or reference groups, life-styles, and cultures. Practices make our lives
meaningful. But practices are not rituals, repeated identically. La Cecla compares the dynamics of
all human knowledge to the practice of dwelling in a place. We depart from the known to confront
the unknown, returning to our proper place. In the process we gain more knowledge of the world
surrounding us, making it a part of our dwelling in turn. (La Cecla) Through daily practices people
appropriate their surroundings and the world, gaining knowledge and experience of it, solving
problems and using innovative abilities. Repetition brings experience; the diversions innovation.
Practices are thus in themselves phenomena that combine both the shared and meaningful habits,
and singular or specific usage and creativity, the production by usage as defined by De Certeau.
I am also proposing, that business will profit from design not just as a way of producing more
attractive goods, but from the methods used in collaborative design which make the everyday
context accessible in product design.
1. User-centered design and user innovation
User-centered design stems from the insight that involving users in a design process can add
value to the design and its outcome. Originally this involvement was motivated by general ideals
of equality and inclusion, in the Nordic school of “participatory design” (Nygård). With the
advance of ICTs and knowledge economy the input by users has become also a demand of the
production process itself.
159
Mapping people’s practices is also an important method for co-design. Already since the 1980ies
Lucy Suchman has pointed out that “technologies are constituted through and inseparable from
the specifically situated practices of their use”. (Suchman) Through mapping people’s actual
practices concerning a chosen object or theme of development it is possible to understand how
they are part of the user’s life as a whole; going on to recognize the design potential and guidelines
for design in those practices. ‘Practices’ is thus both a key concept for ethnographic research, and
the mediating concept between research and design, enabling the designers to find innovative
160
starting points in ethnographic data.
A good example of the heuristic importance of the concept of practices is the case of the workshop
on safety and security with the Active Seniors association (who are building an alternative housing
for aged based on community care-taking). We wanted to find out what kind of safety issues there
would be in their future house, but started off with mapping their present safety related practices.
We discovered that even where specific devices were used – like alarms in summer cottages
– their use in the final instance relied always on a social network: if the alarm went off, one would
call a neighbour or a relative and ask them to check. Even more common was direct reliance on
social networks in moments of need like sickness or worry. Another issue related to the practices
was preserving people’s privacy with practices like not prying details unnecessarily, or not giving
your keys to strangers but rather to people you trust. (Lehtimäki & Rajanti 2007)
Many safety devices entail elimination of human contact and breach of privacy, while to the
contrary our findings prove that their design ought to part from reliance on social networks and
respecting privacy.
Likewise when mapping people’s media-sharing practices through interviews and in a process
of field trials we discovered that their main concern in sharing photos was not adding elaborate
technical methods of organizing and browsing them, but telling stories with the pictures and
related to the pictures. Design of media sharing tools should thus enable storytelling, instead of
being developed solely on the basis of ratings and selections. (Lehtimäki & Rajanti 2008)
Mapping practices is mostly done quite simply, asking people to enumerate and tell about their
practices relevant to a theme being discussed during a workshop. Sometimes we used probelike techniques (Gaver, Dunne & Pacenti), as for a workshop on “remembering and reminding”,
where people were asked to make lists of things they had to remember and things they had to
remind somebody of during one normal day. In the workshop we had prepared a list of possible
places where people keep things they have to remember/remind, and asked the Active Seniors to
place their items while enumerating them: thus we got remembering practices such as storing due
library books by the door, or putting a red magnet button on the dish-washer to mark it was full
of clean dishes; or of course littering one’s desk with post-its. (Rajanti)
All these solutions tell about the creativity and problem solving that everyday practices entail.
Also Hippel notes that users who “customize” and “modify”, i.e. innovate further products rather
than ordering custom-made ones do so of course out of such sensible motives as getting exactly
the kind of goods they want, and getting them at lower prices. But users also innovate for the
2. Closer theoretical look at user-innovation
Let us for a change return to Marx, whose theory of capitalist production has again become relevant
for our understanding of the shift from fordism and classical capitalist production to post-fordism
and new/creative economy. The key concept used by Marx is “general intellect”, meaning human
scientific knowledge that is fixed in machines. Especially a passage in Grundrisse has given rise
to new interpretations and elaborations for understanding the new form of capitalism:
“The development of fixed capital indicates to what degree general social knowledge has become
a direct force of production, and to what degree, hence, the conditions of the process of social life
itself have come under the control of the general intellect and been transformed in accordance
with it. To what degree the powers of social production have been produced, not only in the form
of knowledge, but also as immediate organs of social practice, of the real life process.” (Marx,
706)
Paolo Virno takes “general intellect” further, going on from “the intellect and knowledge objectified
in machines” to general intellect as “live labour, objectified in the live bodies of the workers, in
their linguistic cooperation, in their concrete capacity to act in mutual understanding”. (Virno)
Another significant opening utilizing the concept “general intellect” was made by Toni Negri
(together with Michael Hardt) in their book Empire, who combine general intellect with the
concept of biopower: life has now become an object of power directly and in its entirety; what
is directly at stake in power is the production and reproduction of life itself. Similarly to Virno
Hardt & Negri talk of “informatized” production: of a cooperation that is completely immanent
to the laboring activity itself. “Today productivity, wealth and the creation of social surpluses take
the form of cooperative interactivity through linguistic, communicative and affective networks.”
(Hardt & Negri, 22 – 41, 284 -294) General intellect now refers to a situation when knowledge in
general, and general human properties, social life in its entirety, becomes the decisive productive
force.
This has direct bearing on the importance of user innovation and everyday creativity. User
innovation is now not merely an added sphere of interest for production, it is the decisive sphere
of social production in general. Innovation shifts from machines to the live productive force of
the workers, and not only to specified productive actions within a definite production process,
but to their social life in its entirety. In creative knowledge capitalism it is not possible to define
exactly where production occurs, when it occurs, and who is achieving it.
sheer pleasure that problem solving gives them, they “value the process of innovating because of
the enjoyment or learning that it may give them”. (Hippel, 60 - 61)
161
162
3. Everyday creativity and business
and sites - also in quickly formed communities such as ”World without FanLib” - and became a
practical flop.
Putting social life in its entirety, the general human capabilities for communication and affects
and innovation to work means introducing to business elements that follow a different logic than
economical rationality has been used to. User innovation and creativity is not a tool that can be
simply added to production and business. There can be incompatibilities, conflicts, as well as
huge potential. There might even be fundamental changes in the functioning of production and its
capitalist form, based on private ownership, commodity form and reification, and the functioning
of markets.
This is not to say that business cannot coexist with user innovation - though the new forms of
production do challenge private property and commodity form in a fundamental way. For instance,
a large part of the fanfiction is hosted on sites that allow free basic usage, but which also offer
additional features for paying customers, such as LiveJournal, or which host advertisement on
the side-bars. These business functions can co-exist with the voluntary collaborative networked
production and creativity, because they do not affect its fundamental functioning.
A telling example is what happened to FanLib, a new enterprise that sought to profit from the
phenomenon of fanfiction. Fanfiction is one of the new forms of entertainment - waste of time
- that people have developed exploiting new forms of communication and media. It is writing/
literature (also visual production) based on existing works, mostly famed works of fantasy and
fiction such as Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter, or popular TV-series like Start Trek or House.
It is mostly done one websites or blogs maintained by volunteer fans and enthusiasts. A strong
element is peer reviews and feedback, and other forms of communication and exchange, also
carried out over internet in dedicated communities and groups.
FanLib was founded with the idea of turning this free effort into labour and the common resources
into profit-making business. But the bright young businessmen managed to commit just about
every mistake they could think of. They sent a letter of invitation to hundreds of fanfiction writers,
inviting them to start writing on their site, hinting at possibilities to “publish” their work, come
form “marginal to mainstream” and “touch the stars”, possibly getting to TV. Including a nice Tshirt for 50 of the quickest joiners…
Their offer created directed suspicion and general lack of enthusiasm. FanLib had completely
ignored the fact that most fanfiction writers are women in their 20 - 30ies, not teen-age boys,
to whom the campaign was identified to be addressed to. It had also escaped them that a lot of
fanfiction is smutty versions of the original fiction, not very much stuff for mainstream publication.
Indeed, they seemed not to have given any thought to property rights; whereas the fanfiction
writers were quite aware that they were protected from lawsuits precisely because they published
on sites that require becoming a member.
But the biggest mistake FanLib made was to ignore and underestimate the networked peer
community and collaborative exchange, which is the founding element for fanfiction writers. “Our
social network is valued because it is a social network. This is what FanLib is not getting. Since
in their world value is judged solely by the products produced, the idea that the social interactions
themselves are highly valued in addition to the product is incomprehensible to them.” (lilithilien)
In a few days word spread over internet, FanLib was analyzed and criticized in a wealth of blogs
163
And as far as they do not affect it: when LiveJournal introduced new intolerant policies, substantial
amount of deviant art creators abandoned the blog.
Hippel identifies three basic strategies for embracing user innovation in business:
“1. Produce user-developed innovations for general commercial sale and/or offer custom
manufacturing to specific users. (Hippel 127 - 128)”
These are more traditional approaches to user innovation, where it is either exploited in a normal
limited production process, or for a limited and privileged audience.
“2. Sell kits of product design tools and/or “product platforms” to ease users’ innovation related
tasks. (Hippel 128 - 130)
3. Sell products or services services that are complementary to user-developed innovations.”
(Hippel 130 - 131)”
These instead are more radical approaches, which do not seek to “tame” or exploit user-innovation,
but seek to give it free hand and allow user innovation a scope of initiative.
The radical approaches to user innovation and everyday creativity in business clearly necessitate
an insight into the user perspective. Not just into distinct needs, but the whole scope of the user.
As is often said, not everything that is technologically feasible, is useful or meaningful to users.
As discussed above, users use technology and products not in isolation, but within the context of
their everyday social lives.
Collaborative design presents business with opportunities and potential just not by producing
better goods, but by offering methods for gaining this necessary insight into the user perspective,
grounding product development and innovation in the everyday practices and everyday creativity
of users as full social actors.
164
References
De Certeau, M. (1984): Practices of Everyday Life. University of California Press.
La Cecla, F. (1993) : Mente locale. Per un antropologia dell’abitare. Elèuthera.
Gaver, B., Dunne, T., and Pacenti, E.: Cultural Probes. in: ACM International Magazine. January
and February (1999) 21 - 29
Hippel, E.von (2005): Democratizing Innovation. The MIT Press Cambridge.
Lehtimäki, K & Rajanti, T.(2007): ”Local Voice in a Global World – User-centered Design in
Support of Everyday Practices.”. HCI International 2007, 24 – 28.7. Beijing, China
Lehtimäki, K & Rajanti, T. (2008): Documenting the Ordinary - mobile digital photography as
an agent of change in people’s practices concerning storing and sharing of photography. 21th
International Symposium on Human Factors in Telecommunication HFT. Kuala Lumpur, 17 23.3.2008 (forthcoming)
Nygaard, K.: The origins of the Scandinavian school, why and how? In: Participatory Design
Conference 1990 Transcript. Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (1990)
Rajanti, T.(2007): Charting Remembering Practices. A workshop with a collaborating community.
In Thematic Publication 1: Remembering and Reminding. ADIK-project, Medialab, Helsinki
University of Art and Design 2007.
Rajanti, T & Vandenbempt, A (2006): Methodological Implications of User Communities’ Codesign Experiences. Encompas project (Enabling Community Communications Platforms and
Applications) Helsinki University of Art and Design Helsinki
Suchman, L. A. (1987): Plans and Situated Actions. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
In the net:
Lilithilien: “Workers of the World Unite: An Old School Marxist Analysis of FanLib vs. Fandom”
http://community.livejournal.com/life_wo_fanlib/17099.html Checked 17.1.2008
Taidon moniääninen reflektio
Tiina Rautkorpi
Lic. Soc. Sc., Senior Lecturer
Research and development/ Helsinki Polytechnic
Viestinnän tutkijan näkökulmasta taidon tieto on kysymys joka liittyy viestintään. Tässä
kirjassa taidon tiedolla on väljästi viitattu tietoon, joka ei ole propositionaalista ja jossa tekijä
saa taitavuudestaan palautetta suoraan työstämältään kohteelta (Anttila 2005, Volanen 2006).
Konkreettisesti taidon tieto voidaan liittää keskusteluun taitavuuden edellyttämistä ”kyvyistä”,
esimerkiksi ammatillisista kvalifikaatioista (Helakorpi 2005). Verkostoituneen yhteiskunnan
menestymisen kannalta entistä strategisempia ovat ne tavat ja menetelmät, joilla toiminnan
taitavuutta edistävää tietoa tuotetaan, levitetään, lisätään ja rikastetaan monialaiseksi saattamalla
yhteen erilaisia tiedon alueita.
Tämä artikkeli pyrkii käyttämään työntekijöiden puhetta aineistona työn kehittämiseen. Puhe
nähdään innovaatioiden, eli uusien ideoiden, käytäntöjen ja esineiden, synnyttämisen välineeksi
(Rogers 2003). Jos ajatellaan toimintatapojen kehittämistä, vastaan inttäminen voi olla
innovaatioita edistävää. Kyseenalaistaminen voi viedä työn tekemistä eteenpäin. Artikkelissa
esitellään teoreettisia lähtökohtia moniääniselle reflektiolle, joka syntyy kun työntekijät puhuvat
tekemästään työstä.
Kun työntekijöiden puhetta nauhoitetaan, ilmaisua ei rajoiteta. Puheen muoto voi olla oikeastaan
mikä tahansa: kahvipöytäkeskustelu, esitelmä tai haastattelu. Jokaisessa näistä tapauksista
työntekijä tuottaa oman työnsä kehittämispuhetta. Kun työntekijä puhuu työstään, hänen
käyttämänsä kieli on parasta mahdollista ja hän saa itse valikoida parhaat mahdolliset käsitteet.
Vuorovaikutuksen käsite tässä artikkelissa on mahdollisimman laaja, vaikka omat
tutkimusaineistoni perustuvatkin työntekijöiden puheeseen. Jos työntekijä ei halua puhua
työstään sanoilla, hän voi puhua, kuten runoilija puhuu ”välisanoilla” (Enckell 1994, 2004).
Vuorovaikutuksen näkökulmasta hiljaisesta tiedosta voidaan tuottaa yhtä käyttökelpoisia ja yhtä
äänekkäitä kehittämisdialogeja kuin käsitteiksi eksplikoidusta tiedosta. Työstä voidaan vaihtaa
ajatuksia eleillä tai kuvilla. (Nonaka & Takeuchi 1995, Goodwin 1981).
Eri työntekijöiden puhe voidaan yhdistää eli orkestroida kehittäväksi keskusteluksi. Orkestroiminen
viittaa kapellimestarin työhön, kapellimestarin tehtävä on antaa kaikille äänille suunvuoro. Työstä
165
166
keskusteleminen on aina toimintaa ja samalla sosiaalista organisoitumista. Toimintatutkimuksen
periaatteiden mukaan keskustelu on tarkoitettu ensi sijassa jatkettavaksi (Reason 1988).
Työyhteisössä aloitettu kehittävä keskustelu voi käynnistää sitä ulkopuolelta seuraavissa
reflektoinnin, ja niin yhteiskuntaan syntyy jatkuvasti uusia työtä kehittäviä keskustelun kehiä.
Kehittävän keskustelun idea liittyy pedagogiikan laajempaan kehitykseen, vaikkapa
keskusteluun yhteistoiminnallisesta oppimisesta (Johnson & Johnson 1994) ja sen edellyttämistä
oppimisympäristöistä. Aloitin tutkimusmatkani jo 1990-luvulla yksittäisten keskustelutilanteiden
tarkastelusta
tutustumalla
mikrososiologiaan,
muun
muassa
etnometodologiseen
keskusteluntutkimukseen (Herritage 1996, Peräkylä 1997, Rautkorpi 2002). Matkani vei lopulta
organisaatioteorioihin, joiden ajattelu irtautuu yksittäisen keskustelun vuorovaikutusjäsennyksestä
ja siinä mahdollisesta vastarinnasta kattamaan kokonaisia työyhteisöjä.
Vuorovaikutuksen
tutkimuksessa
puhutaan
responsiivisuudesta,
refleksiivisyydestä,
yhteistoiminnallisuudesta ja yhteiskehittelystä. Kaikki näihin sisältyy ajatus, että erilaisten
puhujien yhteensaattaminen ja siitä seuraava keskustelu on luonnollinen tapa tuottaa innovaatioita.
Keskustelu on tapa edistää yllättävien näkökulmien ja uusien yhdistelmien esiintulemista myös
taidon tietoa levitettäessä. Jatkossa artikkelini etenee keskustelun idean perässä paitsi tieteen,
myös taiteen alueella.
1. Kyseenalaistava dialogi organisaatiossa
Vuorovaikutusta painottavat organisaatioteoreetikot Ralph Stacey ja Douglas Griffin irtisanoutuvat
ajatuksesta, että organisaatiot olisivat pakottavia, ulottumattomissa olevia kokonaisrakenteita
niissä toimivien ihmisten yläpuolella (Stacey 2003, Stacey & Griffin 2005). Heidän mukaansa
organisaatio voidaan nähdä perimmiltään jäsentensä muodostamaksi vuorovaikutukseksi, joka
tuottaa yhteistoiminnan kautta oman tulevaisuutensa. Jos asioita ajatellaan tästä näkökulmasta,
paikkaan ja aikaan sidottu yksittäinen toiminta voi olla hyvin merkityksellistä ja kääntää koko
organisaation kehityksen suunnan.
Staceyn ja Griffinin organisaatioteoriassa on otettu käyttöön kompleksiivisten responsiivisten
prosessien idea. Responsiivisuus voidaan tässä suomentaa kyseenalaistamiseksi. Kompleksisuus
taas viittaa luonnontieteiden kompleksiivisuusajatteluun. Kompleksisuudella tarkoitetaan, että
systeemi voi olla hyvin monia asioita yhtä aikaa, se voi olla yhtä aikaa stabiili ja epästabiili,
ennustettava ja ennustamaton, läpikotaisin tuttu ja osin tuntematon. Sen käyttäytymisestä voi
olla yhtä aikaa täysi varmuus ja täysi epävarmuus. Kompleksisuus liittyy sekä sujuvuuteen
että muokattavuuteen. Kompleksiivinen prosessi on riittävän ennustettava ollakseen nopeasti
toistettavissa, ja riittävän luova niin että siinä voi tapahtua muutoksia. (emt., 7).
Luonnontieteidessä kompleksisuuteen liittyy itseorganisoituminen, ja sillä tarkoitetaan että
jokainen paikallinen toimija järjestäytyy omien organisaatioperiaatteidensa mukaisesti. Stacey
ja Griffin puhuvat luonnontieteiden kompleksiivisista systeemeistä, jotka ensin ymmärrettiin
luonteeltaan ennen kaikkea adaptiivisiksi. Suomeksi voidaan puhua mukautuvista systeemeistä,
joissa systeemin eri toimijat reagoivat ja mukautuvat toisiinsa (emt., 18).
167
Responsiivisen vuorovaikutuksen ymmärtämisen avain on Herbert Meadin ”I-me” –dialektiikka,
jonka mahdollistaa yleistetyn toisen (the generalized other) käsitteen ymmärtämisen. Meadin
mukaan toisen kanssa kommunikoiminen on kaiken toiminnan ydin. Voidaan ajatella, että kaikki
inhimillinen toiminta syntyy interaktiivisesti. Elettä ja vastausta siihen ei voida erottaa toinen
toisistaan, vaan ele ja vastaus yhdessä muodostavat toiminnan perustavan analyysiyksikön. Tästä
seuraa yksilön ja yhteiskunnan perustava riippuvuus toisistaan, sillä jokainen minä on sosiaalisesti
muotoiltu (minua muotoillaan) samaan aikaan kuin jokainen minä kaiken aikaa itse osallistuu
sosiaalisen muotoiluun (minä muotoilen) (Mead 1934).
Etnometodologisessa keskustelunanalyysissa on tarkastelussa juuri Meadin eleen ja vastauksen
periaate ja siihen sisältyvä responsiivisuuden mahdollisuus vuorovaikutuksen etenemisessä.
Keskustelunanalyysin mikrososiologiassa tutkitaan vuorovaikutuksen jäsentymistapaa (interaction
order) vallankäyttönä. Keskustelunanalyysin näkökulmasta jokainen yksittäinen keskustelutilanne
on toisten mukaanottamista ja toisten poissulkemista, eräänlaista kamppailua siitä kuka saa
puheelleen tilaa ja huomiota (Goodwin 1981). Etnometodologisessa keskustelunanalyysissa
puhutaan responsiivisesta valinnasta, joka tarkoittaa mahdollisuutta poiketa sosiaalisesti
vakiintuneesta vaihtoehdosta keskustelun vuoronvaihdossa (Peräkylä 1997).
Meadin yleistetty toinen yhdistää eleen ja vastauksen kokonaiseen reflektion toimintaperiaatteeseen.
Aina reflektoidessaan toimintaansa ihminen näkee itsensä laajemmin, lopulta kokonaisen ryhmän
tai yhteiskunnan silmin. Tämä ihmisen perimmäinen interaktiivinen toimintapa näkyy myös
itsereflektiossa, siinä että ihminen kykenee itse arvioimaan omaa toimintaansa. Tämä ominaisuus
liittyy läheisesti myös taitoa koskevan tiedon kehittymiseen yhteiskunnassa. Reflektoimiseen
sisältyy aina mahdollisuus olla kriittinen ja kyseenalaistava aikaisempia toiminnan kvalifikaatioita,
välineitä ja toimintaympäristöjä kohtaan (vrt. Helakorpi 2005).
Kompleksisuuden aikakäsitys perustuu nykyhetkeen, joka on elävä (the living present).
Nykyhetkessä on yhtä aikaa läsnä tulevaisuus, jota kohtaan on erilaisia odotuksia, ja menneisyys,
jota koko ajan uudelleentulkitaan sekä nykyhetken että tulevaisuuden odotusten valossa (Stacey
jne., 2000).
Stacey ja Griffin korostavat luonnontieteiden ja ihmistieteiden erilaista luonnetta. Ihminen on
tietoinen ja päämääriin pyrkivä toimija. Tästä näkökulmasta vuorovaikutukseen perustuva
organisaatioteoria on kiinnostunut yhteiskuntateorian keskeisimmistä käsitteistä kuten vallasta
ja toiminnan arvioinnista. Organisaation toimintaan liittyy aina taistelua vallasta, mutta tässä
teoriassa valta on vuorovaikutustilanteessa paikallisesti näyttäytyvä ominaisuus. Stacey ja Griffin
soveltavat Norbert Eliaksen sosiologista ajattelua, joka korostaa että valta ei ole absoluuttista
vaan se esiintyy aina ihmisten välisessä suhteessa (Elias 1939). Valta on toisten poissulkemista
ja toisten mukaan ottamista. Ihmiset mahdollistavat vallan kerttymisen toiselle sillä, että he
tarvitsevat toisiltaan palveluksia. (Stacey & Griffin 2005, 5.)
Stacey ja Griffin painottavat, että toiminta synnyttää ajattelua eikä päinvastoin. He tekevät
168
organisaatioteoriastaan käsin sen johtopäätöksen, että arvojen tulkinta tapahtuu aina
vuorovaikutuksessa. Vuorovaikutukseen perustuvan organisaatioteorian keskeinen periaate
onkin evaluaatio, se että organisaation on jatkuvasti arvioitava omaa toimintaansa. Keskusteluun
liittyvässä kyseenalaistamisessa on siis samalla kysymys jatkuvien arvovalintojen tekemisestä.
(Stacey & Griffin 2005, 19). Ihmisten välinen vuorovaikutusverkosto toimii luovana
kompleksisena systeeminä, joka synnyttää evaluointiprosessin kautta jatkuvasti uudenlaisia
toiminnan mahdollisuuksia. Makrotason teoriaa kiinnostavat vuorovaikutuksen toteutumisen
mahdollisuudet organisaatiossa. Voidaan pohtia, miten vuorovaikutus saadaan rakennetuksi
mahdollisimman vapaaksi ja taitoon liittyvää tietoa edistäväksi.
näkökulmasta. Henkilön menneisyys muokkaa aina hänen tapaansa valikoida tapahtumia
kerrottavaksi. Kertomusten julkituominen ja yhteinen käsittely on organisaatiolle oppimisen
lähde. Refleksiivinen persoonallinen kertomus paikallistaa henkilön ympäröivään organisaatioon
ja tuottaa raakamateriaalia muiden toimijoiden reflektiolle. Refleksiivisten persoonallisten
kertomusten tuottaminen pitää yllä systeemin diversiteettiä, sillä se korostaa yhden toimijan
muotoileman kokemuksen eroja suhteessa muiden toimijoiden muotoilemiin kertomuksiin. Se,
että kertoja kertoo itse kertomuksensa ja että jokaista kertomusta käsitellään kontekstissaan,
vastauksena toisen kertomukseen, on tutkijalle tärkeä eettinen kysymys otettavaksi huomioon
kertomusten käsittelyssä (Griffin 2002).
2. Erot ja konfliktit muuttavat toimintaa
3. Ilmaisuvoima lisääntyy improvisaatiolla
Ihmistieteissä kompleksisuus liittyy ajatukseen, että yllätykset, toiminnan muutokset ovat aina
mahdollisia. Jos kompleksiivisen vuorovaikutuksen ydin ihmistieteissä ei ole mukautumisessa,
toiminta ei voi perustua muuhun kuin erojen ja konfliktien olemassaoloon. Jo aikaisemmin
Improvisaatio ymmärretään arkikielessä usein toiminnaksi, joka on kaikista säännöistä vapaata
ja muuttuvaa. Yhteistoiminnallinen improvisaatio on kuitenkin pikemminkin tarkkojen
sääntöjen mukaista vuorovaikutusta, jossa ydin on tekemisen siirtymisessä henkilöltä toiselle.
todettiin, että Stacey ja Griffin kieltävät ideologisten ylhäältä annettujen kokonaisuuksien ylivallan
ihmisten toiminnan yli. Systeemissä itsessään on oltava riittävä diversiteetti, että se pystyisi
toimimaan kompleksisesti. Vasta toimijoiden erilaisuus takaa että organisaation toimintaa on
mahdollista muuttaa. Kyseenalaistaminen jää toteutumatta, jos vuorovaikutukseen ei osallistu
riittävästi erilaisia ihmisiä..
Mielenkiintoista Staceyn ja Griffinin kehitelmässä onkin, että juuri vuorovaikutuksen kannalta
negatiivisiksi koetut piirteet ilmentävät organisaation diversiteettiä, ja diversiteetti taas on
luovuutta, innovaatioita ja oppimista liikkeellesysäävä voima. Tutkijat puhuvat vuorovaikutuksen
yhteydessä valtasuhteista ja variaatioista, väärinymmärryksistä ja ahdistuksesta, mutta juuri nämä
vuorovaikutusta vaikeuttavat asiat samalla varmistavat sen, että organisaatiota voidaan kaiken
aikaa muuttaa (Stacey 2003, 374-383, Stacey&Griffin 2005, 14-22).
Improvisaatiossa toiminnan käsitteen analyysiyksikkö jäsentyy samaan tapaan eleeksi ja
vastaukseksi kuin Herbert Meadin teoriassa tai etnometodologisessa keskustelunanalyysissa.
Kyseessä on teon ja siihen vastauksena tuotetun teon synnyttämä toiminnan ketju.
Improvisaatiossa toiminnan kaksisuuntainen luonne edistää toiminnan taitavuuden lisäämistä ja
on siten toiminnan taiteellinen ydin. Yhteistoiminnallisesti improvisoitu esitys perustuu toisen
toiminnan havainnointiin ja siihen reagoimiseen. Toisen toimintaan reagoiminen lisää koko
toiminnan ilmaisuvoimaa, sillä jokainen vastaus eleeseen vie toiminnan aina uudelle tasolle.
Taiteessa improvisaatio on siis sekä yksilöiden että ryhmän ilmaisukykyä ja toimintavalmiuksia
lisäävä menetelmä. Se lisää kykyä havainnoida toisia ja reagoida toisten toimintaan, ja samalla se
kasvattaa improvisoijan omaa kykyä ilmaista itseään.
Staceyn ja Griffinin organisaatioteoria painottaa että oppiminen on sosiaalista ja paikallista
(Stacey & Griffin 2005, 35-36). Heidän näkökulmastaan on tärkeää tutkia yhden ryhmän ja
yksilön elävää kokemusta interaktiosta (sense making process, Shaw & Stacey 2005). Tämäkin
ajatus voidaan kytkeä taidon tiedon välittymiseen.
Erityisesti Stacey on paneutunut laajemmin vuorovaikutuksen tutkimukseen, muun muassa
etnometodologiseen keskustelunanalyysiin ja Mihail Bahtinin dialogikäsitykseen (Stacey 2003,
327-329, Shaw 2002, Fonseca 2001, Shotter 1993, Shotter & Billig 1998). Stacey ja Griffin eivät ole
keskustelun tutkijoita, vaan he päätyvät synnyttämään reflektiota ennen kaikkea organisaatioissa
tuotettujen kertomusten avulla (vrt. Fonseca 2003). Tutkijoille kertomus on muoto, joka nostaa
tutkijan ulottuville ideologiset olettamukset toiminnan takana (Stacey & Griffin 2005, 23-24).
Kukin organisaation toimija tuottaa kertomuksia, joita Stacey ja Griffin kutsuvat refleksiivisiksi
persoonallisiksi kertomuksiksi. Niille on tyypillistä, että ne on tuotettu yhden henkilön
169
Onnistunut reagoiminen toisen toimintaan on mahdollista, kun ryhmässä vallitsee reilun ryhmän
idea. Johnstonen mukaan improvisaatio saa olla vain ja ainoastaan tekoja ja toimintaa, ja toiminta
syntyy reaktiona toisten toimintaan. Ryhmän vetäjä on vastuussa siitä, että ryhmässä ei ole
kilpailua tai vertailua vaan jokainen ryhmän jäsen on omalla toiminnallaan vastuussa toisten
edistymisestä. Toimiva ryhmä syntyy, kun vetäjä käsittelee kaikkia ryhmän jäseniä tasapuolisesti
eikä kiinnitä huomiota virheisiin, vaan keskittyy ainoastaan yhteistoiminnallisesti tuotetun
toiminnan edistämiseen (Johnstone 2002, 25-29, Spolin 2000). Improvisaatio pyrkii olemaan
kokemuksena vapauttava, se muistuttaa siirtymistä luovaan flow-tilaan, jossa toiminta syntyy
kuin itsestään, pakottomasti. Toimivasta yhteistyöstä taidon lisäämisessä syntyy ryhmäkokemus,
joka on suurempi kuin yksilön kokemus (Csikszentmihalyi 2005).
4. Taiteen dialogi on kykyä altistua uudelle
Myös taideopetuksessa nähdään, että taito välittyy uudelle sukupolvelle nimenomaan dialogissa.
170
Dialogi on alusta asti kuulunut taideopetuksen keskeisimpään perimään, mestari ja kisälli asetelmaan. Taiteilijan työprosessi voidaan nähdä eräänlaiseksi löytöretkeksi, esimerkiksi esiintention muuttumiseksi intentioksi ja ei-tietoisen muuttumiseksi tietoiseksi. Silloin kyse on
matkasta, jonka aikana toteutuu taiteellisen työn erityinen teleologinen luonne ja toteutuu lopullinen
teos tai teosten sarja (Tuomikoski 1987, 166-174). Esimerkiksi Inkeri Savan teksteissä sana dialogos (”välissä oleva”) liitetään taiteelliseen matkaan ja taiteellisen päämäärän muotoutumiseen.
Taiteen dialogi on matkan tekemistä yhdessä toisen kanssa, suostumista toisen johdattamiseen ja
johdatetuksi tulemiseen. (Sava 1998, 114-115.)
Yhtä hyvin taiteen dialogin yhteydessä voidaan puhua etenemisestä kokemuksen varassa (vrt.
Lehtovaara 1996, 29-68). Taiteen kokemuksellisuus on usein ymmärretty laajemmin kuin tieteen
kokemuksellisuus, se voi olla minkä tahansa sisäisen tai ulkoisen prosessin tunnetuksi tulemista.
Taiteelliseen kokemukseen yhdistyy myös sellaisia mahdollisuuksia kuin ainutkertaisuus
vastakohtana toistettavuudelle, selkiytymättömyys vastakohtana kokemukselle jossa subjekti ja
objekti on erotettavissa tai eriytymättömyys vastakohtana kokemukselle, jossa yksilön kokemus
ja kollektiivinen kokemus ovat erotettavissa. (Vadén 2003, 86.)
Dialogi on taiteessakin menetelmä, jossa kaksi ihmistä osallistuu vastavuoroisesti, eri näkökulmista,
toistensa tilanteiden määrittelyyn. Intersubjektiivisuuden ajatus korostaa, että yksilön tai yhteisön
kokemus, sen autenttisuus ja varmuus täytyy aina olla kyseenalaistettavissa. Tärkeämpää kuin
taistelu siitä, kenen kokemus on autenttinen, on se, että mahdollisimman moni (mielellään jokainen)
saa kertoa omasta kokemuksestaan. Jokaisella on mahdollisuus sanoa jotain, joka on yhteisesti
jaettavissa (emt., 88). Dialogiin liittyvä vastavuoroisuuden periaate mahdollistaa kokemusten
jatkuvan uudelleenmäärittelyn ja automatisoituneiden käytänteiden ja konventioiden murtamisen.
Dialogiin suostuminen tarkoittaa taiteen tekijälle yleistä avoimuutta uusien yhdistelmien
mahdollisuudelle, sattuman ja yllätyksen mahdollisuudelle. (Varto 1993, 7.)
Kari Uusikylä puhuu taiteilijan luovasta avoimuudesta. Luovuus on hänen mukaansa avointa
suhtautumista ympäröiviin tulkintoihin. Uusikylän mukaan luovan ihmisen tulee sietää ristiriitoja
ja epävarmuutta ilman, että hän lyö liian nopeasti lukkoon mikä on totuus (Uusikylä 2003, 75,
Rogers 1961). Dialogiin heittäytyminen voikin liittyä esimerkiksi Carl Rogesin määritelmään,
jonka mukaisesti luovuus on kykyä altistua erilaisille käsitteille ja kokemuksille ja osallistua
epävarmuuden prosessiin, jossa lopputulos ei ole ennalta tiedossa (Uusikylä 2003, 74).
Voidaan myös ajatella, että taiteelliselle kokemukselle ei ole edes ominaista päämäärä, vaan
jatkuva liike ja kokeilu, joka tapahtuu dialogissa ympäröivän maailman kanssa. Esimerkiksi
Donald W. Winnicott paikallistaa koko taiteen syntymisen paikan normaalin ulkopuolelle,
maailmojen välialueelle. Leikin, symbolien ja taiteen alue jää yksityisen ja julkisen eli toiminnan
säännöiksi konventionaalistuneen maailman väliin (Winnicott 1966). Päivi Granön mukaan taide
voi rakentaa verkon kalojen pyydystämiseksi, mutta lopulta olennaiseksi jää prosessi: etsiminen,
kysely ja lopulta saavuttamattomuus (Granö 2003, 133).
171
Dialogi on taidepedagogiikassa, yhtä hyvin kuin muussakin pedagogiikassa, metodi, joka liittyy
toiminnan reflektointiin. Esimerkiksi Sava toteaa, että dialogin tehtävä on laajentaa toimivan
subjektin tietoja, kokemuksia, havaintoja ja tulkintoja työstään. Kyse on samalla työn taidokkuutta
lisäävistä asioista (Sava 1998, 115). Dialogi toteutuu käytännössä erityisesti opettajan ja opiskelijan
välisessä vuorovaikutuksessa. Marja-Liisa Kuuranne-Autelo kuvaa taideopettajan ja opiskelijan
vuoropuhelua hyvin samoilla mikrotason käsitteillä kuin etnometodologinen keskustelunanalyysi
puhuu keskustelun vuoronvaihdosta (Taikopeda 1998, jakso 3). Martti Raevaaran tutkimuksessa
taideopetuksen palautteenannosta opettajan tai vertaisryhmän puhumattomuus, niukka palaute tai
läsnäolon merkkien puuttuminen koettiin jo sinänsä negatiiviseksi arvioksi ja työn väheksymiseksi.
Opiskelijat halusivat että jokaisen taiteellisesta työstä keskustellaan määrällisesti riittävästi ja
tasavertaisesti (Raevaara 1999, 76, 109).
5. Dialogin rajaaminen tuo syvyyttä
Taidepedagogiikassa käyty keskustelu oppimisympäristöjen laadusta liittyy sekin hyvän dialogin
edellytyksiin. Taideopetuksessa on korostettu paljon tilan merkitystä taitojen tuottajana (vrt.
Anttila 2003), ja nähty, että luovuutta edistävä vapaus ei ole rajatonta, vaan vapautta joka liittyy
tiettyyn rajattuun tilaan. Satu Kiljusen mukaan luovuutta edistää se, että ihminen on tiettyjen
rajoitusten puitteissa vapaa reagoimaan tilanteeseen läsnä olevilla välineillä (Löytönen &Sava
1998, 25).
Taideopetus voidaankin alusta asti nähdä rajojen asettamisena, jotta dialogille saataisiin synnytettyä
suotuisat, keskittyneet olosuhteet. Jo taideopetukseen pyrittäessä opiskelijat valitaan tarkkojen
taitoihin ja ominaisuuksiin liittyvien kriteerien mukaisesti. Opiskelun alussa oppimisympäristöä
on perinteisesti rajattu niin, että ohjataan opiskelijat ensin tutkimaan tärkeimpiä lainalaisuuksia,
jotka liittyvät opiskeltavaan taidemuotoon (Taikopeda 1998, jakso 6).
Kun taidemuodon perustaviin lähtökohtiin liittyvä rajaus on tehty, monet taidepedagogit korostavat
oppimisprosessin mahdollisimman suurta vapautta yksittäisissä projekteissa. Taideopettajat
toteavat, että jos oppimisprosessissa annetaan vapaus ja mahdollisimman väljät ohjeet, opiskelijat
oppivat asettamaan itse tavoitteita ja tekevät keskittyneemmin töitä (Taikopeda 1998, jakso
6). Periaate jonka mukaan innovaatioita syntyy rajatussa prosessissa liittyy yleisemminkin
pedagogiikkaan kun puhutaan esimerkiksi varioinnista oppimisen äitinä. Variointi on tiukasti
asetetuissa rajoissa tapahtuvaa toiminnan muuntelua (Marton 2000). Taidepedagogiikassa
muuntelemisen vapaus tiettyjen rajojen puitteissa ja prosessin aikana käytävä dialogi synnyttävät
yhdessä oppimisympäristön, jossa opiskelija oppii kyseenalaistamaan taiteelliset lähtökohtansa
ja kasvaa uudistamaan edustamansa taidemuodon konventioita, arvoja ja käsityksiä (Löytönen &
Sava 1998, 10-11).
6. Yhteiskehittely on jatkuvaa neuvottelua
Toiminnan teoriassa ja kehittävässä työntutkimuksessa on viime aikoina tarkasteltu paljon
yhteiskehittelyyn perustuvaa työtä. Yhteiskehittely (co-configuration work) on uudenlaista
172
työn tekemisen taitoa, se on vuorovaikutukselle ja asiakasälykkyydelle perustuva uuden
sukupolven työn tekemisen tapa. Yhteiskehittely on saanut nimensä siitä, että merkitystuotantoon
perustuvassa verkostoituneessa yhteiskunnassa tuotteiden ja palveluiden tekeminen vaatii
jatkuvaa uudelleenkonfigurointia käyttäjän, tuottajan ja tuotteen välisenä vuoropuheluna. (Victor
& Boynton 1998, Engeström 2004).
Toiminnan teoria ja kehittävä työntutkimus on kiinnostunut, miten toimijat itse rakentavat
toimintansa yhteisen kohteen ja miten tätä kohdetta on mahdollistaa laajentaa työntekijöiden
oppimisprosessiin liittyvän ekspansion avulla (Engeström 2004, 59-63). Esimerkiksi
käsityöläismäiseen yhteiskehittelyyn perustuvassa työssä tarvitaan erilaista toimintaa, tekoja ja
operaatioita (Leontjev 1977) kuin massatuotannossa (Victor & Boynton 1998). Työn kehittäminen
on riippuvaista vuorovaikutuksen laadusta. Vuorovaikutuksen tutkimista onkin pidetty kehittävän
työntutkimuksen yhtenä keskeisimpänä tutkimushaasteena siirryttäessä yhteiskehittelyn
aikakauteen (Engeström 2004, 103-124).
Omassa televisiotuotantoa käsittelevässä tutkimuksessani tarkastelen luovaa sisältötuotantotyötä.
Olen kerännyt aineistoni television keskusteluohjelmien tuotannosta. Television
keskusteluohjelmissa yhteiskehittely tapahtuu sisältötiimin ja visuaalisen tiimin yhteistyönä.
Kulttuuristen merkitysten muodostamiseen ja organisointiin perustuva työ vaatii tekijöiltä
käsityöläismäisiä kvalifikaatioita, mutta television tuotantoprosessi taas organisoituu paljolti
massatuotannon prosessien mukaisesti.
Yhteiskehittelyyn perustuva työ vaatii aina tekijöiden runsasta ja jatkuvaa keskustelua ja
neuvottelua. Omassa tutkimuksessani olen havainnut, että työprosessi voi aika ajoin rajata
merkittävästi vuorovaikutusta. Televisiotuotannoissa tuotantoprosessi jäsentyy ennen kaikkea
taloudellisista ja organisaatioiden rakenteeseen liittyvistä lähtökohdista, ja se on viime aikoina
muuttunut aikaisempaa kaksinapaisemmaksi. Lähtökohtana on entistä useammin tilanne,
jossa televisiokanava tilaa ohjelmasisällöt alihankkijalta, kaupalliselta tuotantoyhtiöltä, mutta
studiotyöskentely, keskustelun monikamerataltiointi, tapahtuu edelleen tilaajan henkilöstöllä ja
tiloissa ja yhä kiireisemmissä aikatauluissa.
Korkealaatuisen journalismin toteuttamisen kannalta tämä on haaste, sillä kanavan palveluksessa
oleva ohjaaja ja ohjelman tuottaja kuormittuvat entistä enemmän sisältöjen suunnittelun
näkökulmasta. Uudessa tuotantotilanteessa he ovat entistä useammin tuotantotiimin ainoita
jäseniä, joilla on kokonaiskuva työstä ja ohjelmasarjan sisällöllisistä tavoitteista. Koko työn
ketjun uudelleen organisointiin ja uudenlaiseen yhteydenpitoon toimijoiden välissä tarvitaan
uudenlaisia toimintatapoja. Samaan aikaan myös muuttuva television asiakassuhde edellyttää uusia toimintatapoja.
Yleisradiotyyppinen perinteinen suomalainen televisiotoiminta on siirtymässä kaaviojohtamiseen
perustuvasta monikanavatelevisiosta kohti digitaalisen television asiakas- ja jakelukanavakeskeistä
173
aikakautta. Television ohjelmatuotanto ei ole enää kulttuurin kylvämistä kaikille suomalaisille
(broadcasting), ei enää edes kohderyhmille kohdistamista (narrowcasting), vaan tilanne halutaan
kääntää toisin päin, yleisöillä on mahdollisuus valikoida ja kuluttaa tai jopa rakentaa haluamiaan
sisältöjä (Hujanen 2005). Yhteiskehittelyn periaatteiden mukaisesti myös kulttuuristen
merkitysten arvioimisen ja muodostamisen vastuuta halutaan siirtää entistä enemmän asiakkaille,
televisioyleisöille.
Toiminnan teoriassa ja kehittävässä työntutkimuksessa painotetaan, että työn tekijä on aina oman
työnsä ja työn muutoksen aktori, toimija, joka toimimalla muuttaa maailmaa (Leontjev 1977,
32). Työn kehittäminen on toimintatutkimusta, jossa intervention kohteena on työntekijöiden
oma tulkinta työstään (Virkkunen jne. 1999). Kehittävä työntutkimus on kiinnostunut siirtymistä
eli prosesseista joissa siirrytään vanhoista toiminnan käytänteistä uusiin. Kehittävässä
työntutkimuksessa etnografisia menetelmiä käytetään paljastamaan vanhojen rutiinien ja uusien
työn vaatimusten välistä dynamiikkaa, jossa keskeinen käsite ovat ristiriidat (contradictions).
Toiminnassa koetut häiriöt ovat merkkejä siitä, että toimintajärjestelmän osat ovat ristiriitaisessa
suhteessa keskenään. Työn kehittäminen on jatkuvaa kollektiivista työn merkityksellistämistä ja
uusien työn välineiden kehittämistä.
Omassa tutkimuksessani olen kerännyt laaja-alaisen interaktiivisen etnografisen aineiston
television keskusteluohjelmaa tekevien toimijoiden suhteesta omaan työhönsä. Kehittävässä
työntutkimuksessa aineistoa pyritään usein keräämään paikassa, jossa toiminnan kokonaisuus ja
sen koordinointi rakentuu ja toiminta on yhtä aikaa kaikkien nähtävillä (Suchman 1987). Yksi
keskeisistä aineiston keräämisen paikoista omassa tutkimuksessani on ollut ohjaamo ja studio.
Erityyppisiin puhumisen tilanteisiin (muun muassa suunnittelukokouksiin, haastatteluihin ja
ohjelmien katseluihin) perustuva aineistoni kertoo, millaisia mahdollisuuksia yhteiskehittelyyn
kullakin tuotantotiimin osapuolella tuotannossa on ja miten he haluaisivat työtä kehittää.
7. Kehittämispuhe reflektoi toiminnan kohdetta
RitvaEngeströmintutkimuslääkärinvastaanottojenkeskusteluistasoveltaakehittäväntyöntutkimuksen
lähtökohtia keskustelujen tutkimukseen. Tutkimuksen aineistona on työtilanteisiin liittyvä puhe.
Engeström tutkii samantyyppisiä analyysiyksikköjä kuin etnometodologinen keskustelunanalyysi,
eli lääkärin ja potilaan vuoronvaihdoista rakentuvia dialogisia episodeja. Hän tutkii miten lääkäri
ja potilas merkityksellistävät yhteistä toiminnan kohdettaan (Engeström 1999, 27-31). Engeström
on kiinnostunut erityisesti vuorovaikutuksessa tapahtuvista häiriöistä ja innovaatioista, jotka hänen
tulkintansa mukaan voivat ilmaista että lääkärin ja potilaan yhteisessä toiminnan kohteessa on jotain
neuvoteltavaa tai se on laajenemassa (emt., 246-307, ks. myös 2002).
Omasta televisiotuotannon aineistostani relevantit puheaineistot löytyvät poimimalla. Kutsun
tutkimusaineistoja nimellä ”kehittämispuhe”. Määrittelen kehittämispuheen puheeksi, joka
suuntautuu toimintaan jolla on yhteinen kohde, jossa tiimien välinen yhteistoiminta on
174
mahdollista ja jossa ilmaistaan joku työn kehittämisen itu, esimerkiksi kehittämisen tarve tai
suunta. Kehittämispuhe on siis puhetta, jossa puhuja merkityksellistää suhdettaan sekä yhteiseen
toiminnan kohteeseen että yhteistoimintaan kohteen haltuunotossa. Käytännössä tämä tarkoittaa,
että työntekijä itse asettaa itsensä johonkin toimijan asemaan sisältötiimin ja visuaalisen tiimin
välisessä yhteistyössä. Olen kiinnostunut myös siitä, millä abstraktiotasolla työstä puhutaan eli millaisia ovat ne
yleistykset, joiden tasolla puhe liikkuu. Kehittävässä työntutkimuksessa toiminnan havainnointia ja
merkityksellistämistä tehdään kolmella eri abstraktiotasolla (Virkkunen jne. 1999). Ensimmäisellä
tasolla on kysymys työtilanteen kyseenalaistamisesta ja ongelman huomaamisesta, toisella tasolla
on kysymys työkäytännön joidenkin piirteiden kyseenalaistamisesta ja kolmannella tasolla on
kysymys työhön liittyvien ajatusmallien ja periaatteiden kyseenalaistamisesta (vrt. Engeström
1995). Kehittämispuheesta voidaan siis analysoida, millä ekspansiiviseen oppimiseen liittyvillä
reflektion tasoilla työstään puhuvat työntekijät liikkuvat (vrt. Engeström 2004, 119-120).
Yritän myös jäsentää eri toimijoiden kehittämispuhetta puheenaiheiden mukaisesti yhteen niin,
että kehittämispuheesta rakentuu eräänlainen työn kehittämistä reflektoiva virikeaineisto. Kutsun
tällä tavalla rakennettua aineistoa keinotekoisesti rakennetuksi kehittäväksi keskusteluksi.
Orkestroimalla kehittämispuhetta kehittäväksi keskusteluksi pyrin havainnoillistamaan ja
rinnastamaan toisiinsa mahdollisimman monia erilaisia näkökulmia, joista toiminnan yhteinen
kohde voi toimijoille näyttäytyä.
8. Innovaatiot syntyvät yhdistelmistä
Ideani rakentaa kehittämispuheesta kehittävää keskustelua, jossa toistensa kanssa ristiriitaisetkin
näkökulmat nostetaan rinnakkain, liittyy Mihail Bahtinin dialogisuus-ajatteluun (Bahtin
1982, 1987, 1991). Myös Ritva Engeström käyttää Bahtinin tulkintoja omassa lääkäri-potilas
-keskustelujen tutkimuksessaan. Bahtinin romaanikerronnan teoriaan kuuluu moniäänisyys,
polyfonia. Hänen mukaansa romaanin kerronnassa eri toimijoiden äänet on mahdollista orkestroida
dialogiseksi kudokseksi siten, että ne toisaalta säilyttävät autenttisuutensa (living utterance),
toisaalta asettuvat vastakkain paljastamaan toinen toistensa ideologisuuden.
Dialogisen orkestroinnin idea tulee myös taiteen teoriasta, jossa montaasi ja kollaasi merkitsi ilmaisun,
itse asiassa koko esteettisen ajattelutavan, vallankumousta. Bahtinin polyfonia on läsnä esimerkiksi
elokuvan kerronnassa, kun pyritään rinnastamaan toisiinsa erilaisia kerronnan ääniä ja erilaisia
näkökulmia. Bahtinille dialogin ydin on eri toimijoiden intentioiden ristiriitaisuuksien esille tuominen
(von Bagh 2002). Jos tämä lähtökohta siirretään kehittävän keskustelun ideaan, voidaan ajatella, että
dialogimuotoon orkestroitu työn kehittämispuhe edustaa kerronnan muotoa, jossa jokaisen puhujan
on mahdollista säilyä työhönsä nähden yhteiskunnallisena ja kulttuurisena toimijana, joka ilmaisee
omasta näkökulmastaan halunsa muuttaa työtä. (vrt. Shotter 1993, Fonseca 2001).
175
Kerronnan teorian mukaan dialogin eri puhujien yhteentörmäyksissä syntyy kerronnan
aukkoja (Bahtin 1982, 276-278). Kehittävän työntutkimuksen mukaan vuorovaikutuksesta voi
löytyä häiriöitä ja neuvottelua merkkinä siitä, että toimijat laajentavat toiminnan yhteistä kohdetta.
Kun toiminnasta neuvotellaan, syntyy uusia toiminnan mahdollisuuksia. Tässä yhteydessä voidaan
hyvin puhua innovaatioista (vrt. Bahtin 1987, ks. Stacey jne. 2000, 174-175, Vygotsky 1982).
Dialogi onkin Bahtinin mukaan ainoa rakenne, jossa puhujat on asetettu, itse asiassa pakotettu
tilanteeseen jossa heidän on mahdollista ymmärtää toisiaan (Bahtin 1982, 282). Dialogi ei ole
ainoastaan uusien tulkintojen, innovaatioiden syntypaikka vaan se on samalla jo paikka, jossa
käynnistyy myös innovaatioiden leviäminen.
Voidaan ajatella, että bahtinilainen ajatus dialogin orkestroinnista korostaa konfliktin paljastamisen
merkitystä toiminnan kehittymisessä. Bahtinin mukaan äänillä jotka ovat dialogissa keskenään
on taipumus vapautua toistensa vallasta, ja dialogiin asettuminen ja dialogiksi asettaminen
johtavat siten ideologiseen tiedostamiseen ja vapautumiseen (Bahtin 1982, 348). Kehittävässä
työntutkimuksessa taas toiminnassa koetut häiriöt ja jännitteet ja niiden paljastuminen ovat
välttämätön askel toiminnan kehittämiseen. Näistä näkökulmista uusi yhteiskehittelyyn perustuva
työn tekemisen tapa ei edellytä konsensusta, vaan kykyä käsitellä ja hyödyntää konflikteja.
Keräämällä ja orkestroimalla työntekijöiden kehittämispuhetta on mahdollista näyttää konfliktit
dialogista ja saavuttaa sen kautta entistä moninäkökulmaisempi työn ymmärtäminen.
Artikkelini lähti organisaatioteoriasta, joka edustaa uudenlaista, jatkuvaan keskusteluun
perustuvaa käsitystä monimutkaistuvan organisaation muuttamisesta ja johtamisesta. Sekä
makrotason organisaatioteoria että mikrotason etnometodologinen keskustelunanalyysi lähtevät
siitä, että keskustelu sisältää aina mahdollisuuden vastarintaan ja aitoon toiminnan muuttamiseen.
Taidepedagogiikan tai taiteellisen improvisaation käsitykset dialogin suurista mahdollisuuksista
taas muistuttavat, että rajatussa eleen ja vastauksen tilanteessa on mahdollista synnyttää
täysin uudenlaisia yhdistelmiä, ilmaisun innovaatioita. Toiminnan teoriassa ja kehittävässä
työntutkimuksessa innovaatioita on löydetty vuorovaikutustilanteista, ja silloin käsitteellä
innovaatio viitataan ekspansioon oppimisessa ja samalla luovuuteen. Yhteinen toiminnan kohde
voidaan määritellä uudella tavalla.
Dialogin mahdollisuuksia korostavat teoreettiset lähtökohdat voidaan kääntää myös
toimintaohjeeksi. Näyttää siltä, että toimintaa kriittisesti arvioivien, kyseenalaistavien dialogien
salliminen, rohkaiseminen ja dialogin taitojen opettaminen voivat olla avaimia yhteiskehittelyn
mahdollisimman luovan, moninäkökulmaisen, asiakaslähtöisen työtavan ja sitä tukevan
johtamisen kehittämiseen.
Dialogiin kannustaminen mahdollistaa uusien yhdistelmien syntymisen. Kehittämispuheen
taltiointi ja moniäänisyyden esilletuominen kytkeytyy siis mitä läheisimmin taitoon liittyvään
tietoon ja sen rikastamiseen.
176
Lähteet:
Johnstone, K. 2002. Impro: improvisoinnista iloa elämään ja esiintymiseen. Helsinki: Yliopistopaino.. Anttila, E. 2003. Kaikuja salista. Teoksessa J. Varto, M. Saarnivaara & H. Tervahattu. Kohtaamisia taiteen ja
tutkimisen maastossa. Artefakta 13. Hamina: Akatiimi., 138-147. Lehtovaara, J. 1996). Dialogissa – kokonaisena ihmisenä avoimessa yhteydessä. Teoksessa J. Lehtovaara & R.
Jaatinen (toim.). Dialogissa osa 2 – Ihmisenä ihmisyhteisössä. Tampere: Tampereen yliopisto, 29-55. Anttila, P. 2005. Ilmaisu, teos, tekeminen ja tutkiva toiminta. Artefakta 16. Hamina: Akatiimi.
Leontjev, A. N. 1977. Toiminta, tietoisuus, persoonallisuus. Helsinki: Kansankulttuuri. von Bagh, P. 2002. Peili jolla oli muisti. Elokuvallinen kollaasi kadonneen ajan merkityksien hahmottajana (18951970). Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seuran Toimituksia 891, Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura.
Löytönen, T. & Sava, I. (toim.) 1998. Viisi keskustelua taidepedagogiikasta. Taito, tutkimus vai terapia.
Teatterikorkeakoulu, Tanssi- ja teatteripedagogiikan laitos ja Taideteollinen korkeakoulu. Taidekasvatuksen osasto. Bahtin, M. 1982. The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays by M. M. Bahtin. M- Holquist (ed.). Austin: University
of Texas Press. Marton, F. 2000. Variatio est mater studiorum. Higher Education Research and Development 19(2000): 3, 380395.
Bahtin, M. 1987. Speech genres and other late essays. Austin: University of Texas Press. Mead, H. 1934. Mind, Self and Society. Chicago: Chicago University Press. Bahtin, M. 1991. Dostojevskin poetiikan ongelmia. Helsinki: Orient Express. Nonaka, I. & Takeuchi, H. 1995. The knowledge-creating company: How Japanese companies create the dynamics
of innovation. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. 2005. Flow: elämän virta: tutkimuksia onnesta, siitä kun kaikki sujuu. Helsinki: Rasalas Elias N. 1939. The civilizing process. Oxford: Blackwell. Enckell, R. 1994. Andedräkt av koppar. Helsingfors: Söderström. Enckell, R. 2004. Hiljaisuuden varjo. Keuruu: Otava. Engeström, R. 1999. Toiminnan moniäänisyys. Tutkimus lääkärivastaanottojen keskusteluista. Helsinki: Helsinki
University Press. Engeström, R. 2002. Toiminta merkityksen tutkimuksessa. Laadullisen analyysin metodologista tarkastelua.
Sosiologia 39(1), 33-45. Engeström, Y. 1995. Kehittävä työntutkimus. Perusteita, tuloksia ja haasteita. Helsinki: Valtion painatuskeskus. Engeström, Y. 2004. Ekspansiivinen oppiminen ja yhteiskehittely työssä. Tampere: Vastapaino. Peräkylä, A. 1997. Institutionaalinen keskustelu. Teoksessa L. Tainio (toim.). Keskustelunanalyysin perusteet.
Tampere: Vastapaino, 177-203. Raevaara, M. 1999. Pedagoginen kritiikki. Kuvataidekurssien ryhmäkritiikki Taideteollisessa korkeakoulussa.
Taidekasvatuksen osasto, lisensiaatintyö. Helsinki: Taideteollinen korkeakoulu. Rautkorpi T. 2002. Televisiokeskustelujen monikameraohjauksen kehittäminen integroidussa
toimittajakoulutuksessa. Julkaisematon lisensiaatintyö. Tampereen yliopisto: Tiedotusopin laitos. Reason, P. (ed.) 1988. Human inquiry in action. Developments in New Paradigm Research. London, Newbury
Park, Beverly Hills, New Delhi: Sage. Rogers, C. R. 1961. On becoming a person. New York: Houghton Mifflin.
Rogers, E. M. 2003. Diffusion of innovations. New York: Free Press.
Fonseca, J. 2001. Complexity and innovation in organizarions. London: Routledge. Sava, I. 1998. Taiteen ja tieteen kietoutuminen tutkimuksessa. Teoksessa M. Bardy, Marjatta (toim.). Taide tiedon
lähteenä. Stakes julkaisut. Jyväskylä: Atena Kustannus Oy, 103-121.
Fonseca, J. 2003. Management narrative 1: Innovation in a water utility. In R: D: Stacey (ed). Strategic
Management and Organisational Dynamics. The challenge of complexity. Harlow: Person Education., 424-431.
Shaw, P. 2002. Changing the conversation: organisational change from a complexity perspective. London:
Routledge. Goodwin, C. 1981. Conversational organization. Interaction between speakers and hearers. New York: Academic
Press.
Shotter, J. 1993. Conversational realities: Constructing life through language. Thousand Oaks, Calif.:Sage
Publications. Granö, P. 2003. Taide tutkijan ymmärryksen avaajana. Teoksessa J. Varto, M. Saarnivaara & H. Tervahattu.
Kohtaamisia taiteen ja tutkimisen maastossa. Artefakta 13. Hamina: Akatiimi., 132-137.
Shotter, J. & Billig, M. 1998. A Bakhtinian psychology: from out of their heads of individuals and into the
dialogues between them. Teoksessa M. M. Bell, & M. Gardiner (eds.). Bakhtin and the Human Sciences: no last
word. London: Sage.
Griffin, D. 2002. The emergence of leadership: linking self-organization and ethics. London: Routledge.
Helakorpi, S. 2005. Työn taidot. Hämeen ammattikorkeakoulu. Ammatillisen opettajakorkeakoulun julkaisuja
2/2005. Hämeenlinna.
Herritage, J. 1996. Harold Garfinkel ja etnometodologia. Gaudeamus. Jyväskylä. Hujanen, T. 2005. Chapter 3: Implications for Public Service Broadcasters. Teoksessa A. Brown, R. G. Picard
(eds.). Digital Terrestial Television in Europe. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers: Mahway, New Jersey,
London, 57-84.
Johnson D. W. & Johnson, R. T. 1994. Learning together. Teoksessa S. Sharan (ed.). Handbook of cooperative
learning methods, 51-65.
Spolin, V. 2000. Improvisation for the theater: a handbook of teaching and directing techniques. Evanston (IL):
Northwestern University Press.
Stacey, R., Griffin, D. & Shaw, P. (eds.) 2000. Complexity and management: fad or radical challenge to systems
thinking? London: Routledge. Stacey, R. D. 2003. Strategic Management and Organisational Dynamics. The challenge of complexity. Harlow:
Person Education. Stacey, R. & Griffin D. (ed.) 2005. A complexity perspective on researching organizations. Taking experience
seriously. Oxon, New York: Routledge. Suchman, L. A. 1987. Plans and situated actions: The problems of human-machine communication. Cambridge:
177
178
Cambridge University Press. Taikopeda 1998. Taidekorkeakoulupedagogiikan keskustelufoorumi. Helsinki: Yliopistopaino. Tuomikoski, P. 1987. Taide ja ihminen. Helsinki: Hanki ja jää. Uusikylä, K. 2003. Onko luova hulluus mielen terveyttä? Teoksessa J. Varto, M. Saarnivaara & H. Tervahattu:
Kohtaamisia taiteen ja tutkimisen maastossa. Artefakta 13. Hamina: Akatiimi., 70-79. Vadén, T. 2003. Kokemuksellinen demokratia ja tutkimuksen avoimuus ja rehellisyys. Teoksessa J. Varto, M.
Saarnivaara & H. Tervahattu: Kohtaamisia taiteen ja tutkimisen maastossa. Artefakta 13. Hamina: Akatiimi., 8091. Culture is basically creative
Katriina Siivonen
MA
Varto, J. 1993. Tästä jonnekin muualle. Polkuja Heideggerista. Filosofisia tutkimuksia Tampereen yliopistosta vol
XL, FITTY 40. Tampere: Tampereen yliopisto.
Victor, B.. & Boynton, A. 1998. Invented here. Maximizing your organization´s growth and profitability. A
practical guide to transforming work. Boston Mass.: Harvard Business School Press.
Winnicott, D. W. 1966. The location of cultural experience. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis (1966): 48,
368-372.
Virkkunen, J., Engeström, Y., Pihlaja, J. & Helle, M. 1999. Muutoslaboratorio - uusi tapa oppia ja kehittää työtä.
Helsinki: Kansallinen työelämän kehittämisohjelma. Raportteja.
Volanen, M.V. 2006. Filoteknia ja kysymys sivistävästä työstä. Jyväskylä: Koulutuksen tutkimuslaitos.
Vygotsky, L. S. 1982. Ajattelu ja kieli. Espoo: Weilin&Göös.
Abstract
The core of global transition in our time is considered to be cultural change. Firstly, the essential
point is transition from intended uniformity to creative individuality and cultural heterogeneity.
Secondly, the essential point is the increased value of symbols in culture. Thirdly, it is emergent
glocal networks. However, in the analysis of our times, a transition period, the concept of culture
has not been conceptualised from the standpoint of the individual. In this article I shall present
a semiotic theory of culture, wherein anthroposemiosis is the primary power in the whole global
process of culture. Thus, the basic quality of culture is, on the one hand, the individual dynamics
and creativity and, on the other, the individual capacity to build on the foundation of different
former experiences, actions, habits and symbols, which are shared with other people in the process
of anthroposemiosis. If this individual based cultural process is not visible in a conceptual form
in the theory of culture, it is not truly possible to free the basic, creative power of culture in
different communities.
Cultural change of our time
The core of global transition in our time is considered to be cultural change. Firstly, the essential
point is transition from intended uniformity of industrial time to creative individuality and
cultural heterogeneity at the current time and in the future. This is visible in everyday life, but
also through other changes, such as in economic and administrative activites and structures.
Secondly, an essential element in global transition is dematerialisation of the economy and society.
Increasingly, part of production and consumption will become intangible items, and material part
of the value of products will decrease proportionally. This will increase the value of symbols in
culture. Thirdly, cultural change consists of networks which connect local and global elements to
each other and, thus, to more and more multidimensional and dynamic social structures. The new
era has often been mentioned as a network society according to Manuel Castells. (Castells 1996;
Castells 1998, 336-360; Wilenius 2004, 22-29; see also Florida 2004, 1-17, 267-269.)
179
180
In the opinion of Markku Wilenius cultural competence will be even more than before an essential
element in the development of regions, different organisations and enterprises. That is, they will
demand more and more competence in the understanding and managment of heterogeneous
and changing intangible and tangible cultural phenomena, such as different signs and symbols
connected to the material world, all of which are in motion in the global networks. (Wilenius
2004, 40-60). In different enterprises and in administration this competence is already now seen
as being necessary, for instance, for increasing innovation and developing economic wealth.
(Ståhle & Wilenius 2006, 204-209.)
In the analysis of our times transition period, the concept of culture has not been conceptualised
from the viewpoint of individuals. Culture is, after all, seen in these analyses as a whole, to which
individuals are connected and with the help of which they interpret and act in the world. (See
e.g. Wilenius 2004; Castells 1996; Castells 1997; Castells 1998). For instance, Richard Florida
has identified creative individuals. But for him also, the creative class are those people who work
in branches in which they should be producing independently and with creativity new signs,
symbols, services and products. He focuses on those economic and cultural contexts, wherein
individuality exists in relatively strong form. In this case the basically creative, dynamic and
heterogeneous quality of culture will remain unconceptualised and invisible. (Florida 2004, 8-10
ja passim.) To accept individuals and individual based cultural processes as a part of the concept
of culture is, in my opinion, crucial for understanding the cultural character of the transition of
our times.
In this article I shall define culture primarily as a signification process, in which various conscious
and unconscious cultural wholes exist. I start with individuals and the possibilities they have of
interpreting their surroundings and acting therein. Firstly, this provides the possibility of perceiving
individual everyday creativity as a part of culture. Secondly, this makes it possibe to analyse how
different conscious and unconscious cultural wholes find and take on form in the heterogeneous
and creative process of culture, to which individuals are connected through their thoughts and
actions. At the end of the article, I consider more closely different cultural wholes. With help of
a conceptual whole of this kind it will be possible to link together individual everyday creativity,
cultural competence and different cultural wholes, which are all essential to the understanding of
the transition of our time.
The basic flow of culture
In every single situation, in which a human being perceives something and interprets the
perception, (s)he uses a sign. According to the semiotics of Charles S. Peirce, our possibilities of
knowing anything about the surrounding world is based on sensations, which are organised with
help of signs, to perceptions, interpretations, and understanding of the world (Peirce 1992/1868).
A sign is “something which stands to somebody for something in some respect or capacity” (CP:
181
2.228). A sign is a whole of three interrelated elements, illustrated in the following diagram with
three interlinked segments of line (Merrell 1995: 41–43; see also CP: 1.347; Bergman 2004:
176–177 ).
Figure 1. An illustration of Charles S. Peirce’s concept of sign.
In human interaction in the whole of a sign, an interpretant is a sign in the mind of a human
being, to which (s)he has combined in her/his interpretation a representamen, that is a material
or immaterial manifestation of the sign, and the object of the sign (CP: 2.228, 274–302). In front
of an unfamiliar phenomenon, a human being searches and formulates in her/his thoughts an
interpretant, which could organise the perception in the best possible way. After the perception, the
experience of it with the interpretant functions already as a part of the following representamen,
with the help of which it is possible to pass on information concerning the perception to someone
else. It is also possible, that a human being thinks to herself/himself the perception and interprets
it to a new interpretant in her/his mind with a representamen, she/he presents for herself/himself.
The new interpretant is in relation to its own representamen and its own object, and includes the
understanding that the first interpretation brought about the perception. This way a complementary,
dynamic interpretant grows in the mind of a human being. With it she/he can interpret new, similar
kinds of perceptions. Interpretants and signs form chains, in other words a semiosis in the process
of presentations and interpretations of signs. In every situation human beings have in their use a
number of interpretants for organising the richness of perceptions. In every situation interpretants
grow according to the available possibilities and form a number of chains of interpretants and
signs. (Deely 1990: 22–49; CP:2.303; Deely 1994: 94–96.)
Perceptions might also concern some immaterial phenomena presented by some other human
beings, some material phenomena produced by some human beings or some natural phenomena.
Following the accepted practice, I refer to the Collected Papers of Charles S. Peirce (CP) by volume and
paragraph numbers, separated by a full-stop.
Immaterial phenomena of this kind comes across from one human being to an other human being always
with help of a representamen, that is a physically existing part of the sign. Anyhow, here I just wanted to connect the
thoughts to the ideas of material and immaterial culture, to which culture is customarily divided.
182
In the whole of the sign, the interpretant is connected to these perceived phenomena from outside
of the mind of the perceiver and is completed in interaction with them in the process of semiosis
in interpretants following other interpretants. In other words, a human being remolds her/his
understanding of the outstanding world of her/his mind in that manner, that it becomes a part
of her/his understanding. At the same time her/his understanding and activities based on this
understanding remolds the outstanding world. This happens with all human beings, and the
outstanding world of all of them consists of signs containing thoughts expressed by other human
beings and material surroundings. This is the basis of cultural change and creativity, but at the
same time of learning and memories. (Deely 1994: 30–2; CP: 7.536, 587.)
In the interaction between human beings, their chains of interpretants are linked to the chains of
other people and form a network. One dimension of this network is time. John Deely writes about
semiosis as a network, which covers the whole universum. One part of this network is an interactive
network between human beings and their surroundings. This Deely calls antroposemiosis. (Deely
1994: 22–31.) I understand antroposemiosis as a constantly changing relationship between human
beings and their surroundings. In this network contacts between different individuals and their
surroundings are composed of signs based on sensations. In this network signs are in a state of
inevitable change, because the network consists of the chains of interpretants and signs, wherein
one sign following another is never identical to the previous one. In the process of semiosis single,
immediate interpretants become parts of dynamic interpretants, which are always wider than any
single interpretant used in a different situation. At the same time, dynamical interpretants change
continually and grow through single, immediate interpretants. (Bergman 2004: 401-402.)
The antroposemiotic network consists firstly of the physical world with nature, people and a
material environment produced by people, that is, artifacts, buildings and cultural landscape.
Secondly, this network consists of concepts, thoughts and stories, which people exchange with
each other. So, in this network both material and immaterial elements are equal and have a mutual
impact on each other. Change is a basic quality of the network. Then again, both people, their
thoughts about their surrounding world, their actions in their surroundings, and their material and
immaterial surroundings are constantly changing. The creative core of culture varies and changes
continually in the process of anthroposemiosis. It is impossible to prevent changes in culture.
The process of anthroposemiosis gives one form of existence to culture and in my understanding
this is the basic form of culture. According to this, culture is a global, constantly changing
diachronically and synchronically varying process, including both material and non-material
elements. As a part of this both internal and external matters of the human mind vary and change.
This happens in the interaction between human beings and their surroundings, which includes
social interplay. The basic element in culture is the one human individual. The wholeness of
culture exists as an interactive network between individuals and their surroundings, in which
they have a mutual impact on each other. This kind of wholeness is never total in the sense that
it would be possible to find some part of semiosis that all involved individuals would know,
remember and recognise as a same kind of whole. But it is a totality in the sense that nobody can
live separated from it.
The creative skill of habits
Through the process of semiosis, it is somehow possible to discern dynamical interpretants of
one human being always in a certain stage of her/his life. They are matters she/he has learned,
she/he remembers and she/he has produced, in other words her/his life experience and life work.
Through semiosis, it is also somehow possible to discern life work, life experience and memories
of mankind, from which the own semiosis of any single person can not be disconnected. But it
is more difficult to discern some possessed part of semiosis of any group of people that is the
possessed culture of that group. This is difficult, whether or not the group is defined according
nationality, regionality, ethnicity, locality, ideology or, for example, some organisation. Human
fields of interaction are not limited to any border in time, space or social organisation. People are
always connected to other people and they are connected further to some other people until the
whole world is encircled many times. So, semiosis is a global process, which is also obvious in
the global world of our time.
Peirce writes in the following quotation about an interpretant, that it can be equivalent or perhaps more
developed than a representamen: “A sign, or representamen, is something which stands to somebody for something
in some respect or capacity. It addresses somebody, that is, creates in the mind of that person an equivalent sign, or
perhaps a more developed sign.” (CP: 2.228, original emphasis). Deely underlines the little by little clarifying view
of Peirce concerning the nature of signs as constantly growing and changing elements in the process of semiosis
(Deely 1990: 23). Also, for example, Mats Bergman sees the process of semiosis and changes as a central parts of
Peircean semiotics (Bergman 2004: 401–402).
183
Besides being something that changes, culture has been seen as habitual, homogeneous and having
the nature to resist change (see e.g. Borofsky 1994). It is possible to attain these qualities of culture
with help of the concept of the sign. In firstness the sign is iconic. In the purest form it is just a
sensation without any conceptual form. In secondness the sign gets its form. Its physical elements
are organised in relationship to each other and form a whole as an indexical sign. In thirdness the
experience of qualitative, iconical elements of the sign and the indexical relationships between
them are combined to become a whole with an interpretant. In other words the experience of
the representamen is combined with the human and cultural understanding of the world. The
symbolic sign in thirdness is the conscious and manifested rule, which explains the sign. Every
Because the physical world has, as a part of antroposemiosis, become a part of human perceiving and
conceptualising, it could be more accurately described with the term Umwelt of Jakob von Uexküll. Umwelt is the
world in such a form, that it can be perceived with, for example, human senses and concepts. This does not make the
physical world dependent of them, rather the interactive relationship between the internal and external matters of the
human mind
defines them both. (Deely 1994: 42–46; Uexküll 1981.)
Also from this part the concept of Umwelt decribes the situation. In the entire process of semiosis the
mental parts of signs, that is interpretants, chains of interpretants and networks of interpretants, are in constant
interaction with the external matters of the human mind, that is with Umwelt. Umwelt consists of both physically and
psychically existing material. (Deely 1994: 42–48.)
184
human being compiles her/his iconic, indexical and symbolic understanding of the world in the
process of anthroposemiosis in interaction with her/his surroundings. (CP:2.243–264; Deely
1994: 27, 53–58.)
Peirce has expressed the conformity of a sign and an interpretant also using the concept of habit
(CP:1.530–536). Every sign in the present moment is connected, except to coming signs, that is,
to the future and change also to previous signs, that is, to past time, habits, memories, experiences
or, as it could also be expressed, to traditions. I see traditions as dynamical interpretants, which
have perhaps already grown for a long time in the process of semiosis. The chain of immediate
interpretants forming a dynamical interpretant can also be short; equally, the processes of compiling
experiences and memories or the process of traditions can be short. (See e.g. Bringéus 1981:
122–130.) In the same manner interpretants are always habitual and they reproduce something
from their previous interpretants. In the chain of interpretants one interpretant following another
can differ from it by a smaller or greater amount, but it cannot be totally separate from it. So,
anthroposemiosis consists of both changing and stabilising elements, which create faster or slower
change in its different parts.
Habituality is one charasteristic of the interpretant. This brings a tendency of stability to the
process of semiosis. Then, one sign following another is very close to the previous sign, but
however, always deviating slightly from it, according to the basic nature of the sign. A habit is
no longer a conscious symbol in the mind of the perceiver and interpreter of the environment. It
does not actualise as interpretant to thirdness. It is also possible that the person in question has
never had it in her/his mind in thirdness. (See CP:1.530–536; Deely 1994: 57; Merrell 1995:
106–108.)
Some concrete actions and skills, even if very well trained, are habits of this kind. They are
very strong in firstness or in secondness and it is sometimes difficult to express them as symbols
argumented in thirdness. For instance, concrete, manual working processes, or silent knowledge of
a work community and the ability to act according to it, are not easy to verbalise comprehensively.
Silent, non-verbal signs come across from one human being to another without argumentation in
firstness and secondness, as with experimenting and imitating. However, it is possible to raise this
kind of knowledge partly to thirdness and make it more visible and conscious with argumentation.
(See Merrell 1995: 106–108; Polanyi 1969; Borofsky 1990/1987: 78–104.)
Consciousness about habits raises conformities to thirdness and to argumented thoughts and
talk, and at the same time open to changes and creative solutions. Consciousness is aroused by
facing up to something different and unconventional. Art is one cultural activity, which plays
with conventionality and makes it visible by releasing habits from everyday routines and putting
Tradition is here seen as cultural products, which vary and change in the interactive, human process. It
is not seen as cultural phenomena of a certain, distant, past time, for example, as traditional culture opposite to the
modern time. (Cf. Anttonen 1993.)
185
them in to objects of conscious perceptions and interpretations. Nevertheless, also everyday
routines themselves consist of creative and changing power. Maarit Knuuttila has analysed this
in her empirical research concerning home meals and cooking. According to her, cooking is
the imaginative combining of food ingredients which create every now and then new and fresh
elements in life. (Knuuttila 2006: 253-260.)
Anthroposemiosis and global cultural transition
According to theories concerning the global transition of our time, the symbolical value of
different human activities and products will increase during this transition, both in everyday life
and in economic and administrative functions. Nevertheless, according to the above presented
part of the semiotic theory of culture, culture is and has always been unavoidably symbolical.
In the terms of Peirce, symbols are conscious and in thirdness. Symbolical phenomena created
by humans will also always turn into habits. When they do it, they are no more conscious, and
in thirdness in the human mind, rather they are in firstness and secondness and more or less
unconscious.
From this perspective, the increasing symbolic value of different cultural phenomena in the global
transition of our time means that different signs and products are actively upgraded to thirdness
and, for instance, to the conscious use of consumers. Also, in this context symbols will become
unconscious habits. It is not possible to prevent this; this is the case even with symbols which are
actively created and aroused to thirdness. However, the circulation of symbols from thirdness to
habits and back to other symbols in thirdness seems to accelerate.
When at the same time, interaction processes become more and more global everywhere and for
every human being, the density of new kinds of connections between signs and symbols, which
were before mutually unfamiliar, will increase. On the one hand, this will raise the consciousness
of symbols, because encountering something unfamiliar turns invisible and habitual cultural
elements into visual ones. On the other hand, symbols will change more rapidly, because the
encountering of unfamiliar phenomena unavoidably changes the interpretants in the mind of
human beings. New interpretants bring, for their part, new kinds of symbols to the fore in the
process of anthroposemiosis. These new symbols will remain for a while in local, global and
glocal human interaction eventually to return again step by step into unnoticeable habits.
Cultural wholes
In the following, I shall outline two different ways in which cultures exist in addition to the
basic cultural process of anthroposemiosis. Firstly, every human being is connected to the
global whole of anthroposemiosis through her/his own material and immaterial surroundings.
Every human being forms her/his own part of the process of anthroposemiosis, which she/he is
constantly re-creating, but also constantly repeating and remembering during her/his whole life.
186
When some people form relatively homogeneous common parts to the anthroposemiosis through
mutual interaction, it is possible to make visible a relatively homogeneous culture with some
kind of wavering borders. Connective, but not totally common, memories and traditions guide
perceptions, interpretations, actions and productions of new things in somewhat similar ways.
Interactions can occur in a place, although also, for example, on the internet or trough common
interests, media, international organisations or international trade with intertwining chains of
both local and global signs. Common traditions existing in homogeneous condensations of this
kind exist, although they are not conscious events and people are not aware of the homogeneous
condensation.
Secondly, cultures exists as shared consciousness about their own cultural distinctiveness in relation
to other kinds of distinctiveness, be it national, regional, ethnic, local, for example, related to
some organisation. Then, cultures are seen as distinctive wholes with a common cultural heritage.
(See e.g. Hall 2003 / 1995; Barth 1969a; Barth 1994). In these situations, consciousness about
the own cultural originality is argumented in thirdness and own special features are presented
as symbols, which tell about own distinctiveness. It is possible, that some organisational power
supports symbolic originality of this kind. Nations, regions, ethnic groups, ideological groups,
organisations, for example, have their own supporters who create and uphold their own spirit. But
symbolic originality also exists in everyday life.
Consciousness about one’s own cultural distinctiveness grows through cultural interaction when
people encounter something different, as Fredrik Barth remarked even in the 1960s (Barth 1969a;
Barth 1994). This symbolic distinctiveness can be expressed as single and clear symbols, like
national flags or songs. The distinctiveness of a culture is, however, also expressed as a symbolic
sign or story about its originality.
It is interesting to observe, that symbolic stories about certain cultures with their original,
symbolic traits are not necessarily the same as common and noteworthy phenomena in the
relatively homogeneous condensations of the same people. But the symbolic cultural wholes and
relatively homogeneous cultural condensations of the same people cannot be totally separated.
(See e.g. Barth 1969b; Barth 1994). In the global process of anthroposemiosis, in the process of
everyday habits and actions, argumented symbols and silent knowledge, cultures argumented
as symbolic wholes can never be totally separated from other corresponding cultures, and the
homogeneity of a symbolic cultural whole is never total on the everyday life level. All stories
and symbols telling about distinctive cultures are eventually subordinate to the global process of
anthroposemiosis and parts of it. So they are unavoidably changing and varying, growing and
becoming unconscious habits in the global, local and glocal process of semiosis, as symbols
always do. Individual creativity does not leave these collective symbols in peace, as it does not
Barth writes about ethnicity, but points out that culture and ethnicity are so closely connected that it is
possible to use them side by side (Barth 1994, 176). Ethnicity is not the only definer of cultures, but as an example
it is exellent.
187
leave any other cultural phenomena.
The basic power of culture
In globalised world, global and local elements are constantly intertwined in glocal, heterogeneous
and dynamical entities. In this process organisational power is no longer able to form and uphold
extensive and homogeneous symbolical cultural wholes. Instead of this, different mutually
competing symbolic worlds will become more common and also more and more important
in different glocal processes. For instance, Castells writes about this in analysing the power
of identities in the network society. (Castells 1997) Nevertheless, the individual based and
heterogeneous cultural interaction process, or in my words the basic process of anthroposemiosis,
remains invisible in his conceptual thinking (Castells 1997, 6-12).
Nevertheless, according to the theory presented above concerning culture, anthroposemiosis is
the primary power in the whole global process of culture. Thus the basic quality of culture is, on
the one hand, the individual dynamics and creativity and, on the other, the individual capacity to
build on the foundation of different former experiences, actions, habits and symbols, which are
shared with other people in the process of anthroposemiosis.
If this is not visible in conceptual form in the theory of culture, it is not truly possible to free
the basic, creative power of culture in different communities, whether or not they are defined
according nationality, regionality, ethnicity, locality, ideology or, for example, some organisation.
Therefore, the conceptualising of individual based cultural processes to become parts of the
concept of culture is essential for understanding current and future glocal interaction with its
heterogeneous and dynamical richness of symbols and habits.
Sources
Anttonen, Pertti J. 1993. Folklore, modernity, and Postmodernism. A Theoretical Overview. In:
Pertti J. Anttonen & Reimund Kvideland (eds.) Nordic Frontiers. Recent Issues in the Study of
Modern Traditional Culture in the Nordic Countries. NIF Publications 27. 17–33. Turku: Nordic
Institute of Folklore.
Barth, Fredrik 1969a. Introduction. In: Fredrik Barth (ed.) Ethnic Groups and Boundaries. The
Social Organization of Culture Difference. 9–38. Bergen & Oslo: Universitets forlaget & London:
George Allen & Unwin.
–— 1969b. Pathan Identity and its Maintenance. In: Fredrik Barth (ed. by), Ethnic Groups and
Boundaries. The Social Organization of Culture Difference. 117-134. Bergen & Oslo: Universitets
forlaget & London: George Allen & Unwin.
188
— 1994. Nye og evige temaer i studiet av etnisitet. (New and eternal themes in the research of
ethnicity.) In: Fredrik Barth, Manifestasjon og prosess. (Manifestation and process.) 174–192.
Oslo: Universitetsforlaget.
Bergman, Mats 2004. Fields of Signification. Explorations in Charles S. Peirce’s Theory of
Signs. Philosophical Studies from the University of Helsinki 6. Helsinki: University of Helsinki,
Department of Philosophy.
Borofsky, Robert 1990/1987. Making history. Pukapukan and anthropological constructions of
knowledge. Cambridge, New York, Port Chester, Melbourne & Sydney: Cambridge University
Press.
–— 1994. Rethinking the Cultural. In: Robert Borofsky (ed. by), Assessing Cultural Anthropology.
243-249. New York et al.: McGraw-Hill, Inc.
Bringéus, Nils-Arvid 1981. Människan som kulturvarelse. (A human being as a cultural creature.)
Lund: LiberLäromedel.
Castells, Manuel 1996. The Information Age. Economy, Society and Culture. Volume I. The Rise
of the Network Society. Cambridge: Blackwell Publishers.
–— 1997. The Information Age. Economy, Society and Culture. Volume II. The Power of Identity.
Cambridge: Blackwell Publishers.
–— 1998. The Information Age. Economy, Society and Culture. Volume III. End of Millenium.
Cambridge: Blackwell Publishers.
CP: See Peirce, Charles S. 1994/1931–1958.
in the World. Milton Keynes, The Open University.) – Mikko Lehtonen & Olli Löytty (ed. by),
Erilaisuus. (Difference.) 85-128. Tampere: Vastapaino.
Knuuttila, Maarit 2006. Kansanomainen keittämisen taito. (Everyday skills in cooking.)
Kansatieteellinen arkisto 50. Helsinki: Suomen Muinaismuistoyhdistys.
Merrel, Floud 1995. Peirce’s Semiotics Now. A Primer. Toronto: Canadian Scholars’ Press Inc.
Peirce, Charles S. 1992/1868. On a New List of Categories. In: Nathan Houser & Christian
Kloesel (eds.) The Essential Peirce. Selected Philosophical Writings. Vol. 1 (1867–1893). 1–10.
Bloomington & Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.
— 1994/1931–1958. The Collected Papers of Charles Sanders Peirce. John Deely (ed. by), The
electronic edition reproducing Vols. I–VI ed. Charles Hartshorne and Paul Weiss, Cambridge,
MA: Harvard University Press, 1931–1935, Vols. VII–VIII ed. Arthur W. Burks, Cambridge,
MA: Harvard University Press, 1958.
Polanyi, Michael 1969.Personal Knowledge. Towards a Post-Critical Philosophy. Third
impression. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Ståhle, Pirjo & Wilenius, Markku 2006. Luova tietopääoma. Tulevaisuuden kestävä kilpailuetu.
Helsinki: Edita.
Uexküll, Thure 1981. The Sign Theory of Jakob von Uexküll. In: Martin Krampen, Klaus Oehler,
Roland Posner, Thomas A. Sebeok & Thure von Uexküll (eds.) Classics of Semiotics. 147–179.
New York: Plenum Press.
Wilenius, Markku 2004. Luovaan talouteen. Kulttuuriosaaminen tulevaisuuden voimavarana.
Helsinki: Edita.
Deely, John 1990. Basics of semiotics. Advances in Semiotics. Bloomington & Indianapolis:
Indiana University press.
—1994. The Human Use of Signs or: Elements of Anthroposemiosis. Lanham & London: Rowman
& Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Florida, Richard 2004. The Rice of the Creative Class. And How It’s Transforming Work, Leisure,
Community and Everyday Life. Paperback Edition. New York: Basic Books.
Hall, Stuart 2003 / 1995. Kulttuuri, paikka ja identiteetti. (Culture, place and identity.) (Translation
Juha Koivisto. Original: New cultures for the old. – Doreen Massey & Pat Jess (ed. by), A Place
189
190
1. Creativity
Agile, Fragile, Flow
Management Strategies in Creative Processes
Marjo Mäenpää
Professor
University of Art and Design, Pori School of Art and Design
In the business world management strategies start from the presumption (hypothesis) that there
is a common goal, a target, better income, better value, victory in competition. The chain of
tasks and values in flow charts is easily drawn as a clear line from left to right. Stability is
the goal. Managers usually want a plan to which they can commit themselves. By making this
commitment, they give up the ability to take advantage of fortuitous developments in the business
and technology environment. Managing processes is a human act. Managing creative processes
and creative teams is an act that deals with tacit knowledge, serendipity and flow.
In this paper I apply the key concepts of creativity and knowledge management – such as normative
creativity and serendipity as well as tacit and explicit knowledge – to the publishing process of
a small independent publishing company. I analyze the phases of a publishing project using the
commonly applied management flow chart and clarifying where there is a need for agile project
management tools, where the process is fragile and needs extra recourses to avoid risks and
failures. If creativity brings along agility, are there any means for management to attain stabile
results? I present a case of managing creative processes in the area of creative economy and
cultural industry. My case study is a small independent publishing house, Taifuuni Ltd, where I
worked as a publishing manager and managing director during 1992-2004.
Keywords: Agile project management, flow, knowledge management, serendipity, creativity
Creativity cannot exist without a context. If the context is within interdisciplinary processes,
the creativity needs an environment with confidence and open dialogue. Design processes urge
collaboration of different kinds of knowledge, media production that comes true by using various
professional skills. According to a definition, creative thinking is the process of merging between
categories or mental images, either across or within domains, in ways that have not been applied
before, in order to develop an original and appropriate solution in a situation or for a problem.
(Kilgour 2007,17).
In short: Creativity goes beyond the current boundaries, whether these boundaries are technology,
knowledge, social norms or beliefs. (Ettlie, 2006, 55)
A prominent line of reasoning is that the creative thinking process is development of original and
appropriate ideas. This requires some type of a recombination process. (Kilgour, 2007, 16). Ideas
may be born by individuals, but groups and teams mould new ideas into innovative products and
services. My question in this article is: How can we feed creativity into processes and projects
and how can we manage creativity and innovations in projects that belong in the category of
creative industry?
Richard Florida (2002) took the initiative in vivid discussion about creativity that could also
provide answers for many economical problems. In the middle there is a creative class that follows
the trends and principles of pluralism and tolerance towards cultural diversity. The creative class
links artistic and cultural creativity to the structures of information society. Florida tries to answer
the question of new innovative environments and creative business: how and where can the
creative, innovative, highly educated class gather and build innovative new business?
The term “interdisciplinary” is used when researchers from two or more disciplines pool their
approaches and modify them so that they are qualified to solve the problem at hand – like in the
case of the Creative Leadership project at the University Consortium of Pori (cross disciplinary
research project of the Pori Unit of the Turku School of Economics and Pori School of Art
and Media – a faculty of the University of Art and Design called Creative Leadership, 2007)
Interdisciplinarity appears also in related designer workshops, in the team-taught courses, where
students are required to understand how a given subject may appear differently when examined
by different disciplines.
In my case at hand I can easily identify three types of creativity:
1. Normative Creativity: Original thinking is used to solve known problems. In research
problem solving exercises, in, for example, the context of the many technical problems that
191
192
arise in the design of a car. In the service sector the opportunities for normative creativity
are enormous – as solving customer issues is a major catalyst for service innovation.
2. Exploratory Creativity: The creativity that is closer to most people’s normal understanding
of creativity. The goal is to identify new opportunities. Unconventional thinking, which
modifies or rejects previous ideas, clarifies vague or ill-defined problems in developing
new views or solutions. Often used in media projects and in designing digital media
services, for example, when solving questions of accessible design.
3. Serendipitous creativity: Accident and good fortune in, for example, identifying an
existing idea that will solve a new problem. (Classic examples are the Post-it stickers,
where the glue that was originally developed for permanent fixing failed.) Serendipitous
creativity cannot be managed easily, although looking for ideas from different sectors
or bringing in experts from other fields can help because the best innovations aren’t
lone geniuses. Multidisciplinary teams and groups are the best places for serendipitous
creativity.
When leading and managing innovative organizations and creative processes there is often a need
for opportunity or a chance for serendipitous creativity with multidisciplinary groups. Serendipity
means a lucky accident. The word etymology comes from a Persian fairytale, Three Princes of
Serendip. According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary: “…the faculty or phenomenon
of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for…” Three princes from Serendip set out to
search for a secret poem that could help them fight against a dragon. On they way the princes
found several other interesting things, and they almost forgot the original reason for their trip.
(Inkinen, 2007, 23)
2. Fuzzy Management
When the projects at hand are like life itself we can speak about fuzzy processes. But can we start
a project without knowing where to go, what the result will be, who will join in and how much it
will cost? Always when working with people, things may change! Where there are people, there
are fuzzy processes (?).
Sometimes goal-posts keep moving, as is often the case with applications and software
development, due to changes in client requirements and changes in technology. In these projects,
once initial objectives have been defined and agreed upon, one must instigate an appropriate
project change management and tracking system.
Variances and changes in projects can result from:
• Stakeholder/user requirements
193
• Work that was more difficult than anticipated
• Delays in procurement
• Increases or decreases in estimated costs
• Triggered risks
• Mistakes
Any change must be assessed for its impact on the project objectives. The impacts are reported
in terms of three project objectives - time, cost and quality. The impact of any change must be
assessed before a decision is made regarding how it is to be managed. It is not possible to protect
against late changes.
3. Agile Project Management
Agile Management takes its ideas from Agile Software Development and applies them to
management in general. Of the software-related agile methods, Scrum is usually considered the
most non-specific to software. However, Extreme Programming has also been used for managing
non-software projects. Agile Management also takes ideas from Lean Manufacturing and general
team building methods.Agile Work is the most general expression of agile management.
One key word in agile project management seems to be flexibility. Creative processes, just like
creative persons, are sensible and they know by intuition the possibilities or threats that arise from
the environment. The sources of creative thinking might include guessing, foreseeing, tolerance
of ambiguity or supporting complexity. (Inkinen, 2006, 27).
There is a distinction between managing projects in an agile manner and management of an
agile project. “Agility is the ability to adapt and respond to change… agile organizations view
change as an opportunity, not a threat.” (Agile Alliance, 2007). The first part of this definition
is a tautology. It is the second part that is useful for project managers. Trouble starts when the
traditional high–ceremony project management methods that are used in some industries are
applied to information technology projects or projects of creative industry – or in my case,
projects of cultural industry.
Since agile project management seems to be a set of unexpected actions, there is a set of “rules”
for agile project management in the web (see: Agile Software Development, 2007).
The non-profit global Agile Alliance (Agile Alliance, 2007) has published The Agile Manifesto,
where the principles for agile programming could be adopted in many kind of creative projects:
“Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support their need,
and trust them to get the job done. The most efficient and effective method of conveying information
to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation.” (Agile Manifesto, 2007)
194
In fact, plans are “an ongoing dynamic activity that peers into the future for indications as to where
the solution might emerge and treats the plan as a complex situation, adapting to an emerging
solution”, writes Mike Dwyer, IT program manager, in his blog. (Dwyer, 2007)
4. Flow
Flow is a mental state of operation in which the person is fully immersed in what he or she is
doing, characterized by a feeling of energized focus, full involvement and success in the process
activity. Usually the mental state of mind in agile software development projects as well as in
cultural or design processes could be described as flow; the artist, programmer or designer needs
to be fully committed to and therefore fully immersed in the task at hand.
The word “flow” was brought into debate by professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1990, 1996).
According to his writings, flow is like a sense of ecstasy – like being outside everyday reality. It
is important that one knows that the activity is doable - that the skills are adequate, and the task
is neither worrying or boring.
According to Csikszentmihalyi, the state of flow has preconditions like:
• Clear goals
• Concentrating and focusing
• A loss of feeling of self-consciousness
• Distorted sense of time
• Balance between ability level and challenge
• A sense of personal control over the task
• The activity is rewarding
(Csikszentmihalyi, 1990)
5. Knowledge Management
Philosopher Michel Polanyi coined the term “tacit knowledge”. He actually described a process
where we know more than we can clearly articulate and that contributes to the conclusion that
much knowledge is passed on by non-explicit means. “We know more than we can tell. “ (Polanyi,
1967). Ikujiro Nonaka and Hirotaka Takeuchi’s book The Knowledge Creating Company (1995)
brought the concept of tacit knowledge into the realm of corporate innovation. In it they suggest
that Japanese companies are more innovative because they are able to successfully collectivize
individual tacit knowledge to the firm. Tacit knowledge by definition is knowledge that people
carry in their minds and is, therefore, difficult to access. According to the writers, tacit knowledge
is a non-linguistic, non-numerical form of knowledge that is highly personal and context-specific
– rooted in individual experiences, ideas, values and emotions. (see: Nonaka, Takeuchi, 1995).
“what” and “why”. Explicit knowledge is easy to access by documentation.
Tacit knowledge is a source of the core competence of a project, team, business or company. Tacit
knowledge could be perceived as a glue that binds the explicit knowledge together. It answers
the question “know how?”. It is difficult to codify, communicate, describe, replicate or imitate
because it is a result of human experience and human senses. It often needs years of experience.
6. Publishing House Taifuuni 1992-2004
Publishing House Taifuuni Ltd was established in 1992. From the beginning it was an independent,
small-sized publishing house specializing in Middle European literature, i.e. translated fiction and
non-fiction mainly from Russia, Ukraine, The Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and the Baltic
countries Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia (Pictures 1 and 2). 1992 marked the beginning of deep
economic recession in Finland, book sales in all genres were low, and East and Middle European
cultures remained in the margins of cultural life. Taifuuni’s publishing program was bound to the
brand and mission of presenting unknown European cultures in Finland. Taifuuni Ltd remained a
small-sized company and had only one paid employee – the managing director who also worked
as a marketing person, salesperson, editor and layout designer. The publishing decisions were
made in the board meetings and the translations and graphic design was outsourced to freelancers.
Since the incomes of the company were of low level, the only fulltime employee was at times
laid off (worked without payment). The work in the publishing house called for a high level of
commitment. It was also clear for the contracted authors and freelancers that Taifuuni was not
able to pay exactly the same compensation as bigger publishing houses, and for the management
it was clear that the more or less voluntary work could not be managed the way projects usually
are. So, in every sense, Publishing House Taifuuni Ltd functioned like any other small-scale
company or non-profit organization in cultural industry.
Picture 1 : Publishing House Taifuuni
Ltd, first www-site 1992: http://www.dlc.
fi/taifuuni
Explicit knowledge is relatively easy to capture and code in organizations. It helps to know
195
196
Managing such a company required serendipitous innovations, agile project management and
work full of flow. When authors, editors and translators worked with flexible timetables and
payment, it was not possible to produce fixed plans. Unanticipated problems were the norm
rather than the exception. Agility meant that implementation was merely a matter of executing a
defined set of tasks. But then again, the flow helped avoid chaos: There was great inner clarity in
the projects – as in the flow according to Csikszentmihalyi – everyone knowing what needed to
be done and how well things were going. There was a sense of serenity - no worries about “self”,
a feeling of growing beyond the boundaries of ego, and afterwards, a feeling of transcending the
ego in ways not thought possible.
Picture 3
The new ideas were evaluated by experts and tested from the basis of the mission of the
publishing house. Possibilities of gaining some kind of a reasonable break-even point were also
calculated. Market analyses were usually based on the subjective intuition of the publisher. The
final decision to publish a book is based – after all – on economic facts, marketing analyzes and
artistic evaluation.
Picture 2. Taifuuni’s editorial profile
The publishing process passes through several phases.
Usually the first idea for a product was a lucky accident, a result of serendipitous coincidences,
we were seeking something else and then tumbled upon a reasonably good idea, with the help of
informants and with the help of experts. The mission was to seek new questions, rather than to
answer questions. Taifuuni was an “indie” publishing house. The new ideas came from an expert
network, from the authors themselves or translators, people who knew East European cultures
and literature the best.
197
After the publishing decision was made, the manager started to recruit the team. The team of
translator, editor and graphic designer worked practically on a voluntary basis. Everyone was
responsible for her/his work to the publishing manager. The team members knew that Taifuuni
would not pay as well as the big companies, yet the quality was very important to everyone.
During the translation and layout work the book was sold to wholesalers, libraries and bookstores.
The bookstores and stocks represented the professional role. They have fixed timetables and an
annually negotiated market share (approximately 40% from the retail price). And the rest was
like a bazaar, relatives, kids and cousins worked in the marketing department, behind the desk at
various book fairs. (Picture 4)
198
Picture 4
Picture 6
Relations with the authors, artists, designers and translators were based on individual relationships.
Personal relations are always very fragile, not the least when personal and financial relations
are mixed. The market analysis was based on personal intuition and experience. The brand and
mission of the publishing house was formed by a few individuals and not written in any way
that could be described as a watertight description of the company’s overall essence. The only
fixed and well documented phase in the whole publishing process were the relations with the
wholesalers, a task that required a skill to solve known, everyday problems because the rules and
regulations with the wholesaler were fixed and known.
The Kirjavälitys Ltd <Kirjavälitys Oy, 2007> wholesaler is the agency for most of the small
and medium sized publishers in Finland. According to the agreement between Kirjavälitys and
Taifuuni, the big wholesaler served as an agency for Taifuuni’s books and paid 36-40 % out of the
retail price to the publisher for every sold copy.
Picture 5
The publishing process started to look fuzzy at least by the time the product, the book, faced
public opinion, readers, media, librarians etc. The public opinion was dependent more on
individual readers and articles published in newspapers than on commercial advertisements.
Classical studies, such as the works of Russian cultural scientist Mihail Bahtin, were steadysellers
that brought incomes slowly but over a long period of time, the alternative guidebooks on East
European capitals became popular among young travelers.
199
200
For a manager working with a team that consists of more or less voluntary workers it was important
to identify new opportunities and new ways to motivate people. Because of a lack of financial
resources, the whole team needed a great amount of unconventional thinking that clarified vague
or ill-defined problems in developing new views or solutions.
From the viewpoint of working culture it is obvious that understanding and knowledge in a
creative process can only be created if the members of the team are willing to collaborate and
share knowledge. Collaboration and sharing take place in a network that requires openness,
mutual trust, willingness and commitment to share.
In Taifuuni there were different levels of knowledge creation and most of the relations were based
only on the missions and ideas of the manager. Even though the manager has a considerable role
as bearer of all the tacit knowledge, it is also important for everyone involved to see an overall
and a realistic picture of the publishing process: what is the cultural background of the product at
hand, for what kind of audience is the book targeted, what will the marketing efforts be, and what
will the estimated incomes be.
Picture 7
7. Conclusions: Interdisciplinary and agile management feeds creativity
For every publishing house the task of finding a good manuscript to publish is really a serendipitous
matter. In the publishing business, more than anywhere, serendipity means a lucky accident. In
Taifuuni it was essential to reject previous ideas because the mission for the publishing house was
to feed new thinking. Therefore carrying out market analyses urged unconventional thinking. It
was more important to raise new questions than to give answers to common problems.
In a process where tasks are serendipitous and even defined tasks might lead to unexpected
conclusions, the most important recourse are the people working on the team. There is need for
both individual and collective innovativeness. It is a task of a good manager to bring these skills
into the process.
What do groups need in order to become innovative? In fragile and unstable processes the working
environment needs to be highly flexible. (Aldrea-Partanen, Ponnnikas 2007, 94). A shared intent
and firm common motivation among the team help to bring out the creative potential. In Taifuuni
the teams consisted of independent creative experts. The most important task for the manager
was to assign each individual her/his own well defined area as well as their tasks and objectives
in the process.
201
An overall atmosphere of courage and a certain level of informality are seen as enablers of
knowledge creation and creativity itself. With a fragile, creative project and process, one can
never stress agility too much: it ranks in importance with possibilities for open communication
and sharing of knowledge.
Epilogue
Agile management is a demanding task for the manager. The manager is in the center of all
actions and processes. As a publishing manager I controlled every phase of the process and
the projects never actually followed a certain flow chart. The amount of tacit knowledge also
meant possibilities to change the aims of a project. The vagueness created flexibility as well as
instability. I am prone to thinking that had I known about the theory of knowledge building and
management that I know of now, the company would have succeeded much better. But, on the
other hand, can there ever really be a project that beautifully follows the flow chart described in
various guidebooks for managers.
Publishing House Taifuuni published books from East European cultures between 1992 and
2004. Even though it was an incorporated company, the mission was not to create financial value
for the shareholders, the values were more on the immaterial and cultural side. The number of
publications was around 150, including fiction, non-fiction, cookbooks and travel books. Taifuuni
managed to create a brand with its alternative travel books and as an expert of East European
culture. The trademark Taifuuni was sold to Publishing House Like Ltd. The new publisher
continues Taifuuni’s line.
202
Sources
WWW-sources:
Aldea-Partanen, Andrea, Jouni Ponnikas (2007) Socially Innovative Networks. In Karkulehto,
Sanna & Laine, Kimmo (eds.) Call for Creative Futures Conference Proceedings. Publication of
the Department of Art and Anthropology A. Literature 15. University of Oulu, 2007. http://www.
cream.oulu.fi/ajankohtaista/documents/ccf_ebook1.pdf
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly 1990 Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. New York. Harper
& Row, 1990
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly (1996) Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention.
New York. Harper Collins, 1996
Ettlie, John E. (2006) Managing Innovation. New Technology, New Products, and New Services
in a Global Economy. 2nd edition. Rochester Institute of Technology. Butterworth- Heinemann.
Florida, Richard (2002) The Rise of the Creative Class. And How It’s Transforming Work, Leisure,
Community and Everyday Life. New York. Basic Books.
Inkinen Sam (2006) Homo Creativus. Havaintoja eräistä aikalaiskäsitteistä sekä luovuuden
mysteereistä. Teoksessa, Sam Inkinen, Sanna Karkulehto, Marjo Mäenpää, Eija Timonen (toim.)
Minne matka, luova talous? Rajalla. Oulu
12 manage – Management Communities (2007) http://www.12manage.com/index.html (read
30.12.2007)
Agile Alliance (2007) http://www.agilealliance.org/ “We recommend agile approaches to software
development because they deliver value to organizations and end users faster and with higher
quality.” (read 30.12.2007)
Agile Manifesto, 2007 http://www.agilemanifesto.org/principles.html (read 30.12.2007)
Agile Software Development (2007) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agile_Software_Development
is a good collection of links and pros and cons on agile management. (read 30.12.2007)
Creative Leadership (2007) http://www.creativeleadership.fi (read 30.12.2007)
Dwyer Mike, (2007) Herding cats, ideas, comments, and references about project management,
tools, processes and field experiences http://herdingcats.typepad.com/my_weblog/2006/02/agile_
project_m.html (read 30.12.2007)
Kirjavälitys Oy (2007) http://www.kirjavalitys.fi (read 3.1.2008)
Kilgour, Mark (2007) Big C versus little c. Creative Findings: Domain-specific Knowledge
Combination Effects o the Eminence of Creative Contributions. In Karkulehto, Sanna & Laine,
Kimmo (eds.) Call for Creative Futures Conference Proceedings. Publication of the Department
of Art and Anthropology A. Literature 15. University of Oulu, 2007. http://www.cream.oulu.
fi/ajankohtaista/documents/ccf_ebook1.pdf
Nonaka I, Takeuchi H. (1995) The Knowledge Creating Company. New York, Oxford University
Press.
Polanyi, Michael (1967) The Tacit Dimension. Doubleday & Co., 1966 Reprinted Peter Smith,
Gloucester, Massachusetts, 1983.
Still, Johanna (2007) The influence of R&D network conditions on its knowledge creation – case
new mobile service development network. In Karkulehto, Sanna & Laine, Kimmo (eds.) Call for
Creative Futures Conference Proceedings. Publication of the Department of Art and Anthropology
A. Literature 15. University of Oulu, 2007. http://www.cream.oulu.fi/ajankohtaista/documents/
ccf_ebook1.pdf
203
204
USER TOOLKITS FOR INNOVATION: LINK BETWEEN
THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE FIRM AND THE
KNOWLEDGE OF THE USER
Pia Arenius
Turku School of Economics, Pori Unit
University Consortium of Pori
P.O.Box 170, 28101 Pori, Finland
E-mail: [email protected]
INTRODUCTION
Firms are seeking to engage users in their innovation activities by offering them ‘user toolkits
for innovation’ (von Hippel, 2001). User innovation toolkits give users real freedom to innovate,
allowing them to develop their custom product via iterative trial-and-error (von Hippel, 2001).
The underlying idea of engaging users in innovation activities is that users have knowledge about
their needs and the setting of use, and therefore they are better equipped to develop products and
services to match their needs. In other words, the toolkits transfer design capability to users.
Firms, on the other hand, have knowledge about their production capabilities. Their role is to
design the solution space offered by the user toolkit for innovation in such a way that the solutions
developed by the users are producible by the firm. The solution space will be limited, e.g., by the
manufacturer’s process capabilities and constraints. A properly designed use innovation toolkits
ensures that products and services designed by users will be producible without manufacturer
re-engineering.
Tiina Mäkitalo-Keinonen
Sari Liikala
User innovation toolkits are the link between the knowledge of the firms and the knowledge of
the user. This paper explores the aspects of knowledge and knowledge sharing between firms
and users. Particularly we are interested in tacit knowledge and how user innovation toolkits
externalize tacit knowledge of the firm. We are also interested in how users are able to internalize
firm knowledge. Von Hippel (2001) discusses how toolkits are build upon familiar skills and
tools and von Hippel & Katz (2002) discuss how well-designed user innovation toolkits are userfriendly in the sense that users do not need training to use them competently. Building on the
arguments of Cohen & Levinthal (1990) we posit that in order for the user to be able to use the
externalized knowledge, some overlap in the user and firm knowledge bases is necessary.
We use qualitative data analysis methods for our study. In the first stage we compare two businessto-consumer sector user innovation toolkits and their functionalities to find out similarities and
differences. Secondly, we engage in the user innovation activity by using these sites to design our
products.
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
ABSTRACT
Firms are seeking to engage users in their innovation activities by equipping them with appropriate
‘user toolkits for innovation’. These toolkits are a way to transfer design capability to users.
Generally a manufacturer has information regarding solution possibilities and its production
process, while users have information about needs and the setting of use. In this paper we explore
the aspects of knowledge and knowledge sharing between firms and users enabled and/or required
by the user toolkits for innovation.
205
Our study of the user toolkits for innovation explores the aspects of knowledge sharing between
firms and users. In the following section we review the literature on toolkits for user innovation
and organizational knowledge.
Knowledge and absorptive capacity
Organisational knowledge is a set of beliefs held by a group of people. Polanyi (1966) identified
two types of knowledge: tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge. Explicit knowledge refers to
knowledge that is transmittable in formal systematic language. On the other hand, tacit knowledge
206
has a personal quality, which makes it hard to formalize and communicate. Tacit knowledge is
rooted in action, commitment and involvement in a specific context. Nonaka & Takeuchi (1995)
presents four patterns of interactions which represent how existing knowledge can be converted
into new knowledge. The patterns refer to conversation between tacit and explicit knowledge (see
Table 1).
Table 1. Models of knowledge conversion
Tacit knowledge
Tacit knowledge
From
Explicit knowledge
To
Explicit knowledge
Socialization Externalization
Internalization Combination
The process of creating tacit knowledge through shared experience is called socialization.
Socialization requires interaction between individuals. Interaction can take place without the use
of language, e.g. apprentices work with mentors and learn craftsmanship not through language but
by observation, imitation, and practice. Second, individuals can exchange and combine explicit
knowledge through such exchange mechanisms as meetings and telephone calls. The creation of
new explicit knowledge from existing explicit knowledge is called combination. Combination
can take place by means of sorting, recoding, adding, recategorisation and reconceptualisation
of explicit knowledge. The third and fourth models of knowledge creation relate to patterns of
conversation between explicit and tacit knowledge. The process of converting explicit knowledge
into tacit knowledge is called internalization and the process of converting tacit knowledge into
explicit is called externalization. Externalization requires the use of metaphor and analogy reconciling contradictions and making distinctions. Organizational knowledge creation requires
the interaction between the tacit and explicit knowledge, and is a dynamic process involving all
four patters of knowledge conversion.
An important organizational characteristic with respect to knowledge creation and acquisition
is the ‘absorptive capacity’ (Cohen & Levinthal, 1990). To exploit the acquired knowledge, an
organization needs to recognize the value of the knowledge and to assimilate it into its existing
knowledge base. An organization’s ability to do this is labeled as ‘absorptive capacity’ (Cohen &
Levinthal 1990: 128). Their model posited that the more similar prior knowledge is to the new
knowledge, the easier is the adoption of the new knowledge. Thus, learning is more efficient in
the proximity of existing knowledge. Cohen & Levinthal (1990) suggested that organization’s
absorptive capacity tends to develop cumulatively, be path dependent, and build on organizations
prior investments in its members’ individual absorptive capacity. The cumulative nature of
absorptive capacity suggests an extreme case of path dependency. If the firm does not invest in
absorptive capacity, it may not appreciate new opportunities when these arise (Cohen & Levinthal
1990: 136). Furthermore, to the extent that prior absorptive capacity helps the subsequent
development of absorptive capacity, the lack of early investment makes it more costly to develop
a given level of it in a subsequent period.
207
Lane & Lubatkin (1998) reconceptualized Cohen & Levinthal‘s firm-level absorptive capacity as
a dyad-specific construct – relative absorptive capacity. Lane & Lubatkin (1998) proposed that
relative absorptive capacity is jointly determined by the relative characteristics of the partner firms.
Their measures of relative absorptive capacity had greater explanatory power the established
measures of absorptive capacity in explaining interorganizational learning in pharmaceuticalbiotechnology R&D alliances. For Dyer & Singh (1998), Cohen & Levinthal’s definition of
absorptive capacity suggested that if a firm has absorptive capacity, it is equally capable of learning
from all other organizations. Dyer & Singh (1998) proposed that in a particular relationship
the firms develop partner-specific absorptive capacity, which refers to the idea that a firm has
developed the ability to recognize and assimilate valuable information from a particular alliance
partner. Partner-specific absorptive capacity is a function of (1) the extent to which the partners
have developed overlapping knowledge bases and (2) the extent to which partners have developed
interaction routines that maximize the frequency and intensity of sociotechnical interaction. The
concept of relative absorptive capacity is applicable also in the firm-user relationship.
User innovations – opening up the innovation process
Research has shown that many innovations originate not in the manufacturer but user domain
(von Hippel 2005; Franke & Piller 2003, 2004). The term user innovation refers to an innovation
where users have performed a substantial part of the problem-solving process leading to a solution.
Accordingly a ‘user’ is an actor who expects to profit from an innovation by consuming or using
it, while a ‘manufacturer’ expects to profit from selling or licensing an innovation (von Hippel
2005.)
The main driver of a broad integration of user input into new product development is the internet.
It has enabled larger groups of users to access information that was formerly almost exclusive
to firms (Piller & Walcher 2006, 309.) In recent years methods and “tools” for user involvement
have proliferated, and pioneering companies have developed toolkits for key users to facilitate
experimentation (Heiskanen & Repo 2007, 168-169; Thomke & von Hippel 2002).
Immobility of tacit knowledge – a prerequisite for innovation – is a crucial factor behind the
increasing disintegration of the R&D function. Innovation-related activities will tend to be
allocated between companies and other external sources (customers and users, etc.) depending on
the location of tacit knowledge underlying them. (Yakhlef 2005, 227; von Hippel 2005.) Generally
a manufacturer has information regarding solution possibilities and its production process, while
users have information about needs and the setting of use (von Hippel & Katz 2002, 822).
Transferring tacit knowledge requires that it is externalized. Toolkit development involves
”unsticking” manufacturer solution and production information relevant to the development work
of user-innovators and incorporating it into a toolkit. For example, firms may reduce the stickiness
of a critical form of technical expertise by investing in converting some of that expertise from
tacit knowledge to the more explicit and easily transferable form of a software “expert system”.
208
(von Hippel & Katz 2002, 824).
The definition of sticky information also incorporates tacit knowledge (Polanyi, 1958) as one
of several possible causes of stickiness. Thus information stickiness may be rooted in the
characteristics inherent to the information itself (e.g., tacitness), and/or it may be due to the
individual characteristics of an information seeker or provider and that provider´s style of
interaction (Franke & Piller 2004, 404; von Hippel 2005.)
The stickiness of a given unit of information in a given instance is defined as the incremental
expenditure required to transfer it to a specified locus in a form useable by a given information
seeker. When this cost is low, information stickiness is low; when it is high, stickiness is high
(von Hippel & Katz 2002, 822.)
Studies have shown that the stickiness of information can be very high in innovation-related
matters (Franke & Piller 2004; von Hippel 2005). Many users truly are not aware of their needs
when it comes to new products, and even if they are, they often are not able to formulate them
explicitly. (Franke & Piller 2004, 404)
Knowledge that resists codification remains captive to the body in which it resides and the context
that is bound to. Advances in the sophistication and capacity of technologies will facilitate and
push forward, the conversion of tacit knowledge into codified knowledge, thereby leading to an
increased outsourcing of the knowledge that once was regarded as a company´s crown jewel. The
more companies able to codify the knowledge underlying certain activities into tools, the more
outsourceable to customers or partners these will tend to be. Codification enabled information and
knowledge to circulate between producers and consumers. This way, codification will speed the
process of transferring explicit knowledge from consumers to companies and vice-versa (Yakhlef
2005, 231-232.)
A core challenge for manufacturers when opening the innovation process is how to motivate
users to transfer their innovative ideas (Piller & Walcher 2006, 310). In response to customers´
increased role in innovation, companies will have to structure their customer interface in novel
ways. This interface then becomes a crucial area to manage. It is also a daring move to make
in-house knowledge accumulated through years of experience available on a web site (Yakhlef
2005, 234-236.)
Effective toolkits for user innovation will enable five important objectives. 1) They will enable
users to carry out complete cycles of trial-and-error learning. 2) They will offer users a “solution
space” that encompasses the designs they want to create. 3) Well-designed toolkits are “userfriendly” in the sense that users do not need to engage in much additional training to user them
competently. 4) They will contain libraries of commonly used modules that the user can incorporate
into his/her custom design, thus allowing the user to focus his/her design efforts on the truly
unique elements of that design. 5) Properly designed toolkits will ensure that custom products
and services designed by users will be producible on manufacturer production equipment without
requiring revisions by manufacturer-based engineers. (von Hippel & Katz 2002, 825; Thomke &
von Hippel 2002.)
Companies successfully pursuing mass customization build an integrated knowledge flow – that
not only covers one transaction but uses information gathered during the fulfillment of a customerspecific order to improve the knowledge base of the whole company. During the whole process
the interface between manufacturer and customer is crucial (Franke & Piller 2003, 581.)
Whilst toolkits theoretically do not have to be based on software, all known mass customizes use
a system which is at least to some extent IT based. Despite a huge variation, mass customization
toolkits consist of three main components: 1) The core configuration software presents the
possible variations, and guides the user through the configuration process. Consistency and
manufacturability are also checked at this stage. 2) A feedback tool is responsible for presenting
the configuration. Feedback information for a design variant can be given as visualization and in
other forms (e.g. price information, functionality test etc.) and is the basis for the trial-and-error
learning of the user. 3) Analyzing tools finally translate a customer specific order into lists of
material, construction plans, and work schedules (Franke & Piller 2003, 581-582.)
There are variations in the types of available toolkits. Some very complex toolkits offer a large
solution space and cannot be employed without a precise technical understanding. They depend
upon the customer taking on a very active role as designer and allow substantial innovations.
Most of them are employed in business-to-business (B2B) settings where the economic benefits
of toolkits are apparent in many situations. Other toolkits, particularly in consumer markets, only
offer a small solution space and only allow users to combine relatively few options. Although
the underlying principle is the same, the latter toolkits focus on individuality and customization
rather than on innovation (Franke & Piller 2004, 403; Franke & Piller 2003.)
What is a toolkit?
Toolkit is a design interface that enables trial-and-error experimentation and gives simulated
feedback on the outcome (Franke & Piller 2004, 401). Toolkits for user innovation are coordinated
sets of ”user-friendly” design tools that enable users to develop new product innovations for
themselves. Toolkits are not general purpose. Rather they are specific to the design challenges of
a specific field or subfield (von Hippel & Katz 2002, 821.)
209
210
CASE EXPERIMENTS WITH TOOLKITS
The purpose of this paper is to explore knowledge sharing between firms and users via the use of
toolkits. We selected two consumer oriented web-based toolkits. In the first stage we compared
toolkits and their functionalities to find out similarities and differences. Secondly, we engaged in
user innovation activity by using these sites to design products matching our needs. In the process
we observed the basic functionality and usability of a toolkit. For example how logically did the
process proceed, and how easy was it for a user to accomplish the task.
We engaged in multiple participating observations during the course of this exploratory study and
we used observational protocol for recording data. We made descriptive notes about the website
and reflective notes about our personal thoughts such as problems, ideas, impressions etc.
The special characteristic of the left®foot company –toolkit is the offline scanner. The scanner
produces a 3D copy of the foot. Out of the 3D copy 15 different measurements of the foot are
taken to ensure the best possible fit. The scanning gives the manufacturer exact measurements
of the customer’s feet, according to which the company adjusts the solution space offered by
the internet portal. Measuring activity requires company’s tacit knowledge which cannot be
externalized.
According to our experiences the toolkit is relatively easy to use. It offers a variety of design
possibilities: it gives an opportunity to order different width sizes of the same shoe, different
fabrics and soles. Truly innovative solutions, however, are not possible and the role of the user
merely consists in “designing” instead of “innovating”. A screen shot of the website is shown in
Figure 1.
Figure 1 The left®foot company toolkit
The intent of qualitative research is to understand a particular social situation, event, role, group
or interaction. Qualitative research is fundamentally interpretive. This means that the researcher
makes an interpretation of the data. Observation is always subjective and also in this experimental
study findings could be subject to other interpretations. Objectivity to research is gained by being
sensitive to how ones own biography shapes the interpretations and reflecting this systematically
(Creswell 2003, 182, 198; Eskola & Suoranta 2003.)
Case 1. Left®foot company: custom-made shoes https://shop.leftfootcompany.com
The first case experiment in our research is a Finnish company called Pomarfin Ltd and its user
innovation toolkit ‘left®foot company’. Left®foot company –toolkit is target at customers who
desire to have a pair of custom-made shoes. The toolkit consists of a web-based portal and an
offline service for scanning customer feet with 3D technology. Before the customer can use
the web-based portal, he must visit a left®foot outlet where the feet are scanned and password
necessary for accessing the portal is given. The internet portal provides information on potential
shoe options and offers the customers the opportunity to design the shoe based on their needs
and the setting of use. Customer can choose the collection (e.g., classic design, golf), color, sole
and accessories and it is also possible to add a special greeting onto the leather insole of the right
shoe.
The toolkit of left®foot company is relatively simple The problem-solving activities in which
users engage consist only of the visual aspects of shoe design. Functional aspects of shoes are
known to users and consistent across the design space.
Usability testing is a means for measuring how well people can use some human-made object (such as a
web page, a computer interface, a document, or a device) for its intended purpose, i.e. usability testing measures the
usability of the object. (see for example Battleson et al. 2001 Usability Testing of an Academic Library Web Site: A
Case Study)
For data recording procedures see Creswell (2003, 188-190).
211
Users start on the home page by choosing the appropriate language and product categories.
Toolkit proposes only appropriate shoes to the customer. Proposition is based on measurement
data taken in Left®foot outlet. Users do not have to make a decision for every component because
customer’s choice is limited with five collections.
Users can follow a top-down approach and can go through the different levels of the given
components. The toolkit thus allows for trial-and-error learning with an immediate feedback
function with price but it does not allow trial-and-error learning with design. Users designing
shoes cannot engage in learning by doing because they cannot look immediately at a simulation
that incorporates each design decision made. User can only see alternative options in a small
window without the full picture of the product. Placing the customized shoes in the shopping cart
customer has to wait two weeks to receive the final product.
Case 2. Elite vintners: customized winemaking website http://www.elitevintners.com
Second case experiment in our research is Elite Vintners, a Canada based company providing
custom wine on the internet. Their toolkit is one of the very few toolkits which enter the field of
taste which is much more difficult to describe and customize as fit or functionality.
The toolkit allows a user to mix different grapes, appropriate yeast and a mix of two oak additives
from a large selection of strengths. It is also possible to choose how much alcohol is wanted in
custom vintage (12 to 15% alc./vol.) and select the volume of wine one wishes to make. The
minimum is 12 liters (approx: 16 bottles) and the maximum is 23 liters. The wine is bottled with
user’s custom label and his/her own brand name on it. A screen shot of the website is shown in
Figure 2.
Figure 2 The Elite Vintners Toolkit
212
Users start on the home page by choosing either Canadian or U.S. site. After login users will be
directed to a page containing all alternatives. This is step 1. Where user chooses the wines he/she
is interested in using. Maximum is eight at a time. After that the next stage is the blending page
where the chosen varietals will be displayed. In step 2. User selects the yeast and in step 3. Oaks.
In every step the user has a chance to get more information about the ingredients by using the
info-button. The toolkit offers an immediate feedback function with price.
This toolkit allows real innovation because the user has the opportunity to create tastes that have not
existed before. The use of this site requires however experiential knowledge. Although the portal
offers information a user without knowledge about the wine making process might be puzzled
how his/her custom blend might really taste. For an average user there is also recommended
blends available which gives the user a point of view how to blend a wine with accustomary
taste
Assuming that tacit knowledge is the source of sustainable competitive advantage and that user
innovation toolkits reveal tacit knowledge, user innovation toolkits might have also negative
consequences. Once knowledge is revealed it becomes public good freely available for use
and looses its value. In the two cases studied in this paper, we found no evidence that the user
innovation toolkits reveal company-specific tacit knowledge.
We encourage future research to investigate user toolkit websites more extensive. In this paper
we explored two business-to-consumer toolkits, and our findings are limited to this context. In
order to have a more accurate understanding of the phenomena future research should pay more
attention to business-to-business context. The challenge is first to obtain access to the business-tobusiness toolkits, which are protected by the firms, and second, placing oneself to the company’s
perspective.
DISCUSSION
To the extent that innovation is displaced into distributed environments, one of the crucial
implications for organizations is how to build the necessary competencies to effectively exploit,
coordinate and streamline knowledge flows from different sources and turn them into new ideas
and innovations. User involvement also stretches the firm´s capacity to absorb and make use of
new information (Yakhlef 2005, 227; Heiskanen & Repo 2007, 171). In this paper addressed the
issue of knowledge and knowledge transfer between the firm and the user in the context of user
innovation toolkits.
Based on the experience of the user innovation toolkits explored in this study, we conclude that
they clearly require different amounts of user knowledge. Particularly the Elite Vintners wine
customizing site requires experiential knowledge from the user. Because of the user knowledge
requirements we suggest that the proper target customer group of Elite Vintners is the more
experienced home wine makers. The left®foot company -toolkit is easier to use but it also offers
a smaller solution space for the user. Smaller solution space can be acceptable if it decreases
the price of the product. Truly innovative solutions are not possible with the left®foot company
-toolkit and the role of the user merely consists in “designing” instead of “innovating” which is
possible in the Elite Vintners case.
One research question was if the toolkits externalize firm specific tacit knowledge. In the
Pomarfin left®foot company case the tacit knowledge is embedded in the foot measurement
system. Measuring activity requires tacit knowledge which cannot be externalized. In the Elite
Vintners case, the toolkit externalizes knowledge about grapes, yeast etc. This knowledge though
is not particular to the company but to the wine industry in general.
At this study we used the Canadian site.
213
214
REFERENCES
Cohen, W. M. & D. A. Levinthal (1990). Absorptive Capacity: A New Perspective on Learning
and Innovation. Administrative Science Quarterly 35: 128-152.
Creswell, John W. (2003) Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method
approaches. Sage Publications.
Dyer, J. H. & H. Singh (1998). The Relational View: Cooperative Strategy and Sources of InterOrganizational Competitive Advantage. Academy of Management Review 23(4): 660-679.
von Hippel, Eric (2005) Democratizing Innovation. MIT Press.
http://web.mit.edu/evhippel/www/democ1.htm (luettu 26.1.2007)
von Hippel, Eric & Katz, Ralph (2002) Shifting Innovation to Users via Toolkits. Management
Science 48:7, 821-833.
Yakhlef, Ali (2005) Immobility of tacit knowledge and the displacement of the locus of innovation.
European Journal of Innovation Management, 8:2, 227-239.
Eskola, Jari & Suoranta, Juha (2003) Johdatus laadulliseen tutkimukseen. Gummerus,
Jyväskylä.
Franke, Nikolaus & Piller, Frank (2003) Key research issues in user interaction with user toolkits
in a mass customisation system. International Journal of Technology Management 26: 5/6, 578599.
Franke, Nikolaus & Piller, Frank (2004) Value Creation by Toolkits for User Innovation and
Design: The Case of the Watch Market. Journal of Product Innovation Management 21:401415.
Heiskanen, Eva & Repo, Petteri (2007) User Involvement and Entrepreneurial Action. Human
Technology 3:2,167-187.
Lane, P. J. & M. Lubatkin (1998). Relative Absorptive Capacity and Interorganizational Learning.
Strategic Management Journal 19: 461-477.
Nonaka, I. & Takeuchi, H. (1995). The Knowledge-Creating Company. New York: Oxford
University Press, Inc.
Piller, Frank T. & Walcher, Dominik (2006) Toolkits for idea competitions: a novel method to
integrate users in new product development. R & D Management 36:3, 307-318.
Polanyi, M (1966) The Tacit Dimension. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Thomke, Stefan & von Hippel, Eric (2002) Customers as Innovators. A New Way to Create
Value. Harward Business Review 80:2, 74-81.
von Hippel, Eric (2001) Perspective: User toolkits for innovation. The Journal of Product
Innovation Management, 18, 247-257.
215
216
What Do You Mean, Creative Economy?
– A Conceptual Mapping from Five Fields of
Science
Tomi Kallio, Taina Rajanti, Tarja Toikka, Kirsi-Mari Vihermaa & Hanna Willner,
Turku School of Economics,Pori Unit and Helsinki University of Art and Design,
Pori *School of Art and Media
4. Leadership and Creativity
Pori University Consortium Finland
During the last few years, various concepts, books, articles, etc. linked to the term ‘creativity’
have colonized both academic and everyday life discourses. If someone should be raised above
others, it is, perhaps, Richard Florida who opened the Pandora’s Box. Soon after the debate
on ‘creative class’, various other, similar concepts have faced their triumph, such as creative
industry, creative economy, creative leadership.
Different concepts attached to creativity overlap several fields of science, and scholars use these
creativity related concepts even in conflicting ways. The ambitious purpose of this paper is to
try to understand the meaning of creative economy by bringing together the perspectives of five
scholars from different fields, approaching the concept from their own academic backgrounds.
The respective fields of science are: marketing, accounting and finance, management and
organizations, sociology, and design research.
The goal of this paper is to find a common ground or at least a field where the mentioned
approaches can encounter, and open room for further discussion. The analysis will be looking for
interfaces and intersections in the present discussion. While it is obvious that the mentioned fields
make only a portion of the overall mixture of the heterogeneous academic discourse connected
to creative economy, an analysis from five different fields would make a interesting opening for
further discussion.
217
218
Creative Economy in Social Theory: the Concept of General Intellect
This chapter looks at ”creative economy” specifically from the perspective of what the concept
has to offer or signifies in the field of social theory.
There are several threads of social theory dealing with phenomena relevant to “creative economy”
but here I will concentrate on a discourse stemming from Marx’s understanding of the relation
between capital and labor, of the commodity form of production, and its relevance to the discussion
about the shift from fordism and classical capitalist production to post-fordism and new/creative
economy. The key concept Marx uses is “general intellect”, meaning human scientific knowledge
that is fixed in machines. But a passus in Grundrisse has given rise to new interpretations and
elaborations for understanding the new form of capitalism:
“The development of fixed capital indicates to what degree general social knowledge has become
a direct force of production, and to what degree, hence, the conditions of the process of social life
itself have come under the control of the general intellect and been transformed in accordance with
it. To what degree the powers of social production have been produced, not only in the form of
knowledge, but also as immediate organs of social practice, of the real life process.” (Marx, 706)
Paolo Virno takes “general intellect” further, going on from “the intellect and knowledge objectified
in machines” to general intellect as “live labour, objectified in the live bodies of the workers, in
their linguistic cooperation, in their concrete capacity to act in mutual understanding”. (Virno)
Another significant opening utilizing the concept “general intellect” was made by Toni Negri
(together with Michael Hardt) in their book Empire, who combine general intellect with the
concept of biopower: life has now become an object of power directly and in its entirety; what
is directly at stake in power is the production and reproduction of life itself. Similarly to Virno
Hardt & Negri talk of “informatized” production: of a cooperation that is completely immanent
to the laboring activity itself. “Today productivity, wealth and the creation of social surpluses take
the form of cooperative interactivity through linguistic, communicative and affective networks.”
(Hardt & Negri, 22 – 41, 284 -294) General intellect now refers to a situation when knowledge in
general, and general human properties, social life in its entirety, become the decisive productive
force.
Now what exactly does this mean? A quite recent example might be of illumination here, the
story about FanLib and fanfiction. Fanfiction is fiction based on existing works, the most famous
and numerous at the present being fiction about Harry Potter. Fanfiction is published in online
boards, which are numerous as well; the biggest board being ff.net, which has in its Potter section
296907 registered members, 8094 pages listing the stories, and 4060 communities discussing
different aspects of the writing. FanLib instead is a newly launched creative enterprise which
219
presented a ”value proposition” to the fanfic writers, inviting them to join their website and
publish their stories there to ”get them to the mainstream” and ”make them touch the stars”; with
the idea of making profit over copyrights and advertising. To their surprise, FanLib has miserably
failed to provoke anything but heated discussion and despise from the part of the fanfic writers,
who have organised e.g. a Live Journal (online weblog) community titled LifeWithoutFanLib.
(See icarusancalion).
Not only did the smart young businessmen fail to do a basic analysis of their target audience
– they thought they were addressing 13-year old boys and were completely unaware that 90% of
Harry Potter fanfic is written by adult women. Their real failure was to understand the functioning
of the fanfic writing communities, and that they were communities. From an online discussion:
”Our social network is valued because it is a social network, not simply because it is associated
with the production of product. This is what FanLib is not getting. Since in their world value is
judged solely by the products produced, the idea that the social interactions themselves are highly
valued in addition to the product is incomprehensible to them.”
”They don’t care about the process of writing or reccing or reading, nor should they. The only
use they have for stories (their “value proposition”, as they keep saying) is as products to be
utilized and commodified. In this effort, we are merely workers in their fanfic factory. It’s not
just that they want to make money off us (which they do) but worse, with ideas like “colouring
in the lines”, they’re intent on devaluing the very process of creation itself—as well as our social
interactions involved in feedback, reccing, etc. that have all grown up in fandom.”
Will or nil, creative economy is based on “general intellect”, this live force of production, and
this means that turning thoughts and ideas into immaterial goods is not a mere question of finding
proper techniques or processes, but must find a balance between enhancing and empowering
linguistic, communicative and affective networks, and exploiting, destroying or threatening them
and creating conflicts.
Accounting and finance in the creative economy
Accounting and creativity as concepts are usually not combined, mainly because of the negative
connotations of the “creative accounting”. Accounting is seen as a set of rules and conventions that
the accountants learn and obey. Creativity, by definition, is seen as something new and adaptive
concerning task constraints (See e.g. Amabile, Ochse, Stenberg, Sternberg & Lubart). Therefore
creativity in accounting or finance is often seen as something negative, such as frauds and illegal
actions. The managers do not usually consider the financial people as creative. Still, over the past
decades, we have seen innovations in financial accounting, such as activity-based-accounting
(Cooper & Kaplan 1987; 1988).
When talking about the connection between creativity, accounting and finance, the concepts of
220
knowledge capital, intellectual capital and knowledge based economy come up. According to these
theories, investments into knowledge will improve the wealth of organizations or entire nations
(Bontis, Brooking, Canibano et al., OECD). In today’s world, if stock analysts only concentrate on
the financial capital of firms, they are missing out important notions of performance, namely the
intangibles. Such intangibles could be expert knowledge, know-how, R&D, learning, alliances,
networks, knowledge creation and social innovations. All of these are more likely to enhance
the firm value than the simple financial capital in the assets. For a financial executive or a stock
analyst it is crucially important to understand the non-financial performance drivers that will
create the future value of the firm. Value in the firm is created in the interaction between the
human capital and the organizational capital (Edvinsson & Bonfour, Nonaka).
The current accounting system is about 500 years old and it is based on historical costs and
transactions reporting. The purpose of accounting, is to show a portray of a firm’s incomes and its
financial state in a realistic way (See e.g. Canibano et al., also Myers). In today’s world, it seems
to get increasingly difficult to do this only based on transaction recording and historical cost
analysis. The backward looking approach may lead to growing inaccuracies in the understanding
of value creation.
A new way for measuring intangibles can be done by taking a lateral perspective into accounting
and address value creators such as alliances, networks, cultural context and know-how on the
balance sheet (Evinsson & Bonfour). Intellectual capital is one of the concepts that link finance
and creativity. In the past, businesses primarily invested in the tangible production. The value of
a firm was more directly linked to value of its physical capital. Nowadays the intangible assets
make it increasingly difficult to understand or valuate the actual value of a company. Intellectual
capital is defined as the difference between the book value of the company and the amount of
money someone is prepared to pay for it. It can be divided into four categories: assets which give
the company power in the market place, those representing property of the mind, those which give
the organization internal strength and those derived from the people who work in the organization
(Brooking). The traditional valuation tools such as price earnings ratio or enterprise value do not
fully capture how intellectual capital affects to firm value (See eg. Covarsi et al.). This is why new
approaches have been developed and still need to be further developed (Sudarsanam et al.).
The success stories of today’s business life are not necessarily the ones creating more financial
capital or real assets on the balance sheet, but the ones building up creative knowledge capital,
resulting in high share values and finally in high intangible values of firms. Building up a new
factory does not guarantee the future capital creation of a firm, but hiring one good designer, for
example, just might.. Also the accountants and analysts have to work with this reality. The Enron
case (see Swatrz & Watkins, McLean & Elkind, Bryce) and its creatively planned accounting
fraud showed that the world of accounting should be more closely linked to the reality of a firm’s
business. In today’s reality, the understanding of accounting and finance are too important to be
left outside of our creative economy.
221
Marketing and creative economy
According to American Marketing Association’s dictionary for marketing terms marketing is “an
organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value
to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and
its stakeholders.” (AMA, Dictionary for marketing terms) Value in creative economy is created
when technical innovation, artistic creativity and business entrepreneurship join together to make
and distribute a new product for the customers (Creative Clusters).
The creative economy focuses on creating and exploiting intellectual property products; such
as the arts, films, games or fashion designs, or providing business-to-business creative ser-vices
e.g. advertising. The creative economy products usually differ rather a lot of the traditional
products from the industrial era. That is why also new, creative and innovative ways to market
these products and services are called for. The business in creative economy is usually based on
intellectual property, ideas. Once the idea of e.g. computer software is developed, copying it and
spreading it around the world is often fast and inexpensive and potential profits enormous (Coy).
On the other hand many products of the creative economy are quite strictly bound to specific
place and moment, e.g. theatrical performances or concerts. The same idea can even be delivered
to customers using many different media. A book can e.g. be used as a basis for a theatrical
performance, movie, computer game or even a theme park (Kallio, Pulk-kinen, Tiilikka, 6). Due
to the aforesaid issues, also the marketing methods in creative economy need to be multifaceted.
Just an idea isn’t enough; it also needs to be successfully commercialized and transformed into
business, e.g. product, brand or practice (Himanen).
During the industrial era an economy based on mass production only needed to understand people
en masse. The industrial era of business can be successful when it standardizes its relationships
with people, and does not use up its resources treating each employer or consumer as an
individual. At the moment industrial economy is making way to the creative economy and the
world is transforming in to something new, to a world where the key raw materials are knowledge
and information, instead of steel and coal, and where the most valuable products are ideas and
meanings that are produced by the imagination instead of machines. (Creative Clusters). This is
the era of the creative economy, and marketing has a critical role in it.
Marketing itself is usually considered as a creative process. Even in less innovative organizations
marketing division performs a creative process. As a whole, marketing may be conceptualized as
the process of offering creative solutions to consumer problems (Titus, 225-235). However, in the
creative economy and the changing world, marketing faces new challenges as it comes to creating
value to customers. Traditional marketing methods and traditional ways to consider value chains
do not necessarily work in the creative economy.
The structure of creative industries or creative economy can be pieced together through the value
222
chain. The first link on the chain is content creation, the development of an idea or concept.
In the second phase the content is developed further; it gets packaged, which often means that
it is reproduced as a CD or a video, for example. Finally – in the third phase – the content is
marketed and distributed. (Kallio, Pulkkinen, Tiilikka, 16). Traditionally packaging, marketing
and distribution has increased the value of content dramatically, and the content creation itself has
only been of moderate economic value. In the past 20 years this order has changed substantially.
Distribution channels have multiplied, distribution costs are decreasing and the value of the IPR,
intellectual property rights, has outstandingly increased (CIM).
Creative economy – Perspectives from management and organizational studies
As it comes to the discourse related to “creative economy”, it seems that today there is conceptually
imaginative though somewhat loose and, paradoxically, self-repetitive debate. Moreover, large
part of the debate seems to be taking place at the overall societal level. Even though scholars
specialized in management and organizational studies have widely discussed on general societal
level-questions related to e.g. interorganizational, inter cultural, and even (natural) environmental
topics, in many ways the crux of the discipline still lies “within the organizational boundaries” (see
also Hatch). Thus, many of the key themes of e.g. human resources management, organization
theory, and strategic management deal with “internal”, rather pragmatically oriented questions of
(business) organizations.
Accordingly, from the perspective of management and organizational studies, creative economy
appears not just as another universal trend that boosts “the rise of the creative class” or vice versa
(cf. Florida). Besides the challenges of managing highly educated professionals and knowledge
intensive work, creative economy touches on the everyday challenges of managing and organizing
“less innovative” organizations, such as factories, cleaning firms, and department stores. As the
labor intensive work is increasingly escaping into Third World countries, especially to China
and India, the question of how to organize the remaining labor intensive work is increasingly
topical. Thus, the discourse on managing highly educated creative class should not overshadow
the importance of finding new kinds of innovations and solutions of managing blue-collar
organizations. In fact both knowledge intensive and labor intensive fields may reach amazing
innovations as suggested in the following by the examples of the Manhattan project and the
pyramids.
While the “social desirability” of the actual outcome of the Manhattan project might obviously be
questioned, the development of the atomic bomb undoubtedly works as an ideal type of a successful
project that employed several highly educated professionals and that aimed to a ground-breaking
innovation. In general, it is the ground-breaking technical – or, to somewhat lesser extent, social
– innovations that seem to be in minds of many of the scholars who are interested in creative
economy and creative leadership. On the other hand, as it comes to the innovative process itself,
223
the situation with the pyramids – even today perhaps the most amazing landmark of mankind
– was in many ways quite the opposite compared to the Manhattan project.
The fact that the pyramids were built by “blue-collar” labor, stand for as in ideal type of completely
different kind of innovative project. As far it is known, the pyramids were designed by relatively
small amount of engineers who made the actual technical innovation of the outstanding project;
i.e. they designed how to build the pyramids in technical sense. It was, however, the management
and organization of the tens of thousands of workers – according to the latest knowledge hired
workers instead of slaves – for decades that made the execution of the technical innovation
possible. Undoubtedly this required numerous social innovations; i.e. the management of bluecollar labor facilitated and made it possible to build the pyramids in social sense.
In the case of the pyramids, the organization of blue-collar labor stands for as an ideal type of
what can be accomplished by creative management and leadership. Accordingly, should that be
research centers, laboratories, factories, cleaning firms, or department stores, it is always possible
to find social innovations that challenge the traditional ways of doing things. As it comes to the
creative economy discourse, it is therefore the everyday creativity in everyday organizations
that should be raised at the same level of importance with knowledge intensive work. After
all, different kinds of organizations have different tasks, different kinds of challenges and thus
different kinds of coordination mechanisms and ways of management (cf. Mintzberg). To sum up,
from the perspective of management and organizational studies, it is therefore the unprejudiced
way of thinking – in both philosophical and practical terms – the tasks, operations, coordination,
and management of different kind of organizations that should be in the heart of the “creative
economy”.
What comes first –a product/service idea or business idea? Is this a egg / hen
problem? –What does design research provide to multi disciplinary process?
Design is multidisciplinary by its nature. The designers deal with the materials, usage context,
production technologies and delivery channels. They apply research methods. Typically those of
sociology, cognitive psychology, anthropology and semiotics. Simulation technologies are applied
when testing the inexistent products of future. As early as 1960 Herbert Simon proposed the idea
of ”science of design”. This idea grew from the need of enabling intellectual communication
across the arts, sciences and technology. (Mäkelä & Routarinne).
Artists and designers mostly function on the basis of ”learning by doing”. There is something verbally
less describable– the flow, concept explained by Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi. (Csikzentmihalyi).
Pentti Routio’s ”Arteology” provides a thorough theoretical framework for design. A complex
and multilayered iteration process helps designers to build the conceptual, holistic understanding.
Designery knowledge components are: knowing by experience, knowing how to do, ”know
224
how” and theoretical knowing. (Routio). A designer interprets the world, acts, studies skills with
real world materials and techniques. Based on this he/she builds cognitive models to help to
conceptualise the processes.
In the furious competition a holistic approach of understanding the relationship between the user
and the product is needed. Traditional user studies don’t help understanding users behaviour in
the new circumstances. Early prototyping and working with real users in the field and in social
context is the solution. In ”co experience” user experiences and the adaptation and appropriation
of products and technology are studied in the same time. (Battarbee).
Design process is an iterative cycle, where sensual knowledge is interpreted and used to enhance
and motivate acting. The knowledge of experience is central. Other processes, gathering sensual
knowledge, knowledge of action and conceptual knowledge provide input to the actual design activity.
Image source: Routio 2006
When Abraham Maslow described the hierarchy of human needs in the 1970 and created a concept
of human as ”wanting animal”, the equivalent concept for the needs of design was ”hierarchy of
consumer needs”. The basics of these needs are pleasure, usability and functionality. (Jordan) In
our increasingly technical environment the usability has become extremely important. Donald
Norman has outlined the basic principles of usable products. (Norman)
Usability is said to be vital, but not the whole story. The pleasure based approaches are becoming
more important. Jesse James Garrett has defined the elements of user experience for the web
based products. He divides his model in two parts, task oriented and information oriented.
225
One of the most inspiring user research methods of recent years is using probes. Original probe
process was experimental, artistic and innovative. One of the developers, William Gaver sees this
method profound, heartly and authentic. The probes are designed to help informants to answer
research questions. The probe tools can be almost anything, cameras, diaries, maps, models,
postcards. The data is meant to be used in creating ideas. (Mattelmäki).
Turkka Keinonen has developed the concept of ”fields” and ”actions” to help the communication.
This concept assumes existence of two distinct non overlapping fields of activities, the field of
art and the field of research. These are characterised by a set of practices, values and institutions.
Art exhibitions, professional unions of artists, art museums and galleries form the structure of the
field of art. The academic degrees, scientific journals, conferences and research funding agencies
form the field of research. This concept is theoretical, but useful. (Mäkelä 2006 p.43).
Eight different relationships are proposed.
1.Research interpreting art.(eg. Study of art history)
2.Art interpreting research.(eg. Science fiction)
3.Art placed in the research context (Experiment of art made in research context, eg. Riitta
Nelimarkka)
4.Research placed in art context (Eg. Research based Master works in MOA , master of art
exhibition)
5.Art contributing the research. (eg. Game ideas in IT R&D))
226
6.Research contributing the art.
7.The common denominator. (action, topic and or time)
8.Overlapping fields, eg. common values like expertise and novelty.
In business context design is a strategic asset. Brands, product identities are immaterial property.
”A brand is an aggregation of all physical and emotional characteristics of a company, a product,
a service encountered by the consumer at all points of contact.” (Karjalainen p.44)
Design research is complex and multidiscipline competence. Therefore it is a natural bridge
between different theoretical viewpoints and a bridge between theory and practice. Designers are
capable to build both cognitive models and practical solutions.
Conclusions & discussion
notion of value, and that of the social wealth in particular, forces the discipline to develop new
forms of accounting. For management and organizational studies the primary value is attached
to people; while the logic of creativity varies between different types of organizations, the most
important resource in most cases is internally motivated employees.
Creative economy is a theme that brings different disciplines together rather that separates them.
There is a clear need for joint discussion. This is paper hopefully works as an opening for further
discussion between practitioners from different fields of sciences.
We suggest that traditional scientific discourse might learn some new ways of operating from
design (research) here: to look at the debate as an iterative process drawing strength for each
participant at a time, looking at concrete common issues where accordance can be found despite
general differences and disagreements.
As we can see, each discipline – not to mention each scholar – has its own perspective and
approach as well as terms and concepts on creative economy . If we go beyond the surface,
however, we note that certain themes obviously connect some of the fields more closely, while
certain fundamental concepts appear in all of them.
It may not be a surprise that knowledge as the emergent constituting factor of production appears
in the texts, and that three of them – marketing, accounting and social theory – even place the
concept as their cornerstones. Knowledge capital and knowledge economy are indeed terms that
usually go with discussions of creative economy.
In addition, the theme of everyday creativity forms a clear interface between the perspectives of
management, design research and social theory. One can find a possible explanation to this from
social theory. Accordingly, by combining the concept of knowledge capital to everyday life, the
new emergent creative economy is based on a development where some general human qualities
and capabilities – such as language, communication, relations and networks based on affects
– come to play a decisive role in all production. As our presentation on management points out,
this is not confined to the new creative industries, but touches all fields of production.
We find it both important and interesting that the very concept that unites all our perspectives is
value. Consequently, it is evident that creative economy will affect our notions of social wealth and
value regardless of how different the perspective to value creation may be between the disciplines.
While the fields of marketing and design research both look at the production of added value by
using the concepts of branding from a dynamic angle, the social theory might here take a critical
stand, warning about the dangers of misunderstanding the dynamics of social production behind
the creation of value. Accounting, on the other hand, approaches creative economy with a certain
caution, mainly due to the negative connotations of ‘creative accounting’. However, the changing
227
228
SOURCES:
AMA - American marketing association website www.marketingpower.com (visited 21.5.2007)
Amabile, T. M. (1996) Creativity in context. Boulder, CO: Westview.
Battarbee, Katja, (2004) Co-Experience, Understanding user experience in social interaction, Helsinki.
Kallio, Jukka – Pulkkinen, Matti – Tiilikka, Jussi (2002): Sisältötuotannon liiketoimintamallit, LTT-Tutkimus Oy,
Helsinki
Karjalainen Toni-Matti (2006) Semantic Transformation in Design. Communicating strategic brand identity through
product design references.
LifeWithoutFanLib: http://community.livejournal.com/life_wo_fanlib/. Visited 31.5.2007
Lubart, T.I. (1994) Thinking and problem solving, 1994 - New York: Academic Press.
Bontis, N. (1996) There is a price on your head: Managing intellectual capital strategically. Business Quarterly, Vol.
60, No. 4, p. 40-47.
Mäkelä, Routarinne, ed. (2006) The art of research, research practices in art and design, Jyväskylä.
Brooking, A. (1997) Management of intellectual capital. Long Range Planning, Vol. 30, No. 3, p. 364-365.
Marx, K. (1974) Grundrisse. Foundations of the Critique of Political Economy (Rough Draft), Penguin Books, Great
Britain.
Bryce, R ( 2002) Pipe Dreams: Greed, Ego, and the Death of Enron PublicAffairs.
CIM - Creative Industries Management website www.cimfunds.com (visited 21.5.2007)
Cooper, R., Kaplan, R.S. (1987), How cost accounting systematically distorts product costs, in Bruns, Jr, W.J.,
Kaplan, R.S. (Eds),Accounting and Management Field Study Perspectives, Harvard Business School
Press, Boston, MA.
Cooper, R., Kaplan, R.S. (1988), Measure costs right: make the right decisions, Harvard Business Review, pp.96103.
Covarsí M, Cañibano, L, García-Ayuso, M. & Sánchez, P. (1999) The value relevance and managerial implications
of intangibles: A literature review. MERITUM (Measuring intangibles to understand and improve
innovation management); TSER Program of the European Union. March 1999.
Mattelmäki, Tuuli (2006) Design Probes, Vaajakoski (ISBN 951-558-212-1 electronic book)
McLean, B. & Elkind, P. (2003) Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron.
Portfolio.
Mintzberg, Henry (1979) The Structuring of Organizations. Prentice-Hall: New Jersey.
Myers, R. (1996) Getting a Grip on Intangibles, CFO Magazine, September 1996.
Nonaka, I. (1994) A synamic theory of organiazational knowledge creation, Organization Science, Vol. 5 No. 1,
February.
Norman, Donald A. http://www.jnd.org [email protected] (visited 25.5. 2007)
Coy, Peter (2000): The Creative Economy, Business Week; 08/21/2000 Issue 3696, p76-82.
Ochse, R. (1990) Before the gates of excellence. Cambridge University Press, New York.
Creative Clusters website www.creativeclusters.com (visited 21.5.2007)
OECD (1996) The Knowledge-based Economy. Paris
Csikzentmihalyi Mihaly (2002) Flow elämän virta, Tallinna.
Routio Pentti, Arteology, http://www2.uiah.fi/projects/metodi/13a.htm#ideointi (visited 24.5. 2007)
Edvinsson, L. - Bonfour, A. (2004) Assessing national and regional value creation. Measuring Business Excellence,
Vol.8 No. 1, 2004, pp. 55-61.
Sternberg, R. J. & Lubart, T. I. (1996) „Investing in creativity”. American Psychologist, 51, 677–688.
Fanfiction.net: http://www.fanfiction.net/. Visited 31.5.2007
FanLib: http://www.fanlib.com/. Visited 31.5.2007
Florida, Richard (2002) The Rise of the Creative Class: And How It’s Transforming Work, Leisure, Community and
Everyday Life. Basic Books: New York.
Sternberg, R. J. (1988) The triarchic mind: A new theory of human intelligence. New York: Viking–Penguin.
Sudarsanam, S., Sorwar, G. & Marr, B. (2006) Real options and the impact of intellectual capital on corporate value.
Journal of Intellectual Capital Vol. 7 No. 3, 2006 pp. 291-308.
Swartz, M. & Watkins, S. (2003) Power Failure: The Inside Story of the Collapse of Enron. Doubleday.
Garrett, Jesse http://jjg.net/elements/pdf/elements.pdf (visited 25.5. 2007)
Titus, Philip A.(2000) Marketing and the Creative Problem-Solving Process, Journal of Marketing Education, Vol.
22, No. 3, p225-235
Hardt, M. & Negri, A. (2000) Empire. Harvard University Press.
Virno, P., (2001) Lavoro e linguaggio, In Zanini, A. & Fadini, U. eds. Lessico Postfordista, Feltrinelli, Milano.
Hatch, Mary Jo (1997) Organization Theory: Modern, Symbolic, and Postmodern Perspectives. Oxford University
Press: New York.
Himanen, Pekka (2005): Sellu ja Ville – kumpikin mukaan luovaan talouteen, Tietoaika 4-5/2005 - Economic Trends
2/2005, p5, Tilastokeskus, Edita Helsinki
Icarusancalion: Article summing up FanLib: http://icarusancalion.livejournal.com/626928.html. Visited 31.5.2007
Jordan Patrick, Designing Pleasurable Products: An Introduction to the New Human Factors, ISBN 0-748-40844-4
229
230
1. BACKGROUND OF THE RESEARCH
THE BEAUTY AND THE BEAST:
RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN ARTS, CREATIVITY AND
LEADERSHIP
Perttu Salovaara
“The time is right for the cross-fertilization of the arts and leadership”, Nancy Adler (2006) states
boldly. As current research shows, there is a growing tendency to ask what organizational and
management scientists could learn from a dialogue with arts and aesthetics (Ropo & Parviainen
2001; Hatch, Kostera, Kozminski 2005; Sauer 2005; Adler 2006; Strati 2000, 2005, 2007).
According to above authors, much of today’s ‘mains stream’ leadership research is based on a
rational model of organization which takes leadership into account a) in cognitive terms and b)
as an individual attempt. This study is based on a) an aesthetic approach on organization studies
(Strati 2000; Ropo, Parviainen, Koivunen 2002) and b) an understanding of socially created
leadership ((Smircich and Morgan 1982; Hosking & Morley 2004; Ropo & Sauer 2003). This
paper examines how relations between arts, creativity and leadership are constructed.
University of Tampere
Chia (1997, 2002) claims that from epistemological point of view there is a need for a more robust
theory that would enable us to develop a more insightful and richer alternative to understanding
Department of Management Studies
the phenomenon of organization. Making sense of human behavior in organizations requires
also understanding about social processes, emotions and bodily knowledge (Ropo, Parviainen,
Koivunen 2002). These are rather domain of aesthetics than of positivistic realism. Instead of
analyzing organizations as stabile entities, this line of research identifies itself with organizational
ontology of becoming (Chia 2002; Tsoukas & Chia 2002) and emergence (Carlsen 2006).
ABSTRACT
This leadership study analyses how arts, creativity and leadership are connected. The material
for the research was gathered from an internet blog-discussion of a group of professional artists,
educators and academics.
The material suggests broad connections between arts and organizations, but on a linguistic
level there seems to be a wide-spread dichotomy between arts and organizations and even deep
suspicion from both sides. Since arts is described as being a cure for the sufferings of business
life, the image of a fairy tale “The Beauty and the Beast” is employed: the Beauty and the Beast
illustrate the dichotomy, and the point of the tale is the love that transforms the Beast into a
handsome prince.
In the analysis altogether five distinctive themes were taken under consideration. They produce
two discourses, Identity and Negating realities. These discourses emphasize how the question
about the connections between arts, creativity and leadership turns to an ontological question of
how do we see arts and change.
In an interpretative analysis, a part of the research methodology is to make the researchers position
transparent (Van Maanen 1989; Czarniawska 1998). The same applies to narrative therapies
(White and Epston 1990) and hermeneutics (Gadamer 1960). The following is about positioning
myself and making transparent researcher’s background influences.
I have worked as an organization consultant dealing with leadership and change management for
the last nine years. At the same time I have continued to study philosophy, which was my major
subject whilst still studying at the university. I play guitar and have used arts in my work quite
a lot, so linking arts, creativity and organizations was not a new idea. My link was thus biased:
yes, arts is being used in organizations; yes, creativity is sometimes lacking in organizations
– as elsewhere too; yes, arts is often used to stimulate creativity and to provide new ways of
visualizing various issues; yes, art methods are sometimes hard to apply, since people regard
them as “non-serious business”; no, art is not in “everyday use” in organizations.
I got acquainted with the material through our CREA-project (Leadership in Creative Economy).
There was a discussion with my professor Arja Ropo that - for me as a philosopher - opened up
the whole issue with arts and organizations: it is an epistemological question. As she put: “What
other ways of knowing about organizing and leadership are there than the cognitive faculties?”
That question rang a bell for me immediately for several reasons.
231
232
First, business leaders “know” that there are the formal organization and the informal organization,
like in saying “nothing is achieved by deciding it in the management team, it has to happen on
the shop-floor too”. That is a consideration about the process (how), not only about the content
(what), resembling the strategy-as-practice-movement (eg. Mantere 2003).
Second, leaders often show a concern for both good results and people’s well-being. These two
issues are naturally not separated, but managing systems (with Total Quality Management, Lean
Management, Balanced Scorecard, CRM, ERP…) tends to position employees as “passive”
recipients of “active” management. “The other” knowing (human, emotional, sensuous) is only
scarcely used – I mean, it is rather hard for a manager to verify that knowledge with a technical
background in an action oriented environment.
3. MATERIAL
The material for this research was collected from an internet blog-discussion by the members of
AACORN (Arts, Aesthetics, Creativity, and Organization Research Network) from years 20042007. AACORN is a network for academics, educators, consultants, and artists from Australasia,
Europe and the Americas who are interested in aesthetics and creativity in organizational
settings. There are currently about 200 members at AACORN, who include some internationally
acknowledged organization scientists, leadership researchers and artists.
Third, connecting arts with epistemology made a difference to me: Art is not a mere useful tool,
but a platform for organizational research. If we need “a more insightful understanding of the
modern organized world” (Chia 1997), arts can offer ways of seeing things in a new light.
Research focuses on the texts produced between 2004 and March 2007. Material consists of 137
A4-pages of blog-discussion of the members of AACORN. Data is organized in four parts. The
basic data (D0) consists of discussions from 2004 to 2007 with tens of different topics, and it
was collected for this research purpose. Data 1-3 are reproductions of AACORN itself. Data 1 is
a blog-entry entitled The Role of the Artist, data 2 is entitled Management as an Art, and data 3
Art’s Place in Organization Studies. All the data can be found in www.aacorn.net.
2. RESEARCH QUESTIONS
4. METHODOLOGY
A relation between arts and organizations in general has existed for a long time. Managers have
always liked to be photographed with a piece of art in the background; or the new Volkswagen
luxury car Phaeton, including a lot of handwork, is being marketed as a piece of manufactured
art (Pelzer 2006).
With discourse analysis methods the aim is to study how categories of arts, creativity and
leadership are being created, maintained and changed in a text.
At the Davos World Economic Forum, in a session entitled “If an Artist Ran Your Business”, one
of the questions studied was “What can business leaders learn from artists?” Flatter organization
structures, quest for creativity and a need to utilize human capacities have had an electrifying
effect on leadership: running an organization calls for combining efficiency and productivity
with creativity and understanding of human growth. “The economy of the future will be about
creating value and appropriate forms, and no one knows more about the processes for doing that
than artists.” (R. Austin, as cited in Adler 2006, p. 487).
The question with which arts world has been struggling is designing a creative production process.
The leadership question is not “how to lead creativity?”, since that would implicitly suggest an
instrumental power relation, and that is not the way arts is understood in the material. The initial
research interest grew out of question “How to combine (artistic) freedom and (organizational)
direction?” The leadership question here is being reformulated as follows: How to support
dialogue between individual and group level? To study that question, the following question was
first posed to material: On the level of language, what kind of reality is being constructed between
arts, creativity and leadership?
233
First, there was a need for general account of the content. After having studied the text I employed
a search-engine for the central terms to find out how many times they were referred to, and in what
kind of connections. Through textual analysis and search-engine certain themes were recognized
as repeating patterns.
In order to make sense and analyze those themes the second step was to apply philosophical
hermeneutics (Gadamer 1960). Hermeneutics provides a way for analyzing the material from
the perspective of pre-understanding. This is not an attempt to go “into their heads” but asking a
question: On what grounds is a sentence X understandable in this context? What kind of prejudices
and presumptions are in action for the sentence X to make sense? These questions are built on a
holistic understanding of language, in which “each word supposes a whole of language to give
it full force as a word” (Taylor 1995, p. 94). A word and its context place a reader in a linguistic
dimension, and the aim is to study meaning as interplay between the context and the interpreter.
A hermeneutic experience is an experience of “something as something. According to that idea I
was searching in the text for something of a thingness-kind, “the thing” or phenomenon at stake
(Figal 2006). The question is: what is the text talking about? That I then ended up describing the
phenomena with a fairy tale image of “The Beauty and the Beast” certainly owes to following
sources: David M. Boje’s analysis of Disney-studios as “Tamara-land” (1995), to Erika Sauer’s
(2005) use of caricatures at the analysis phase, and to Alvesson’s (2003) and Czarniawska’s
234
(1998) encouragement for researchers to find alternative ways of reporting.
5. ANALYSIS
In this research I will employ a detailed analysis of data that keeps alive the “richness” of actual
events. Certainly, during this kind of qualitative research, any researcher would write a different
analysis – story – about the material. The point of different readings is to illustrate multivocal
interpretations and create a relationship between marginalized and dominant stories with the hope
of some unique outcomes (White and Epston 1990; Freedman and Combs 1996).
In the first phase of the analysis five distinctive themes (contents, “things”, phenomena) were
formulated. When “packaging” and labeling the themes (Czarniawska 1998), I realized that they
form two discourses. The one is about identity building (themes 1-3), the other about Negating
realities (themes 4-5). Before going to the themes and discourses in detail, here is a short
overview:
From a methodological point of view the latest strand adding to these discussions is opened in
the Academy of Management Review with a theme on “richness” (Weick 2007), which suggests
that we should be paying closer attention to the “texts” (artifacts) we are studying. “To go ‘to the
scene of the accident’ in search of meaning, and to locate the scene of that accident deep inside
one’s own head, is to catch the significance of the accident scene and to use that significance
to reanimate analysis.” (Weick 2007, p. 16) As Weick’s research on Mann Gulf incident shows
(Weick 1993), generalizations and habitual reading leave sometimes important cues aside.
What does that attempt mean when the material is text?
Three themes that constitute a discourse called “Identity”:
a) “The Beauty and the Beast”: Arts and business are counterparts and thus a dichotomy.
b) “The Cure”: From the perspective of arts, business has a massive set of negative qualities,
which are a symptom of sickness, but arts can function as a cure.
c) “The Voice of Integration”: In the midst of this dichotomy there are marginalized voices
to be heard that call for ‘destroying the fences’, for integration.
Weick mentions five lessons for research to make an account rich. First lesson “Reading Builds
Richness” requires “true reading” that is capable of restoring projects. In terms of research, the
scene of accident is “inside one’s own head” (p. 16). The implication of that is to use one’s own
imagination to understand the scene. The second lesson is that multiplicity of theories adds to
conceptual variety of reading the scene. In that sense theories protect against hubris, one-eyed or
too limited reading. Weick calls the second lesson “Read with Theories in Hand Because Theories
Increase Requisite Variety”. The third lesson, “Rich Comparisons Breed Further Richness”,
is illustrated by an example: before going to an art exhibition, buy a postcard, and then later
compare it with an original work. The point is to make account with own prejudices that do not
prevail when reflected with the reality.
The fourth lesson, “Simple Accounts Mean You’re Not Paying Attention”, says that the most
obvious and clear cut truths or sentences might be worth reconsidering. Easy explanations and
almost “everyday psychology” hide sometimes much more variety and wider possible explanations
than we usually find. The requirement for rich research is to break through the walls of obvious
reflections. The fifth lesson is about avoiding the use of “be”-verb and giving a more detailed
account of the event. From outsiders point of view it is true that someone might “just sit there and
read”, but that would hardly be the reader’s self-description. We cannot know what s/he thinks,
but we know out of our own experience that a) there is a content to what we read, b) we are not
just there, but there are also reasons why and what we read, and why in that particular place, c)
and seeing.
e) “Reproducing the Denial”: It is shown that commands lead easily to a denial. How is
resistance reproduced?
if someone stops us, we react to it according to disturbance and person, and that d) we might as
well have bodily sensations or mental conditions that very much affect the situation (cold, warm,
comfortable, back ache, waiting for a friend, having a hurry to read for exam…).
235
Another discourse entitled “Negating realities” consists of two themes:
d) “Seeing the Unusual”: Arts reconstruction of reality challenges the usual ways of thinking
5.1 FIRST DISCOURSE: IDENTITY
Meet the Beauty and the Beast (theme 1)! This myth is reconstructed by a dichotomy “the
beauty of the arts and the beast-like business (and management sciences)”.
The dichotomy is illustrated from the arts side by sayings like “as an artist I have certain aesthetic
standards which in the business world had to be (…) compromised to economic perspectives”.
(D3, p. 2) Seeing the other in negative terms applies for both parties: “virtually all of my business
school colleagues have had a negative set against the idea that artistic perspectives and processes
could have a useful place in management education” (D3, p. 7)
How are relations between arts, creativity and leadership built on this ground? This is a typical
comment:
“In addition to its rather instrumental and manipulative role of incorporation into the capitalist
organisation project as a ‘new tool’ for ‘leveraging’ efficiency and effectiveness, art must be
nurtured in its form as opposition to and critique of the excesses of capitalism.” (D0, p. 99)
Arts in this discussion function as counter-part for capitalism, business, greed, efficiency,
manipulation etc. Arts are often seen as having value as such, and its usefulness is a taboo.
236
Pelzer (2006), for example, argues that this separation is in the very heart of arts: it owes its
identity to separation and independency. Arts would thus not be arts without a separation from
routine flow of events. An experience of arts represents discontinuity. It makes us pay attention,
thus disconnecting and distancing or bringing us closer to something. It also stops the natural or
dominant flow of things and halts the movement.
Where does the dichotomy of “the Beauty and the Beast” originate? An interpretation of the fairy
tale says that the Beast is actually bestial, but the woman’s love is capable of transforming him
into a handsome prince. That is rather close to a picture given in the material: art might be capable
of transforming business into a more handsome “human economics”. Arts are a cure (theme 2)
for saving humanity in the midst of greedy business life.
Chia (2002) claims that “’organized worlds’ have been creatively and painstakingly forged out
from the initial undifferentiated flux of raw experience”. From that point of view organizing is
about “freezing” a natural flow of things. In a mechanistic, machine-like, inhumanly bureaucratic
and organized world the function of arts is to make things alive and moving again.
”Managers and management students don’t understand how to create on cue, how to innovate
reliably on a deadline.....” I had a student about my own age, here in Tasmania a few years back,
say to me “You actually want us to wrote what we think??? We’re not allowed to do that!!!” We
have generations of students, faculty, and managers who have been punished for independent,
creative thinking, and who cringe at the thought of a “peer critique” (certainly my own experience
as student, manager, and faculty) -- Perhaps a year or two in the art school should be required
for everyone!” (D0, p. 89)
It is generally held that organizational or “everyday” life suppresses creativity, so it should be no
wonder if art school or arts can provide a medicine for that illness. Creativity is a cure for more
courageous and open way of living.
If cure is needed, what is the illness? To put the question into the form of dialectics of question
and answer (Gadamer 1960): If art is an answer, what is the question? A symptom of the illness
was lack of creativity, which – according to material – is an effect of organizations attempt to
stabilize the natural movement of things. Illness appears on an ontological level: arts are calling
for a change from “being ontology” to “becoming ontology” (Chia 1997), or to an emergent
approach (Jones 2000; Carlsen 2006).
the same time.” (D3, p. 121)
“To me this is not just about building a bridge between the fields or professions of arts and
business. Its all about humans.” (D0, p. 100)
“(A)rcheologist or curator (…) will not understand our ways of framing (and fragmenting) our
field/s. Sometimes they will not even understand the distinction between an economist and a
management scholar.” (D3, p. 14)
These are clear signs of avoiding a clear-cut distinction between the Beauty and the Beast. In the
fairy tale they were connected by love that broke the evil spell and transformed the Beast into a
prince. However, it was argued earlier that the identity of arts depends on its role as a counterpart. If arts become integrated, what happens to their identity?
In Finland there are several on-going discussions about the role of arts in a society. These
discussions concern “the University of Excellence” (an initiative of uniting the universities of
economics, technology and arts), the new Music house in the center of Helsinki, and the financing
of cultural institutions. A common character is that arts should be integrated to the rest of society
for financial purposes. In both AACORN and these Finnish discussions there is a fear of arts
loosing their distinctive, unique character if integrated with non-arts.
The development of integration is an on-going affair, and as such that may not sound like a big
step. It is yet noteworthy, first, that these considerations are taking place, and second, that it is the
Beauty who is taking initiative.
5.2 THE SECOND DISCOURSE: NEGATING REALITIES
Arts are sometimes believed to represent reality, but not ever photography is doing that. An
artist’s work is commenting reality in terms of construction, not reproducing it, and in this way
it brings “a power relation and its asymmetry to light”. (Strati 2000) An asymmetrical power
relation emphasizes the role of artist as a ‘creator’ and constructor. (Here are also the roots of
the myth of genius, to which I will return later.) Growing from the roots of creation, seeing the
unusual (theme 4) is an elementary condition for arts.
Seeing the unusual is followed for example in a AACORN blog-entry called “Critical incidents”.
There is an example where a theatre play struck a chord with some spectators.
The dichotomy of the Beauty and the Beast is questioned only in few occasions. The voice of
integration (theme 3) is more visible in later discussions (2007):
”I am eagerly interested in understanding the artistic impact on any of the fields, we all share
interest for, but I am just as convinced that we need to destroy the fences, that we have created at
237
“Once again, the gritty and real performances from Al and Augustine created reactions in some
audience members that were significant or “critical” enough to lead to a restlessness to change
something. Over the last year I have received a lot of feedback about that sketch creating a
“critical incident” in the lives of some of our audience members, particularly those who see
238
danger signs in their own lives after watching and experiencing the piece.” (D0, p 36)
Seeing the unusual does not mean that a work of art or event as such would be unusual, but that
the interpretation of it becomes meaningful – even so meaningful that it might have power to
change things. The usual would transform to unusual. Something happens to the way we perceive
“the reality”. In being provocative, critical or incomprehensible the arts are challenging the usual
ways of seeing. In confronting arts the interpreter becomes “restless” and as a result – in a way
– negates his/her existing reality. He is not anymore seeing it with innocent eyes or taking it for
granted as usual, since it now ‘sticks out’ of the former routine flow of perceptions
Organizations, on the other hand, are being run by routine processes and management systems
which stabilize an organization, “freeze” it. Since arts is often implicitly commenting and
challenging the existing structures and patterns, it can help in the process of “unfreezing”. The
widely-spread ‘common-sense’ change model of unfreezing-moving-refreezing, developed by
Kurt Lewin in 1940’s, stays ontologically on the grounds of a stabile status quo, since it ends with
refreezing. So the question remains whether arts relation to change is episodic or continuous.
(Tsoukas and Chia 2002) On an ontological level arts relation to change is ambiguous: arts claim
to stand on “emergent” groundings (identity of arts is built on change), but on a linguistic level it
shows more characteristics of a stabile “being ontology”.
There are notions in the text about the technical, instrumentalist, manipulative, provocative or
organizing qualities involved in arts, but these are not seen as negative as the same qualities in
economics. One can easily conclude that perception in this case is lead by conception, by the
dichotomy of the Beauty and the Beast.
A case-study from the material confirms how hard it is to live with an attitude of seeing the
unusual. In this blog-discussion there is only one occasion where the others have clearly criticized
another member. That happened when a participant wrote in such a philosophical rigor that only
few could follow his reasoning. He was verbally attacked and pushed off-side. Someone being
incomprehensible is not necessarily enjoyable.
So what can we learn from arts for leadership studies? Parallel needs for efficiency and creativity
are a domain that arts seem to understand (eg. p. 7: “how to create on cue, how to innovate
reliably on a deadline”). On the level of phenomenon that means connecting (organizational)
direction with freedom. The material discusses this dilemma at several occasions.
The situation is that books were asked back but not returned, and an explanation is given: if
you touch the artistic freedom, it kicks you back. This is a physical explanation: every force
produces a counterforce. In social constructionism (Berger & Luckmann 1966), the idea of force
and counter-force is understood as “how denial is socially constructed?” What happens is a
reproduction of denial (theme 5).
We cannot know the background, but a general precondition is given: “artists commit themselves
only when they are totally free of any commitment...” So how to “lead”? If understood in individual
terms “I lead” or “the leader leads”, it implies a power over (Mary Jo Parker) and a subjectobject relation. Socially constructed leadership would see the relation between a leader and led
in more symmetric terms, as a subject-subject relation. The above situation is being displayed as
there was one active member and others were passive objects – which they, according to what
happened, are not.
Change resistance is always a topic in organizational behavior text books (eg. Buchanan &
Huczynski 2004), but rarely in the form “how was resistance socially constructed?” Yet a blogentry entitled “Commitment and social creativity” took that course:
“I came to a different conclusion: rather than criticizing this systematic avoiding of asked
commitment, I tend to analyse it in term of responsibility (ability to response). The more
powerful responses being given to questions that you ask yourself; and artists having to develop
this strange skill in order to create their art (that no one ever asked for). So couldn’t it be the
beginning of an understanding of commitment and trust in new terms: we could derivate from the
“pathological” artistic behaviour (and highly...creative by definition) some “rules” like: “don’t
ask for a commitment that you want to get, implement instead a collaborative structure of a kind
that avoid any demand for commitment”... then you’ll get their strongest commitment you’d ever
dream of... Strange and odd? but what allows artists to collaborate AND feel free of any intrusion
within their sanctified privacy (!!!) might be a deep shared organisation of inner capacities to
create, innovate, collaborate, with joy...????or not???”
Here we can pay attention to an internal ambiguity. On the one hand an artist is not reproducing
reality, and is thus celebrated as a creator, as stated earlier (p. 8). That not only leadership and
but also creativity (Hardagon and Bechky 2006) could be socially co-created is an idea that does
not go hand in hand with the myth of genius – with an individual, unconventional bohemian
and heroic “artist” (Parrinder 2007). On the other hand this excerpt clearly acknowledges the
phenomenon of socially created leadership.
“(M)y observation is that artists commit themselves only when they are totally free of any
commitment... it could explain the no-feed back you got: since people were ASKED to return the
books... they precisely didn’t...The difficulty is: how to get what you want without asking for it.
This seems to be a necessary condition for collaborative working in art...and maybe everywhere
else (love)(breeding)(teaching)(caring)(living)(dying?)” (D0, p. 13)
239
Another blog-entry takes a different view on commitment:
“refusing commitment is not a necessary condition of artistic creativity, but a factor that inhibits
creativity in some circumstances and defeats the possibility of artistic achievement in others”.
240
Literature
(D0, p. 16)
The myth of genius is a linguistic convention that has acquired a hegemonic position in discourse
(Jokinen, Juhila, Suoninen 1993, p. 101-105). The myth of genius is not the only available identity
construction in the material. However, as the dichotomy of the Beauty and the Beast implies, it
is the most prevalent identity construction, and that is the reason why the fifth theme is called
reproduction (of denial) instead of construction.
6. RESULT: TWO DISCOURSES
Discourses are “practices which form the objects of which they speak” (Foucault 1972, as cited
in Burr 2003). In discourse analysis, language is not representing “reality” but rather constructing
it. The analysis here shows two discourses that are constructed around the central terms of arts,
creativity and leadership.
The first discourse is called Identity. What is art? Arts identity is built in an opposition to
conventions, which is illustrated by the dichotomy of the Beauty and the Beast. Curiously enough,
the Beauty is taking initiative towards the Beast. Why? To preserve hope? (as in: Adler 2006)
The second discourse, labeled Negating realities, is illustrated by two themes. The first, Seeing the
Unusual, suggests that arts is dealing with change from its essence, and thus understanding that
phenomenon too. The other theme, Reproducing the Denial, pays attention to conditions where
denial is easier to achieve than creative cooperation. It is important to understand the phenomenon
before trying to solve the problem, since otherwise one is solving a wrong problem.
Connecting these two discourses would say that arts identity is about negating realities. The process
is yet more gentle than ‘negating’ suggests: first the spectator needs to identify and recognize the
phenomenon and after that s/he will or won’t understand it in different terms. Understanding is
when we understand in a different way, as the ‘god-father’ of modern hermeneutics Hans-Georg
Gadamer puts it.
Adler, N. (2006), The Arts & Leadership: Now That We Can Do Anything, What Will We do?
Academy of Management Learning & Education.Vol. 5, No. 4, 486-499.
Alvesson, M. (2003), Beyond Neopositivists, Romantics, and Localists: A Reflexive Approach
to Interviews in Organizational Research. Academy of Management Review. Vol. 28, No. 1, 1333.
Berger, P.L. & Luckmann T. 1966. The Social Construction of Reality. New York: Anchor
Books.
Boje, D.M. (1995), Stories of the Storytelling Organization: A Postmodern Analysis of Disney as
”Tamara-Land”. Academy of Management Journal. Vol. 38, No. 4, 997-1035.
Bryman, A. 1996. Leadership in Organizations. In Clegg, S.R., Hardy, C, and Nord, W.R. (eds.)
Handbook of Organization Studies. Thousand Oaks: Sage. Pp. 276-292.
Buchanan, D. & Huczynski, A. (2004), Organizational Behavior. An Introductory Text. 5th
edition. Prentice Hall.
Burnes, B. (2004). Kurt Lewin and the planned approach to change: A re-appraisal. Journal of
Management Studies, 41(6), 977-1002
Burr, V. (2003), Social Constructionism. 2nd ed. London: Routledge.
Carlsen, A. (2006) Organizational Becoming as Dialogic Imagination of Practice: The Case of
the Indomitable Gauls. Organization Science. Vol. 17, No. 1, 132-149.
Chia, R. (1997), Essai: Thirty Years On: From Organizational Structures tot the Organization of
Thought. Organization Studies, 18/4, 685-707.
Chia, R. (2002), Essai: Time, Duration and Simultaneity: Rethinking Process and Change in
Organizational Analysis. Organization Studies 23/6, 863-868.
The discussion between arts and economics has certain predecessors. Leadership is nowadays
a popular and well distinguished fad of management studies, but that was not always the case.
Same is the case with discourse analysis, social constructionism or narrative theories: they are
slowly getting wind under their wings in organization theory. The research question was “how to
support dialogue between individual and group level?” What the tale of the Beauty and the Beast
tells us about this progress is that if there is love, there is hope.
Czarniawska, Barbara (1998), A narrative approach to organization studies. Thousand Oaks:
Sage.
Keywords – leadership, creativity, arts, epistemology
Gadamer, Hans-Georg (1960/1990): Wahrheit und Methode. Grundzüge einer philosophischen
Hermeneutik. Tübingen: Mohr-Siebeck.
241
Freedman, Jill & Combs, Gene (1996): Narrative Therapy: the Social Construction of Preferred
Realities. New York: Norton.
Figal, G. (2006), Gegenständlichkeit. Das Hermeneutische und die Philosophie.. Tübingen:
Mohr-Siebeck.
242
Hatch, M-J., Kostera, M. & Kozminski A.K. (2005), The Three Faces of Leadership: Manager
Artist, Priest. Organizational Dynamics, Vol. 35, No. 1, 49-68.
Hardagon A.B. & Bechky, B. (2006), When collections of creatives become creative collectives:
A field Study of problem solving at work. Organization Science, vol. 17, No. 4, 484-500.
Hosking, D.M. & Morley, I.E. (2004), Social constructionism in Community and applied Social
Psychology. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 14; 1-14.
Jones, D. (2000) Emergent Development and the Virtual University, Learning’2000, Roanoke,
Virginia; in: http://cq-pan.cqu.edu.au/david-jones/Publications/Papers_and_Books/
Learning_2000/
Jokinen, A., Juhila, K. & Suoninen, E. (1993), Diskurssianalyysin aakkoset. Tampere:
Vastapaino.
Mantere, S. (2003): Champion, Citizen, Cynic? Social positions in the strategy process. Espoo.
HUT Industrial Management and Work and Organization Psychology.
Taylor, Ch. (1995), The Importance of Herder; in: Philosophical Arguments. Cambridge, Mass:
Harvard University Press.
Tsoukas, H. & Chia R. (2002): On Organizational Becoming: Rethinking Organizational
Change. Organization Science, Sep/Oct 2002; 13, 5.
Van Maanen, J. (1989), Tales of the Field. On Writing Ethnograpy. Chicago: The University of
Chicago Press.
Weick, K.E. (1993), The collapse of sensemaking in organizations: The Mann Gulch disaster.
Administrative Science Quarterly, 38, 628-652.
Weick, K.E. (1995), Sensemaking in Organizations. Thousand Oaks. Sage.
Weick, K.E. (2007), The Generative Properties of Richness. Academy of Management Journal.
Vol. 50, No. 1, 14-19.
White, M. & Epston, D. (1990), Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends. New York: Norton.
Parrinder, M. (2001), The myth of genius. In eye. the international review of graphic design, 38.
In http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature.php?id=3&fid=25
Pelzer, P. (2006) Art for Management’s Sake? A Doubt.Culture & Organization, Mar2006, Vol.
12 Issue 1, p65-77
Ropo, A. & Parviainen, J. (2001), Ledership and bodily knowledge in expert organizations:
epistemological rethinking. Scandinavian Journal of Management 17, 1-18.
Ropo A., Parviainen, J. & Koivunen, N. (2002), Aesthetics in Leadership. In Parry, K.W.
& Meindl J.R. (eds.), Grounding Leadership Theory and Research. Issues, Perspectives
and Methods. Vol. 1: Research in Leadership Horizons. Greenwich, CT: Information Age
Publishing.
Ropo, A. & Sauer, E. (2003), Partnership of Orchestras: Towards Shared Leadership. Int.
Journal of Arts Management. 5/2, 44-55.
Sauer, E. (2005): Emotions in Leadership: Leading a Dramatic Ensemble. Tampere: Tampere
University Press.
Smircich, L. & Morgan, G. 1982. Leadership: The management of meaning. Journal of Applied
Behavioral Science, 18, 257-273.
Strati, A. (2000), Putting People in the Picture: Art and Esthetics in Photography and in
Understanding Organizational Life. Organization Studies. 21/0, 53-69.
Strati, A. (2007), Sensible Knowledge and Practice-based Learning. Management Learning.
Vol. 38(1), 61-70.
243
244
Introduction
FROM ‘MANAGER OF MEANING’ TO ‘MANAGERS OF
MANY MEANINGS’
Social-constructionist approach to creative leadership
Anne-Maria Mikkonen
This article is written for the research design of the concepts of leadership and creativity not
only as individual, but also as shared phenomena in organization. The context of the study is
creative expert work, meaning highly educated people, who are expected to work together as a
creative team. As a leadership researcher, my focus is on leadership and the way that dominant
theory shapes leadership practice and the reality in organization. I study the understanding the
phenomenon of leadership as a means of understanding the phenomenon of organization.
Smircich and Morgan (1982) used the term “manager of meaning” to describe a leader as a person
who attempts to frame and define the reality of others in an organization. They (Smircich and
Morgan, 1982) listed three important aspects of leadership as a phenomenon. Firstly, leadership
is a social phenomenon defined through interaction. Secondly, leadership involves a process of
defining reality in ways that are sensible to the led. Thirdly, leadership involves a dependency
relationship in which individuals surrender their powers to interpret and define reality of others.
I will consider these aspects in this article.
Department of Management Studies
University of Tampere
Abstract
My research interest is to study creative experts in leadership relations. I am interested in the
meanings these people give to their relations for leadership. In this article, I study creative
leadership by using the social-constructionist approach. I discuss creativity as a collective
phenomenon, and give reasons for why we should move from the dominant view of creative
leadership theory, where leader is seen as a ‘manager of meaning’, to a view where the leader is
a ‘manager of many meanings’. In this article, I try to answer the question: why is managing of a
meaning not enough in creative work? I answer this question: first, by considering the leadership
research; second, by acknowledging the need for polarity in creative organizations; and third,
by studying existing research on collective creativity. I wish to contribute to shared leadership
theory and creativity research by proposing that we should acknowledge both leadership and
creativity practices, not only as individual, but also as shared phenomena.
I consider leadership practice not to be only about managing a meaning of reality for others,
which it may sometimes be, but about managing of meanings that differ, because they are given
by different people. By differing meanings of reality I refer to a social-constructionist view of
sense-making processes of leadership, where there are both cognitive (intellectual) and political
(social) aspects to consider (Hosking & Morley, 2004). The first aspect concentrates on how
people negotiate how they are willing to describe their different worlds (ibid.). The second aspect
concentrates on those processes by which participants decide how to commit themselves to lines
of action in environments that may involve mixed motives (ibid.).
According to Smircich and Morgan (1982): “Although leaders draw their power from their ability
to define the reality of others, their inability to control completely provides seeds of disorganization
in the organization of meaning they provide” (p.259). They also write: “The concept and practice
of leadership, and variant forms of direction and control, are so powerfully ingrained into popular
thought that the absence of leadership is often seen as an absence of organization” (p.257). My
view of leadership differs from the view expressed by Smircich and Morgan (1982), according
which leadership disappears when the members of the group do not share a common way of
making sense of their experiences like when a group situation embodies competing definitions of
reality. If so, there would be no leadership in the organizations of creative work.
In today’s rapidly changing environments, the complexity of problems requires solutions that
combine knowledge, efforts and abilities of people with diverse perspectives (Brown & Eisenhardt
1998). Individuals do not always have the necessary expertise, ability, or motivation to generate
creative solutions alone. The problem of the research on leadership as well as on creativity is
that it concentrates mainly on individuals: heroic leaders and creative geniuses. This produces
245
246
two kinds of illusions. First, it produces an illusion of creativity and leadership, as the attributes
of a leader or a leading creator who inspires the creativity of others by activating the creativity
in them. This means managing organizational reality in a way that is defined by the leader, who
knows best what to do, when to do it and how to do it. Second, what is even more important, the
‘leader’ often needs other people to work - not only for him but with him.
Kurzberg and Amabile (2001) have summarized the state of creativity research: “In all of the
(current) approaches, the focus has rested squarely on the individual, highlighting individual
cognitive processing, stable individual difference, and the effects of the external environment on
the individual. Relatively little attention has been paid to team level creative synergy, in which
ideas are generated by groups instead of being generated by one mind” (p.285). In this article,
I want to pay attention to team level synergy. Considering creativity as a shared or collective
phenomenon, I can’t help thinking that an idea of the leader as a ‘manager of meaning’ may not
be enough in creative work.
From individual to shared leadership
In this chapter, I will describe leadership research dividing it to two different approaches: to
leadership as an individual phenomenon, and to leadership as a shared phenomenon. These
two approaches of leadership have developed on the 20th century. Even though leadership as
an individual phenomenon has gathered more attention on the 20th century, I believe that in the
future we have to be able to see leadership as a shared phenomenon.
Alan Bryman (1996) used a term ”New Leadership” approach to describe a number of approaches
to leadership in 1980s. Together these approaches conceptualized leader as someone who defines
the organizational reality through the articulation of a vision (reflection of organization’s mission
and values). Leaders are seen as ‘managers of meaning’ rather than in terms of an influence
process. The new kind of leadership concerned ’transformational leadership’ (Bass 1985; Tichy
ja Devanna 1986), ’charismatic leadership’ (House 1977; Conger 1989), ‘visionary leadership’
(Sashkin 1988; Westley ja Mintzberg 1989), and just ‘leadership’ (Bennis ja Nanus 1985; Kotter
1990). (Bryman, 1996)
According to Bryman (1996) the ‘New Leadership’ offers a distinctive approach that combines heroic
leaders with the growing self-awareness of many organizations and their missions. He writes ‘New
Leadership’ to be a cause, a symptom and a consequence of self-reflection. Listing the weaknesses
Bryman (1996) acknowledges some important issues. First, ‘New Leadership’ can be accused of
concentrating excessively on top leaders. As concentrating on the leadership of, rather than in,
organizations it has only little to say to the majority of leaders. Second, as it having a tendency
to focus on appointed leaders, the ‘New Leadership’ has little to say about informal leadership
processes. Third, there has been little situational analysis, because ‘New Leadership’ risks creating
a return to universalistic thinking by extolling the virtues of transformational leadership.
247
Bryman (1996) recognizes four strands of research that illustrate another leadership approach, the
development dispersive leadership. First, Manz and Sims (1991) and Sims and Lorenzi (1992)
developed the idea of ‘Superleadership’, which they considered as the leadership of future, the
new leadership paradigm. In ‘Superleadership’ an emphasis is placed on leading others to lead
themselves. Second, Katzenbach and Smith (1993) wrote about ’real teams’, where a small
number of people with complementary skills work together to achieve a common goal. In a
manner similar to ‘Superleadership’, the leader is here a facilitator who cultivates the group and
its members. Third, Kouzes ja Posner (1993) propose that credible leaders develop capacity in
others by turning their constituents into leaders. These three strands changed the focus away
from heroic leaders and toward a focus of teams as sites of leadership. According to dispersed
leadership tradition the attention should be paid to leadership processes and skills, not only in
formally designed leaders, but also in others. (Bryman, 1996)
Shared leadership approach questions individual thinking by concentrating on leadership practices
as a group phenomenon (Bryman 1996; Spllane, Halverson & Diamond 1999; Pearce & Sims,
2000; Scully & Seagal, 1997; Senge, 1997; Yukl 1998). (Fletcher & Käufer, 2003) The roots of
shared leadership may be traced as far as when Mary Parker Follet (1924) represented the concept
’law of the situation’ (Pearce & Conger 2003). Significantly the theory of shared leadership
started to develop in 1990s.
Shared leadership is still a disintegrated area of leadership theory, beacause of both newly research
and mayby also the marginal nature of the research. The idea of sharing power is not new. Mary
Parker Follett expressed the notion of “power with” as opposed to “power over” already in 1924.
What is still not clear, is the concept of power that is shared in shared leadership. What kind of
power is shared and how? Shared leadership theory is unable to give one answer here. Some
researchers argue that shared leadership is co-created understanding of issues, problems, and
solutions in group so that power is shared among the participants (Fletcher & Käufer, 2003).
Some think that shared power gets different forms as the role of the leader changes when people
start to lead themselves on three levels: on an individual level (‘self leadership’), on a team level
(‘shared leadership’) and on the top management level (‘Superleadership’) (Manz & Sims 1991;
Houghton, Neck & Manz, 2003). Some researchers consider power to be shared among leaders
(O’Toole, Galbraith and Lawler, 2003) while others think that the leadership roles are shared in
compliance with the areas of expertise of the team members (Pearce and Conger, 2003).
What is essential in shared leadership approach is the way the power dynamics become visible
and open for discussion. I will contribute to shared ledership discussion by studying how power
is being shared in creative expert work. All these experts do have their own opinions and feelings
about leadership and about meanings to be managed, even though these opinions and feelings
would be changing. Empirically thinking, most often there is a designated leader in organization,
who is responsible in the end. Feelings and opinions of the power relations may differ a lot even
if there is an appointed leader. Who does then define the organizational reality and who manages
248
the meaning? In this article, the concept of shared leadership means sharing leadership practices
as ‘managers of meaning’. By the notion of manager I do not mean only appointed leaders but
every participant of an expert work team. This kind of thinking makes power, in the spirit of
Mary Parker Follett (1924), ‘power with’ instead of ‘power over’ (Parker, 1984).
Seeking polarity of meanings
The last chapter discussed the process of leadership to have many managers instead of one. In
this chapter, I argue that we should be able to see the variety of meanings that people have in an
organization for example about the organization, leadership, reality and each other. In this way
creativity seeks polarity. This means seeing many meanings of ‘reality’ at the same time.
Classic research on creativity (Guilford, 1950; Torrance, 1969) has described the ability to think
flexible, which means considering many different approaches and categories of thought as one of
the crucial elements that can lead to novelty of new ideas (Kurztberg & Müller, 2005). Creativity
is defined here as an ability to perceive large and small entities without splitting emotions,
thoughts or experiences, which one usually does when striving to peaceful state of mind. For
example, holding the variety of emotions means holding both ‘good’ and ‘bad’. Pure ‘good’ may
feel too sweet as pure ‘aggressive’ statement might feel too attacking. As lying somewhere in
between, creativity is seen here as an ability to outline disharmony in a meaningful way. This
means maintaining both ‘good’ and ‘bad’ emotions, making them tolerable, and giving them
practical meanings. Creativity aspires to free the mind and imagination, to see and experience the
variety of things, and perceive contrasts and deficiencies.
The ability to combine different styles of thinking is more likely to be found in groups of people
working together in teams, networks and systems. That is where they bring together complementary
competences (creative potential) and working practices (creative behavior). In organizations,
problems usually arise rooted in certain contexts, where individuals may have trouble reframing
on their own. Organizations may then benefit from people coming together to collectively work on
defining and solving the problems that have emerged. Ideas may spring up in individual’s mind,
but they are later shared, changed and developed within a team so that it is almost impossible to
trace back the origins of the ideas after a while. The research on creativity in organizations has
generated significant understanding of the effect of ongoing group and organizational context
on individual creativity (Amabile 1983, 1995), but is less concerned with action and interaction
at the collective level. Collective creativity makes creative potential and creative behavior not
only individual, but also inter-individual and group phenomena. Creativity in groups involves
processes that are distinct from the process of individual creativity.
Hargadon & Bechky (2006) give an example of creativity as a group phenomenon. According
to Francis Jehl, one of Thomas Edison’s longtime assistants, “Edison is in reality a collective
noun and means the work of many men” (p.484). There was a group of engineers who worked
249
together and also with Edison in the one-room laboratory in Menlo Park (Millard, 1990). Even
though creativity is mostly researched and appreciated as an attribute of an individual, creative
products are often made collectively. This is another way to see creative accomplishment. Instead
of an attribute of individual, it may be considered as a mode of being together, or a space of
togetherness, where people actually do participate in work at hand. They take actively part in
conversation, chance of opinions, and are willing to develop ideas further.
According to Robert Spitzer (2000), collective creativity happens when people come together
in a spirit of common cause: they are open to one another’s opinions, build one another’s ideas
spontaneously, anticipate what is coming next, and sense how best to implement these ideas. This
happens playfully and experimentally but is very productive (ibid.). Individual’s creativity has
led through creative accomplishment to a social phenomenon, where something is shared among
other people. This has also inspired others to experience individual’s creative way of thinking
as a shared. People do not only experience getting something from this person, but also giving
something to him, and to each other, at the same time. This outlines the difference between
working for someone and working with someone. In a collectively creative process people work
with each other.
Space of togetherness in organization
Collective creativity may be seen developing as a process of dialogue in organization. Scharmer
(2001) has represented a framework that describes the process of dialogue. He argues that when
groups engage in a conversation, the quality of their interaction falls into four phases, each of
which has distinctive characteristics. This framework allows evaluate the quality of group’s social
interaction. The model of four phases of dialogue differs from the notion of active listening because
it conceptualizes dialogue as a group-level phenomenon rather than as individual behavior that
simply occurs in a group setting. The phases in Scharmer’s (2001) dialogue model are: talking
nice, talking tough, reflective dialogue, and generative dialogue. (Fletcher & Käufer, 2003)
As interested in the context of collective creativity, I will focus on the last two phases: reflective
dialogue and generative dialogue. In Fletcher and Käufer’s (2003) study, participants described
a moment when their communication reached a level of connection that transcended individual
interests. Scharmer (2001) calls this reflective dialogue which allows the participants to experience
a group as a whole. What distinguishes it from reflective dialogue is the level of trust and openness
between participants. Fletcher and Käufer (2003) suggest this high level connectedness to be a
necessary condition for the co-created understanding along with group level ownership of issues,
problems, and solutions. The quality of social interaction means here the high level of trust
and mutual engagement that allows the group as a whole to explore new ideas and ways of
thinking and to coordinate itself easily. (Fletcher & Käufer, 2003) This means also that it is safe
for opinions to differ without a fear of engaging in conflicts on a relationship level.
Does change from one phase to another mean change in experience of power relations? If one
250
person defines the reality of others in an organization what opinions or views are there to confront
with? How is it possible to aim at creative solutions, if there is a lack of multiplicity of realities
and views? Aren’t the solutions convergent if they are made from one already defined perspective
instead of many? If we think creative researchers or artists, aren’t they considered creative just
because they have defined some meanings differently? Managing these experts by defining their
reality would be denying their creativity. But how much then must people agree to be able to
work together as a group or organization? It is, however, as relevant to ask how much do they
have to disagree?
Research on team level creativity or collective creativity is rather scarce. Although groups are
common in organizations, only little is known about the optimal conditions that promote it. I
used EBSCO-host database to scan articles on the phenomena of collective creativity. The term
‘creative collective’ gave 16 answers, from which also one article, “When Collections of Creatives
Become Creative Collectives: A Field Study of Problem Solving at Work” by Andrew B. Hargadon
and Beth A. Bechky (2006) discussed collective creativity. The term ‘creative synergy’ gave 21
answers, from which only Terri R. Kurzberg’s and Teresa M. Amabile’s (2001) article “From
Guildford to Creative Synergy: Opening a Black Box of Team Creativity” dealt with collective
creativity.
For Hargadon and Bechky (2006), the idea of collective cognition, joined with the understanding
of creative problem solving, provides a framework for understanding moments of collective
creativity. As they phrase it:
“Collective mind resides in the mindful interrelations between individuals in a social
system. One person’s action or comments, when considered by others, shape theirs,
which in turn (when heeded) shapes the next. A focus on the collective aspects of
these interactions recognizes that one person’s past thinking and action take new
meanings – to everyone involved – in the evolving context of subsequent thinking
and action”(p. 486).
Hargadon and Bechky (2006) have explored the behaviors that trigger moments of collective
creativity. In their study (2006), they were interested of how those behaviors interact and how
they are supported within the organization. Instead of relying on each individual’s cognitive
skills, collective creativity represented particular moments when people’s perspectives and
experiences were brought together to cope on problematic situations in ways that create distinctly
new solutions. At these points, what to think of as a problem and how to think about it became
the products of a collective process. Instead of studying a constant phenomenon (i.e. creative
individuals and organizations) they studied series of momentary, transient phenomena (i.e.,
creative moments in organizations). They framed the phenomenon of collective creativity as a
moment when individuals come together to find, redefine, and solve problems that no one could
have done easily (if at all) by working alone. (Hargadon & Bechky, 2006)
251
Analysis of the field data revealed four sets of interrelating activities that play a role in triggering
moments of collective creativity. These were 1) help seeking, 2) help giving, 3) reflective
framing, and 4) reinforcing. Help seeking described activities that occur when individual who
either recognizes or is assigned a problematic situation actively seeks the assistance of others.
Help giving represented the willing devotion of time and attention to assisting with the work of
others. Reflective reframing represented the mindful behaviors of all participants in an interaction,
where each respectfully attends to and builds upon the comments and actions of others. And
finally, reinforcing reflected those activities that subtly (and sometimes not so subtly) reinforce
the organizational values that support individuals as they engage in help seeking, help giving, and
reflective reframing. Reinforcing happens as a direct consequence of engaging in these activities.
(Hargadon & Bechky 2006)
The study of Hargadon and Bechky (2006) provides an alternative framework for understanding
the creative process within organizations. In their framework the focus has been shifted from
individuals to interaction between them. What turns collections of creative individuals into creative
collectives? And where do particular interactions yield creative insights, yet those insights cannot
be attributed to particular individuals? How is leadership constructed in creative collectives? The
answer to these questions might be important because the need for individual creative genius is
steadily being displaced in organizations (Hargadon and Bechky 2006).
Kurzberg and Amabile (2001) have also been interested in how creative minds interact in group
processes. In their article, they examine the specific group processes and dynamics that may affect
team-level creative production. They present a description of the ways in which diversity and
different types of conflict in groups may affect the creative process. According to them (Kurzberg
& Amabile, 2001), groups in which task conflict results from multiple opinions produce work
that is more original (Van dyne & Saavedra, 1996), more divergent (Nemeth, 1986), and more
complex (Gruenfeld, 1995) than do the groups in which all members agree. This suggests that the
presence and the defense of multiple viewpoints among group members serves to make conflict
productive for creative outcomes. Along with the creativity literature’s identification or flexibility,
or the number of different perspectives represented (Guilford, 1950), this is an element of creative
outcomes. Guilford talked about flexibility on the individual cognitive level, and some research
has demonstrated a relation between individual creativity and tolerance for conflict (Sheldon,
1995). (Kurzberg and Amabile, 2001)
In their article, Kurzberg and Amabile (2001) noted that only little is known about how group
creativity functions, what affects team-level creativity, and which are the optimal conditions to
promote it. First, they call for a group focus on creativity research arguing that researchers should
study the ways in which the presence of other people and their ideas changes an individual’s
creative thoughts. Second, research on team-level creativity must explore the evolution of ideas
252
as they progress from one mind to another. Third, research should address the question what
creates the environments, norms, and feelings within a team’s culture that will affect the sharing
of ideas in the team. (Kurzberg and Amabile 2001)
How do feelings and experiences construct sharing of ideas in a team? What I find interesting
is also the diversity of meanings that people create in situations when their opinions differ. Do
they see these differences as creative chances or as creativity breakers? Kurzberg and Amabile
(2001) discussed collective synergy with the concepts of diversity and conflict, which I believe
are essential when thinking about collective creativity any further. When meanings of people
differ, their realities differ and it is supposed that also conflicts will emerge. Are these conflicts
always bad or might there be something constructive in them? The body of research seems to
answer the question by suggesting that task conflict may be constructive but relationship conflict
and process conflict are absolutely not (Jehn, 1995, 1997). How is it possible to differentiate these
from the other two?
From manager of meaning to managers of many meanings
Leadership is socially constructed through interaction (Berger & Luckmann, 1966). It emerges
as a result of the constructions and actions of both the leaders and the led. According to Smircich
and Morgan (1982), leadership is a process of negotiation through which certain individuals,
implicitly or explicitly, surrender their power to define the nature of their experience to others.
Do they really surrender their power in leadership? I disagree with Smircich and Morgan (1982),
because I believe leadership exists even without this kind of power relation. I argue the power
relation (as defined by Smircich and Morgan, 1982) to be an illusion, because everybody has
power in leadership relation. One might still think that (s)he do not have that power, but as well
as somebody has power to make someone to do something, this someone has also the power to
not to do it.
If leadership was all about giving one’s power to define the nature of one’s experience to others,
I would expect that reflective and generative dialogues would rarely happen. In a subject –object
(creativity) and ‘ambition to control’ (power). Both would be impossible alone. Absolute freedom
would lead to chaos as well as absolute form of control would lead to machinery-like bureaucracy.
However, I argue that the different combinations of these two (creativity and leadership) make
different kind of leadership. According to ‘New Leadership’ approach, power relations, as well
as creativity relations may often be subject-object relations. Instead, shared leadership introduces
more subject-subject relations, where both parties of leadership are active on using power. The
collective creativity concept expresses relationship of mutual trust and an agreement to differ.
In the beginning of this article, I presented Hosking & Morley’s (2004) view of a sense-making
process of leadership where there are both cognitive (intellectual) and political (social) aspects
to consider. Creativity as a dimension of leadership can be seen representing the intellectual part
of sense-making process of leadership, as power will represent the social aspect. The creativity
aspect of leadership concentrates on how people negotiate and how they are willing to describe
their different understanding of the world, and the power aspect of leadership concentrates on
those processes by which participants decide how to commit themselves to lines of action, in
environments that may involve mixed motives. As noticing these issues it may not be relevant
to consider leadership to be about one ‘manager of meaning’. Instead, I argue that we should
consider the participants of collective creativity as managers that manage the variety of meanings.
This variety, however, may be the heart of creativity.
References
Berger, P.L. & Luckmann T. 1966. The Social Construction of Reality. New York: Anchor
Books.
Bryman, A. 1996. Leadership in Organizations. In Clegg, S.R., Hardy, C, and Nord, W.R. (eds.)
Handbook of Organization Studies. Thousand Oaks: Sage. Pp. 276-292.
power relation the person who feels that (s)he is an object, starts to observe her-/himself. With
this self-observing the advantage of collective creativity may be lost when a person is not able to
participate in a reflective or generative dialogue.
Fletcher& Käufer. 2003. Shared Leadership: Paradox and Possibility. In Pearce, Craig L. & Conger,
Jay A. (eds.) Shared Leadership – Reframing the Hows and Whys of Leadership. Thousand Oaks
California: Sage Publications. 21-47.
What is interesting for the leadership research is the way people construct an image of their
power in leadership relations. I believe this may differ from person to person and from moment
to moment. The same person may experience power in some leadership practices as subjectto-subject influence and in some other practices subject-to-object influence. The feelings of
subjectivity, as well as intensity of this feeling, may differ from one moment to another.
In this article, creative leadership has been seen as balancing between ‘freedom of diversity’
Hardagon A.B. & Bechky, B. 2006. When collections of creatives become creative collectives: A
field Study of problem solving at work. Organization Science, vol. 17, No. 4, 484-500.
253
Hosking, D.M. & Morley, I.E. 2004. Social constructionism in Community and applied Social
Psychology. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 14; 1-14.
254
Houghton, Jeffery D., Neck, Christopher P. & Manz, Charles C. 2003. Self-Leadership and
SuperLeadership: The Heart and Art of Creating Shared Leadership in Teams. In Pearce, Craig L.
& Conger, Jay A. (eds.) Shared Leadersip- Reframing the Hows and whys of Leadership. Sage
Publications Ltd.:London. 123-140.
Kutzberg, T.R. & Amabile, T.M. 2001. From Guiford to creative synergy: Opening the black box
of team level creativity. Creativity Research Journal, Vol 13, Nos. 3&4, 285-294.
Kurtzberg, T.R. & Müller, J.S. 2005. The influence of daily conflict on perceptions of creativity: a
longitudinal study. The International Journal of Conflict Management, Vol. 16, No. 4, 335-353.
O’Toole, J., Galbraith, J., and Lawler, E.E. 2003. The Promise and Pitfalls of shared Leadership:
When Two (or More) Heads are Better Than One. In Pearce, Craig L. & Conger, Jay A. (eds.)
Shared Leadersip- Reframing the Hows and whys of Leadership. London: Sage. 250-268.
Parker, L.D. 1984. Control in Organizational Life: The Contribution of Mary Parker Follett.
Academy of Management Review, Vol. 9, No, 4, 736-745.
Pearce, Craig L. & Conger, Jay A. 2003. All Those Years Ago: The Historical Underpinnings of
Shared Leadership. In Pearce, Craig L. & Conger, Jay A. (eds.) Shared Leadersip- Reframing the
Hows and whys of Leadership. London: Sage.1-18.
Smircich, L. & Morgan, G. 1982. Leadership: The management of meaning. Journal of Applied
Behavioral Science, 18, 257-273.
How to teach innovation? – A case in teacher
education
Kuinka opettaa innovaatiota? – Tapaus
opettajankoulutuksessa
Eila Lindfors
Department of Teacher Education in Hämeenlinna,
Faculty of Education, University of Tampere,
Ideas and solutions are considered to be innovative if they are answers to some needs and they
bring some creativity to the daylight. If creative and functional solutions as innovations happen
to be answers for needs of people world wide they will be seen afterwards as success stories of
creativity, design and technology.
Today everybody is after innovativeness. A problem is how to find innovative ideas and make
innovative solutions. National success stories are even more important in the future and therefore
innovation is also a topic of education. To learn how to invent ideas and solutions one should be
encouraged to use creativity instead of learning only traditional ways of doing and performing.
That’s why we have to ask, how to teach innovation for pupils and students who will be the
innovators of the future?
This paper discuss about user-centred design and making process which aimed at inventing usable
solutions to everyday problems found in the close environment. Two examples are reported and
analyzed in craft, design and technology studies in the class teacher training program. Student
teachers applied user-centred design to learn the ways of finding problems and inventing and
creating solutions to them. The starting point was to find problems which the student teachers
themselves met in their everyday living in Northern Finland. The topic was especially connected
to the problems which could be met in cold climate.
The analysis show that active problem searching in real life helps students to start the innovative
255
256
design process. An analysis of the use, user and the environment where the solution is supposed
to be used give students ideas which can be developed further. From the teaching point of
view this gives opportunities to develop user-centred design in teacher education as well as in
comprehensive school. The presented products represent examples of innovative solutions made
in the pedagogical context. The guidelines of teaching innovation by applying user-centred design
will be presented.
1. Johdanto
Innovaatio on nykyään yhteiskunnan muotikäsite. Kaikilla yhteiskuntasektoreilla kysytään, kuinka
olisi mahdollista löytää innovatiivisia ideoita innovatiivisten ratkaisujen pohjaksi. Innovaatio
liitetään useimmiten talouselämään, uusiin mullistaviin tuotteisiin ja/tai palveluihin. Kansalliset
menestystarinat ovat tulevaisuudessa entistä tärkeämpiä ja sen vuoksi myös kasvatukseen ja
koulutukseen yhdistetään nykyään innovatiivisuuden vaatimus.
Tilastokeskuksen (2006) mukaan innovaatio on yrityksen markkinoille tuoma uusi tai olennaisesti
parannettu tuote (tavara tai palvelu). Käsitteellisesti innovaatio liittyy läheisesti termeihin luovuus
ja muutos. Rogersin (2003) mukaan innovaatio on jokin uutuus, tavallisimmin jokin uutuustuote,
esimerkiksi teollinen tai tekninen keksintö, jolloin sen perustana voi olla jokin uusi teknologia,
entisten teknologioiden uusi sovellus tai yrityksen hankkiman uuden tiedon hyödyntäminen.
Innovaatio voidaan ymmärtää myös ideana, käytäntönä tai esineenä, jota yksilöt pitävät uutena.
Voidaan puhua mullistavista innovaatioista ja vähittäisin muutoksin syntyvistä innovaatioista.
Innovaatioon kuluu suunnittelun lisäksi uusien ideoiden soveltaminen käytäntöön konkreetilla
tavalla.
Innovaation syntymiseen tarvitaan alkuvaiheessa luovaa ideointia. Jotta on mahdollista
oppia keksimään ideoita ja ratkaisuja, yksilöitä pitäisi rohkaista oman luovuutensa käyttöön
traditionaalisten toimintamallien sijasta. Nykyään monia esimerkiksi koulussa toteutettavia
tuotteita syytetään traditiota toistaviksi. Voidaankin kysyä, miten innovaatiota voitaisiin opettaa
luovuutta synnyttävällä tavalla?
Avoimesta innovaatiosta puhuttaessa (Chesbrough 2003) ymmärretään tilannetta, jossa niin
sanotusta suljetusta innovaatioprosessista pyritään kohti avoimempaa innovaatiotapaa siten,
että innovaation synnyttämiseen tähtäävään toimintaan, innovaatioprosessiin, osallistuu laaja
joukko ihmisiä. Kyse voi olla yrityksen työntekijöistä tai laajemmasta joukosta, joka on tavalla
tai toisella yhteydessä innovaation tavoitteluun. Uudenlaisesta ideasta ja sen toteutusratkaisusta
tulee innovaatio vasta, kun se on otettu käyttöön ja havaittu hyväksi ja toimivaksi.
Uutena suuntauksena tavaroiden ja palveluiden kehittämisessä on niin sanottu käyttäjäkeskeinen
suunnittelu. Uusien tuotteiden ja palveluiden suunnittelu oli aikaisemmin yrityksen toimesta
tapahtuva prosessi, jonka lopputulos sitten markkinoitiin käyttäjälle. Nykyään tuotteen tai
257
ratkaisun käyttäjä on aikaisempaa suuremmassa roolissa. Käyttäjäkeskeisessä suunnittelussa
on noussut tärkeäksi käyttäjän kokemusten huomioiminen suunnitteluprosessin alkuvaiheessa.
Suunnittelun avulla pyritään löytämään ratkaisuja, jotka ovat käytettävyydeltään hyviä ja toimivia.
Käytettävyydellä (usability) ymmärretään tuotteen toimivuutta.
Käytettävyystutkimus pyrkii löytämään ratkaisuja kuluttajien, tuotteiden käyttäjien tarpeisiin.
Tuotteen käytettävyys puolestaan kertoo sen, kuinka hyvin tuotteen ajatellaan toimivan sille
asetetussa tehtävässä. Tuoteryhmästä riippumatta käytettävyyden arviointi on olennainen osa
tuotekehitystä. Tutkimukset (Coleman 1999; Kwahk & Han 2002; Lindfors 2002; Redström
2006) ovat osoittaneet, että käytettävyys syntyy tuotteen, käyttäjän ja käyttöympäristön
vuorovaikutuksena (Kuva 1). Käytettävyyden analysointi auttaa tuotteen suunnittelijaa tai
suunnittelutiimiä sekä myös itse käyttäjää ymmärtämään käytettävyyden osatekijöitä ja tuo siten
esiin tuotteen kehittelyn kannalta olennaisia asioita.
K äyttäjä
K äytettävyys
Tuote
Y mpär istö
KUVA 1. Käytettävyys käyttäjän, tuotteen ja ympäristön suhteena.
Käytettävyyden arvioinnin tulee olla monipuolista ja kohdentua niihin tarpeisiin ja ongelmiin, joita
uudella tuotteella yritetään ratkaista (Lim and Sato 2006). Tällöin lähtökohtana on korostettava
todellisia käytännössä havaittuja puutteita tai ongelmia, joita tuotteen käyttäjä kohtaa. Tällöin
nousee esille myös se, miten käyttäjä tuotetta tulkitsee, ymmärtää ja miten hän sen käytön kokee.
Käyttäjälähtöisen suunnittelun keskeisin elementti on käyttäjien todellisiin kokemuksiin, tarpeisiin
ja ongelmiin tutustuminen. Koska tuotteen lopullinen käytettävyys rakentuu käyttäjän, tuotteen
ja ympäristön vuorovaikutukselle, uudella ratkaisulla voi olla valmistuttuaan useammanlaista
käyttöä kuin mihin se on alun perin suunniteltu. (Lindfors 2006.) Käyttäjälähtöisen suunnittelun
tulos muuttuu innovaatioksi silloin, kun uudet ja luovat ideat ja ajatukset saavat käytännössä
toimivan kolmiulotteisen muodon ja niiden käytettävyys osoittautuu hyväksi ja toimivaksi.
Koska innovaatio on yhteiskunnassa ja globaalissa maailmassa tavoiteltava menestystekijä,
joudutaan kysymään, kuinka innovaatioita syntyy ja kuinka innovaatiota voitaisiin opettaa. Tässä
artikkelissa tarkastellaan innovaatiota tuotteen suunnittelun ja opettamisen näkökulmasta kahden
tapausesimerkin avulla. Luokanopettajan koulutusohjelmassa opiskelevat opiskelijat sovelsivat
käyttäjälähtöisen suunnittelun ja valmistuksen kokonaistoiminnan mallia (kuva 2) ratkaistessaan
258
lähiympäristössä havaitsemaansa pohjoisessa elämiseen liittyvää kylmässä ilmanalassa
selviytymisen ongelmaa.
2. Käyttäjälähtöisen suunnittelun ja valmistuksen kokonaistoiminnan malli
Vaikka innovaatio talouselämän näkökulmasta kytkeytyy voimakkaasti kaupallisuuteen, kyseessä
on viimekädessä luovan ja keksivän ihmisen tarve selviytyä omassa ympäristössään. Tässä
mielessä kyse on arkielämässä kohdattavien ongelmien ratkaisemisesta mielekkäällä tavalla
(Lindfors 2003). Tällaisessa tilanteessa keksivä ihminen havaitsee ensin ongelman, määrittelee
sen ja etsii lopuksi siihen erilaisia ratkaisuvaihtoehtoja. Keksivä ihminen optimoi ja arvioi
ratkaisuvaihtoehtoja ja päätyy lopulta jonkin ratkaisun toteuttamiseen. Ratkaisun valmistuttua
selviää, miten hyvin se todellisuudessa toimii ja sitä voidaan tarvittaessa edelleen kehittää. Kyse
on siis sellaisten toimintaprosessien kehittymisestä ja vahvistumisesta, jotka auttavat ihmistä
saavuttamaan tavoitteitaan ja sopeutumaan ympäristöön.
Innovaation opettamisessa voidaan katsoa olevan kyse Peltosen (2001) termiä käyttäen sellaisen
kokonaistoiminnan tavoittelemisesta ja ohjaamisesta, jonka aikana opiskelija valmistaa tuotteen
ratkaisuna havaitsemaansa ongelmaan. Samalla hänen kykynsä hallita itse tuottamistapahtumaa
vahvistuu. Silloin, kun ratkaisu syntyy yksittäiskappaleina materiaalia muokkaamalla, puhutaan
kokonaistoiminnasta, joka jakaantuu käsityölliseen suunnitteluja valmistusprosessiin. Tällaisen
suunnitteluja valmistusprosessin alkuvaiheessa ongelman havaitaan ja määritellään. Tekijä tai
tekijäryhmä alkaa etsiä siihen aktiivisesti ratkaisua. Jotta erilaisia ratkaisuvaihtoehtoja voidaan
optimoida, täytyy määritellä ne piirteet ja ominaisuudet, jotka ratkaisun täytyy täyttää. Tuotteelle
täytyy siis suunnitella tehtävä, joka sen tulee täyttää. Samalla määritellään tuotteen aiottu
käyttöympäristö. (Lindfors 2005.)
Sekä lähtökohtana olevaa ongelmaa että mahdollisia ratkaisuvaihtoehtoja on tarkasteltava
suhteessa aiottuun käyttötarkoitukseen, käyttäjään ja ympäristöön, jossa ratkaisun on tarkoitus
toimia ts. sitä on tarkoitus käyttää. Jotta kehiteltävä ratkaisu olisi mahdollisimman optimaalinen,
suunnitteluja valmistusprosessissa tarvitaan kriittistä faktoihin perustuvaa tietoa ja ymmärrystä
materiaaleista, rakenteista ja niiden ominaisuuksista sekä erilaisten työvälineiden ja tekniikkojen
käyttöä materiaalien muokkaamisessa haluttuun muotoon joko prototyyppeinä tai lopullisina
ratkaisuina.
kokeneet tarvitsevansa niitä ja sitä kautta tekeminen olisi ollut motivoivaa.
Islannissa oma-aloitteista ja kekseliästä ratkaisujen löytämisen tärkeyttä korostetaan siinä määrin,
että perusopetuksessa toteutetaan innovaatiokasvatusta (innovation education). Tavoitteena on
auttaa oppilaita löytämään lähiympäristöstään sellaisia ongelmia, joihin he voivat itse keksiä
ratkaisuja. Innovaatiokasvatuksen keskeinen ajatus on, että löytämällä ongelmia ja kehittelemällä
niihin ratkaisuja oppilaat oppivat käyttämään luovuuttaan ja luottamaan omiin kykyihinsä.
Ideoiden kehittelyn ja erilaisten ratkaisujen kokeilun ja työstämisen ajatellaan lisäävän oppilaiden
oma-aloitteisuutta ja rohkeutta. Oppilaiden ajatellaan oppivan toimintaprosessin, jonka avulla he
voivat selviytyä muuttuvissa olosuhteissa tulevaisuudessa. (Lindfors & Thornteinsson 2002.)
Käy ttäjä lähtöisen suunnittelun ja va lmi stuk sen
kok onaist oiminnan mal li
1. Etsi ongelma ja analysoi sen ulottuvuuksia.
2. Suunni ttele erilaisia r atkaisuja etsimällä tietoa käyttäjästä ja
käyttötilanteesta.
3. Testaa ja ve r taile erilaisia ratkaisuja nopeiden prototyyppien avulla.
. Tut ki ja ar vioi erilaisia ratkaisuja ja niiden ominaisuuksia suhteessa
käyttäjään ja käyttöympäristöön.
5. Va litse ratkaisuvaihtoehto ja päätä tuotteelta edellytettävät
ominaisuudet.
6. Testaa erilaisia mater iaaleja ja r akenteita tuotteelta vaadittavien
ominaisuuksien toteuttamiseksi.
7. Suunni ttele tuotteen konkreetti val mistus.
8. Va lmista r atkaisu, suunniteltu tuote.
9. K äytä valmista tuotetta todellisessa käyttötilanteessa.
Käsityön opetus on koulumaailmassa perinteisesti se oppiaine, jossa ratkaistaan konkreetilla tavalla
kolmiulotteiseen esinemaailmaan liittyviä tehtäviä. Monilla aikuisilla on käsityönopetuksesta
negatiivisia muistoja (Lindfors 2007), jotka liittyvät mallinmukaiseen tekemiseen. Käsityön
opetusta voidaankin kritisoida siitä, että tavoitteina olleita käsityön teknisen toteutuksen
materiaalinmuokkaustaitoja on pyritty opettamaan tietyillä tekniikoilla tehtävien tuotteiden
avulla. Tällöin tekijän oman luovuuden hyödyntäminen ja sen edelleen kehittely on jäänyt
vähäiselle huomiolle. Tehtävät tuotteet eivät ole useinkaan olleet sellaisia, että tekijät olisivat
259
10. A r vioi tuotetta kr iittisesti ja esitä jatkokehitysideoita.
Kuva 2. Käyttäjälähtöisen suunnittelun ja valmistuksen kokonaistoiminnan malli
Yhden konkreetin esimerkin ja vaihtoehdon innovatiivisten käyttäjälähtöisten ratkaisujen
suunnittelun ja valmistuksen opettamiselle tarjoaa Lindforsin (2005) hahmottelema käsityön
260
käyttäjälähtöisen suunnittelun ja valmistuksen kokonaistoiminnan malli (kuva 2). Malli toimii
esimerkkinä siitä, miten teoreettista tietoa ja ymmärrystä suunnitellusta ratkaisusta, itse tuotteesta,
voidaan soveltaa käytäntöön suunnitelmallisesti huomioimalla tuotteen käytettävyys käyttäjän,
käyttöympäristön ja tuotteen suhteena. Se antaa konkreetin esimerkin, miten edetä vaihe vaiheelta
ja toteuttaa innovatiivinen todelliseen käyttöön tarkoitettu optimaalisin ominaisuuksin varustettu
tuote. Malli tarjoaa mahdollisuuden myös ymmärtää, millaisia vaiheita opetukseen pitää sisällyttää,
jotta voidaan ohjata innovatiiviseen ratkaisuun pyrkivää suunnitteluja valmistusprosessia
kokonaistoimintana.
3. Nepponen ja lantionlämmitin innovaatioina
Tarkastelun kohteena oleva tapaustutkimus toteutettiin luokanopettajan koulutusohjelman
käsityön didaktisissa opinnoissa kevättalvella 2005. Kyseessä olivat eri oppiaineiden niin sanotut
monialaiset perusopinnot. Näihin opintoihin osallistuvat kaikki opiskelijat, joten kyseessä ei
ollut mitenkään erityisesti tuotteen suunnitteluun ja valmistukseen orientoitunut opiskelijaryhmä.
poskia. Tällöin näissä kasvojen osissa havaittiin epämiellyttäviä kylmyyden tuntemuksia ja jopa
paleltumisvaara. Ongelmaksi siis muodostui se, miten ratkaista kasvojen säilyminen lämpimänä
pyöräiltäessä kovassakin pakkasessa, jolloin ilmavirta lisäsi pakkasen purevuutta.
Opiskelijat tekivät kankaasta ja paperista erilaisia suunnitelmia nepposen eli nenän ja poskien
suojan muodosta sekä rakenteesta ja päätyivät lopulta valmistamaan prototyyppejä neulomalla
ne villalangasta. Tavoitteena oli saada aikaa ratkaisu, jota voitiin käyttää tarpeen vaatiessa
pipon kanssa ja joka olisi helppo ja nopea riisua ja pukea. Alla kuvassa 3 on esimerkit nepposen
toteutuksista. Kasvojen alaosan kokonaan peittävä nepponen valmistettiin neulomalla, joten
neulepinta oli suoraan kasvoja vasten. Nenän ja poskien yläosan suojaavan nepposen neulepinnan
alle kiinnitettiin fleece-kaitale pehmentämään ihokosketusta ja antamaan lisäsuojaa kylmää
ilmavirtaa vastaan.
Tavoitteena oli saada opiskelijat suunnittelemaan ja valmistamaan ratkaisu itse omassa elämässään
kohtaamaansa ongelmaan. Opiskelijat esittelivät ja dokumentoivat tuotteen suunnittelun ja
valmistuksen portfolion avulla. Tämän artikkelin aineistona käytettiin sekä valmiita tuotteita,
jotka olivat itse asiassa ensimmäisen vaiheen prototyyppejä sekä prosessia kuvaavia portfolioita.
Aineistoa tarkasteltiin sisällönanalyysin avulla.
Koska opetuskokonaisuus toteutettiin kevättalvella, aiheeksi otettiin selviytyminen kylmässä
ilmanalassa. Aihealue oli vuodenajasta johtuen sellainen, että jokainen opiskelija kohtasi ainakin
joitakin kylmään liittyviä ongelmia. Opiskelijat muodostivat 3-4 hengen ryhmiä tehtävän
toteuttamista varten. Heidät ohjattiin tekemään havaintoja ja etsimään ongelmia tai kehiteltäviä
kohteita kylmässä ilmassa selviytymiseen liittyen. Opiskelijoiden piti kirjata kylmässä
selviytymiseen liittyviä kysymyksiä paperille jatkotyöstämistä varten.
Opiskelijat saivat kerättyä suuren määrän erilaisia tilanteita, jotka he kokivat tavalla tai toisella
hankaliksi kylmyyden vuoksi. Tällaisia olivat esimerkiksi lapsen hoitoon vieminen aamuisin,
pyörällä liikkuminen, odottaminen ja seisoskelu kylmässä, kännykän akun lyhyt toiminta-aika
jne. Työskentely eteni siten, että opiskelijat kävivät ryhmissä läpi kohtaamiaan ongelmatilanteita
ja löysivät sen pohjalta yhteisen ongelman, johon lähtivät ideoimaan ratkaisua. Seuraavassa
esitellään 2 esimerkkiä innovatiivisesta ratkaisusta itse koettuun ongelmaan.
3.1 Nepponen eli nenän ja poskien suoja
Nepposen innovoineen ryhmän opiskelijat pyöräilivät myös talvella. Tällöin ongelmaksi
osoittautui nenän ja poskien paleltumisvaara. Kun opiskelijat pyöräilivät yli - 10 asteen
pakkasessa kasvoihin kohdistui ilmavirta, joka kylmensi kasvojen ulompia osia, kuten nenää ja
261
KUVA 3. Kaksi erilaista versiota nepposesta eli nenän ja poskien pyöräilysuojasta.
Kun nepposet oli valmistettu, prosessiin kuului näiden valmistettujen prototyyppien testaus
aidossa käyttötilanteessa. Opiskelijat siis pyöräilivät nepposet kasvoilla ja kirjasivat ylös
käyttökokemuksiaan.
Käytössä osoittautui (kuva 4), että nenän eritteet ja pakkasella hengityksestä vapautuva kosteus
tiivistyivät nepposeen. Tämä oli asia, jota ei suunniteltaessa osattu ottaa huomioon. Prototyypin
käyttö siis osoitti, että tuotteen materiaalin tuli olla helposti puhdistuvaa. Samoin ilmeni, että
jos villalangasta valmistettu neulepinta oli suoraan ihoa vasten, se aiheutti epämukavuuden
tuntemusta.
Käytön perusteella laadittiin lista niistä asioista, jotka kuvasivat tuotteen käytettävyyttä
aidossa käyttötilanteessa. Tämän perusteella voitiin arvioida niitä ominaisuuksia, joita jatkossa
pitäisi kehittää. Tällaisia olivat mm. tuotteen puettavuus ja käyttömukavuuden osa-alueella
erityisesti tuntu sekä hoidettavuus (ks. Lindfors 2002). Opintojen laajuus ei kuitenkaan antanut
mahdollisuuksia uuden nepposen valmistamiseen saatujen käyttökokemusten perusteella. Siten
nepponen jäi ensimmäisen vaiheen prototyyppiasteelle.
262
KUVA 5. Lantionlämmitin
KUVA 4. Nepposen suunnitteluja valmistusprosessin kuvaus.
4. Kuinka innovaatiota voidaan opettaa?
3.2Lantionlämmitin
Yhden ryhmän muodostivat opiskelijat, jotka kokivat lantiolla epämiellyttäviä kylmän tuntemuksia
odottaessaan esim. pysäkillä linja-autoa. Tämä oli pitkälti seurausta vuonna 2005 vallalla olleesta
muodista. Naisten paidoissa ja topeissa, erityisesti nuorisovaatteissa oli vallalla lyhythelmaisuus
samalla, kun housut olivat niin sanottuja lantiohousuja. Tästä seurasi, että vaatetuksen yläosa
riitti juuri ja juuri siihen kohtaan, josta lantiomalliset housut alkoivat.
Tämän ryhmän opiskelijat suunnittelivat ja valmistivat lantionlämmittimiä ratkaistakseen
palelemisongelmansa (kuva 5). Ratkaisu muodostui yhdestä tai kahdesta suorakaiteen muotoisesta
neulotusta kappaleesta, jotka liitettiin toisiinsa saumalla tai nauhoilla. Ratkaisu oli tarkoitettu
käytettäväksi tarpeen vaatiessa, joten sitä saattoi kuljettaa esim. laukussa muiden tavaroiden
mukana.
Käyttökokemusten analyysi osoitti, että lantionlämmitin osoittautui melko toimivaksi ratkaisuksi.
Koska se puettiin muiden vaatteiden päälle, villalanka ei aiheuttanut ärsytysoireita. Opiskelijat
huomasivat, että tuote ratkaisi myös luentosalissa palelemisen ongelman. Vaikka tuote
suunniteltiin alun perin ulkokäyttöön, osoittautui, että sitä voitiin käyttää aina kylmäntuntemusten
ilmaantuessa. Edelleen kehiteltävän ongelman muodosti lantionlämmittimen puettavuus. Jotta
tuotteella olisi pitkäikäistä käyttöä, se pitäisi voida pukea nopeasti ja helposti. Ensimmäisen
vaiheen prototyyppiä joutui asettelemaan ja venyttelemään, jotta se tuntui osuvan kohdalleen ja
oli miellyttävä käyttää.
263
Tässä artikkelissa tarkastelun kohteena on sellaisen innovatiivisen tuotteen suunnitteluja
valmistus, jonka tekijä on myös ratkaisun käyttäjä. Kysymyksessä oli ongelma, johon opiskelijoilla
ei ollut olemassa valmista tuotetta eikä sellaista ollut vielä edes markkinoillakaan saatavissa.
Uuden kehittely ja kokeilu sekä prototyyppiratkaisun testaaminen todellisessa tilanteessa
oli opiskelijoista hauskaa ja palkitsevaa. Sen sijaan, että tehtävä olisi ollut ulkoapäin annettu,
opiskelijoille syntyi omakohtainen, todellinen tarve ratkaista kohtaamansa ongelma.
Esitellyt tapaukset kuvaavat sitä, miten opiskelijat etsivät ongelmaa omien kokemustensa
kautta. He kokivat tuotteen suunnittelun ja valmistuksen mielekkäänä, sillä he saivat ratkaista
omassa elämässään kohtaamaansa todellista ongelmaa. Koska ongelmat liittyivät opiskelijoiden
jokapäiväiseen elämään, he pystyivät erittelemään yhteistä ongelmaa omakohtaisesti ja löytämään
siihen ratkaisun sekä arvioimaan ratkaisun käytettävyyttä todellisessa käyttötilanteessa.
Neponen ja lantionlämmitin syntyivät opiskelijoiden yhteistyön tuloksena, jolloin opiskelijoiden
ryhmätyöskentelyn myötä syntyi yhteisesti kehitelty avoin innovaatio
Esitellyt tapaukset kuvaavat sitä, miten innovaatio on sidoksissa aikaan ja paikkaan.
Lantionlämmitin oli opiskelijalle tarpeellinen erityisen muodin valta-aikana. Nepponen sen
sijaan olisi todennäköisesti tuote, jota voitaisiin kehitellä pidemmälle. Se voisi löytää laajan
käyttöalueen ulkona työskentelevien, retkeilijöiden ja laskettelijoiden keskuudesta.
Opettamisen näkökulmasta tarkasteltuna käyttäjälähtöisen suunnittelun ja valmistuksen
kokonaistoiminnan malli (kuva 2) esitteli selkeät ja konkreetit vaiheet, joiden perusteella
opiskelijoiden toimintaa voitiin ohjata ongelman etsimisestä kohti sen ratkaisemista.
Tapausesimerkkien valossa näyttäisikin siltä, että mallin avulla voitaisiin ohjata opiskelijoita
etenemään vaiheesta toiseen toimivan ratkaisun löytämiseksi. Esimerkit osoittivat, että
opiskelijoiden ohjaaminen ongelman analysointiiin suhteessa ratkaisun käyttäjään, aiottuun
264
käyttöön ja käyttöympäristöön helpotti konkreetin työskentelyn aloittamista. Esimerkkien valossa
näyttäisi myös siltä, että aktiivinen omassa elämässä kohdattujen ongelmien huomaaminen auttoi
innovatiivisen työskentelyn alkuun. Kun ongelma oli löytynyt ja yhteisesti määritelty, sitä voitiin
eritellä omien kokemusten valossa. Näin se tarjosi selkeän lähtökohdan ratkaisun kehittelylle ja
prototyyppien testaamiselle. Ongelman määrittely ja ratkaisuehdotusten konkreetti koettelu auttoi
opiskelijoita kehittelemään innovatiivisia ratkaisuja ja arvioimaan niiden toimivuutta. Tuotteen
käytettävyyden arviointi todellisessa tilanteessa antoi opiskelijoille konkreettia palautetta siitä,
mitä tekijöitä erityisesti ratkaisussa tulee korostaa. Tapausesimerkkien valossa näyttäisi siis
siltä, että käyttäjälähtöisen suunnittelun ja valmistuksen kokonaistoiminnan malli tarjoaa yhden
esimerkin innovatiivisen prosessin toteuttamiseksi ja näin auttaa opettamaan innovaatiota.
kuinka nopeasti ideointivaiheesta siirrytään konkreettiin ratkaisun valmistamiseen ts. materiaalin
muokkaamisen. Erilaisten heurististen tekniikoiden käyttö tuotteen käytettävyyttä suunniteltaessa
auttaa opiskelijoita todennäköisesti tarkastelemaan kehiteltävää ratkaisua esiteltyjä esimerkkejä
syvällisemmin ja monipuolisemmin.
Nepponen ja lantionlämmitin edustavat käyttäjälähtöisen suunnittelun opetuksen tuloksena
syntyneitä innovatiivisia ratkaisuja. Innovaation synnyttävässä prosessissa on keskeistä
lähtökohtana todellinen ongelma, jota on mahdollista tarkastella monesta näkökulmasta ja eritellä
erilaisten mahdollisten ratkaisujen suhteen. Omakohtaista ongelmaa on mahdollista eritellä
omien kokemusten avulla. Mikäli ongelma on sellainen, että siitä ei ole omia kokemuksia, voi
ongelmaa eritellä mahdollisen tulevan käyttäjäryhmää haastattelemalla ja seuraamalla mahdollisia
käyttäjiä todellisessa tilanteessa. Ongelmasta saatu informaatio auttaa ratkaisun kehittelijöitä
hahmottamaan todellista käyttäjää ja käyttöympäristöä siten, että innovatiiviseen lopputulokseen
pyrkivän käyttäjälähtöisen suunnittelun ja valmistuksen kokonaistoiminnan mallia seuraamalla
ratkaisua kehitellään mahdollisimman hyvän käytettävyyden saavuttamiseksi.
Coleman, R. 1999. Inclusive Design – Design for All. In W. Green & P. Jordan (ed.)Human
Factors in Product Design. Current Practice and Future Trends. USA: Taylor & Francis Group,
159–170.
Innovaation ja käyttäjälähtöisen suunnittelun problematiikka antaa ajattelemisen aihetta myös
perusopetuksen käsityön kehittämistä ajatellen. Käyttäjälähtöisen suunnittelun ja valmistuksen
kokonaistoiminnan malli tarjoaa mahdollisuuden oppia arvioimaan tuotteita kriittisesti ja
samalla mahdollisuuden ymmärtää millainen tehtävä tietyllä tuotteella on ja millainen tuote
voisi olla suhteessa sille aiottuun tehtävään. Yleensä tuotteen suunnitteluja valmistusprosessi
päättyy tuotteen valmistumiseen. Käyttäjälähtöisessä suunnittelussa prosessi jatkuu vielä
tuotteen testaamisella ja sen arvioimisella täyttääkö tuote sille asetetun tehtävän. Mikäli tuote on
käytettävyydeltään hyvä, sillä on edellytykset tulla arvioiduksi innovatiiviseksi ratkaisuksi.
Tämän artikkelin ja esimerkkitapausten valossa näyttää siltä, että opetuksessa voidaan tukea
innovaatiota synnyttäviä suunnitteluja valmistusprosesseja ottamalla suunnittelun lähtökohdaksi
konkreetti olemassa oleva ongelma, jota voidaan eritellä ja, josta voidaan tehdä havaintoja
ratkaisun kehittämisen pohjaksi. Toinen keskeinen tekijä näyttäisi olevan ryhmässä tapahtuva
toiminta. Todellinen ongelma antaa opiskelijoille mahdollisuuden kehitellä ratkaisua yhdessä.
Käytännössä tapahtuva käytettävyyden arviointi antaa selkeää palautetta siitä, mihin suuntaan
ratkaisua pitää kehittää.
Jatkokehittelyn kannalta haasteellisen kysymyksen muodostaa sekä ongelman määrittely että
ratkaisun käytettävyyden arviointi. Opetuksellisesti näihin vaiheisiin liittyy kysymys siitä,
265
Lähteet:
Chesbrough, H. 2003. Open Innovation: The New Imperative for Creating and Profiting from
Technology. Harvard Business School Press.
Kwahk, J. & Han, S. 2002. A methodology for evaluating the usability of audiovisual
consumer electronic products. Applied Ergonimics 33, 419–431.
Lim, Y.-K. & Sato, K. 2006. Describing multiple aspects of use situation: applicantions
of Design Information Framework (DIF) to scenario development. Design Studies 27, 57–76.
Lindfors, E. 2007. Sloyd in education – Student teacher perspective. Teoksessa M.
Johansson & M. Porko-Hudd (toim.) Knowledge, Qualities and sloyd. Research in Sloyd and
Crafts Science. Techne Series. A:10/2007, 53-73.
Lindfors, E. 2006. Novice Designer Perspective to Usability Evaluation. Teoksessa A-L. Rauma,
S. Pöllänen & P. Seitamaa-Hakkarainen (toim.) Human perspectives on Sustainable Future.
Research Reports of the Faculty of Education. University of Joensuu, 152-161.
Lindfors, E. 2005. En teknologisk produkt i pedagogisk slöjd (A Technological product
in pedagogical craft and design) . Teoksessa S. Kullas & M-L. Pelkonen, (toim.) the relationship
of Nordic handicraft studies to product development and technology. Techne Series. Research in
Sloyd Education and Crafts Science B:14/2005, 239–250.
Lindfors, E. 2003. Product evaluation in pedagogical context. In C. Benson, M. Martin
& W. Till (toim.) Fourth International Primary Design and Technology Conference. Designing
the Future. Faculty of Education. University of Central England, Birmingham, 109-111.
Lindfors, E. 2002. Tekstiilituotteen teknologiset ominaisuudet. Tekstiilituotteen
yliopisto. Kasvatustieteellisiä julkaisuja n:o 77.
Joensuun
266
Lindfors, E. & Thorsteinsson, G. 2002. Sloyd, Innovation and the Future. Teoksessa Jostein
Sandven (toim.) Sloyden - Idealet om ett bra liv? Techne Serien. Forskning i slöjdpedagogik och
slöjdvetenskap B:11/2002, 9-19.
Redström, J. 2006. Towards user design? On the shift from object to user a the subject of
design. Design Studies 27, 123–139.
Rogers, E. M. 2003. Diffusion of Innovations. 5. edition. Free Press: New York.
Tilastokeskus 2006. Innovaation käsite. (http://www.stat.fi/meta/kas/innovaatio.html). Luettu
30.10.2007
Kompleksisuus luovan johtamisen paradigmana
–muotoilun prosessit mahdollisena
komponenttina
luovuutta tukevaan johtamiseen
Tarja Toikka, researcher
University of Art and Design
+358407723405 , [email protected]
ABSTRACT
Creativity is seen as a driver of the new economy. Innovations occur in the multidisiplined
teams on the edges and overlapping areas of the different competencies. Creativity is an
indispensable precondition for the innovations. (Wallas), therefore leading creativity or
as we call it, creativie leadership is a necessary for human resource managers of any
fields in today’s business life. The innovation environment theorists write enthusiastically
about the intellectual capabilities that multi-culturality brings along. But they don’t face
the practical challenges of the grass root level.
Chaotic looking innovation process has been made more easily perceivable. For example in
the Lindell’s stage model innovation is seen as a linear series of stages. (Lindell 1991) But in
the knowledge economy social innovations and the role of different user groups is increased.
The innovation processes are often “fuzzy” in the beginning and therefore the simplified
model does not make the process necessarily more feasible. The iterative way of human
thinking requires also different concepts of building the cognitive models.
The paradigm of the work is changing in the knowledge economy. Instead of carrying
out solutions the expert work consists of interaction and problem specification in the
complex social networks. There is a severe lack of leading and management skills in expert
organizations. Creative processes are so badly managed, that the personnel suffer from
burn out, and their brains and self esteem is threatened. There is a constant lack of time.
(Mertanen).
267
268
Creativity adds the experience of complexity in the organizations. Creative persons have a
strong affection towards what they do. They have inner motivation and need to participate
something bigger than oneself. This paper concerns leading and maintaining or enabling
creativity and suggests that allowing complexity instead of simplifying the problems could
be beneficial. This paper provides several different viewpoints to support this proposition.
Beside the above mentioned innovation and network economy, I’ll deal with some cognitive
theories concerning creativity and introduce design process model that perhaps could be
applied as practical solutions to other fields as well.
Artikkelini liittyy vv.2007-2008 käynnissä olevaan Creative Leadership-hankkeeseen.
Siinä monitieteinen tutkijajoukko kehittää yhdessä luovuutta ja luovaa työnotetta tukevia
johtamis-käytäntöjä ja malleja. Syntyvää uutta tietoa käytetään maisterikoulutuksessa ja
täydennyskoulutuksessa sekä monialaisen tutkimuksen kehittämisessä. Oma näkökulmani
aiheeseen on design-tutkimus. Esitän teoriataustaa sille, miten design-tutkimus liittyy luovuuden
tutkimukseen ja johtamiseen. Design-prosesseilla saattaa olla annettavaa luovuuden johtamiseen.
Luovuuden teoria, erityisesti luovien ihmisten motivoituminen sisäisesti ja design-prosesseista
muissa yhteyksissä saatu kokemus antaa viitteitä tähän suuntaan. Tutkimukseni jatkuu
keväästä 2008 alkaen yritysten ja yhteisöjen kanssa järjestettävissä työpajoissa tapahtuvana
toimintatutkimuksena. Luovuus on jossain määrin hallitsematon ilmiö. Hallitsemattomuus
ei ole kielteinen asia vaan seurausta dynaamisesta tietämysympäristöstä ja ihmisten sisäisestä
motivaatiosta. Dynaaminen tietämysympäristö perustuu tiedon spontaaniselle jakamiselle. (Ståhle
1999) Luovat ihmiset ovat halukkaita siirtämään osaamistaan kontekstista toiseen. Tällainen
on mahdollista dynaamisen tietämysympäristön yrityksissä. Luovuus on välttämätön ehto
innovatiivisuudelle. Kun tavoitellaan innovaatiokyvykkyyttä, johtamisen tulisi tukea luovuutta.
Perinteinen johtamisen keskeinen tavoite on ollut eliminoida yrityksistä hallitsemattomia
komponentteja, virtaviivaistaa prosesseja selkeyden ja tehokkuuden nimissä. Näin menetellen
syntyy riski, että kyky innovoida katoaa. Kompleksisuutta tulisi oppia sietämään. Koska designprosessiin kuuluu olennaisesti erilaisten näkökulmien, materiaali-, tuotantoteknologia-, tilaaja-ja
loppukyttäjänäkökulma, ottaminen prosessiin, design-tutkimus ja design-prosessit voivat tarjota
menetelmiä kompleksisuuden hallitsemiseen ja sen käyttämiseen innovoinnissa.
Luovuus on kognitiivinen ominaisuus ja koska elämme tietämystaloudessa, johtamisen
näkökulma tässä kirjoituksessa on tietämyksenhallinta. Yksilön suhde tiedon saantiin määrittelee
ammatissa toimimisen rajat. Organisaatiot ovat keskenään erilaisia suhteessa tiedon välittämiseen.
Yrityksen tietämyshallinnan kuvaamiseen voidaan käyttää kolmijakoa: mekaaninen, orgaaninen
ja dynaaminen. (Ståhle 1999)
Design tarkoittaa periteisesti tuotteen tai artefaktin suunnittelua, erityisesti sen ulkoasun
muotoilua. Nykydesign käsittää myös itse kehittämisprosessin ja kattaa tuotteen käyttökontekstin
suunnittelun. Design-prosessi on siis varsin kompleksinen. Käyttökonteksti liittyy kiinteästi
tuote-tai palveluimagoon ja identiteettiin. Imago on tuotteesta vallalla oleva mielipide halutussa
269
kohderyhmässä. Identiteetti on tuotteen ilmiasu, johon kuuluvat esimerkiksi logo eli virallinen
kirjoitusasu, tuotemerkki, pakkaus, värit, kuvitus ja muu visuaalisuus sekä puhuttelutyyli. Muotoilun
prosesseja on käsitteellistetty ja mallinnettu innokkaasti1990-luvulla. Muotoiluosaaminen ei
ole enää muotoilijan kokemusperäistä osaamista. 1950-luvun tähtimuotoilijoista on siirrytty
monialaisiin tiimeihin. TEKES rahoitti vuosina 2002-2005 MUOTO 2005 - Teollisen muotoilun
teknologiaohjelmaa. Ohjelman kokonaisbudjetti oli 27 miljoonaa euroa. Ohjelman tavoitteena
oli tehdä muotoilusta merkittävä osa kansallista kilpailukykyä kehittämällä muotoilun
tutkimuksen tasoa ja muotoilun osaamisen hyödyntämistä yritysten tuotekehityksessä ja
liiketoimintastrategiassa. (TEKES 2005)
Opiskelin Taideteollisessa Korkeakoulussa 1980-luvulla. Tuolloin design-tutkimusta
oppilaitoksessa vasta aloiteltiin. Lopputyötäni 90-luvun alussa ohjasi koulun ensimmäinen
tohtoriksi väittelevä Päivi Hovi. Design-tutkimus on kovin nuori ala, mutta kiristyvässä globaalissa
kilpailussa design nähdään keskeisenä kilpailutekijänä, siksi aiheeseen panostetaan. Design
teonsanana tarkoittaa järjestelmällistä, suunniteltua ja refleksiivistä (omaa toimintaa tarkastelevaa)
ajan ja tilan hallintaa jonkin hankkeen toteuttamiseksi. (Raike). Suunnittelumenetelmien hallinta
on tärkeä osa design-osaamista. Design-suunnittelumnenetelmien kehittäminen on ollut 1990luvulla aktiivista. Erityisesti käyttäjälähtöiset menetelmät ovat tulleet käytettävyystutkimuksen
ja käyttäjätiedon keruun menetelmien vanavedessä suunnittelijoiden kyvyksi.Käyttäjälähtöisyys
(user centeredness) on kehittynyt käytettävyys-ja käyttäjätutkimuksesta. Design-tutkimus on
useimmiten soveltavaa tutkimusta. Sitä tehdään tuotteen tai palvelun luomiseksi tai olemassolevan
kehittämiseksi tai johonkin toiseen viitekehykseen, kuten tässä johtamiseen ja esimiestyöhön.
Kompleksisuutta tulisi oppia sietämään ja ihmisellä näyttäisi olevan kyky sopeutua
kompleksisuuteen. Yleisen käsityksen mukaan ihminen tulee yhä mukavuudenhaluisemmaksi
ja laiskistuu henkisesti. Uskotaan, että media turruttaa ja tylsistyttää. Päinvastaista tietoakin
on alkanut esiintyä. Steven Johnsonin mukaan ihminen sopeutuu yhä kompleksisemmaksi
käyvään ympäristöön. Esim. TV-sarjojen juonet ja verkkopelit ovat kehittyneet aikaisempaa
monimutkaisemmiksi. Asian huomaa helposti itsekin, kun seuraa esimerkiksi 1980-luvulla tehtyjä
TV-ohjelmia. Massakulttuuri ei tee ihmistä tyhmemmäksi, kuten on luultu, vaan sen uudet muodot
ovat älyllisiä ja hienostuneita. TV:n katsojien kyky käsitellä samanaikaisesti useiden eri hahmojen
hyvinkin vaihtelevia motiiveja ja tekemisiä on kasvanut. (Johnson). Elokuvien “pahikset” eivät
ole enää tummatukkaisia sänkileukoja vaan hyvinkin hienostuneita ja moniulotteisia hahmoja.
Ihmisellä on kyky ja halu kehittyä kompleksisemmaksi. Johtamisessa tai esimiestyössä tämä
tarkoittaa sitä, että osaamisen ja haasteiden on hyvä kasvaa, jotta ihmisen motivaatio työhön säilyy.
Aistinautinto ilman ponnistelua tai päihteiden tuottama kemiallinen simulaatio voivat tuottaa
mielihyvää. Mutta tarkkaavaisuuden täydellinen suuntaaminen ja huomion kiinnittäinen johonkin
tuottaa iloa. (Csikszentmihalyi s.79) Ilo on palkinto, joka motivoi ihmisen harjoittelemaan taitoja.
Ihminen on ainoa eläin, joka säilyttää leikkisyytensä koko eliniän. Kaikki eläinlapset telmivät
ja painivat pentuina. Mutta tämä taipumus katoaa eläimen vartuttua aikuiseksi. Kognitiotiede
esittää, että ihmisen elämän mittainen leikkisyys johtuu aivojemme tarpeesta saada jatkuvasti
270
stimulaatiota, joka verestää hermosolujen välisiä kytköksiä. (Milekic 2007) Leikki tuottaa myös
paljon iloa.
Luovan asiantuntijan keskeisiä ominaisuuksia ovat moniosaaminen ja oppimisen taidot.
(Työterveyslaitos) Ihmisten oma kokemus työstään ei vastaa yksinkertaistusta, ei myöskään
asiantuntijatyöstä tehty tutkimus. Asiantuntijuus koostuu ympäristön monimutkaisuuden
ymmärryksestä ja tämän monimutkaisuuden hallinnan osaamisesta. Älykkäässä ja muutoksiin
valmiissa organisaatioissa visiot ja strategiat elävät ja muuttuvat. Tilanteen mukaan elämisestä
löydetään ennustettavuus ja jatkuvuus. Se muokkaa toimintamalleja. Todellinen asiantuntijaorganisaatio toteutetaan työntekijöiden keskinäisessä vuorovaikutuksessa. Yksilö kantaa vastuuta
organisaation toiminnasta ja sen ehtojen jatkuvasta määrittämisestä. (Työterveyslaitos)
Perinteisesti asiantuntija-ammatteina pidetään lääkäreitä, lakimiehiä, opettaja psykologeja,
arkkitehteja. Tietoyhteiskunnan asiantuntijanimikkeitä ovat: suunnittelija, kehittäjä, kehitysjohtaja,
konsultti. Asiantuntijaksi ei tulla teoreettisen koulutuksen kautta, vaan työskentelemällä
asiantuntijana ja olemalla vuorovaikutuksessa kollegojen kanssa. Asiantuntija-työssä sovelletaan
teoriatiedon lisäksi tilanteeseen liittyvää sekä kokemuspohjaista, hiljaista tietoa. Luovia ihmisiä ajaa sisäinen motivaatio ja tarve osallistua “itseä suurempaan”. Psykologit
käyttävät termiä integraatio, joka tarkoittaa liittymistä muihin ihmisiin ja itsen ulkopuolella
oleviin kokonaisuuksiin. Toisaalta luova yksilö tavoittelee myös ainutlaatuisuutta ja haluaa
erottautua muista. (Csikszentmihalyi 2005) Luova prosessi on ennustamaton, koska siinä
käytetään intuitiota ja hiljaista, kokemusperäistä tietoa. Luovuuteen liittyy keskeisesti kaksi
ilmiötä: tietoisuuden epäjärjestys, entropia ja tietoisuuden järjestys eli flow. Entropian vallassa
emme kykene toimimaan, meitä estää pelko, tuska, levottomuus tai vaikkapa mustasukkaisuus.
Jokin kielteinen tunne tai asia vie huomiomme ja estää meitä toteuttamasta aikomuksiamme.
Flow on entropian vastakohta, optimaalinen kokemus, jossa psyykkinen energiamme virtaa ilman
ponnistelua. Luova ihminen tavoittelee tätä miellyttävää kellumisen flow-tilaa. Ihminen tuntee
olevansa yhtä tekemisensä kanssa. Häneltä katoaa ajan ja paikan taju.
Flow-tilan voi saavuttaa vain silloin, kun työn vaativuus ja omat kyvyt ovat tasapainossa. Jos työ
on kykyihin nähden vaikeaa, ihminen turhautuu. Jos tehtävät ovat liian yksinkertaisia kykyihin
nähden, niin ihminen pitkästyy. Luova ihminen pyrkii tasapainottamaan omaa tilannettaan ja
varmistmaan pääsynsä flow-tilaan. Luova ihminen joko kehittää työtään vaativammaksi tai hankkii
uutta osaamista tarpeen mukaan. Vaikka luovuus ja jopa sen äärimmäinen ilmenemistapa flow,
uppoaminen, tekemisen kanssa yhteensulautuminen on toivottavaa ja positiivista, niin luovuus
organisaatiossa ei aina olekaan tervetullutta. Luovuuden tielle kasataan esteitä. Näin tapahtuu
osittain siksi, ettei organisaatiossa ole käsitelty tai ymmärretty luovuutta strategisena tekijänä,
osittain siksi ettei luovuuden käyttöön ole menetelmäosaamista. Luovuutta myös mystifioidaan
ja se liitetään aivan turhaan pelkästään taiteelliseen toimintaan. Innovaatioita ei voida synnyttää
loogisella päättelyllä. Innovaatio ei synny konsensuksessa.
271
Luovalla yksilöllä on kyky keksiä ja ratkaista ongelmia. Luovaan toimintaan liittyy kyky ratkaista
ongelmia siirtämällä tilanteeseen toisaalla opittua tai aiemmin toiseen kontekstiin kytkeytynyttä
osaamista. Tämä aiheuttaa helposti ristiriitoja, jos yrityksen toimintakulttuuri ei salli totutusta
poikkeavien toimintatapojen käyttöä. Luovat ongelmanratkaisijat ymmärtävät, että oppimiseen
kuuluvat luonnostaan erehdykset, takaiskut. Tämä näkemys auttaa toimimaan tuntemattomissa
tilanteissa. Erehdyksien ja takaiskutjen saaminen hyödylliseksi oppimiseksi edellyttää suurta
sallivuutta, ei syntipukkien nimeämistä.
”Älykkyyden määrittely on vaikeaa, eikä edes erityisen tärkeää. Kyseessä on
universaali ominaisuus, johon kuuluu nokkeluus oivaltaa, kyky poimia oleellinen, nähdä
asioiden yllättävätkin yhteydet ja kyky kysyä, kun ei ymmärrä”, miettii matematiikan professori
Juhani Karhumäki.”
(Kuokkanen)
Luova yksilö kykenee keskittämään huomionsa ongelman ratkaisuun pitkiä aikoja. Pitkittyneeseen
prosessiin sitoutumista tukee sisäinen motivaatio. Toiminnan tulosten merkityksellisyys synnyttää
motivation. Luova ihminen ei ole “innovaatiotehdas”, joka tuottaa ideoita konemaisen nopeasti
ja tehokkaasti. Esimerkiksi yliopistojen luovimmat tutkijat kiintyvät ongelmiinsa. (Ruth 1984).
Tutkimusten valmistuminen tulosten julkaisu ajallaan saattaa olla heille toisarvoista. Luovan
työnotteen johtamisen tulee kehittää malleja myös hautumisvaiheen mahdollistamiseen osana
prosessia.
Luova organisaatio
Innovaatioiden sanotaan olevan talouden keskeinen ajuri. Innovaatoita ei voi syntyä ilman
luovuutta. Luovuus on toimintaa, joka muuttaa olemassaolevaa alaa (domain) tai muuttaa
sen kokonaan uudenlaiseksi. (Csiksentmihalyi). Normaalisti toimiala antaa luovalle
ongelmanratkaisulle ehdot. Alojen rajapinnoilla on sijaa luovuudelle ja siellä uudet reunaehdot
syntyvät konfliktien kautta. Mietitään vaikkapa uusien tieteenalojen syntyä. Vakiintuneet
tieteenalat vastustavat usein raivokkaasti uusia tulokkaita, kunnes tiedon tarve voittaa.
Organisaation luovuus lisää kompleksisuutta monesta syystä. Organisaatiossa voi olla tapana
keskittyä ongelmien ratkaisuun. Mutta luovat ihmiset havaitsevat, jopa hakevat käsiinsä ja
kehittävät jatkuvasti uusia ongelmia kehittääkseen osaamistaan, oppiakseen. Luovalle persoonalle
on ominaista tutkia asioita oman tietämyspiirin ulkopuolella. He eivät vain hae vastauksia
esitettyihin kysymyksiin, vaan aktiivisesti etsivät uusia. Tämä voi johtaa konflikteihin. Flown
saavuttaminen edellyttää, että tehtävien haasteellisuus ja tekijän osaamistaso ovat tasapainossa.
Turhautumista tai pitkästymistä estääkseen luova ihminen hakee lisähaasteita, kun kykyjä on yli
tarpeen. Tai hän etsii oppimismahdollisuuksia, kun tutut ja turvalliset kuviot alkavat pitkästyttää.
272
Luovuuteen liittyy monesti kyky hahmottaa asioiden välisiä yhteyksiä, joten luovat henkilöt tuovat
organisaatioon helposti myös “naapurin ongelmat”. He kokeilevat omia rajojaan. He laajentavat
ja kokeilevat toimialojen ja viitekehysten rajoja. He “keikuttava venettä” . He pyrkivät pois
passivoivasta konsensuksen tilasta. Kukin toimiala ja yhteisö tunnistaa luovuutta omalla tavallaan.
Akateemisessa kontekstissa yliopistojen professorit ja tutkijat ovat keskeisiä henkilöitä arvottamaan
luovuutta. Käyttäjät arvioivat tuotteita ja vertaiset sosiaalisia suhteita. Slavko Milekicin mukaan
emme pysty määrittelemään luovuutta, mutta tunnistamme sen kyllä, kanssaihmisten toimintaa
havainnoidessamme. Johtajan tai esimiehen tulee harjaannuttaa kykyjään tunnistaa luovuutta.
Yritysten tavoitteena on tuottaa innovaatioita. Innovatiivisuus edellyttää kaaosta. Pieni
epäjärjestys ei innovaatioon riitä. (Ståhle 1999). Ståhlen mukaan innovointia auttaa luova
ahdistus. Se puolestaan saadaan aikaan sillä tavalla, että tietoa tuotetaan paljon ja samalla pidetään
avoimena, mitä siitä tullaan hyödyntämään ja mitä ei. Innovoiva yritys kykenee tuottamaan,
säilyttämään ja poistamaan entropiaa eli luovaa ahdistusta hallitusti. Entropia on luovuuden lähde
ja epävarmuuden mittari. Itseään jatkuvasti uudistava organisaatio kykenee viipymään riittävän
kauan kaoottisessa, tasapainottomassa hämmennyksen ja epävarmuuden tilassa. Kyvykkäässä
organisaatiossa ymmärretään, milloin on tarve lisätä entropiaa ja milloin vähentää sitä. (Ståhle)
Monet ihmisetkin osaavat soveltaa tätä ajatusta. He saattavat itsensä “ajolähtötilanteeseen”,
esimerkiksi tarttuvat toimeen viime hetkellä ennen määräaikaa. Silloin entropia auttaa heitä.
Viivyttelyyn on kyllä toinenkin selitys kuin tarve kokea entropiaa. Luovuus vaatii myös
hautumisvaiheen eli inkubaation. Ehkä luovuuden ylläpitämiseen riittävät kevyemmätkin
keinot. Erilaiset ideat, leikinomaisuus, rakentavat väittelyt ja hedelmälliset konfliktit kirvoittavat
luovuutta. (Uusikylä 2000) Luovassa johtamisessa on sallittava näennäisesti tuottamaton porina,
koska se ylläpitää luovuuden tärkeää edellytystä, tiedon virtaamista ja antaa aikaa ideoitten hautua.
Hautumista ja epävarmuutta sisältävä luovuus ja tulosvastuu vaikuttavat ristiriitaisilta asioilta,
mutta niiden yhdistäminen on välttämätöntä. On tunnistettava luovuudelle luonteva paikka, samoin
kohta, jossa tiukka järjestelmällisyys tuottaa tarkoituksenmukaisumman tuloksen. Organisaatiossa
olisi hyvä esiintyä mekaanisia, orgaanisia ja dynaamisia tiedon jakamisen järjestelmiä, jotka
tulevat mukaan prosessin eri vaiheissa. Luovuus on voimakkaimmillaan dynaamisessa osassa,
mutta tuotanto, jakelu ja hallinto on hyvä hoitaa mekaanisen järjestelmän avulla.
Mekaanisessa toimintajärjestelmässä pyritään mahdollisimman yksiselitteisiin, ennalta
määriteltyihin tulkintoihin. Mekaanista toimintaympäristöä hallitaan yhtenäisen tiedon ja
määriteltyjen vaikutussuhteiden avulla.
ympäristön tunnusmerkit:
tunnusmerkit:
Mekaaninen
Orgaaninen
dynaaminen
Tavoite
Hallittavuus, pysyvyys
Hallittu kehitys
Tieto
Täsmällistä, määriteltyä
Kokemusperäistä, piilevää
Vaikutussuhteet
Aseman perusteella
Vastavuoroisia,
konsensukseen pyrkiviä
Jatkuva innovointi
Intuitiivista,
potentiaalista
Spontaaneja,
verkostomaisia
Tiedon virta
yksisuuntainen
edestalkainen
Kaoottinen
Hallinnan väline
Johdon määräykset ja
ohjeet
Dialogi, sovitut
toimintamallit, itsearviointi
verkostovalmiudet
Dynaaminen toimintaympäristö on globaali ja täynnä mahdollisuuksia. Siinä kohdataan
ennakoimattomuutta. Toimintaympäristössä pyritään hylkäämään mahdollisimman paljon vanhoja
ajattelumalleja ja tekemään tilaa intuitiolle uuden luomisen prosessissa. Kaikenlaista tietoa pitää
olla paljon. Toimitaan avoimessa tiedon kentässä. Uusi tieto ei synny ihmiselle tyhjästä vaan se
perustuu hänen alitajuiseen tietovarastoonsa. Intuitio on tärkeä tiedon muoto, kun synnytetään
jotain uutta. Intuitio on aiemmin koetun hyödyntämistä. Luovuus on kykyä käyttää intuitiota.
Kaaos on edellytys sille, että uusi näkökulma, uusi tuote tai toimintatapa voi kehittyä.. Sodissa ja
katastrofeissa on myös ilmennyt epätavallisen paljon keksintöjä, koska sota suistaa elämän raiteiltaan.
Ydinkysymyksiä ovat: miten luovuutta rakentava kaaos synnytetään; miten kaaosta hyödynnetään;
miten sen kanssa voi elää. Kaaoksen tuottaminen vaatii kykyä monitahoiseen yhteistyöhön ja
verkottumiseen. Kaaos syntyy kahdesta syystä, tiedon runsaudesta ja sen monimuotoisuudesta.
Kaaoksen määrä lisääntyy tilanteissa, joissa asioiden määritteleminen on vaikeaa ja
tapahtumien kulku ennakoimatonta. Perusturva vähenee, epävarmuus ja hämmennys lisääntyvät.
Ristiriidat toimivat kaoottisena voimana. Konsensus tuottaa tasapainoa ja levollisuutta, mutta
ei johda innovaatioon. Kaaos ei tunnu mukavalta ja sitä pyritäänkin välttämään. Joustava,
uudistumiskykyinen organisaatio kykenee ristiriitojen avoimeen käsittelyyn. Dynaamisessa
ympäristössä, jossa on tavoitteena tuottaa innovaatioita on tehokasta tuottaa paljon ylimäärää ja
poiketa useille harhapoluille.
Tietopääoman elinympäristöt
Koska elämme tietoyhteiskunnassa, ja koska innovaatiot edellyttävät runsasta tiedon virtaa, yrityksiä
on syytä tarkastella tietämyshallinnasta käsin. Tietopääoman elinympäristöt voidaan Pirjo Ståhlen
mukaan jakaa kolmenlaisiin: mekaaninen, orgaaninen ja dynaaminen. Prosessi, tuotos ja toiminta ovat
saman kolikon eri puolia.Tietopääoman hallinta on osaamisen, suhteiden ja tietovirtojen hallintaa.
273
274
Design-prosessi on iteratiivinen,
tieto liikkuu vapaasti ja ruokkii eri
vaiheita.
Prosessissa on samanaikaisesti eri
tasot:
Tiedon muodostuksen taso (knowledge
flow)
Prosessin etenemisen taso (Process
steps) ja tuotosten (Outputs) taso.
Tavallaan näen tämän analogisena
kolmen
eri
tietämysympäristön
kanssa, alakuva.
Yrityksessä on hyvä olla kaikkia
kolmenlaisia tietämysympäristöjä.
Tietämysympäristöjen ja designprosessin tasojen välillä voi ajatella
olevan suhde.
Dynaaminen ympäristö vastaa
knowledge flow-tasoa.
Orgaaninen vastaa prosessin
vaiheet-tasoa.
Mekaaninen vastaa tuotokset -tasoa.
Design-prosesin
tietämyksenhallintaa voi tarkastella
tämän idean pohjalta.
Innovaatiokyvykkyyttä lisäävä kaaos
Termodynamiikassa entropia tarkoittaa energian tuotossa syntyvää systeemin kannalta
käyttökelvotonta energiaa. Kun termiä käytetään organisaation tietojohtamisessa, se tarkoittaa
yrityksen kannalta tuottamatonta tiedon välittämistä esimerkiksi juoruilu tai huhujen levittely.
Äkkiseltään entropia näyttää jos ei suorastaan haitelliselta, niin ainakin turhalta. Mutta
entropia pitää systeemin poissa tasapainosta eli kyvykkäänä innovoimaan. (Prigogine)
Innovaatiot edellyttävät paljon sellaista tietoa, jota ei ole organisoitu, arvotettu, luokiteltu
tai priorisoitu. Pinttyneet toimintamallit perustuvat tiukasti organisoituun tietoon. Lorenzin
vallankumouksellinen löytö osoittaa, että kaaos järjestyy itsestään. Tuotettu tiedollinen
sekasortokin järjestyy jossakin vaiheessa itsestään. Ihmisellä on luontainen kyky kehittää
275
merkityksiä, nähdä suhteita asioiden välillä. Olen Taideteollisessa Korkeakoulussa opettaessani
havainnut miten esimerkiksi runsas toisiinsa liittymättämien, erillisten ja eri tyylisten kuvien
käyttö tai erilaistn materiaalien käyttö tuotteen tai palvelun konseptoinnin yhteydessä tai
skenaarioiden, käyttötilannekuvaustan, kirjoittamisessa nopeuttaa tehtävän suorittamista.
Opiskelijat tulkitsevat kuvia ja materiaaleja, he löytävät niiden avulla merkityksiä, yhdistelevät
kuvia intuitioihinsa luottaen. Luotainten käyttö design-tutkimuksessa perustuu myös ihmisen
kykyyn tuottaa merkityksiä artefaktien avulla. Päiväkirjat, kartat ja valokuvat tai esineet
auttavat informantteja välittämään tutkijoille etenkin affektiivista, tunnepitoista informaatiota.
Tiedon tuottaminen ylenmäärin ei ilahduta kaikkia. Eivät kaikki tutkijat usko siihen,
että ihmismieli organisoi kaaoksesta innovaatioita ja muita hyötyjä ja jopa nauttii siitä.
Uhkana on tietoähky, joka tuo ongelman sen vuoksi, että ihmisen fysiologia ja kognitiivinen
tiedonkäsittely pyrkii hahmottamaan kokonaisuuksia peräkkäisestä tiedosta. Nyt tietoa
tulvii rinnakkain pirstaleisina palasina monesta eri kanavasta. Tämän seurauksena ihmisen
hahmotus-kyky kärsii ja pahimmassa tapauksessa todellisuudentaju heikentyy. Ihminen
altistuu manipulaatiolle, ahdistuu ja ehkä luo lopulta fiktiivisen todellisuuskäsityksen oman
toiminnan viitekehykseksi. Todellisuutta kun ei enää pysty hallitsemaan. (Koski 1998).
Yrityksen tulee paitsi soveltaa jo tunnettua tietoa, myös kyetä kehittämään uutta tietoa avoimissa
tilanteissa. Osaamispääomaan kuuluu sekä vanhan soveltamisen, että uuden kehittämisen kyky.
(Ståhle 1999) Organisaatio rakentuu ihmisten välisistä suhteista. Organisaatio on sitä joustavampi
ja luotettavampi, mitä vahvempi suhdeverkosto yritys on. Suhdeverkosto on pääomaa, jota
ohjataan eri yrityksissä eri tavoin: joko tiukasti kontrolloiden tai spontaanisuutta, aloitteellisuutta
ja yhteistoimintaa tukien. Tietämyshallinnan piiriin kuuluu tietää, miten on viisasta toimia milläkin
toimialaloilla. On hallittava ulkoinen ja sisäinen tietoverkosto. Kontrolloitu “varman päälle”yritys on sellainen, jossa tieto liikkuu ylhäältä alas säädellysti ja jossa vallitsevat hierakkiset
raportointi-ja alaisuuhteet. Tiedonvaihto on hidasta ja muodollista. Avoimessa spontaanissa
ohjausjärjestelmässä tieto liikkuu ennakoimattomasti, ilman säätelyä. Kaikissa yrityksissä on
vastattava kysymykseen: miten osaamisen, suhteiden ja tiedon virtausta hallitaan kokonaisuutena.
Yrityksissä tarvitaan erilaisia käytäntöjä. Joissakin toiminnoissa mekanistinen ympäristö on
tarkoituksenmukainen, esimerkiksi taloushallinto, logistiikka, asiakaspalvelu, laskutus hyötyvät
siitä, että toiminta on hallittua ja ennakoitua. Onnistuminen mekaanisessa ympäristössä vaatii
yksilöltä ehdotonta tottelevaisuutta ja kykyä soveltaa ohjeita ja käskyjä. Kaikki olennainen tieto
on kirjallisessa muodossa. Tällaisen ympäristön huonona puolena on, että yritystä ei kiinnosta
yksilön osaaminen yli määriteltyjen tehtävärajojen. Tiedon ja vaikutuksen virta on vertikaalinen,
asiat etenevät ainoastaan esimiesten kautta. Mekaaninen toimntaympäristö on tehokas siellä,
minne se sopii. Mutta valitettavasti sitä sovelletaan sellaisissakin, jonne se ei sovi. Kaikkein
haitallisinta on, jos esimiehet ja alaiset elävät eri tietämyskulttuureissa ja tätä asiaa ei tiedosteta.
276
Design-prosessi on dynaaminen
3. tulkinnat voivat johtaa pyrkimyksiin ja intentioihin, jotka voidaan ’jalostaa’ tarkoitukselliseksi
toiminnaksi jonkun tilanteen parantamiseksi
Taideteollisuudessa on aina toimittu monialaisissa tiimeissa, joiden arvostettuna ytimenä
on ollut luova idea. Teollinen muotoilu on muuttunut 90-luvulla. Sodanjälkeisen designin
kultakauden ikonit ja henkilöihin liittyvät sankaritarinat ovat historiaa. Muotoilun katsotaan
olevan aikamme innovaatioajuri. Muotoilijalla on holistinen näkemys yhteiskuntaan. Muotoilu
on integroitunut palveluiden kehittämiseen, se tavoittelee saavutettavuutta, kestävää kehitystä,
hyvää elämää. Muotoilua on aina tehty monialaisissa tiimeissä eri osaajien asiantuntijuutta
kunnioittaen ja toinen toiselta oppien.(Anna Valtonen) Taideteollisuuden prosessit tuntuvat
kaavioiksi piirrettyinä ja käsitteellistettyinä muistuttavan ideaaleja luovia prosesseja.
Niissä on suuntaa antavia ajureita, mutta ne ovat avoimia ja reflektoivia. Yhdessä tekemällä
ja käyttökonteksteja sekä käyttäjiä tutkimalla tuotetaan moneen suuntaan liikkuvaa ja
avautuvaa tietoa hankkeen tueksi. Ajurit saadaan selville käyttäjä-tai markkinatutkimuksella. Yksi tärkeimpiä välineitä tietoajan ja tietoyhteiskunnan haltuunotossa on proaktiivisuus. Se
voi tarkoittaa kykyä olla mukana tulevaisuuden tekemisessä ja suunnitte-lemisessa tai myös
sen tiedostamisena, että tulevaisuuden suunta ja laatu ovat viime kädessä meistä itsestämme
kiinni. Proaktiivinen ihminen on tietoinen valintojensa seurauksista. Proaktiivisuus edellyttää
siten aktiivisuutta, aloitteellisuutta ja vastuunottoa valinnoista. Design-koulutus Suomessa antaa
hyvät valmiudet pohtia tuotteen elinkaarta, kestävää kehitystä, saavutettavuutta ja muita eettisekologis-ekonomisia seurauksia. Proaktiivisuutta tukemaan on kehitetty menetelmiä yhdessä
tulevaisuuden tutkimuksen kanssa, esimerkkinä mainittakoon visioiva tuotekonseptointi. Siinä
ihmiskunnan tulevaisuutta hahmotetaan tuotteiden kautta. Tuotteet taas perustuvat teknologioitten
ja materiaalien kehittämisen visioihin ja tulevaisuuden megatrendeihin. Visioiva tuotekonseptointi
voi pitää yllä yrityksen luovaa virtausta, jos se otetaan osaksi yrityksen toimintaa. Tekesin
MASINA-teknologiaohjelmassa vv 2002-2004 kehitettiin systemaattinen lähestymistapa
tulevaisuuden tuotekonseptien kehittämiseksi. (Kokkonen)
4. tarkoituksellinen toiminta, joka sulkee edellisten vaiheiden syklin
5. sykli voidaan kuvata ja operationaalistaa systeemiajattelun avulla
6. pehmeä systeemimetodologia mallintaa järjestelmän toiminnan ja prosessin johdonmukaisella
tavalla, joka tekee siitä samalla tutkimus- ja oppimisjärjestelmän
7. pehmeä systeemimetodologia auttaa ohjaamaan oppimissykliä merkityksen luonnista (meaning)
intentioihin (intention) ja niistä tarkoitukselliseen toimintaan (purposeful action) jäykistämättä
toimintaa liian kaavamaiseksi.”
Ihmiselle on ominaista valmius luoda merkityksiä havainnoilleen ja kokemuksilleen.
Näyttää siltä, ettei ihmiskunta siedä merkityksellisyyden poissaoloa. Jokaiseen tekoon
pyritään liittämään merkitys ja motiivi. Tuotamme tarkoituksia ja perustamme valintamme
tilanteista tekemiimme tulkintoihin. Aiemmat kokemukset ja merkitykset luovat odotuksia,
jotka vaikuttavat tulkintaan. Tulkinta sisältää siis ansoja, mutta ihmisellä on mahdollisuus
tarkistaa tulkintaa havaintojen ja toiminnan seuraamusten perusteella. Checkland käyttää
tarkoituksellisen teon (purposeful action) käsitettä kuvaamaan ihmisen toiminnan suhteellista
vapautta verrattuna vaikkapa käen munintaan tai koiran haukuntaan. Tarkoituksellinen
teko on harkittu ja haluttu teki sen sitten yksilö tai ryhmä. (Checkland & Scholes 1993, 2)
Tutkimusmetodini tulevassa työpajojen sarjassa on yhteisölliseen tekemiseen perustuva
toimintatutkimus. Tarkoitukseni on testata, miten design-prosessi soveltuu monialaisen
tiimin yhteisölliseksi merkityksen luomisen kontekstiksi. Suunnittelun, toiminnan,
havainnoinnin ja reflektoinnin vaiheet ovat toimintatutkimukselle luonteenomaisia.
Näyttää siltä, että luovuuden ja tietämyksenhallinnan teoriat tukisivat käsitystä, että
design-tutkimus ja design prosessit voivat olla hyödyllisiä innovaatioita tavoiteltaessa
ja luovaa työnotetta johdettaessa. Design-prosessit näyttäisivät tuottavan sekä
innovatiivisuutta tukevaa entropiaa että iloa ja sisäistä motivaatiota tuottavia flowkokemuksia. Kenttätutkimuksen selvitettäväksi jää, millaisia toimintamallien olisi oltava.
Tarkoituksellinen toiminta
Ihmisellä on luontainen pyrkimys tarkoitukselliseen ja syklisesti kehittyvään toimintaan.
Tämä on pehmeän systeemimetodologian lähtökohta. Metodologian tehtävä on antaa tälle
luonnonmukaiselle toiminnalle formaali muoto. Checkland määrittelee metodologiansa
joukoksi systeemiajattelullisia periaatteita, jotka ohjaavat tarkoituksellista muutostoimintaa
pyrkimyksenään selviytyä rakentavasti tosimaailman tilanteista. Checkland (Checkland &
Scholes 1993, 5-8) kokoaa metodologiansa perusteet seitsemään kohtaan (Lainaus):
“1. ihmiset eivät voi olla sitomatta merkityksiä maailman havaintoihinsa (informaation tulkinta- eli Lähteet
Painetut lähteet:
Csikzentmihalyi Mihaly, Flow elämän virta, Tallinna 2005
Heiskala Risto, Hämäläinen Timo j., (2004): Sosiaaliset innovaatiot ja yhteiskunnan uudistumiskyky Helsinki
Himanen Pekka, Luovan yhteisön kaiku on yksittäistä ääntä vahvempi, artikkeli Arttu-lehdessä 2/2007
Johnson Steven, Kaikki huono on hyväksi, Helsinki 2006
tiedonmuodostusprosessi)
2. merkitykset muodostavat maailmantulkinnan, jonka voi ajatella juontuvan kokemusperäisestä tiedosta siitä mitä maailma on
277
Ville Kokkonen - Markku Kuuva - Sami Leppimäki - Ville Lähteinen - Tarja Meristö - Sampsa Piira - Mikko
Sääskilahti: visioiva tuotekonseptointi
278
Teknologiateollisuus ry 2005
Koski, Jussi T, Luova hierre, Jyvskylä 2001
Lindgren Monica, Packendorff Johann, Performing arts and the art of performing –On co-constructions of project
work and professional identities in theatres, artikkeli International journal of Project management May 2007
Mertanen, Virve toim. (2005): Asiantuntijan luovuus koetuksella
Työterveyslaitos, Helsinki
Mäkelä, Routarinne, toim. The art of research, research practices in art and design, Jyväskylä 2006
Ståhle, Pirjo, Grönroos Mauri: Knowledge management –tietopääoma yrityksen kilpailutekijänä
Valtonen Anna, Redefining Industrial design, 2007
WWW-lähteet
Bentley, Tom; Seltzer, Kimberly: The Creative Age
Artikkeli: Knowledge and skills for the new economy
Demos http://www.demos.co.uk/ Luettu 10.5.2007
5. Regional and Local Perspectives to Research
and Education in the Creative Industries
Bill Kuechler, Vijay Vaishnavi
Association for Information Systems
Design Research in Information Systems luettu 9.5. 2007
http://www.isworld.org/Researchdesign/drisISworld.htm#designResearchMethodology
Artikkeli: Juha Kronqvist Luettu 8.5.2007
http://www.cream.oulu.fi/tutkimus/documents/LuovuusonIn1_kronqvist_toukokuu06.pdf
Artikkeli: Katja Kuokkanen, Äly putosi jalustalta Luettu 5.5.2007
http://tyl.utu.fi/arkisto/2003/15/juttu2.htm
Raike Antti, Elokuvan taju Luettu 1. 5. .2007
http://www.uiah.fi/ISBN/951-558-172-9/1.html
TEKES: MUOTO 2005 - Teollisen muotoilun teknologiaohjelma 2002-2005
http://akseli.tekes.fi/opencms/opencms/OhjelmaPortaali/ohjelmat/MUOTO_2005/fi/etusivu.html
Muut lähteet
Designing pleasurable products and interfaces, konfferenssi Taideteollinen Korkeakoulu 22.-25.8. 2007
Milekic, Slavko; keynote 11.10. 2007 Creative Futures-konffrenssi Porin Yliopistokeskus
279
280
työllistymistä. Hanke on sisällytetty uusimpaan maakunnalliseen Ilon ja valon Satakunta – kulttuurin
toimenpideohjelmaan ja se tukee Porin kaupungin omaa Pori 2012-kehittämisstrategiaa.
Porin visuaalinen keskus -hanke – luovia
kohtaamisia ja kipinöitä
Essi Lindberg
Projektipäällikkö
ABSTRAKTI
Kuvataide ja visuaalinen kulttuuri ovat satakuntalaisen kulttuurin vahvuuksia. Porissa toimii useita
taiteilijaseuroja ja visuaalisen alan organisaatioita, joiden toiminta on ollut valtakunnallisesti ja
kansainvälisestikin näkyvää. Samaan aikaan visuaalisen kulttuurin alalla on Porissa merkittävä
tilantarve. Yksittäisten työhuoneiden lisäksi kasvava tarve on muun muassa yhteisille työ- ja
verstastiloille, galleria- ja näyttelytiloille sekä taiteilijoiden yhteiselle kohtaamispaikalle,
taidekahvilalle.
1. ESISELVITYSVAIHE
Porin kaupungin ja Satakuntaliiton yhdessä rahoittama Visuaalinen keskus -hanke alkoi
esiselvityksellä, joka toteutettiin 27.11.2006–31.3.2007 välisenä aikana. Esiselvityksessä
kartoitettiin visuaalisten alojen toimijoiden nykytilanne haastattelemalla alan keskeiset toimijat
ja dokumentoimalla niiden nykyiset toimitilat. Toimijahaastatteluissa selvitettiin kattavasti
toimintaympäristöön ja erityisesti tiloihin kohdistuvat tarpeet sekä kerättiin toiveita toimenpiteistä,
joiden myötä nykytilannetta voitaisiin parantaa. Haastattelujen pohjalta, yhteistyössä toimijatahojen
edustajien kanssa syntyi alustava Porin visuaalisen keskuksen tilaohjelma.
PORIN VISUAALISEN KESKUKSEN TILATYYPIT
NÄYTTELYSALI & MONITOIMITILA
Tila vaihtuville näyttelyille, tapahtumille ja
poikkitaiteelliselle toiminnalle
KAHVILA & KLUBITILA
Kohtaamispaikka taiteentekijöille ja keskuksessa
vierailevalle yleisölle
Visuaalinen keskus -hankkeen esiselvitysosuudessa keväällä 2007 kerättiin yhteen paikallisia
toimijoita sekä kartoitettiin tilatarpeiden laajuus; toimijoita haastateltiin, nykytilat dokumentoitiin
sekä tarpeita listattiin myös verkkokyselyn avulla. Potentiaalisten yhteistyökumppaneiden
lisäksi etsittiin alustavasti keskukselle sopivia tiloja. Vuoden 2007 loppuun asti kestävässä
suunnitteluhankkeessa tutustuttiin suomalaisiin ja ulkomaisiin konseptiesimerkkeihin Porin
visuaalisen keskuksen tila-, toiminta- ja rahoitusmallin kehittämisen pohjaksi. Suunnitteluhanke
päättyy valmiiseen suunnitelmaan ja esitykseen Porin visuaalisen keskuksen perustamisesta.
ARTOTEEKKI
Taiteilijaseurojen ylläpitämää taidelainaamo- ja
teosvälitystoimintaa
Kulttuurialan yhteisöt ja organisaatiot saavat suunnitteilla olevasta keskuksesta kipeästi
tarvitsemansa toimitilat ja alan yritykset näyttävän ympäristön liiketoiminnalle. Vuorovaikutus
profit- ja non-profit -toiminnan välillä on omiaan synnyttämään uusia tuotantoja Satakuntaan ja
edistämään maakunnan mainetta taide- ja mediaosaamisen saralla. Saman katon alla toimiminen
tuo mukanaan synergiaetuja, kuten mahdollisuudet käyttää yhteistä laitteistoa, ohjaajia ja tiloja.
Yhteinen keskus myös lisää organisaatioiden saavutettavuutta yleisön kannalta. Visuaalinen
keskus on tila, jossa julkiset kulttuurilaitokset, yksityissektori ja kansalaistoiminta tukevat
toisiaan. Visuaalinen keskus on paikka luoville kohtaamisille.
NEUVOTTELU- JA KOKOONTUMISTILOJA
Taiteilijaseurojen ylläpitämää galleriatoimintaa
GALLERIATILOJA
Tila näytös- ja opetustilaisuuksille
ELOKUVASALI & AUDITORIO
YHTEISIÄ VERSTAS- JA TYÖPAJAHUONEITA
Valokuvapimiö, grafiikan, keramiikan sekä puu- ja
metallityön verstasja työpajahuoneita
STUDIOTILOJA
Tekniikka-, elokuva- ja animaatiostudiotiloja toimijoiden
omaan ja yhteiskäyttöön
TAITEILIJOIDEN ATELJEETILOJA
TOIMISTO- JA TOIMITILOJA
Keskuksen toimijoiden yhteiskäyttöön
Työhuoneita taiteilijoille ja yhteisölle vuokrattavaksi
Keskuksen toimijatahojen vuokrattavaksi
VARASTOTILOJA
Toimijoiden omia ja yhteisiä varastotiloja vuokrattavaksi
TAITEILIJARESIDENSSI
Kansainvälinen
taiteilijoille
taiteilijaresidenssi
vieraileville
Taulukko 1. Porin visuaaliseen keskukseen alustavasti suunniteltuja tiloja ja toimintaa.
Taiteen ja luovan talouden merkitys tulee entistään korostumaan tulevaisuudessa. Visuaalinen
keskus -hankkeen tavoitteena on vahvistaa Porin merkitystä ja näkyvyyttä kulttuurikaupunkina
tukemalla kulttuuria, taiteellista monimuotoisuutta, rikasta kulttuuriperintöä ja edellytyksiä
luovaan työhön. Visuaalinen keskus -hanke edistää valtioneuvoston taide- ja taiteilijapolitiikkaa,
jonka mukaan keskittäminen tehostaa alan toimijoiden verkostoitumista ja tehostaa taiteilijoiden
281
Esiselvityksen tilaajana oli Porin kaupunki ja sen vastuullisena toteuttajana toimi Porin lasten
kulttuurikeskus.
Ks. Lindberg, 2007, 11–18. Tämän lisäksi jokaiselle taiteilijaseuralle ja esiselvitysvaiheessa mukana olleille
toimijoille laadittiin toimijakohtaiset tilaohjelmat. Lindberg, 2007, LIITE 4.
282
ARVIOITU TILANTARVE
KOHDEKARTOITUS
JULKISET YLEISÖTILAT
640 m²
YHTEISET TOIMITILAT
695 m²
YKSITYISET TYÖTILAT
2075 m²
YHTEENSÄ N.
3400 m²
Kuva 1. Esiselvitysvaiheessa aloitettiin kattava kohdekartoitus, jossa selvitettiin eri tilavaihtoehtoja ja niiden soveltuvuutta Porin
Visuaalisen keskuksen toimitiloiksi.
Taulukko 2. Visuaalisen alan toimijoiden
yhteenlaskettu arvio tilantarpeesta hankkeen
esiselvitysvaiheessa oli arvioitua suurempi.
Esiselvityksen aikana hankkeesta ja sen tavoitteista tiedotettiin avoimesti myös alueen
muille kulttuuritoimijoille. Keskusteluja käytiin muun muassa käynnissä olleiden, muiden
kulttuurialojen tilahankkeiden yhtymäkohdista Visuaalinen keskus -hankkeen kanssa ja selvitettiin
mahdollisuuksia yhteistyöhön.
Esiselvityksen aikana kerättiin myös listaa esimerkeistä, miten muualla Suomessa taiteilijoiden
työ- ja näyttelytilatarpeita on ratkaistu ja millaisia kulttuurikeskuksia on perustettu.
Esiselvityshankkeen tuloksena valmistui esitys Porin Visuaalisen keskuksen suunnitteluhankkeen
käynnistämisestä, minkä tavoitteet ja päämäärät ovat seikkaperäisesti luettavissa hankkeen
verkkosivuilla julkaistusta esiselvityshankkeen loppuraportista.
1.1 TAITEILIJAELÄMÄÄ PORISSA -VERKKOKYSELY
Taiteilijaelämää Porissa -verkkokysely toteutettiin osana Visuaalinen keskus -esiselvityshanketta.
Kyselyssä selvitettiin taiteilijoiden työ- ja näyttelytilatarpeita, visuaalisen alan yrittäjien ja
Lindberg, 2007, LIITE 9.
Helsingin kaupungin taiteilijatyötilaselvitys, 2006.
PORIN VISUAALINEN KESKUS – Esiselvityshanke visuaalisen alan toimijoiden nykytilanteesta, toiminnasta
ja tilatarpeista sekä alustava suunnitelma vaadittavista toimenpiteistä visuaalisen keskuksen perustamisesta Poriin.
Lindberg, 2007. www.pori.fi/visuaalinenkeskus.
Lindberg, 2007, 7-10.
283
muiden toimijoiden tilatarpeita sekä kerättiin heidän näkemyksiään ja toiveitaan Porin visuaalisen
keskuksen suunnittelua varten. Kysely kohdennettiin pääasiassa Porin alueella toimiville
taiteilijoille, taideopiskelijoille sekä muille visuaalisten alojen ammattilaisille, mutta siihen saivat
vastata myös muut asiasta kiinnostuneet.
Kysely muodostui kolmesta osasta: 1) Minä visuaalisen kulttuurin kentällä, 2) Työ- ja
näyttelytilat sekä 3) Ajatuksia visuaalisesta keskuksesta. Kyselyn onnistui kiitettävästi tavoittaa
ruohonjuuritason toimijat, sillä parissa viikossa se sai vastauksia yhteensä 50, joista 45 oli verkossa
täytettyjä ja viisi paperille täytettyjä kyselylomakkeita. Kyselyn vastauksissa oli paneuduttu
porilaisten ja satakuntalaisten taiteilijoiden sekä muiden visuaalisen alan toimijoiden nykyhetken
kuvaamiseen työ- ja näyttelytilojen osalta sekä niihin toiveisiin ja toiminnan reunaehtoihin, jotka
liittyvät taiteilijoiden työskentelymahdollisuuksiin Satakunnassa sekä taiteilijoiden tilatarpeisiin
yleensä. Myös visuaalisen keskuksen toimintojen ja tilojen sisällön ideointiin saatiin kiinnostuneita
vastauksia.10 Vastaajien tarpeet ja suunnitteilla olevaan Porin visuaaliseen keskukseen liittyneet
toiveet osoittautuivat pienelläkin otoksella hyvin toistensa kaltaisiksi.
Satakunnan Taidetoimikunnasta keväällä 2007 saadun karkean arvion mukaan
ammattikuvataiteilijoiden määrä Satakunnassa liikkuu noin sadan tienoilla ja toinen sata arvioitiin
olevan sellaisia, joiden ammattilaisuus on tulkinnasta kiinni.11 Kyselyyn vastanneista 32 henkilöä
eli 64 % ilmoitti itsensä ammattitaiteilijaksi, mikä Satakunnan Taidetoimikunnan antamaan arvioon
suhteutettuna olisi karkeasti arvioiden 16 % kaikista kahdesta sadasta arvioidusta satakuntalaisesta
kuvataiteilijasta. Ammattilaistaiteilijastatukseen liittyvien tulkintavaikeuksien vuoksi kyselyn
otoksen edustavuutta on kuitenkin vaikea arvioida tarkasti. Voidaan kuitenkin sanoa, että kyselyllä
tavoitettiin edustava joukko satakuntalaisia, Porissa toimivia ja siellä työskenteleviä visuaalisen
alan toimijoita, joiden merkitys Poriin suunnitteilla olevalle Visuaaliselle keskukselle ja sen
sisältöjen rakentamiselle on keskeinen.12
Porissa ja Satakunnassa on suuri määrä kulttuurin harrastajia ja taideyleisöä, jotka toivovat nykyistä
Tietoa kyselystä jaettiin sähköpostitse pääasiassa taiteilijaseurojen ja muiden visuaalisen alan toimijoiden,
kuten Satakunnan Taidetoimikunnan ja alan oppilaitosten postituslistojen kautta. Myös paperisia kyselylomakkeita
toimitettiin useimpiin visuaalinen keskus -hankkeen yhteistyötahojen toimipisteisiin. Taiteilijaelämää Porissa verkkokysely oli avoinna kaikille asiasta kiinnostuneille Porin kaupungin verkkosivuilla 15.1.–26.1.2007 välisenä
aikana.
Kyselyyn oli mahdollista vastata itse valittujen kysymysten osalta, mikä tarkoitti sitä, että kaikkiin
kysymyksiin ei tullut yhtä paljon vastauksia.
Kyselyn pienen otoksen vuoksi kyselyraportin tuloksia ei ole muutettu prosenteiksi. Osin kyselyn suppean
otoksen ja kvalitatiivisen luonteen osin eri kysymyksiin saatujen eritasoisten vastausten vuoksi raportissa ei ole
katsottu tarpeelliseksi esittää tuloksia kuvaavien ja edustavien tilastojen muodossa. Lindberg, 2007, LIITE 5.
10
11
Penttinen-Lampisuo, 2007.
12
Kyselyyn vastanneet osoittivat kiinnostuksensa hankkeeseen ja aktiivisuutensa kentällä jo pelkästään
vastaamalla kyselyyn.
284
monipuolisempaa kulttuuritoimintaa ja jotka ovat myös valmiita maksamaan alan palveluista ja
tuoreesta tarjonnasta.13 Tämän lisäksi eräs Porin Visuaalinen keskus -hankkeen tausta-ajatuksista
on edelleen kasvattaa tätä aktiivista kulttuuriyleisön määrää alueella tuottamalla uudenlaisia
sisältöjä sekä panostamalla tarjonnan korkeatasoiseen laatuun. Siten Porin Visuaalinen keskus
-hanke pyrkii omalta osaltaan kasvattamaan ja tukemaan Porin mainetta kulttuurimyönteisenä
kaupunkina. Tutkimusten mukaan kaupunkien monipuolinen kulttuuritarjonta lisää muun muassa
korkeasti koulutettujen kiinnostusta jäädä seudulle. Hanke tähtää Porin ja koko Satakunnan
vetovoimaisuuden ja kiinnostavuuden lisäämiseen. Tämän vuoksi myös osa verkkokyselyn
kysymyksistä oli muotoiltu selkeästi nimenomaan taiteen ja kulttuurin yleisön näkökulmaa
ajatellen.14
16. Mitä palveluja Porin visuaalinen keskus voisi tarjota taiteilijoille?
työtiloja (35)
galleria- ja näyttelytoimintaa (29)
olohuonemaisen kohtaamispaikan taiteilijoille ja
inspiroivan tukiyhteisön(26)
1.2 TOIMIJAHAASTATTELUT
Esiselvitys aloitettiin haastattelemalla sellaisten taiteilijaseurojen sekä alan opetusta tarjoavien
oppilaitosten edustajia, joiden akuuteista tilatarpeista koko hanke oli saanut alkunsa. Nykyiset
toimitilat dokumentoitiin ja niiden mahdolliset puutteet kirjattiin. Keskusteluja käytiin laajasti
visuaalisen alan toimijoiden16 kanssa, mikä osoitti jo melko varhaisessa vaiheessa, että toimijoiden
tilatarpeet ovat arvioitua laajemmat ja että eri taiteenalojen toimijoiden tilatarpeet vastasivat
monelta osin toisiaan.
Suurin tarve Porissa, mutta myös muualla Satakunnassa on ensinnäkin monenlaiseen käyttöön
muuntuville työtiloille niin yksittäisten taiteilijoiden työtiloille kuin yhteisille studio-, verstasja työpajatiloille sekä toimistotiloille. Toiseksi, tarvetta on sekä galleria-, näyttely-, auditorioja monitoimitapahtumatiloille että kohtaamispaikkana toimivalle taidekahvilalle, joka tarpeen
mukaan voisi muuntua vaikka esittävän taiteen näyttämöksi. Haastattelujen perusteella
Satakunnassa on tarve kokoavalle keskukselle, joka kerää kaikki visuaalisten alojen maakunnalliset
toimijat yhteen, toimii kohtaamispaikkana ja edustaa Satakuntaa ja satakuntalaista visuaalisten
alojen osaamista niin valtakunnallisella tasolla kuin kansainvälisissäkin verkostoissa aktiivisesti
toimien.17
palveluja (11)
välinevuokrausta ja taidetarvikemyyntiä (9)
neuvottelu- ja kokoontumistiloja (9)
informaatiokeskuksen, jossa tietoja neuvontapalvelupiste, alan kirjasto ja
langaton internet (7)
teosvälitys- ja taidelainaamopalvelu (8)
koulutusta (6)
kahvilan ja lounasravintolan (5)
varastotiloja ja teosten kuljetusvälineitä (3)
elokuvateatterin (3)
porilaisen kuvataiteen markkinointia ja tunnettavuuden edistämistä (2)
työtä (1)
Kuva 2. Kuvasta näkyy, mitä kyselyyn vastanneet taiteilijat odottavat Porin visuaaliselta
keskukselta.15
13
Porin Visuaalisen keskuksen yleisökävijämäärän arviointi on vaikea tehtävä varsinkin, kun
suunnitteluhankkeessa puhutaan sellaisista palveluista, joita ei vielä Porissa ole olemassa. Visuaalisten alojen
keskittymä lisäisi tarjottavien kulttuuripalvelujen saavutettavuutta ja siten se myös lisäisi yleisön määrää.
14
Jos kuitenkin haluttaisiin tarkemmin ja laajemmin tutkia Porin visuaalisen keskuksen potentiaalisen yleisön
kiinnostusta eri taiteenalojen tarjontaa sekä visuaalisen alan palveluja kohtaan, pitäisi sitä varten teettää erillinen
kysely, joka olisi kohdennettu ja markkinoitu nimenomaan kuluttajille.
15
285
Kuva 3.
Kuva 4.
Kuvat 3., 4., 5., ja 6. Kuvassa Porin Taidegraafikot ry:n ja Porin lasten ja nuorten kuvataidekoulun
varasto-, toimija opetustiloja.
16
Kysymys siitä, mitä visuaalisuus -käsitteellä tässä yhteydessä tarkoitetaan, on ollut heti hankkeen alusta
asti esillä. Hanke on lähtenyt kuvataiteen ja audiovisuaalisen kulttuurin toimijoiden tarpeista, mutta matkalla se on
laajentunut käsittämään yhä laajempaa visuaalisten taiteiden kenttää. Suunnitteluvaiheessa mitään toimintoja ei ole
haluttu rajata pois, vaan kaikkien toiveita on kuunneltu tasapuolisesti.
17
Toimijahaastattelujen pohjalta on hankkeen aikana kerätty listaa keskeisimmistä porilaisista ja Porista
käsin koko Satakunnan alueella toimivista visuaalisten alojen toimijoista ja organisaatioista, joilla on tilatarpeita
sekä halu kehittää ja tiivistää alan keskinäistä yhteistyötä. Päivitetty lista löytyy hankkeen verkkosivuilta: <www.
pori.fi/visuaalinenkeskus>
286
yhteistyömuotojen etsimisestä.
Suunnitteluhankkeen toteutuksessa johtoajatuksena on ollut toimijoiden keskinäinen
vuorovaikutus ja aktiivinen osallistuminen keskuksen konseptin suunnitteluun. Hankkeen aikana
on muun muassa järjestetty kaikille hankkeesta kiinnostuneille avoimia keskustelutilaisuuksia,
joissa on tiedotettu sidosryhmille hankkeen etenemisestä sekä kannustettu niitä osallistumaan
keskuksen ideointiin ja suunnitteluun. Avoin tiedottaminen tapahtumista ja vaiheista hankkeen
verkkosivujen kautta sekä hankkeen esittely erilaisissa seminaareissa ja tilaisuuksissa on ollut
keino markkinoida keskusideaa, testata eri toimijoiden kiinnostusta, mutta myös selvittää eri
näkökulmista, millainen keskus Poriin tarvitaan.
Kuva 5.
Kuva 6.
2. SUUNNITTELUHANKE
Porin kaupunki käynnisti Visuaalinen keskus -hankkeen suunnitteluosuuden 1.6.2007, joka
jatkuu vuoden 2007 loppuun. Suunnitteluhankkeen tavoitteena on valmiin esityksen laatiminen
Porin Visuaalisen keskuksen perustamista varten.18 Esitys pitää sisällään suunnitelmat keskuksen
toimintamallista sisältäen mallit hallinnosta, rahoituksesta ja henkilöstöstä kohdekartoituksen
tulokset, keskuksen tilaohjelman ja perustamishankkeen rahoitussuunnitelman.
Toimintamallin kehittämisen pohjaksi suunnitteluhankkeessa on tutustuttu pääasiassa suomalaisiin
konseptiesimerkkeihin vastaavanlaisista kulttuurikeskuksista.19 Esiselvitysvaiheessa laadittua
tilaluetteloa tarkennetaan koko suunnitteluprosessin ajan ja sen pohjalta valmistuu tilasuunnitelma
arvioituine budjetteineen vuoden 2007 loppuun mennessä.20
Visuaalinen keskus -hanke on ensinnäkin tilahanke, jossa alueen visuaalisten alojen toimijoita
pyritään kokoamaan saman katon alle. Toiseksi hankkeessa on kyse keskuksen konseptin
kehittämisestä ja innovoimisesta yhdessä hankkeessa mukana olevien toimijatahojen kanssa.
Kolmanneksi Visuaalinen keskus -hankkeessa on kyse verkostoitumisesta ja uudenlaisten
18
Suunnitelma valmistuu vuoden 2007 loppuun mennessä ja se tulee pitämään sisällään 1) vision Porin
Visuaalisesta keskuksesta, jossa hahmotellaan keskuksentulevaa toimintaa, toimijoita ja toimintaympäristöä, 2)
suunnitelman keskuksen toimintamallista, joka käsittää suunnitelman keskuksen toiminnan rahoituksesta, hallinnosta
ja henkilöstöstä sekä tiloista ja 3) hankesuunnitelman toimenpiteineen keskuksen perustamisvaihetta varten.
Toimintamallin lisäksi suunnitteluvaiheen aikana Porin Visuaaliselle keskukselle etsitään sille parhaiten soveltuvia
tiloja, minkä pohjalta perustamishankkeelle laaditaan budjetti.
19
Kiinnostavimpiin kohteisiin hanke on järjestänyt ekskursioita sekä hankkeen ohjausryhmälle, jossa on
ollut mukana niin toimijoiden, rahoittajien kuin kaupungin edustajia että toimijatahoille, joiden osanottajat ovat
koostuneet pääasiassa taiteilijoista ja muista hankkeen toimijatahojen edustajista.
20
Ks. alustava tilaohjelma: Lindberg, 2007, 11–27.
287
Suunnitteluhankkeen aikana toimijoiden ja muiden sidosryhmien kanssa on kierretty Porissa
tutustumassa vaihtoehtoisiin kohteisiin. Kierrosten tarkoituksena on ollut sekä yhdessä kartoittaa
vaihtoehtoisten kohteiden soveltuvuus suunnitteilla olevan keskuksen toimitiloiksi että innostaa ja
kannustaa hankkeessa mukana olevia toimijoita visioimaan Visuaalisen keskuksen sisältöjä omissa
organisaatioissaan, mutta myös konkretisoimaan paperinmakuisia kuvauksia keskuksesta.
Toimijoiden rooli suunnittelussa on ensisijaisesti ollut pohtia omien organisaatioidensa
näkökulmasta, miten eri tavoin suunnitteilla oleva keskus voisi heitä palvella ja millä eri tavoin he
haluavat keskusta hyödyntää oman toimintansa kehittämisessä. Tämän lisäksi kunkin organisaation
toiminnan reunaehtojen pohtiminen ja tiedon välittäminen hankkeen suunnittelijalle on ollut
keskuksen suunnitteluprosessin kannalta ensiarvoisen tärkeää. Tiloja ja niiden käyttöä koskevien
reunaehtojen lisäksi jokaisella organisaatiolla on omat toimintamallinsa ja käytäntönsä, joilla on
merkitystä toimittaessa yhteisissä tiloissa muiden kanssa. Kukin organisaatio on itse vastuussa
siitä, että tällainen ns. piilossa oleva tieto välittyy uuden keskuksen suunnittelijalle. Toimijoita
on tiedotettu roolistaan hankkeen alusta asti ja niille on annettu tehtäväksi pohtia omaa rooliaan
porilaisen visuaalisen kulttuurin kentässä uudella tavalla, osana suurempaa kokonaisuutta.
Hankkeen alusta alkaen taiteilijaseurojen ja julkisen puolen organisaatioiden edustajien lisäksi Porin
Visuaalisen keskuksen suunnittelussa on ollut mukana myös luovien alojen yrittäjien edustajia.
Profit- ja non-profit - yhteistyö onkin eräs keskushankkeen kulmakivistä. Suunnitteluhankkeen
aikana on siis myös pohdittu, millä eri tavoin suunnitteilla oleva keskus voisi parantaa luovien
alojen yrittäjien toimintamahdollisuuksia Porissa ja Satakunnassa. Visuaalinen keskus itsessään
mahdollistaisi tilojen yhteiskäytön muiden Visuaalinen keskus -hankkeessa mukana olevien
toimijoiden kanssa. Eräs keino tukea luovien alojen yrittäjiä voisi olla luovien toimialojen
yrityshautomopalvelujen tarjoaminen keskukseen sijoittuville yrityksille. Yritysyhteistyötä
on tarkasteltu suunnitteluhankkeen aikana myös laajemmin kuin keskukseen mahdollisesti
sijoittuvien yritysten näkökulmasta. Kehitteillä olevan toimintamallin pohjaksi toteutetaan
syksyn 2007 aikana alueellinen yritysyhteistyöselvitys yritysyhteistyön ja vuorovaikutuksen
mahdollisuuksista Porin Visuaalisessa keskuksen kanssa. Selvityksen tarkoituksena on saada
tietoa pääosin satakuntalaisten yritysten kiinnostuksesta ja mahdollisuuksista yritysyhteistyöhön
288
Lista vierailukohteista:
ja vuorovaikutukseen Porin Visuaalisen keskuksen kanssa.21
2.1 SUOMALAISET KONSEPTIESIMERKIT
Porin visuaalinen keskus -hankkeen suunnitteluvaiheen alussa tutustuttiin muissa suomalaisissa
kaupungeissa sijaitseviin kulttuurikeskuksiin. Konseptiesimerkkejä etsittiin ensin verkkosivustojen
kautta, minkä perusteella valittiin ne kohteet ja kaupungit, joissa käytiin vierailemassa paikan
päällä.22 Vierailukohteiksi valittiin pääasiassa sellaisia keskuksia, joiden toimintaperiaatteet
vastasivat mahdollisimman paljon Porin Visuaalinen keskus -hankkeen tavoitteita. Mukaan
tutustumiskohteiden joukkoon haluttiin myös sellaisissa kaupungeissa sijaitsevia keskuksia,
jotka sopivat Porin kokoluokkaan suhteutettuna hyviksi vertailukohteiksi.23 Kohteiden valintaan
vaikuttaneita sisällöllisiä ja toimintamalleihin liittyviä kriteerejä olivat muun muassa 1) profit- ja
non-profit -yhteistyö, 2) poikkitaiteellinen toiminta ja 3) vuorovaikutus kolmannen sektorin eli
ns. vapaan taidekentän, yksityisen sektorin eli kulttuuri- tai ns. luovien alojen yrittäjien ja julkisen
sektorin eli valtion sekä kunnallisten taideinstituutioiden ja kulttuuripalveluiden välillä, 4) tilojen
rahoitukseen liittyvät ratkaisut kuten tilojen porrastetut rahoitusmallit sekä 5) taiteilijoiden
työtilojen rakentamiseen liittyvät ratkaisut ja vanhoihin tehdaskiinteistöihin tehdyt tilojen
saneeraukset. Vierailukohteiksi valikoitui esimerkkejä Helsingistä, Turusta, Hämeenlinnasta,
Hyvinkäältä, Porvoosta, Jyväskylästä, Lahdesta ja Oulusta.24
HELSINKI
TURKU
HÄMEENLINNA
1.
Helsingin Kaapelitehdas
2.
Kulttuuritehdas Korjaamo
3.
Vallilan taiteilijatalo
4.
ARTLAB-taiteilijayhteisö
5.
Turun Manillan Tehdas
6.
Hämeenlinnan Verkatehdas
7.
Poltinahon taidekasarmi
HYVINKÄÄ
8.
Hyvinkään Villa Arttu
PORVOO
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
Porvoon Taidetehdas
Tanssisali Lutakko
Tourulan kivääritehdas
Lahden Taidepanimo
Oulun NUKU-keskus
JYVÄSKYLÄ
LAHTI
OULU
Kohteisiin tutustuttiin pääasiassa vastaanottavan tahon toiminnasta vastaavan henkilön tai muun
työntekijän johdolla. Vierailujen aikana tutustuttiin tiloihin, keskuksen historian vaiheisiin
ja nykyiseen toimintamalliin eli niihin rakenteisiin ja paikallisiin ratkaisuihin, joiden varassa
keskuksen toiminta lepää.
Tutustumiskäynneillä selvitettyjä asioita:
HISTORIA
TILAT
SIJAINTI
KOKONAISKERROSALA
KÄYTTÖASTE
OMISTUS
RAHOITUS
HALLINNOINTI
VUOKRALAISET
TOIMINTAMALLI
SISÄLTÖTUOTANTO
RAHOITUS, TUKIJAT
HENKILÖSTÖ
UHAT JA HAASTEET
VAHVUUDET JA EDUT
TILATYYPIT
21
Selvityksen lähtökohta on, että monipuolinen ja laadukas kulttuurituotanto on arvo sinänsä, väline alueen
arvon kohottamisessa ja siten keino houkutella ammattitaitoista työvoimaa Satakuntaan sekä taloudellista toimintaa.
Yritysyhteistyöhön liittyvä selvitystyö on siis samaan aikaan sekä suunnitteilla olevan Porin Visuaalisen keskuksen
toiminnan mainostamista että yritysten yhteiskuntavastuun peräänkuuluttamista alueellisen kulttuurielämän
kehittämisessä.
22
Esimerkkikonseptit kartoitettiin ja niihin käytiin tutustumassa pääosin kesä-elokuun 2007 välisenä
aikana.
23
Tämän vuoksi kartoituksesta ei selviä, millaisiin kokonaisratkaisuihin eri kaupungeissa on päädytty
muuten, kuin niiden esimerkkien osalta, joihin suunnitteluhankkeessa tutustuttiin. Kartoituksesta selvisi kuitenkin
ne pääasialliset tavat, joilla keskuksia on saatu aikaan ja joilla niiden toimintaa pyöritetään.
24
Näiden kaupunkien lisäksi tutustuttiin myös muutamiin muissa kaupungeissa sijaitseviin esimerkkikohteisiin,
kuten Mikkelin Wanhojen Veturitalleihin, Mikkelin Kenkäveroon, Tampereen Rock Leipomoon, Turun Bgalleriaan.
289
Konseptiesimerkkien kartoitus osoitti, että Suomen kaupunkien kulttuurikeskusten kirjo on suuri.
Kaupunkien tarjoamien kunnallisten kulttuuripalvelujen rinnalla vierailluissa kulttuurikeskuksissa
toimii aktiivisia kolmannen sektorin kulttuuritoimijoita sekä kasvava määrä luovien alojen
yrittäjiä. Kunnallisten kulttuuripalvelujen, vapaan taidekentän ja luovien alojen yrittäjien
sijoittuminen yhteisiin tiloihin on johtanut hedelmälliseen yhteistyöhön monissa kaupungeissa.
Onnistuneimmat esimerkit löytyvät keskuksista, joissa on pyritty tiiviiseen ja mahdollisimman
tasa-arvoiseen yhteistyöhön kaikkien kolmen edellä mainitun sektorin välillä. Yhteistyön
ensimmäinen taso on useimmissa keskuksissa ollut porrastetun vuokrajärjestelmän kehittäminen.
Porrastetuissa vuokrajärjestelmissä sekä pitkäaikaisesti että tilapäisesti vuokrattavissa tiloissa
290
noudatetaan samaa hinnoitteluperiaatetta, jonka mukaan liiketoimintaa harjoittavien yritysten
sekä julkisia kulttuuripalveluja tuottavat organisaatiot maksavat korkeampaa hintaa kuin vapaan
kentän kulttuuritoimijat.25
Kolmannen sektorin kulttuuritoimijoiden ja luovien alojen yrittäjien toimintamahdollisuuksien
tukemiseen on satsattu sekä määrällisesti että laadullisesti hyvin eri tavoin Suomen eri kaupungeissa.26
Esimerkiksi voidaan ottaa taiteilijaseurojen ylläpitämät galleriat, jotka ovat kaikkialla täysin tai
lähes täysin riippuvaisia kaupunkien myöntämistä toiminta-avustuksista. Niissä kaupungeissa,
joissa kaupunki on tarjonnut taiteilijaseuroille toiminta-avustusten lisäksi keskitetysti edulliset ja
galleriatoimintaan soveltuvat tilat, on yhdistyspohjalta toimivien taiteilijaseurojen ollut helpompi
panostaa korkeatasoisen sisällön tuottamiseen. Sama sääntö pätee taiteilijoiden ateljeetiloihin,
tosin galleriatoiminnassa edullisten tilojen hankkiminen saavutettavuuden vaatimuksen vuoksi on
vaikeampaa kuin työtiloiksi soveltuvien tilojen löytäminen ja niiden saneeraaminen. Molempien
tilatyyppien osalta kuten kokonaisten kulttuurikeskustenkin kohdalla oleellista on ollut kaupungin
poliittinen tahto edistää kulttuuri- ja luovien alojen toimijoiden toimintamahdollisuuksia.
Vaikka Visuaalinen keskus -hankkeen yhteydessä tehty konseptiesimerkkien kartoitus ei kata
kaikkia suomen kaupunkeja, niin se osoittaa kiinnostavia eroja eri kaupunkien välillä. Sellaisten
kulttuurikeskusten tukemiseen ja rahoittamiseen, jossa pääasiallisen sisällön tuottavat kolmannen
sektorin kulttuuritoimijat yhdessä luovien alojen yrittäjien kanssa, ovat lisääntymässä. Esimerkiksi
Oulussa, Porvoossa ja Hämeenlinnassa kulttuuritoimintoja on lähdetty pitkäjänteisesti keskittämään
yhteen kokonaisuuteen siten, että sekä kolmannen, yksityisen että julkisen sektorin toimijat ovat
keskenään tiiviissä yhteistyössä, mistä kaikki tuntevat hyötyvänsä. Valtaosassa suomalaisista
kulttuurikeskuksista kaupungin rahallinen tuki on tärkeä keskusten perustamisprosesseissa, tilojen
saneeraamisessa ja keskuksen ns. brändin sisällöllisessä kehittämisessä, mutta myös toiminnan
rahoituksessa. 27 Vierailtujen kulttuurikeskusten perustamisvaiheen rahoitusta on kaupunkien
lisäksi haettu EU-ohjelmista, kansallisista kehittämistuista sekä yksittäisiltä säätiöiltä ja muilta
sponsoreilta. Kaikkien keskushankkeiden kohdalla kaupungin rooli ei kuitenkaan ole ollut alusta
asti yhtä merkittävä, mistä hyviä esimerkkejä ovat Turun Manillan Tehdas ja Helsingin ART LAB
-yhteisö. Erot näkyvät usein sekä laadullisesti että määrällisesti niiden sisältöjen ja palvelujen
kautta, joita kolmannen sektorin kulttuurintuottajat ja luovien alojen yrittäjät kaupungissa
pystyvät tarjoamaan. Kaikkialla suurin ongelma tuntuu olevan kuitenkin sama: taiteilijoilla ja
25
Pitkäaikaisesti vuokrattavilla tiloilla tarkoitetaan tässä vuokrattavia taiteilijoiden ateljeetiloja, yritysten
toimitiloja ja muita niin sanottuja toimijoiden yksityisiä tiloja. Tilapäisesti vuokrattavilla tiloilla tarkoitetaan tässä
useimmissa keskuksissa olevia tapahtumatiloja, joita vuokrataan tilapäisesti taidenäyttely-, konsertti-, messu- ja
muuhun pääasiassa kulttuuritapahtumakäyttöön. Kullakin keskuksella on omat periaatteensa sille, minkälaisille
toimijoille ja minkälaisiin tapahtumiin tiloja vuokrataan.
26
Tuen laadullinen ja määrällinen vertailu eri kaupunkien välillä ja saadun tuloksen tarkasteleminen erilaisten
alueellista vetovoivaisuutta kuvaavien indeksien kontekstissa olisi erittäin kiinnostavaa, mutta vaatisi oman kattavan
tutkimuksensa.
27
Hänninen, 2007, 14–15.
291
muilla luovien alojen toimijoilla on huutava pula riittävän edullisista toimitiloista.
VAPAIDEN KULTTUURIKESKUSTEN1 YLEISIMPIÄ HALLINTOMALLEJA MUUALLA SUOMESSA
Hallinnollisesti ja rahoituksellisesti toimintamallit
vaihtelevat täysin yksityisrahoitteisista
kulttuurikeskuksista lähes kokonaan kaupungin tuen
varassa toimiviin kulttuurikeskuksiin.
•
•
•
•
•
JULKINEN KULTTUURILAITOS -MALLI
PUOLIJULKINEN KULTTUURILAITOS -MALLI
KIINTEISTÖYHTIÖ -MALLI
PUBLIC-PRIVATE -MALLI
YKSITYINEN SÄÄTIÖ/YRITYS -MALLI
Malliesimerkki julkisesta kulttuurilaitosmallista on Oulun Nuoriso- ja kulttuurikeskus, NUKU,
jonka toimintakonsepti perustuu kaupungin tarjoamiin toimitiloihin sisältäen kaiken tekniikasta
ja muusta laitteistosta aina toimintaa koordinoivaan ja tiloista vastaavaan henkilökuntaan. Oulun
NUKU -keskus on yksi Oulun kaupungin seitsemästä kulttuurilaitoksesta ja talon toiminnan
tarkoitus on tuottaa kulttuuripalveluja yhteistyössä taide- ja kulttuurijärjestöjen sekä yhdistysten
ja taiteilijoiden kanssa. Nuku tuottaa itse lastenkulttuurin palveluita Oulun alueella. Kaupungin
kulttuuritoimen lisäksi Nukuun on keskittynyt elokuvaan, tanssiin ja valokuvaan liittyviä
toimintoja, joiden toiminta perustuu tilojen nimelliseen käyttökorvaukseen. Tapahtumatiloihin
pääasiassa keskittynyt NUKU on laajentanut tilojaan ja samalla toimintaansa viimeksi syksyllä
2007, jolloin sen tilat täydentyivät uusilla työpajatiloilla. 28
Esimerkki puolijulkisesta toimintamallista on Porvoon Taidetehdas, jonka tilat omistaa Porvoon
kaupunki ja jonka toiminnan rahoituksesta vastaavat Porvoon taidetehtaan säätiön osakkaat,
Porvoon kaupunki yhdessä kulttuurimesenaatti Ensio Miettinen -säätiön kanssa. Porvoon
Taidetehtaan säätiön perustaminen vuonna 1999 käynnisti Taidetehtaan kunnostussuunnitelmat
ja peruskorjaustyöt. Taidetehtaan saattaminen kulttuurin ja taiteen monitoimitaloksi on yksi
keskeisistä tulevaisuuden tavoitteista Porvoon kaupungin strategiassa. Porvoon Taidetehtaassa on
yhteensä n. 7500 m². Yli neljäkymmentä vakituista vuokralaista ja suuret määrät tilapäisiä tilojen
vuokraajia kuvaavat keskuksen asemaa 47 400 asukkaan Porvoon kulttuuritoiminnassa. 29
Esimerkki puhtaasta kiinteistöyhtiöstä on Helsingin Kaapelitehdasta hallinnoiva Kaapelitalo
oy, joka pystyy vuokratuotoillaan toteuttamaan kiinteistössä tarvittavat korjaukset ja kiinteistön
kehittämistoimet. Tiloissa toimii noin 150 kuvataiteilijaa. Kaapelitehdas siirtyi Helsingin
kaupungille Nokia oy:ltä vuonna 1990, jolloin siitä muodostettiin erillinen, kokonaan kaupungin
omistama kiinteistöyhtiö, josta kaupunki ei odota saavansa osinkotuloja. Yhtiö vuokraa tiloja
erilaisiin tarkoituksiin erisuuruisin vuokrin. Taiteilijat maksavat alinta (6 e/m²) ja julkiset
28
Vierailu Oulun NUKU -keskuksessa 27.8.2007 keskuksen toiminnanjohtaja Arja Huotarin johdolla. Käynti
NUKU keskuksen verkkosivuilla http://www.ouka.fi/nukukeskus/, 30.10.2007.
29
Vierailut Porvoon Taidetehtaalla 4.7.2007 ja 26.9.2007 Porvoon Taidetehtaan säätiön asiamies Susanne
Dahlqvistin johdolla. Käynti Porvoon taidetehtaan verkkosivuilla http://taidetehdas.fi, 30.10.2007.
292
instituutiot kuten museot ja koulut ja muut ns. ”kaupalliset” toimijat korkeampaa vuokraa. 30
Kulttuuritehdas Korjaamo oy on esimerkki Public-Private -mallista, joka toimii yksityisen yrittäjän
ja kaupungin kiinteässä yhteistyössä. Kulttuuritehdas Korjaamon tulot muodostuvat useasta
toisiaan tukevasta toiminnosta ja tilasta kuten baari-, ravintola- taidegalleria-, musiikkiklubi-,
teatteri- ja toimistohotellitoiminnasta. 31
Esimerkki puhtaasti yksityisomisteisesta säätiöstä on Turun Manillan Tehdas. Manillaan
1990-luvun alussa kotiutunut Aurinkobaletti perusti vuonna 1997 Pro Manillasäätiön,
jonka tavoitteena on kulttuurihistoriallisesti arvokkaan Manillan suojelu ja kunnostaminen
kulttuurikeskukseksi, alueen kulttuurihistorian tunnetuksi tekeminen sekä tanssitaiteen ja muun
kulttuurin tukeminen ja edistäminen. Vuonna 2000 tehdyllä kaupalla tehdaskiinteistö siirtyi Pro
Manillasäätiön hallinnoimalle Kiinteistö Oy Turun Manillalle. Suojelukaava vahvistettiin vuonna
2001. Manilla on vilkas kulttuuritehdas, jossa toimii mm. kolme teatteria, kuvataiteilijoita,
valokuvastudioita, arkkitehtitoimistoja sekä muita taide- ja kulttuurialojen pienyrityksistä.
Manillassa järjestetään vuosittain satoja kulttuuritapahtumia: tanssi- ja teatteriesityksiä,
konsertteja, näyttelyitä ja festivaaleja. Pro Manilla säätiön tuottama Tehdasfestivaali Manifesti
täyttää Manillan vuosittain syyskuussa. 32
Tutustuminen muiden suomalaiskaupunkien kulttuurikeskusten konseptiesimerkkeihin
osoitti, että kulttuuritoimijoiden ja -toimintojen keskittämisestä saatavat hyödyt ovat ilmeiset
kaikille osapuolille, joskin keskittymien aikaansaaminen vaati vuosien pitkäjännitteisen
työn lisäksi kulttuuritoimijoiden saumatonta yhteistyötä yhteisen tavoitteen puolesta. Lähes
kaikkien esimerkkikeskusten vaiheissa kaupungin vahva tuki osoittautui olennaisen tärkeäksi
yhteistilahankkeiden onnistumiselle. Kulttuuripalveluja tuottavien vapaiden toimijoiden
sekä luovien alojen yrittäjien toimintamahdollisuuksien tukemistavoitteiden kirjaaminen
maakunnallisiin ja kaupunkien omiin strategioihin on tärkeää, mutta se vaatii käytännössä myös
konkreettisia toimenpiteitä ja oikeanlaisia kehittämisvälineitä. Kulttuurikeskus on hyvä väline
vapaan taidekentän toimijoiden ja luovien alojen yrittäjien toimintaympäristön parantamisessa,
sillä se keskittää eri toimijaryhmät ja vastaa tasapuolisesti kaikkien tarpeisiin. Keskusten
perustamisprosessi toimenpiteineen vaatii kuitenkinkaupungin vahvaa poliittista tahtoa ja
hankkeita vetävien tahojen keskinäistä yhteisymmärrystä.33
Suomalaisiin kaupunkeihin syntyneiden ns. vapaiden kulttuurikeskusten keskittämisestä
saatavia etuja toimijoiden mukaan ovat muun muassa: 1) luova työyhteisön rakentuminen
eli synergia eri toimijoiden välillä, joka mahdollistaa monipuolisen osaamisen keskuksissa,
2) yhteismarkkinoinnilla saavutettu aikaisempaa suurempi näkyvyys ja tunnettavuus,
3) kulttuuripalvelujen saavutettavuuden lisääntyminen yleisön kannalta, 4) resurssien
yhdistämisestä saavutettu hyöty tilojen, laitteistojen ja henkilöstön osalta, 5) taiteilijoiden
työtilatarpeen helpottuminen, 6) yhteishengen paraneminen alueen toimijoiden keskuudessa,
7) luovien alojen yritysten toimintamahdollisuuksien parantuminen uusien verkostojen kautta,
8) uusien yritysten, tuotantojen ja työpaikkojen syntymisen edistäminen ja vakiinnuttaminen,
9) alueen vetovoimaisuuden ja kiinnostavuuden lisääntyminen, 9) keskusten käyttäminen
välineinä kaupunkikeskustojen kehittämisessä ja elävöittämisessä sekä saatavat hyödyt
kulttuurihistoriallisten rakennusten suojelussa sekä 10) alueen elinkeinoelämän saamat hyödyt
kulttuurimatkailun lisääntymisestä ja kehittymisestä.
2.2 TAVOITTEENA PORIN VISUAALINEN KESKUS
Porin Visuaalinen keskus -hankkeen päätavoite on perustaan Poriin visuaalisten alojen toimijoiden
yhteinen keskus. Matkalla koti tavoitetta on kuitenkin monia kysymyksiä, jotka vaativat oman
ratkaisunsa. Hankkeen aikana tutustuttiin suomalaisiin esimerkkikulttuurikeskuksiin, joita kaikkia
yhdisti poikkitaiteellisuus eli keskuksiin oli useimmin sijoittunut kaikenlaisten taiteenalojen
toimijoita samoissa tiloissa. Myös Porin Visuaalisen keskuksen osalta on päätettävä, halutaanko
keskuksesta poikkitaiteellisuutta korostava monen taide- ja kulttuurialan toimijan yhteinen keskus
vai tiukasti tiettyihin visuaalisen kulttuurin aloihin keskittyväksi ja erikoistuvaksi keskukseksi.
Kysymys on tärkeä, sillä se vaikuttaa myös keskusten rahoitusmalliin eli siihen, millaisista
asioista keskuksen tulonmuodostus rakentuisi. Toinen toimintamalliin liittyvä kysymys liittyy
keskuksen tuottamiin sisältöihin ja siihen, kuka siitä olisi vastuussa.
Vapaiden eurooppalaisten kulttuurikeskusten muodostaman Trans Europe Halles -verkoston
Helsingin Korjaamolla 26.10.2007 järjestämässä Innovating White Rabbits -seminaarissa
esiteltiin eurooppalaisten kulttuurikeskusten toimintamalleja.
30
Vierailut Helsingin Kaapelitehtaalla 11.7.2007 ja 26.9.2007 Kaapelitalo oy:n viestintäpäällikkö Marja
IstalaKumpusen johdolla. Käynti Helsingin Kaapelitehtaan verkkosivuilla http://www.kaapelitehdas.fi, 30.10.2007.
31
Vierailut Helsingin Kulttuuritehdas Korjaamolla 11.7.2007 koordinaattori Anna Karin johdolla ja Trans
Europe Halles -verkoston Innovating White Rabbits -seminaarissa 26.10.2007. Käynti Kulttuuritehdas Korjaamon
verkkosivuilla http://www.korjaamo.fi/, 30.10.2007.
32
Käynti Turun Manillan Tehtaan verkkosivuilla http://www.manillantehdas.fi/ 30.10.2007.
33
Sellaisissa esimerkkitapauksissa, joissa kaupungin tuki on ollut vähäisempää, on kaupungin ohella ollut
tukena joku muu, paikallinen kulttuurimesenaatti tai sellainen ulkopuolinen rahoittajataho, joka on halunnut tukea
kaupungin kulttuuritoimintaa.
293
294
Puhdas kulttuurimarketti -malli ei kuitenkaan anna keskuksessa toimiville organisaatioille täyttä
vapautta sisältöjen tuottamiseen ja oman toimintansa hallintaan. Keskuksen yhteinen budjetti
vaatii pysymään tietyissä raameissa ja siten se määrittää keskuksessa toimivien organisaatioiden
määrää ja toimintamahdollisuuksia, mutta samaan aikaan se tarjoaa turvan ja mahdollisuuden
toiminnan kehittämiselle ja tulevaisuuden suunnittelulle.
INCUB A T OR
Turun Ma nillan
Tehdas
Ku lttuuri tehdas
Korja amo
Helsingi n
Ka ap elitehdas
BOU T IQUE
SHOPP ING
MA LL O F
CUL T URE
Oulu n
NUKU -keskus
Porvoo n
Taid etehdas
DEP A R T MEN T S T ORE
Kuva 4. Kuva perustuu Helsingin Kaapelitehtaan toimitusjohtaja Stuba Nikulan esittelemään
pyramidimalliin Innovating White Rabbits -seminaarin Real Estate -workshopissa, joka kuvaa
taloudellisesta näkökulmasta eurooppalaisten kulttuurikeskusten toimintamalleja. Kuva ja sen
stilisointi sekä suomalaisten kulttuurikeskusten sijoittaminen kaavioon: Essi Lindberg.
Shopping Mall of Culture -mallissa kulttuurikeskuksen kulttuurisisällön tuottavat tiloja vuokraavat
taide- ja kulttuuriorganisaatiot. Malli lähentelee tavallisen kiinteistöyhtiön toimintaperiaatteita
sillä erotuksella, että kulttuurikeskusten tapauksessa vuokralaisten valintaa ohjaa toimintasääntö,
joka määrittää tilojen vuokraamisesta kulttuuriin ja taiteeseen erikoistuneille toimijoille. Ns.
ostoskeskus -malli on keino siirtää tuotantojen yleisöön ja lipputoihin liittyvät riskit sisällön
tuottajaorganisaatioille. Toisaalta keskuksen tuottaman kulttuurisisällön yhtenäisyys riippuu täysin
keskukseen sijoittuvien toimijoiden aktiivisuudesta kehittää keskinäistä yhteistyötä keskuksen
varsinaisen hallintokoneiston keskittyessä korkeintaan yhteistyöhankkeiden koordinointiin ja
sisäiseen viestintään. Ostoskeskus -malli sopii hyvin esimerkiksi sellaiselle kulttuurikeskukselle,
jonka keskeisenä tehtävänä on kunnostaa ja hallinnoida laajojen tilojen saneeraustöitä.
Department -malli on keskusjohtoinen kulttuurikeskusmalli. Mallin mukaisella keskuksella
on yksi budjetti sekä tuotantoon ja sen suunnitteluun erikoistunut henkilökunta. Mallin etuja
on mahdollisuus hallita ja rakentaa keskuksen tuotannoista ja muista kulttuurisisällöistä
yhtenäisiä koordinoimalla tiiviisti toimijatahojen välistä yhteistyötä. Selvä etu on myös erilaisten
toimintojen yhdistämisen kautta saatavat pääomatulot kuten esimerkiksi konserttisalin lipputulot
yhdistettynä ravintola- tai baarituottoihin. Mallin etu on mahdollisuus muodostaa yhden budjetin
avulla toimiva kokonaisuus eri toiminnoista ja monipuoliset mahdollisuudet rakentaa keskuksen
toimijoiden yhteisiä hankkeita, sekä ottaa vastaan niin julkista kuin muutakin toimintatukea.
295
Boutique -malli on esimerkki verrattain pienestä ja erikoistuneesta keskuksesta, jonka toimijoiden
valinnasta, toiminnan pyörittämisestä ja taiteellisesta tuotannosta vastaa oma ogranisaatio.
Putiikki -mallin mukainen keskus tuntee edellä mainittuja malleja paremmin oman yleisönsä
ja kohdistaa tarjoamansa kulttuurisisällön myös tarkemmin tietyille ryhmille. Mallin mukaiset
keskukset ovat tietoisia omasta linjastaan, tuntevat trendit ja tarjoavat useimmiten vaihtoehtoista
taide- ja kulttuurisisältöä tiedostaville asiakkailleen.
Incubator -mallin mukaan rakennettu keskus tarjoaa tiloja vuokraaville toimijoille
hautomopalveluja, tuotantojen kehittämis-, kasvattamis- ja vakinnuttamiseen liittyvää tukea.
Luovien toimialojen hautomopalveluihin ja kulttuurituotantojen ja tuotteiden managerointiin
sekä kehittämiseen erikoistuneita palveluja voivat tarjota useat edellämainitut kulttuurikeskukset
joko keskusjohtoisesti tai sitten ostamalla palvelut ulkoa. Incubator -mallin mukainen keskus on
onnistunut, kun joku sen tiloissa toiminut organisaatio tai yritys alkaa pärjätä omillaan, kasvaa ja
lopulta muuttaa keskuksesta pois tilojen käydessä ahtaaksi. Hautomo- ja managerointipalveluja
tarjoava keskus palvelee sekä keskuksen toimijoita että houkuttelee niitä kehittämään omaa
sisältöään ja auttaa tuotantojen myymisessä ja yritysyhteistyössä.
Porin Visuaalisen keskuksen toimijoiden päätettäväksi jää, minkälaisen mallin mukaista keskusta
Poriin päädytään ehdottamaan. Tarpeellista on pohtia esimerkiksi julkisten ja yksityisesti
vuokrattavien tilojen suhdetta eli sitä kuinka suuri osuus keskuksen tiloista on tarkoitus vuokrata
pitkäaikaiseen käyttöön ja kuinka suuri osuus tiloista jää tapahtumiin vuokrattavaan käyttöön.
Pitkäaikaiseen käyttöön vuokrattavat toimitilat ovat useimmiten yksityistä tilaa, kun taas
tapahtumatilat ovat avoinna yleisölle ja siten ne tuovat keskukseen elämää, uusia kasvoja ja
uusia ideoita ja ovat sinällään tärkeä osa keskuksen markkinointia. Entä, onko keskuksella tiloja,
jotka ovat kaikille keskuksen käyttäjille yhteisiä? Vai peritäänko esmerkiksi neuvottelutilojen ja
auditorin käytöstä vuokraa? Tärkeä kysymys on myös, miten suuri osuus Porin kuapungilla olisi
keskuksen ylläpitämisessä?
Edellä mainittuihin kysymyksiin pyritään löytämään vastaukset vuoden 2007 lopussa päätyvän
suunnitteluvaiheen aikana, jolloin valmistuu esitys Porin Visuaalisen keskuksen perustamisesta.
296
KIRJALLISUUS
Hyvinkään Villa Arttu 4.7.2007 esittelijänä keskuksen työntekijä Anu Haikonen.
Oulun NUKU -keskus 27.8.2007 esittelijänä toiminnanjohtaja Arja Huotari.
Julkaisut
Selvitys taiteilijatyötiloista Helsingissä. (Toim. Kajantie et al.) Helsinki, Lasipalatsi 2007.
Vesikansa, Esko: Kuvataiteilijoiden työtilat 2003. Selvitys kuvataiteilijoiden työtiloista ja
tilantarpeesta sekä tilojen lisäämisohjelma. Opetusministeriön työryhmämuistioita ja selvityksiä
2004:2. Helsinki, Yliopistopaino, 2004.
Vilenius, Markku: Luovaan Talouteen – Kulttuuriosaaminen tulevaisuuden voimavarana.
Helsinki, Edita Prima oy, 2004.
Lehtiartikkelit
Hänninen, Kari: Kulttuurikeskukset käyvät kuntien kukkaroilla, Kauppalehti, 16.8.2007, 14–15.
Internetlähteet
Lindberg, Essi: PORIN VISUAALINEN KESKUS – Esiselvityshanke visuaalisen alan toimijoiden
nykytilanteesta, toiminnasta ja tilatarpeista sekä alustava suunnitelma vaadittavista toimenpiteistä
visuaalisen keskuksen perustamisesta Poriin. Pori, 31.3.2007.
Hämeenlinnan Poltinahon taidekasarmi 28.6.2007, esittelijänä ARS Häme ry:n toiminnanjohtaja
Sirpa Taulu, Hämeen Taidetoimikunnan puheenjohtaja Anne koivunen sekä kuvataiteilija Olli
Larjo.
Hämeenlinnan Verkatehdas 28.6.2007 esittelijänä kokousemäntä Laura Laakso, sekä 6.9.2007
esittelijänä toimitusjohtajana Jouko Astor.
Lahden Taidepanimo 28.6.2007 esittelijänä Kauno ry:n näyttelysihteeri.
Porvoon Taidetehdas 4.7.2007 ja 26.9.2007, esittelijänä Porvoon Taidetehtaan säätiön asiamies
Susanne Dahlqvist.
Tanssisali Lutakko 2.7.2007 esittelijänä tanssisalin promoottori Matti Salmela.
Tourulan kivääritehdas 2.7.2007 esitelijänä valokuvataitelija Rune Snellman.
Sähköpostit
Penttinen-Lampisuo, Tuuli: Kuvataiteilijat Satakunnassa. Pori, 13.3.2007.
Vierailut kulttuurikeskuksissa
Helsingin kaapelitehdas 11.7.2007 ja 26.9.2007 esittelijänä Kaapelitalo oy:n viestintäpäällikkö
Marja Istala-Kumpunen.
Helsingin Kulttuuritehdas Korjaamo 11.7.2007 esittelijänä koordinaattori Anna Kari ja TEHseminaari 26.10.2007 johtajana Korjaamo oy:n taiteellinen johtaja Raoul Grünstein.
Helsingin Vallilan ARTLAB-taiteilijayhteisö 11.7.2007 esittelijänä yhteisön tiedottaja, kirjailija
Essi Henriksson.
Helsingin Vallilan taiteilijatalo 26.9.2007 esittelijänä Suomen Taiteilijatalosäätiön asiamies Esko
Vesikansa.
297
298
Leadership and Virtual Teams Working Globally
Ulla Heinonen
University of Turku
Abstract
In modern life, leadership faces new challenges which are caused by global working. Organizations
work as virtual teams. Leadership, teams and trust have to be built without face to face contacts.
In the presentation I will report challenges of cooperation and leading in network-based
communities based on four different case studies. One of the goals of these case studies is to
understand how virtual teams work. In this presentation I will report the results of the following
research question: what kind of leadership makes the teams creative and successful in their
work?
The target group of the case studies was a community that consists of teams that cooperate at
the global level in the network of the distributed organization. The research data was collected
by using qualitative methods and analyzed by using content analysis. In this presentation I will
report the experiences of the cooperation between the team members.
According to the results of the case studies, keys to success are linked with a sense of community,
trust, time, technology and language. The team dynamics and the basic elements that make the
team work easier and more successfully, namely the well-defined rules and clearly defined
responsibilities, technological support and allocation of time. Clearly defined responsibilities and
creative leadership, the motivation and the commitment of the partners as well as their cooperation
skills also appeared to be very important.
Key words: creative leadership, network-based cooperation, virtual teams, distributed
organizations
299
The management of distance work is as old as work itself (see for instance O`Leary &al. 2002,
5). Modern organizations are working commonly in virtual teams. The teams, team members
and leaders of the teams are facing new kinds of challenges compared to working face to face.
Information technology makes working globally and communicating through networks easy
but also challenging. Working in virtual environments and teams also offers new possibilities
especially for cooperation. And it is not only the organisation, but also the leaders have to face
them.
There are several reasons to work in virtual teams: 1) promote the work, 2) dissipate the time
and distance and also 3) get information quicker (see also McGrath & Hollingshead 1993). In
global organizations, working in virtual teams is daily practise. In fact there are many teams that
never meet each other face to face at all. This is especially the case if the team members work
in different countries and they have a tight schedule. There can also be quite surprising reasons
to work in virtual teams. In this report, the case study 1 was a good example of that. Some of
the team members had to work without face to face contact because of the SARS (Severe acute
respiratory syndrome). At the time, any kind of travelling in Asia was not allowed.
In the presentation I will report challenges of leadership in virtual teams. The case studies are part
of the MOMENTS consortium, which, in turn, is part of the Life as learning research programme
of the Academy of Finland. One of the goals of these studies is to discuss, how to build a sense of
community in virtual teams. In this presentation, I will report the results of the following research
question: what kind of leadership makes the teams creative and successful in their work.
The case study groups consisted of teams that cooperate at the network of the distributed
organization. The groups either studied or worked virtually. The data was collected from different
questionnaires and diaries and analyzed by using content analysis. The teams worked or studied
virtually by using different online messaging (such as chat, screen sharing, low communication).
The Communication technology is often in remarkable role in the organizations (see Jokinen &
al. 2006, 197).
I will focus on some experiences of the team members based on four different case studies in virtual
teams (N=92; n1=23, n2=8, n3=19, n4=42). The goals of these case studies are to understand,
what the cooperation was like in virtual teams, how the new technology was used and how the
sense of community was built in those teams. In my report I will focus on what kind of a role the
leaders had in the processes. The teams worked world wide in multicultural fields.
In these four cases the leaders were facilitators who took care of the activities which had to be
done during the schedule. In this presentation I view facilitators as leaders. The facilitators were
responsible for reaching the goals and targets and also the study and work of the team members.
They were also responsible for technical problems, in case of any. These results can be useful in
developing creative leadership in virtual teams.
300
Background of the case studies
In all case studies the teams mainly used instant messaging (such as on-line list, low level
communication, screen sharing, intranet, shared files, net meetings, chat, e-mail) in their
communication. Telephone and video meetings were also among the tools used by virtual teams
while working or studying. It is important to realize that also these tools and new technology in
multicultural environments bring some challenges with them in these case studies.
In case study 1 there were two smaller teams (n1=23) working virtually without any face to face
contacts. They used instant messaging and mostly telephone in all their communication. The data
was collected by using questionnaire.
In case study 2 (n2=8) there were three small teams studying e-tools together. Each smaller team
comprised three or four members, who studied together. This study included 12 persons but only
eight of them took part in this case study. The teams gathered together as a larger group several
times during their studies. All meetings took place in the net, but they met face to face before
the course was started. The participants learnt that it was very good. The team members felt that
the virtual meetings were very good, dynamic and succesful. The data was collected by using
learning logs, diaries. Each of the participants had their own learning log in the net.
In case study 3 (n3=19) there were 29 persons who attended these virtual working sessions, with
eventually 19 of them taking part in this study. There were working in three different sessions.
The sessions were similar. In the first study there were six participants who took part in this study,
in the second one there were five and in the third there were eight. In this study the participants
used some group working methods in virtual environments. The data was collected by using a
questionnaire.
In case 4 (n=42) there were 56 persons who attended the virtual sessions. Only 42 of them took
part in this study. In this study the participants were using some new working methods that had
not been used in the net before. Some of the participants were familiar with that method in face to
face contacts. Two of these team members were working in the net for the first time, 17 of them
have worked 1 to 5 times, 11 of them had worked 5 to 10 times while 12 participants had worked
more than 10 times virtually before this study. The data was collected with the questionnaire.
Challenges of leading virtual teams globally
In virtual teams, whether they are study or work teams, there are always some challenges involved.
Authoritarian leadership is not the most successful type of leading in virtual environments. The
leader has to be mature for democratic leading. The leader has to learn how to lead, manage,
motivate and inspire the team member, regardless of their nationality or multicultural background.
Leadership in the net is much more than just giving orders (see Lipnack & Stamps 2000; Lewis
2006). Richard Lewis (2006) writes that organizations have to realize the cultural differences and
backgrounds to make the work successful (Lewis 2006, 104-135).
We also have to focus on commitment to teams, trust and the sense of community.
One of the main reasons why virtual teams often fail is that they overlook the implications of
301
the obvious differences in their working environments. Team members and leaders do not make
accommodation for how different it really is when they and their colleagues no longer work face
to face. Teams fail when they do not adjust to this new reality by closing the virtual gap. (Lipnack
& Stamps 2000, 19.)
It is also possible that the leader and the members of his team never meet each other. One of the
challenges is shorten, or even better, cut the distance between the members.
In global work, members are from different countries and they all have multicultural backgrounds.
This leads to more challenges (see Kayworth & Leidner 2000; Lewis 2006). Then the person in
charge must face the different values, norms, and different cultural habits. This comes out mainly
in daily routines, meetings, rules and responsibilities. Also the language in different ways has a
significant role in virtual teams (see Fiol 2002, 653-666). The leader and the members have to
understand each other and also the leader has to know the language the team is using. Virtual
teams can create a language on their own quite fast (see e.g. Cherny 1999; Sveningsson 2001).
Virtual environment and used tools can make the communication difficult to understand. For
instance, in a net meeting the telephone line is poor and the used language is not native language
for the team members it can be almost impossible to understand what the other person is saying.
Distributed work and virtual work need to have purposeful, result oriented and a strong leader.
The team members have to know the goals and the target of the work. Also they have to be
repeated during the work. Otherwise, one or some of the team members can make their own goals
and target, which are different from the original one. (Vartiainen & al. 2004, 84.)
Experiences of the team members of the virtual teams
In each of my four case studies (N=92) the team members felt that working and studying in
virtual teams was flexible and dynamic mostly because they did not have to travel so much. The
distances between the team members were pretty long, so without the virtual working rooms they
should have travelled a lot. This also made the stress level lower.
The team members used mostly instant messaging when they needed quick answers and
information, such as problem solving or work in progress. More than half of the team members
in case 1 reported in their questionnaires that virtual working has a positive impact on their
work (16/23) and on the atmosphere (14/23). One of the team members told: “In virtual team
contacts are very easy and it helps in problem solving. The professionals and support are always
available.” (n1/4).
And another member tells: “Instant messaging is certainly better than email as you get an
immediate reply to queries. I find it a better way to communicate than verbal conversation. I can
express myself better… you can clear the targets easily.” (n1/8) Also in the other cases there were
many similar comments.
It was also felt that “virtual working makes the organization less formal than while working face
to face.” (n3/11).
302
Virtual working provides closer ties with all employees of a same team. With the virtual tools one
can always see when the others are online and can have a chat with them with an immediate reply.
The members felt that “this made it easier to contact anyone, other members or the leaders.”
(n2/3).
There are some main lines which have to be taken into account when working and leading these
teams. Here I will report of some of comments from the case studies. The main lines are: The
sense of community and trust, rules and responsibilities in teams, social and cultural aspects and,
last but not least, technology.
The sense of community and trust
Working in virtual teams is much more successful if the sense of community and trust is developed.
It has reported that the sense of community improves work satisfaction, loyalties between team
members, altruism and courtesy (Borroughs & Eby 1998). Successful collaboration requires
trust between the team members and the members have to feel that they are part of the team. It
also requires active part taking and interaction (see also Lipnack & Stamps 1997; Järvenpaa &
Leidner 1998; Jackson 1999; Smith & Kollock 1999; Kayworth & Leidner 2000; Kimble & al.
2000; Lipnack & Stamps 2000; Heinonen 2005).
In all case studies there appeared some trust and sense of community with the team members. But
there are some details that have to be recognized by the leaders of the teams. Even the sense of
community can be developed at once when the work starts and it can also be destroyed as fast.
According to the results of the case study 1, the challenges of building up a sense of community
can be surprising. In this study, one of the teams was working in Asia at the time of the infection
SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome). The team members had to build the sense of
community and trust without any face to face contacts. However, the team members had a strong
feeling of trust and togetherness from the moment they started to work virtually. The members
of the team reported in their questionnaires that they felt so close to each others that they were
really surprised to realize there were actually long distances between them, when using the
phone. Online messaging, social needs that people have and parasocial interaction (see Isotalus
2004) can make distributed virtual work and managing successful without building the sense of
community in face to face contacts.
In case study 2 (n2=8) one team had the trust and sense of community developed fast. But trust
can be easily lost in virtual teams. One team member reported in the learning log that they lost
the trust and good feeling, because one of the team members was late.
In all cases, many participants reported that trust was easy to build. It seems like clear targets, goals
and schedules forced the members to trust each other and motivate them to work dynamically.
One of the participants tells in the questionnaire: “First of all, we are supposed to be open and
honest with each other, since we are doing the same thing. The good pre-work means that people
are prepared and know perfectly what shall be done.” (n3/11) And another member reported:
303
“…it was easy to feel open; the discussion was good for openness. Pair work and group talks
showed that there is a strong trust between us. But we knew what we are doing.” (n3/14).
Also the leaders made the atmosphere open. As one participant, among others, tells: “The
facilitators are friendly and encouraging and also understanding, that was good for the team.”
(n3/9). And another tells: “…Spontaneous comments by participants were responded quickly;
making it feel like contribution was valued…I think all the participants were comfortable with
making comments or asking questions.” (n3/7).
It is also interesting that even negative feedback can be taken as a positive detail. One participant
reported: “In today’s busy business world people quite anxiously make comments if things are
going wrong or if they have different opinions, any kind of critics can be easily heard and it just
have to be taken as a feedback. That is openness and trust. Sometimes the feedback is positive
too. Nothing changes if there is only hand clapping. Open comments and discussion made me feel
closely with other participants.” (n3/17).
Rules and responsibilities in teams
The rules and responsibilities are very important in virtual environments. They have to be clear
and the team members have to commit them. One of the leader’s important duties is to take care
of the schedule and the other rules. It is also very important that the members know which part of
the work they are responsible for.
In case 2 (n2=8) the participants reported in their learning logs that they felt trust and openness
because they had clear rules and responsibilities. At the beginning of this case study the teams
were told by the course leaders what they are responsible for and which part the teams have to
take care of. At the same time the facilitators gave clear rules, schedule, and what has to be done
during the course. One of the main reasons for success was that the facilitators told that they will
take care of all technical problems if there are going to be any. The team members are not familiar
with all the technical tools they used during the study. Some of them were using the tools for the
first time. In virtual teams it is important to know who is responsible for technical solutions (see
also Rubens & al. 2005) Lipnack and Stamps (2000, 145) also note that nothing is more important
to the virtual team than its clear purpose.
One participant tells about his commitment: “I tried to be a good student and team member, sticking
to deadlines and contributing as much I possibly could. Then I of course learned from other group
members, we felt good.”(n2/2). The other member tells: “Rules of the sessions should always be
agreed together. … Everyone should have returned their work on time. The time schedule was
very tight to complete the work. Being late it is unforgiveable. … we all participated actively and
got good results in a shorter time as scheduled. We had an very effective meetings. … it was good
to have feedback right after the sessions.” (n2/4). And in the third case study one member reports
in the questionnaire: “We had clear responsibilities. We knew what we are doing. The growing
group work spirit and obvious commitment from all group members was definitively a very good
experience. Thanks for the leading trainers!” (n3/5).
304
Social and cultural aspects
The participants reported that the team leaders have to be aware of social and cultural backgrounds
(n1-n4).
In the case studies the team members reported some difficulties in understanding the language.
This showed up especially in net meetings when the telephone was used. English is the common
and official language of the organization but the team members are not native English. The
members also wanted to see the spoken language. So it was recommended that they used chat.
The group members found chat to be a very useful tool to solve this culturally based problem. In
building the sense of community and team spirit it is not meaningless how the language is used
and understood. In the organization the common language is English but it is not the mother
tongue for many of the participants. So English was spoken with different accents or dialects.
In case 4 (n4=42) the team members reported in their questionnaires on different social and
cultural aspects. One of the participants tells: “There are some dialects that are very hard to
understand (like Scottish English) or if the participants do not speak English well (sometimes the
Asians or French), it is hard to keep the attention during the meetings. And in the net meetings if
globally, that these kinds of problems are not very serious. As one of the participants tells: “I am
half Asian and half European and living in somewhere between so I really do not know if there
are any cultural challenges in global organisation for me.”(n1/13)
Technology
In all the case studies there were members who were beginners in working virtually and also
those who have worked virtually from the beginning of the e –work of the organization (more
than 6 months). There are some clear differences how the technology deals with the beginners or
with those who are used to work in the net.
In the fourth case (n4=42) the members have a clear “practising time”. Those who were used to
instant messaging in less than two months used them only to solve problems, clarify details and
update information. Those used to instant messaging over a period of more than six months used
them in every working area (picture 1.).
the phone line is crackly, it can be even much harder to understand people.” (n4/8).
One of the members suggests that: “It could be helpful if in the net meetings spoken language
could be also seen, like in chat. Or if introductions could be send before in files or something.”
(n4/10).
Language has got an important role in teams (see Fiol 2002, 653-666) as I have already pointed
out earlier in this report. It is common in different teams that inside of the team they have their
own “slang”. Especially in case 2 the participants told in their learning logs that in their teams
they had their own words and terminology for different things. They told that it is common in
their work to develop some words for usual daily things that they were doing and handling. The
members used such words as “of course”, “naturally” or “often” when they were telling if they
had a language of the team. One participant reported: “In our team we use an ITC -language,
having different nicknames for tools and also for some topics. We use them with our team. With
customers we try to use “easy to understand language. We tend to use product names rather than
service names.” (n2/1) The team leaders have to know that terminology. For the team members
it can be also a problem if all the members do not have the same terminology. As one of the
participants in case study 4 tells: “We did not have time to have break because we could not find
“a common language” in the initial group; more difficult to find one in “e” compared to face to
face.” (n4/1).
An other social or cultural problem that occurred was time and keeping the agreed schedule. One
of the participants reported: “for us, Finns, it is hard to understand that some natives are always
running late. In every meeting there are certain nationalities that are late. It is terribly disturbing!”
(n3/9). This can also be a problem at the personal level.
Social and cultural challenges can be easily met by making clear rules and keeping up the rules.
According to these case studies, in multicultural organisations people are used to work and live
305
306
role: needs to be familiar with the e –working methods themselves and experienced in using e
–tools. Needs to have facilitation skills and lots of technical skills.” (n4/33)
What kind of leadership makes the teams creative and successful in their work?
Picture 1. Virtual working becomes tame.
In the target groups the use of instant messaging increased evenly after two months’ use. After six
months of use, the instant messaging became tame. Messaging is used daily and in all possible
situations. When the technology is new to the users they are reserved. After practising the use and
some experience they get reliability.
Adaptability, accessibility and usability effect strongly in collaboration (see Koskimaa & Heinonen
2005; Ruokamo & Tella 2005).
In case study 4 (n4=42) it was very difficult to those who have worked in virtual teams for less
than two months to feel any sense of community or trust or openness. They felt only insecure and
for them, keeping up with social relations or discussions was hard. They spent their time trying to
handle the new technology. Even they were told that in case of any technical problems they will
have help right there online or in telephone.
The sense of community and trust and openness were easily built after the technology become
tame. Instant messaging and online working made that the other members of the team came closer,
the team members reported that they felt like they are in the same room (see also Reidlinger &al.
2004, 491-522).
In case study 3 the participants who did not have lots of experience in using instant messaging
reported that they missed the body language. Those participants who were used to work in virtual
environments felt that working in online rooms is more dynamic. This showed up in many ways,
as one participant tells: “We were supposed to be open and honest with each other since we are
doing the same thing but how can we do that when we can not see each other face to face and
do not know how the other person is reacting.” (n3/2). This participant was working in a virtual
room for the first time. Another participant have reported: “E-meetings and working in e are new
concepts. And they require some habits / improvements which come naturally by using them.
I have now done several e -meetings, I would say that they are more and more efficient every
time.” (n3/14).
In case study 4 the participants reported in the questionnaire that team leaders and facilitators
need to be well trained to their duty. They think that it is not possible to have good leading if the
leader does not handle the technical skills. As one member tells: “The team leader is in a very big
307
According to the results of these case studies, the keys to success are linked with a sense of
community, trust, time, technology and language. The team dynamics and the basic elements that
make the team work easier and more successfully, namely the well-defined rules and clearly defined
responsibilities, technological support and allocation of time. Clearly defined responsibilities
and creative leadership, the motivation and the commitment of the partners as well as their
cooperation skills also appeared to be very important. In picture 2. There are some factors that
have to be available if the leader wants to have success in a virtual team. Teams must have sense
of community and trust and it has to be built at the beginning of the work. Commitment comes
with the sense of community. Rules and responsibilities include the schedule, target and goals.
Social and cultural backgrounds of the members have to be noticed already at the beginning but
also during the work. Technology skills have to be strong if good team work is wanted.
Picture 2. Factors which successful leading requires
308
Sometimes clear targets, awareness of responsibilities, rules and commitment with a certain
schedule develop the sense of community and trust and those together overcome even the technical
problems if they occur. When the team members know that they are responsible for their own
work as a team they are motivated to solve even extra problems. Like in case study 2, one team
had some technical problems but they solved them together inside the team and did not ask help
from the e-support person.
These are only results from small group case studies but I can see that they can give some details
to discussions about how to manage leading in virtual teams for those who intend to do so.
Smeds, R., (eds.) Opetus, opiskelu, oppiminen. Tieto- ja viestintätekniikka tiederajat ylittävissä konteksteissa. Lapin
yliopiston kasvatustieteellisiä julkaisuja 12. Lapin yliopisto, Rovaniemi.
Lewis, Richard D.: ( 2006) When Cultures Collide: Leading, Teamworking and Managing Across the Globe. Nicholas
Brealey Publishing (UK).
Lipnack Jessica & Stamps Jeffrey: (1997) Virtual Teams: Reaching Across Space, Time, Organizations with
Technology. John Wiley and Sons, New York.
Lipnack Jessica & Stamps Jeffrey: (2000) Virtual Teams, people working across boundaries with technology. John
Wiley & Sons, New York.
McGrath, Joseph & Hollingshead, Andrea:( 1993) Groups Interacting with Technology: Ideas, Evidence, Issues and
an Agenda. Sage Publications, Thousands Oaks, (CA).
References:
Burroughs, S.M. & Eby, Lilian: (1998) Psychological Sense of Community at work: A measurement system and
explanatory framework. Journal of Community Psychology, vol. 26, 509 - 532.
Cherny, Lynn: (1999) Conversation and Community. Chat in a Virtual World. CSLI Publications, Stanford.
Fiol, C.M.: (2002) Capitalizing on Paradox: The Role of Language in Transforming Organizational Identities.
Organization Science, 13 (6), 653 - 666.
Heinonen, Ulla: (2005) Tässä ja nyt – mutta tuhansien mailien päässä. Työskentely ja opiskelu hajautetussa
organisaatiossa. In Levonen, J., Järvinen, T. & Kaupinmäki, S. (eds.) TUOVI 2: ITK ’04 Tutkijatapaamisen artikkelit.
Tampereen yliopiston hypermedialaboratorion verkkojulkaisuja 8. http:77tampub.uta.fi/tup/951-44-6038-3.pdf.
Isotalus, Pekka: (2004) Valmius ihastua tietokonepersoonaan. In Paunonen Ulla & Suominen Jaakko (eds.)
Digirakkaus. Kulttuurituotannon ja maisemantutkimuksen laitoksen julkaisuja II, Turun yliopisto, pp.87-96.
Jackson, Paul: (1999) Virtual Working: Social and Organisational Dynamics. Routledge, London.
Jokinen, Karina, Aula, Pekka & Matikainen, Janne: (2006) Näkökulmia organisaatioiden verkkoviestintään. In
Aula, P., Matikainen, J. & Villi, M. (eds.) Verkkoviestintäkirja. Yliopistopaino, Helsinki University Press, Palmenia,
Helsinki.
Järvenpää, Sirkka & Leidner Dorothy: (1998) “Communication and trust in global virtual teams”. Journal of
Computer- Mediated Communication and Organization Science: A Joint Issue, 3.
O`Leary Michael, Orlikowski Wanda & Yates JoAnne: (2002) Distributed Work over the Centuries: Trust and
Contron in the Hudson`s Bay Company, 1670-1826. In Hinds, P., J. & Kiesler S. (eds.) Distributed Work. The MITT
Press, Cambridge, (MA), 27 - 54.
Riedlinger, M.E., Gallois C., MsKay S. & Pittam J.: (2004) Impact of Social Group Processes and Functional Diversity
on Communication in Networked Organization. Journal of Applied Communication Quartely, 10 (4), pp.491-522.
Rubens, Wilfred, Emans, Bruno, Leinonen Teemu, Skarmeta, Antonio & Simons Robert-Jan : (2005) Design of
web-based collaborative learning environments. Translating the pedagogical learning principles to human computer
interface. Computer & Education 45, 276 - 294. www.sciencedirect.com.
Ruokamo, H. & Tella, S.: (2005). An M+I+T++ Research Approach to Network-Based Mobile Education (NBME)
and Teaching-Studying-Learning Processes: Towards a Global Metamodel. In The IPSI BgD Transactions on
Advanced Research: Multi-, Inter-, and Transdisciplinary Issues in Computer Science and Engineering. Special Issue
on the Research with Elements of Multidisciplinary, Interdisciplinary, and Transdisciplinary: New York, Frankfurt,
Tokyo, Belgrade: IPSI Bgd Internet Research Society. July 2005, 1(2), 3-12. The Best Paper Selection for 2005.
http://internetjournals.net/journals/transactions_on_advanced_research/2005/january/TARVol1Num2.pdf.
Smith Marc & Kollock Peter: (1999) Communities in Cyberspace. Routledge, London.
Sveningsson, Malin: (2001) Creating a Sense of Community. Experiences from a Swedish Webchat. Dissertation.
Linköping. Linköping Studies in Art and Science.
Vartiainen, Matti, Kokko, Niina & Hakonen Marko: (2004) Hallitse hajautettu organisaatio. Paikan, ajan,
moninaisuuden ja viestinnän johtaminen. Talentum, Helsinki.
Kayworth, Timothy & Leidner, Dorthy: (2000) The Global Virtual Manager: A perspective for Success. European
Management Journal 18 (2), pp.184-193.
Kimble Chris, Li Feng & Barlow Alexis: (2000). ”Effective Virtual Teams through Communities of Practise”.
Management Science / 09.
Koskimaa, Raine & Heinonen, Ulla: (2005) TEKNOLOGIAVÄLITTEINEN VUOROVAIKUTUS VERKKOOPETUKSESSA Teoreettisen mallin tarkastelua tapaustutkimusten valossa. In Tella, S., Ruokamo, H., Multisilta, J.,
309
310
RAJOJA RIKKOMASSA
Porin yliopistokeskuksen Luovien alojen ennakointitutkimus
Emma Susi
Tutkija, FM
Turun yliopisto, Kulttuurituotannon ja maisemantutkimuksen laitos
Porin yliopistokeskus
Abstrakti
Rajoja rikkomassa -raportissa tarkastellaan Porin yliopistokeskuksesta valmistuneiden luovien
alojen korkeasti koulutettujen sijoittumista työelämään. Sijoittumistutkimuksen lisäksi
ennakoidaan tulevien taiteen ja filosofian maistereiden määrän runsasta kasvua vuoteen 2010
mennessä ja työllistymisen vaihtoehdoiksi esitetään vaihtoehtoisia työuria yksityisen sektorin
puolelta. Sekä Taideteollinen korkeakoulu että Turun yliopisto ovat toimialoina suhteellisen uusia
Satakunnassa, joten alojen tunnetuksi tekeminen erityisesti maakunnan elinkeinoelämän piirissä
on nähty tarpeelliseksi.
Tutkimusaineistona on 20 Taideteollisen korkeakoulun Porin taiteen ja median osastolta sekä
Turun yliopiston Kulttuurituotannon ja maisemantutkimuksen laitokselta valmistunutta taiteen ja
filosofian maisteria. Aineisto koostuu sijoittumiskyselyn vastauksista sekä teemahaastatteluista.
Tämän lisäksi on haastateltu kahdeksan, hyvin eri toimialoilla toimivaa satakuntalaisyritystä.
Tutkimusaineisto on kerätty kevään 2007 aikana.
Tutkimuksen keskeisimpinä tuloksina voidaan pitää Satakunnasta valmistuneiden maistereiden
erinomaista työllistymistä. Tyypillisin luovien alojen osaajien työnantaja on julkinen tai kolmas
sektori; kunnat, korkeakoulut ja opistot. Maakuntaan on jääty töihin vielä toistaiseksi useimpien
valmistuneiden kohdalla. Työsuhteet ovat pääasiassa määräaikaisia ja työtehtävät liittyvät
suunnitteluja koordinointitöihin sekä tutkimus- ja opetustehtäviin. Taiteen maisterit ovat
työllistyneet hyvin pitkälti pääkaupunkiseudulle media- ja viestintäalan töihin.
311
Luovuus, luovat toimialat, luovat prosessit ja luova luokka ovat olleet tapetilla niin kansallisesti
kuin kansainvälisestikin kuluvalla vuosituhannella. Satakunnassakin luovat toimialat nähdään
tulevaisuuden voimavarana ja alana johon tulisi tulevaisuudessa panostaa. Alueellisesti
merkittävistä toimijoista esimerkiksi Porin yliopistokeskus on tarttunut luovien toimialojen
haasteeseen Satakunnan työelämäkentällä. Porin yliopistokeskuksen rekrytointipalvelut on
teettänyt tätä asiaa tarkastelevan Luovien alojen ennakointitutkimuksen, jonka tuloksia esitellään
tässä artikkelissa. Tutkimus on ajankohtainen, koska alamme saada ensimmäisiä tilastoja siitä,
miten Porin yliopistokeskuksen yksiköistä valmistuneet ja erityisesti luovilta aloilta valmistuneet
opiskelijat työllistyvät. Luovat toimialat on määritelty tilaajan mukaan tarkoittamaan Turun
yliopiston (TY) humanistisen tiedekunnan Kulttuurituotannon ja maisemantutkimuksen laitoksesta
(Pori) valmistuneita filosofian maistereita sekä Taideteollisen korkeakoulun (Taik) Porin taiteen
ja median osastolta valmistuneita taiteen maistereita. Molemmat toimialat ovat suhteellisen
uusia Satakunnassa, joten alojen tunnetuksi tekeminen erityisesti maakunnan elinkeinoelämän
piirissä on nähty tarpeelliseksi. Tutkimus toteutettiin Turun yliopiston kulttuurituotannon ja
maisemantutkimuksen laitoksen johdolla yhteistyössä Taideteollisen korkeakoulun Porin taiteen
ja median osaston sekä Turun kauppakorkeakoulun Porin yksikön kanssa.
Taideteollisen korkeakoulun Porin taiteen ja median osastolla harjoitetaan visuaalisen
kulttuurin opetusta ja tutkimusta. Osastolla on mahdollista suorittaa visuaalisen kulttuurin
maisteriohjelma sekä tehdä sivuaineopintoja ja jatkotutkintoon tähtäävää tutkimustyötä.
Visuaalinen kulttuuri on poikkitaiteellinen ja -tieteellinen kokeileva oppiaine. Opiskelija voi
painottaa maisteriopinnoissaan joko visuaalisen kulttuurin taiteellis-tuotannollisia opintoja,
visuaalisen kulttuurin teoriaa tai mediatuotantoa. Koulutusohjelma on kaksivuotinen, 120
opintopisteen laajuinen, taiteen maisterin tutkintoon johtava opintokokonaisuus. Turun yliopiston humanistisen tiedekunnan Kulttuurituotannon ja maisemantutkimuksen
koulutusohjelmasta valmistuu humanististen tieteiden kandidaatteja ja filosofian maistereita.
Yliopistokeskukset ovat osa nykyistä korkeakoulujärjestelmäämme. Keskusten idea on koota yliopistojen
alueelliset erillisyksiköt yliopistokeskuksen ”sateenvarjon” alle. Virallisesti maamme kuusi yliopistokeskusta
(Kajaanissa, Kokkolassa, Lahdessa, Mikkelissä, Porissa ja Seinäjoella) on perustettu vuonna 2004. Porissa varsinainen
yliopistotoiminta käynnistyi 1983 Tampereen teknillisen korkeakoulun (nyk.Tampereen teknillinen yliopisto,
TTY) tutkimus- ja koulutustoiminnalla. Tutkintokoulutus diplomi-insinööriksi alkoi vuonna 1987 insinöörien
muuntokoulutuksella. Turun kauppakorkeakoulu (TuKKK) aloitti merkonomien ja tradenomien muuntokoulutuksen
kauppatieteiden maistereiksi vuonna 1997. Vuonna 2001 aloitettiin ylioppilaspohjainen koulutus niin teknillisellä
kuin kaupallisellakin puolella. Samaan aikaan tutkintokoulutuksensa aloitti Turun yliopiston (TY) humanistinen
tiedekunta. Taideteollinen korkeakoulu aloitti toimintansa Porissa 2002 ja ensimmäiset opiskelijat otettiin sisään
vuonna 2004 suorittamaan maisterin tutkintoa. Myös Tampereen yliopistossa (TaY) aloittivat ensimmäiset
yhteiskuntatieteiden opiskelijat vuonna 2004. Yliopistokeskus antaa opiskelijoille ristiinopiskelumahdollisuuden
kaikissa keskuksen yksiköissä. Vähäsantanen et al. 17, 2006.
Porin taiteen ja median osaston kotisivut: http://www.pori.uiah.fi/index.html, luettu 27.6.2007 &
maisteriohjelman esite, 2007.
312
Humanististen tieteiden kandidaatin tutkinnon suorittaminen kestää noin kolme ja maisteriopintojen
kaksi vuotta. Laitoksen pääaineita ovat kulttuuriperinnön tutkimus, maisemantutkimus ja
digitaalinen kulttuuri. Sivuaineena voi opiskella kulttuurimatkailua, kulttuurituotannon
suunnittelua sekä museologiaa ja aineellista kulttuuria. Laitoksen opetus on uudenlaista verrattuna
perinteiseen humanistiseen koulutukseen. Koulutusohjelma painottaa vankan tieteellisen
koulutuksen lisäksi käytännönläheisyyttä ja tiedon soveltamista. Laitoksella voi suorittaa myös
jatko-opintoja. Kulttuurituotannon ja maisemantutkimuksen laitos on perustanut tieteellisen
julkaisusarjan. Sen puitteissa julkaistaan uutta laadukasta humanistista tutkimusta, joka liittyy
laitoksen sekä sen oppiaineiden keskeisiin erityisalueisiin. Lähtökohtia
Luovien alojen ennakointitutkimuksessa selvitetään Porin yliopistokeskuksen luovilta aloilta
valmistuneiden opiskelijoiden sijoittumista työelämään sekä tarkastellaan opintojen tarjoamia
käytännön valmiuksia työelämässä. Tutkimuksessa myös kartoitetaan, kuinka paljon valmistuneita
em. aloilta on heinäkuuhun 2007 mennessä ja kuinka monta taiteen ja filosofian maisteria tulee
yliopistokeskuksesta valmistumaan vuoteen 2010 mennessä. Työn erityisenä painopisteenä on
pohtia Satakunnan yksityisen sektorin työllistämismahdollisuuksia. Tutkimuksessa selvitetään
kahdeksan yritystapauksen kautta, miten hyvin yritykset tuntevat Porin yliopistokeskuksen luovien
alojen toimijoita ja miten yrityskenttä voisi nykyistä paremmin hyödyntää heidän osaamistaan
omassa liiketoiminnassaan. Tutkimuksessa ei käsitellä humanisti- ja taideaineista valmistuneiden
tyypillisimpiä työnantajia, kuten julkista ja kolmatta sektoria.
Luovien alojen osaajat Porin yliopistokeskuksesta ovat valmistuttuaan sijoittuneet Satakunnassa
hyvin pitkälti korkeakouluihin tutkimus- ja opetustehtäviin sekä kaupunkien ja kuntien
palvelukseen (museot, opistot). Näiden sektoreiden kapasiteetti työllistää valmistuneita on
rajallinen. Tästä syystä nähdään tärkeänä tarttua humanisti- ja taidemaailmalle joiltakin osin
vieraampaan yksityisen sektorin tarjoamiin mahdollisuuksiin työllistyä Satakuntaan ja näin ollen
pitää luovien alojen korkeasti koulutettujen osaamista myös tulevaisuudessa maakunnassa.
Tutkimusaineisto koostuu Turun yliopistosta ja Taideteollisesta korkeakoulusta toukokuuhun
2007 mennessä valmistuneiden haastatteluista sekä kirjallisen sijoittumisselvityksen vastauksista.
Haastattelujen kautta selvitettiin laajalti valmistuneiden sijoittumista työelämään, ajatuksia
koulutuksen sisällöstä ja sen antamia työkaluja työelämään siirryttäessä. Lisäksi kartoitettiin
valmistuneiden toiveita työtehtävien ja työskentelypaikkakuntien suhteen sekä alan arvostusta
ylipäätään Satakunnassa.
Valmistuneiden syntymävuodet jakaantuvat vuosille 1956 – 1982. Molemmista oppilaitoksista
Kulttuurituotannon ja maisemantutkimuksen laitoksen kotisivut: http://vanha.hum.utu.fi/satakunta/, luettu
27.6.2007 & koulutusohjelman esite, 2007.
313
valmistuneista ja tutkimuksessa mukana olleista henkilöistä vain kaksi oli miespuolisia.
Valmistuneet maisterit olivat opintoihin lähtiessään useimmiten kotoisin Porista (40 %,
kahdeksan henkilöä). Lisäksi opiskelemaan oli lähdetty mm. Turun seudulta, Pirkanmaalta sekä
pääkaupunkiseudulta. Haastatteluhetkellä useimmat asuivat edelleen Porissa (65 %, 13 henkeä).
Nykyiseksi kotikunnaksi ilmoitettiin myös Helsinki ja Turku lähialueineen. Turun yliopistosta
valmistuneiden opinnot ovat kestäneet keskimäärin viisi vuotta ja Taideteollisesta korkeakoulusta
valmistuminen kestää kahdesta kolmeen vuoteen. Pääaineet ovat jakaantuneet melko tasaisesti
eri oppiaineisiin. Yli puolella valmistuneista on takanaan myös aikaisempia tutkintoja mm.
ammattikorkeakoulusta.
Tutkimukseen haastateltiin lisäksi maakunnan elinkeinoelämän edustajia. Haastatteluja tehtiin
kahdeksan hyvin erityyppisen ja eri toimialalla toimivan satakuntalaisen yrityksen kanssa. Tästä
aineistoista nousevat ajatukset ja toimenpide-ehdotukset käytetään yliopistokeskuksen luovien
toimialojen yksiköiden toiminnan kehittämiseen. Yrityshaastatteluissa selvitettiin yleisesti
yrityksen rekrytointia, sen tarpeita ja mahdollisia puutteita. Tämän lisäksi keskityttiin pohtimaan
luovien alojen osaajien kompetenssin käyttömahdollisuuksia yrityksessä. Mihin tehtäviin
kulttuurien tai maisemantutkija tai mahdollisesti visuaalisen tai mediatuotannon alan asiantuntija
voisi yritysmaailmassa sijoittua? Samalla tuotiin esille Porin yliopistokeskuksen luovien alojen
osaamista ja tunnettuutta.
Satakunta työllistää
Porin yliopistokeskuksen luovilta aloilta valmistuneet taiteen ja filosofian maisterit ovat maan
yleisiin keskiarvoihin nähden työllistyneet erinomaisesti kyselylomakkeen ja haastatteluissa
saatujen tietojen mukaan . Useimmat valmistuneiden työsuhteista ovat vallitsevan tendenssin
mukaan määräaikaisia, mikä hieman varjostaa työtilannetta. Turun yliopiston Kulttuurituotannon
ja maisemantutkimuksen laitokselta valmistuneet työskentelevät suurin osa Porissa oman alan
työtehtävissä. Haastatteluhetkellä yksi oli työttömänä työnhakijana ja yksi toimi osa-aikaisena
muussa kuin oman alan töissä. Porin taiteen ja median osastolta valmistuneista taiteen maistereista
Esimerkiksi 2007 on julkaistu raportti Viisi vuotta työelämässä – humanistien sijoittuminen työmarkkinoille
Aarresaari-verkoston ja Akavan Erityisalojen toimesta. Tutkimuksen mukaan työttömyys oli humanistien keskuudessa
yleisempää kuin koko tutkimusjoukossa (korkeasti koulutetut ja valmistuneet vuosina 1997 – 2001). Hankalinta oman
alan työn löytäminen oli tutkimuksen mukaan taiteiden ja kulttuurien tutkimuksen ryhmässä ja työttömyysjaksot uran
alussa vaivasivat erityisesti historia-aineista valmistuneista. Taideaineissa ylemmän korkeakoulututkinnon tehnyt
on maan keskiarvollisesti näitäkin em. aloja huonommassa tilanteessa. www.aarresaari.net/pdf/UraraporttiNetti.pdf,
8.8.2007.
Turun yliopiston humanistisesta tiedekunnasta 2000-luvulla valmistuneiden työttömyysprosentti on liikkunut 927 prosentin haarukassa. Nämä luvut ovat olleet koko ajan korkeampia kuin muista tiedekunnista valmistuneiden
työttömyysprosentit. Lisäksi työllistymisen laatu on ollut jatkuvasti muista tiedekunnista valmistuneita huonompi.
Noin 15 prosenttia vastanneista humanisteista on täysin koulutusta vastaamattomissa töissä. Vastaava luku Porissa
on vuonna 2007 vajaa 7 %. Carver 2006, 8-12.
314
jokainen oli työllistynyt oman alan töihin. Heistä kukaan ei varsinaisesti työskentele Satakunnan
alueella.
Vastausten perusteella useimmat TaiK:sta valmistuneet tekevät viestintä- ja media-alan töitä.
Turun yliopistolta valmistuneiden yleisimmät työtehtävät liittyvät tutkimustyöhön, suunnitteluja koordinointitöihin sekä projektihallinnollisiin töihin. Tyyppihumanisti on porilainen
suunnittelija, joita vastauksissa nousi esille eniten. Suunnittelutehtävät ovat hyvin moninaisia,
eikä ammattinimike kerro sinällään juuri mitään työtehtävistä -ja kentästä. Taiteen maistereista
peräti kahdella on oma media-alan toiminimi ja yksi toimii alan työtehtävissä freelancerina.
Tutkimuksessa mukana olevista filosofian maisterista ainoastaan kolme työskentelee yksityisellä
sektorilla. Loput 12 työskentelee korkeakoulujen, kuntien tai yhdistysten palveluksessa.
Haastatteluista kävi ilmi, että useimmat valmistuneista eivät kuitenkaan ole tietoisesti ajatelleet
julkisen tai yksityisen sektorin eroja työnatajana. Eräs vastaajista totesi kysymykseen onko ajatus
työstä yritysmaailmassa vieras seuraavaa: ”Ei mulla oo semmosta vastakkainasettelua siinä, et
työ kun työ, se sisältö tuo siihen sen mielekkyyden, eikä sinänsä se, että mikä sektori se on…”
Näin ollen julkisen sektorin työpaikat ovat ennemminkin työtilanteiden sanelemaa, kuin tietoista
valintaa tietylle työnantajasektorille.
Suurimmat erot yksityisen ja julkisen sektorin välillä nähtiin suhtautumisessa rahaan,
humanistiseen ajatteluun sekä eettisiin arvoihin. Tätä voidaan pitää myös peri idealistisena ja
humanistisena näkemyksenä. Asia kiteytyy hyvin seuraavassa lainauksessa:
” Mul on kyl jotain henkilökohtaisia eettisiä ja ekologisia periaatteita…mä oon kuvitellu et on ollu
varaa sillai valita et minkä tahansa firman palvelukseen mä en edes menis. Mä oisin sit mennyt
opiskelemaan jotain muuta asiaa…mä en esimerkiks lähtis myymään mitä tahansa tuotetta…mä
nään sen sillai et jos mä oon ollu jossain työpaikas, jota mä en kehtaa kirjottaa mun cv:een se ei
oo kauheen fiksuu…”
Koulutuksen ja työmarkkinoiden suhde
Valmistuneet maisterit ovat yhtä mieltä, että tutkinto on antanut heille riittävät valmiudet alan
työtehtäviin. Samaa mieltä oltiin myös siitä, että tutkinnolla ei juuri työllisty ilman työkokemusta.
Opintojen aikana kerättyä oman alan työkokemusta, joko osa-aikaista tai kokopäiväistä on
kertynyt lähes jokaiselle valmistuneelle jo opintojen aikana kahdesta kuukaudesta 30 kuukauteen.
Työssäoloaikaa ei ole juurikaan sisällytetty tutkintoihin. Tämä viittaisi siihen, että opintojen
aikana kerättyä oman alan työkokemusta ei osata tai haluta sisällyttää opintoihin.
8 H N 82 Po F kt 06
9 H N 81 Po F mt 07
315
Erityisesti Kulttuurituotannon ja maisemantutkimuksen laitokselta valmistuneet olisivat kaivanneet
opintojen loppuvaiheessa tietoa opiskelun jälkeisestä elämästä, siihen liittyvästä työnhausta ja
eri työnantajasektoreista. Vastauksissa tuli myös ilmi, että yksityistä sektoria ei oikein tunnettu
eikä osattu ”luovasti” ajatella oman osaamisen hyödyntämistä yrityskentällä. Luovien alojen
opiskelijoille olisi hyödyllistä tarjota valmentavaa ohjausta työelämään siirtymisen helpottamiseksi
sekä järjestää nykyistä enemmän mahdollisuuksia tutustua valmistuneiden työpaikkoihin
antamalla konkreettisia esimerkkejä siitä, mihin näiltä laitoksilta valmistuneet ovat opiskelujen
päätyttyä sijoittuneet. Opiskelijoita olisi myös hyvä kannustaa yritysyhteistyöprojekteihin sekä
opintoihin liitettävään ja yliopiston tukemaan työharjoitteluun. Työharjoittelupaikkoja voisi
neuvotella osittain valmiiksi, jotta harjoitteluun siirtyminen helpottuisi ja aikaisemmin luotuja
hyviä kontakteja pidettäisiin yllä. Myös valmistuneiden kannattaisi olla nykyistä aktiivisemmin
yhteydessä yliopistokeskuksen rekrytointipalveluihin, joka antaa neuvoa ja opastusta mm.
työnhakuun liittyvissä kysymyksissä.
Haastatteluissa tiedusteltiin valmistuneen käsityksiä omasta erityisosaamisestaan, jonka
näkisi vahvuutena yrityskentällä. Yleisesti ottaen saadut vastaukset olivat ympäripyöreitä ja
osaamisalueet jäivät abstraktille tasolle, kuten asiakaspalvelutaidot, kielitaito, analyyttisyys
ja organisointitaidot. Onkin syytä miettiä ovatko nämä sellaisia osaamisalueita, joilla luovien
alojen korkeasti koulutetut henkilöt voisivat kilpailla työpaikoista yritysmaailmassa esimerkiksi
tradenomien, kauppatieteilijöiden tai vaikka ammattikorkeakoulun medianomien kanssa? Taiteen
ja filosofian maistereiden tulisikin terästää itselleen nykyistä paremmin se akateeminen osaaminen
ja tieteen soveltamisen taito, missä he ovat ylivoimaisia. Näin heillä on hyvät lähtökohdat pärjätä
työelämän kilpailussa muiden alojen henkilöiden kanssa.
Muutamia sellaisia osaamisalueita, joista olisi kilpailuetua yksityisellä työnantajasektorilla, nousi
haastatteluissa esille muutamia. Eräs digitaalista kulttuuria pääaineenaan lukenut haastateltava esitti
omaksi asiantuntijuudekseen markkinoinnin ja digitaalisen kulttuurin yhdistämisen kehittämällä
esimerkiksi uudenlaisia ratkaisuja yritysten verkkokaupankäyntiin . Yhdessä haastattelussa
nousi esille kyky tutkimustiedon kaupallistamiseen, jonka ko. henkilö näkee merkittävänä
taitona yritysmaailmassa . Esille nostettiin myös taito tunnistaa kunnallisen sektorin tarpeet,
jolloin henkilö voisi toimia esimerkiksi yritysmaailman ja kuntasektorin yhteistyön linkkinä.
Konkreettisimmin tämä tapahtuisi siten, että luovien alojen asiantuntija pystyy kertomaan
yritykselle, mitä se voisi kunnalliselle sektorille tarjota, mihin hintaan ja mikä olisi järkevin
yhteistyömuoto kunnan ja yrityksen välillä. Maisemantutkijat nostivat esille arkkitehtitoimistojen
tarpeet maisemaselvityksille, joiden tekoon heillä olisi kompetenssia 10. Erityisosaamiseksi
tarjottiin myös uusmedia-alan yrityksiin trenditutkijaa ja sisällöntuottajaa sekä valokuvauskentällä
10
2 H N 79 Po F dk 07
4 H N 74 Po F dk 06
6 H M 68 Po F kt 05
17 H N 80 TS F mt 05 & 9 H N 81 Po F mt 07
316
erikoistumista ruokakuvauksiin 11. Yhdessä haastattelussa valmistunut kulttuurien tutkija pohti
luovien alojen osaamisen hyödyntämistä yrityksissä hieman syvällisemminkin:
” Tätä ajattelutapaa ja kulttuuriperintöä…olis terveellistä juurruttaa yrityksiin ja yritystoimintaan
ja tälläseen kaupalliseen toimintaan… Esimerkiksi…suuri rahallinen tavoittelu voitaisiin
kanavoida enemmän ympäristöystävällisemmin tai kulttuuriystävällisemmin…Ja yks on myös
esimerkiksi [yritys], joka tarvii esim. sellasta kiillottamista. Et en mä sit tiedä onko se eettisesti
väärin kiillottaa sitä. Onhan se myös yks tapa vaikuttaa… Samoja töitähän sitä voi tehdä jollakin
muullakin koulutuksella mut siin on pikkusen sit erilainen se näkökulma, joka tuodaan. 12
Luovien alojen korkeasti koulutettujen tulevaisuus Satakunnassa
Filosofian maisterit haluaisivat tulevaisuudessakin mielellään työskennellä Porissa, tai sen
lähialueilla. Taiteen maisterien kohdalla tilanne on päinvastainen. Heistä yksikään ei näe
mieluisena vaihtoehtona työskennellä Porissa tai muun Satakunnan alueella. Filosofian maisterit
näkevät yleisesti ottaen Satakunnan luovien toimialojen työllistymismahdollisuudet hyvinä tai
vähintäänkin kohtuullisina. Taiteen maisterit eivät pidä oman alansa työllistymismahdollisuuksia
hyvänä Satakunnassa. Seuraavassa sitaatissa tiivistyy hyvin useimpien valmistuneiden näkemys
alan työllistymistilanteesta Satakunnassa:
”Kyl mä uskon että … työllistymismahdollisuudet on erittäin hyvät, mutta se vaati semmoisen
viiden vuoden sisäänajon luultavasti, ja hivuttautumisen työmarkkinoille. Ei semmoista
varsinaista mustaa aukkoo viel oo joka imaisisi ihan kaiken minkä tämä laitos tuuppaa ulos, mut
kuitenkin käytännön tarvetta osaamiselle on huomattavan paljon, eli siinä mielessä kun tämä
vaan organisoituu niin luultavasti aika hyvät mahdollisuudet on työllistyä tällä alueella. 13”
Valmistuneiden haastatteluissa kävi ilmi, että jokainen työssäkäyvästä kahdestakymmenestä
haastateltavasta koki olevansa jo heti valmistuttuaan sellaisessa työssä, jossa näkee itsensä myös
tulevaisuudessa. Vaikka pätkittäinen projektityö ahdistaa joitakin valmistuneita, siitä huolimatta
projektityöt nähtiin useissa vastauksissa myös tulevaisuutena, johon on vain mukauduttava.
Pieniä korjauksia työnkuvaan toivoi muutama henkilö. Yksi haastateltava toivoi itselleen
alakohtaista työtä, vaikka olikin suhteellisen tyytyväinen nykyiseen, ei opintoja vastaavaan
työhönsä 14. Kaksi vastaajista toivoi tulevaisuudelta akateemisia jatko-opintoja ja siihen liittyvää
omatoimista tutkimustyötä 15. Tutkijan työ koettiin yleisesti ottaen suosituksi tulevaisuuden
kuvaksi. Kahdestakymmenestä valmistuneesta peräti kahdeksan (40 %) koki tutkimustyön
kiinnostavana vaihtoehtona. Näistä yksi toivoi työn sijoittuvan yritysmaailmaan ja erityisesti
11
12
13
14
15
20 H N 81 Po dk 05 & 13 K N 75 Po T vk 07
15 H N 67 Po kt 06
6 H M 68 Po F kt 05
3 H N 82 Po F kt 06
1 H N 63 Po F kp 06 & 16 K N 80 Po F kt 06
317
digitaalisen markkinoinnin ja sen tutkimuksen kentälle 16.
Muilta osin tulevaisuuden työtehtävät liittyivät suunnittelu -ja asiantuntijatöihin, erilaisiin
kulttuuri/museo/historiaprojekteihin, kulttuurihallinnollisiin työtehtäviin, kulttuurin ja taiteen
managerointiin, vapaaseen kirjoitustyöhön, toimittajan työhön, perinneopetukseen, graafiseen
suunnitteluun sekä taiteellisen ja soveltavan valokuvauksen sopivaan yhdistelmään. Ainoastaan
yksi vastaaja oli täysin epätietoinen tulevaisuuden työtehtävistään. Tätä hän selitti monialaisella
osaamisellaan, jolloin työpaikka voi löytyä useilta eri sektoreilta. 17 Yksi koki työyhteisön
tärkeimpänä indikaattorina tulevaisuuden työtehtäviä punnitessa – palkka tai oma status ei ole
merkityksellisiä, jos vain työyhteisö miellyttää. 18
Taideteollisen korkeakoulun ja Turun yliopiston Porin yksiköistä on valmistunut heinäkuun 2007
loppuun mennessä yhteensä 26 taiteen ja filosofian maisteria. Näistä kuusi on valmistunut TaiK:
sta ja 20 TY:lta. Kulttuurituotannon ja maisemantutkimuksen laitos on arvioinut, että vuodesta
2007 lähtien valmistuneiden määrä vuositasolla olisi 25 henkilöä. Porin taiteen ja median osasto
on arvioinut, että kuluvana vuonna valmistuneita tulisi kaikkiaan kuusi, ensi vuonna kahdeksan
ja vuosina 2009 – 2010 yksitoista kumpaisenakin vuonna. Tätä pidemmälle ei arvioita ole vielä
luotu. 19 Tämä tarkoittaa sitä, että vuoteen 2010 mennessä luovien alojen korkeakoulutettuja
olisi valmistunut Porin yliopistokeskuksesta kaikkiaan noin 150. Tämä on huomattava nousu
nykyiseen 26 maisteriin. Jos arviot toteutuvat, on näiden alojen opiskelijoiden, korkeakoulujen
ja työelämäkentän varauduttava tilanteeseen parhaalla mahdollisella tavalla. Tämä edellyttää
valmistuneilta vaihtoehtoisten työurien kartoittamista ja oppilaitoksilta hyviä työelämäyhteyksiä,
joihin opiskelijat voivat tarttua jo opintojen aikana. Varteen otettavana vaihtoehtona on siirtyä
työnhakuun nykyistä aktiivisemmin yrityskentän puolelle.
Satakuntalaisten yritysten kanssa käydyissä keskusteluissa nousi esille, että Porin
yliopistokeskuksen toimintaa, sen koulutustarjontaa tai rekrytointipalveluja tunnettiin hyvin
huonosti. Turun yliopisto ja Taideteollinen korkeakoulu ovat olleet mukana oleville yrityksille
täysin vieraita rekrytointiväyliä. Haastattelujen jälkeen yritykset kuitenkin näkivät selviä
yhteistyömahdollisuuksia luovien alojen oppilaitosten kanssa ja kiittelivät yhteydenotosta
ylipäätään. Myös tämä tieto osoittaa, että on tärkeää ylläpitää kontakteja yrityskenttään –
konkreettiset esimerkit luovien alojen osaajien toimenkuvista tuovat osaamisen ja siitä saatavan
hyödyn arkiselle tasolle.
Tähän tulisikin yliopistokeskuksen rekrytointipalveluiden sekä alan oppilaitosten tulevaisuudessa
kiinnittää huomiota. Esimerkiksi vuosittaisten rekrytointimessujen tulisi tarjota kontakteja
myös luovien toimialojen osaajien ja mahdollisten työnantajien välille. Rekrytointimessut ja
16
17
18
19
2 H N 79 Po F dk 07
14 H N 67 PIR T vk 07
15 H N 67 Po kt 06
Porin kaupungin talousarvio 2008
318
muut markkinointikampanjat ovat tärkeitä väyliä luovien alojen osaamisen esiintuomiseksi
maakunnassa. Sama asia nousi esille myös valmistuneiden maistereiden haastatteluissa. Erityisesti
filosofian maisterit kaipaisivat Porin yliopistokeskuksen luovien alojen esillä oloa julkisuudessa
nykyistä enemmän. Toivottiin lisää yhteistyöprojekteja eri työnantajasektorien kanssa ja laitosten
esiin tuomista sekä markkinoimista mahdollisille työnantajille. Ikään kuin silotettaisiin tietä
valmiiksi valmistumisen jälkeiseen elämään. Toisaalta tulee pohtia, mikä on korkeakoulun tehtävä
opiskelijoiden työtilaisuuksien ja harjoittelupaikkojen etsimisessä. Opiskeluaikaista työtilannetta
voidaan kuitenkin yleisesti ottaen pitää Satakunnassa hyvänä, verrattuna esimerkiksi Suomen
isompiin yliopistokaupunkeihin.
Rajoja rikkomassa
Yrityshaastatteluissa tuli ilmi, että yhdellä erikoistaidolla / osaamisalueella ei heidän mielestään
työelämässä pärjää. Yritykset haluavat palvelukseensa henkilöitä, jotka ovat moniosaajia.
Asiantuntijaosaamisen ja sisältöosaamisen lisäksi kaivataan tietämystä liiketoiminnasta ja
yritystoiminnan pelisäännöistä. Toisaalta yritysten tulisi pyrkiä aktiivisemmin laajentamaan
henkilökuntansa koulutustaustaa. Samoja töitä voidaan tehdä useilla eri koulutuksilla. Esimerkiksi
luovien alojen korkeasti koulutetut tuovat liiketoimintaan oman näkökulmansa. Maakunnan
yrityskulttuurin kehittäminen ja jalostaminen sellaiseksi, että luovien alojen osaajille tulisi
suurempi merkitys ja todellinen tarve liiketoiminnan ytimessä, vaatii pitkäjänteistä työtä. Luovien
toimialojen osaamista ei olisi syytä nähdä yksityisellä sektorilla kuorrutuksena, joka tuodaan
satunnaisesti yrityksen liiketoiminnan päälle ydinbisnestä virkistämään.
Turun yliopiston ja Taideteollisen korkeakoulun kanssa toteutettavat yhteiset projektit,
opinnäytetyön ohjaukset ja soveltavat harjoitustyöt kiinnostavat satakuntalaista yrityskenttää.
Porin yliopistokeskuksen luovien toimialojen kannattaisikin panostaa entistä tiiviimpään
yritysyhteistyöhön. Varsinkin pienehköt yritykset ottavat mielellään vastaan uusia toimintamalleja
ja ehdotuksia yhteisiksi projekteiksi. Ei ole olemassa erityisen luovaa tai vielä vähemmän eiluovia työyhteisöjä. Kyse on luultavasti enemminkin siitä, miten luovuus kanavoidaan osaksi
liiketoimintaa. Vanhakantaisia rajoja humanistien ja insinöörien välillä ei ole syytä ylläpitää.
Sekä oppilaitoksia että valmistuneita taiteen ja filosofian maistereita tulisi rohkaista rikkomaan
raja-aitoja ja puhumaan yhteistä kieltä eri työnantajasektorien ja yhteistyökumppaneiden välillä.
Tämä on varmasti pitkä, mutta maakunnan kilpailukykyisyyden ja elinvoimaisuuden kannalta
tärkeä tie.
LÄHTEET
Luovien alojen ennakointitutkimus, valmistuneiden haastattelut 2007. Haastatteluja kaikkiaan 16
kpl. Haastattelijana Susi, Emma. Turun yliopisto, Kulttuurituotannon ja maisemantutkimuksen
laitos, Pori.
Luovien alojen ennakointitutkimus, yrityshaastattelut 2007. Haastattelijana Susi, Emma. Turun
yliopisto, Kulttuurituotannon ja maisemantutkimuksen laitos, Pori.
Luovien alojen ennakointitutkimus, kyselylomake 2007. Vastauksia kaikkiaan 20 kpl. Turun
yliopisto, Kulttuurituotannon ja maisemantutkimuksen laitos, Pori.
Akavan erityisalojen työelämätiedote 1/07, raportti Viisi vuotta työelämässä – humanistien
sijoittuminen työmarkkinoille:
www.aarresaari.net/pdf/UraporttiNetti.pdf (luettu 8.8.2007).
Carver, Eric 2006: Humanisti valmis työelämään. Oppiaineiden ja työnantajien näkökulmia
työelämävalmiuksien kehittämiseen humanistisessa reaaliainekoulutuksessa. Turun yliopisto,
Rehtorinviraston julkaisusarja 4/2006.
Porin kaupungin talousarvio vuodelle 2008. Pori, 2007.
Susi, Emma 2007: Rajoja rikkomassa. Porin yliopistokeskuksessa toimivien Turun yliopiston
Kulttuurituotannon ja maisemantutkimuksen laitoksen sekä Taideteollisen korkeakoulun
Porin taiteen ja median osaston Luovien alojen ennakointitutkimus 2007. Turun yliopiston
Kulttuurituotannon ja maisemantutkimuksen julkaisuja XII, Pori.
Taideteollisen korkeakoulun Porin taiteen ja median osaston esite 2007 ja kotisivut: http://www.
pori.uiah.fi/index.html (luettu 27.6.2007).
Turun yliopiston Kulttuurituotannon ja maisemantutkimuksen laitoksen koulutusohjelman esite
2007 ja kotisivut:
http://vanha.hum.utu.fi/satakunta/ (luettu 27.6.2007).
Vähäsantanen, Saku et al. 2006: Porin yliopistokeskuksen toiminnan kehitys ja aluetaloudelliset
vaikutukset. Turun kauppakorkeakoulun julkaisusarja A12, Porin yksikkö.
319
320
Creating Knowledge and Synthesizing Capability
of Application
Junko Tohda
Hagoromo University of International Studies
Osaka, Japan
6. Verification of Knowledge Creation and Enabling in the Finland Model
Introduction In the society of the future, “knowledge” will be recognized as the fifth property following human
resources, products and services, capital, and information. This is what is called “the knowledge
intensive society”.
The essence of knowledge management is “creating knowledge” and “synthesizing capability
of application”. Finland is a progressive country which tackles dynamic knowledge creation
through positive efforts at national level, practicing innovation which has resulted in a degree
of success. Through my fieldwork, I can readily sense the desire of Finland to advance from a
“knowledge-based country” to a “knowledge creating country”. In accordance with the theme of this conference, I would wish to look at a few issues for Finland
to consider as the nation advances toward 2015.
The first half of this discussion is about the progress of my research on the Finnish success,
since the 1990’s up until the present, and results I have obtained, particularly concerning, “the
construction of knowledge infrastructure period”. In the second half, I would like to offer some perspectives on what I believe are important
considerations when looking toward the future in order to be certain to attain full practical
benefits from “knowledge infrastructure”.
321
Finnsight2015 http://www.finnsight2015.fi/
322
Stages to becoming a forerunner
To the left is an overall flow chart that depicts how Finland has achieved world leadership.
There are three distinct stages. The first stage is “the construction of knowledge infrastructure
stage”, the second stage is “the incubational stage”, and the third stage is “the operational stage”
resulting in world leadership.
The core key words in each successive stage are [Research & Development], [Marketing
&Production], and [Networking & Management]. The reason why I highlight these aspects is that
a huge national investment is necessary to attain a robust economy in order to achieve the aims
of a true welfare state. This is because realistic growth cannot be acquired merely through R&D,
considering globalization and global competition, if it doesn’t effectively turn profitable enterprises
into a growth engine.
The infrastructure stage is closely tied to investment. Collecting those investments and generating
earnings will aim at dynamic further profits at the incubational stage and the operational
stage through strategic management. Therefore, the first and the second stages are goal driven
toward achieving an optimal future.
Innovation based on Internal Factors
With regard to IT revolution, my research indicates that we can judge this stage as “very
successful”. The WEF, IMD and OECD in their evaluations all rank Finland as a forerunner. Nevertheless, Finland has some inevitable weak points. If you want to overcome those weak
points by relying on the former industrial economic model, you have to create a domestic market,
or you need to centralize industrial production, both of which require enormous capital.
However, the time when Finland began to aim at economic renewal was the period just when the
world rushed into the real IT revolution. So this IT tool was a magic card that changed all the
weaknesses of Finland into strengths. The nation moved in these ways.
From transport difficulty to Internet utilization. From a very small domestic market to direct access to global markets. From scarce natural resources to the appearance of knowledge workers. When “IT revolution” evolved into “knowledge revolution”, the Finnish government adopted
immediately 1) emphasized market economy, 2) privatized the public sector, 3) executed
deregulation, replacing stodgy old enterprises with newer, more efficient companies, and 4)
adapted a new industrial policy.
My project focused on the 4th, “industrial policy”, particularly the methods of disseminating and
popularizing policies.
When we talk about industrial policy, there are four pillars.
#1 Industry-academic-governmental cooperation that values high-tech field,
#2 Introduction and promotion of Science Park system
#3 Creating public support for the potential industries, and
#4 the SME policy.
All four of those pillars were implemented simultaneously. This “synchronization” and continual
political determination to seize economic opportunities may well be viewed as Finland’s
strength.
Skillful Strategies
Uniqueness of Finland appears to be its “skillful strategies”. In 1982, the government adopted
a “technology first” principle, assuring technology promotion as a broad social phenomenon
323
324
rather than a matter restricted to technologists. In the 1990s, TEKES, the Academy of Finland,
and SITRA -- these three institutions carried out important roles in research and development:
Under the advancement strategy of “specialization which centers on high technology”, the Finns
started up public sector institutions represented by TEKES, through a layered funding system
that selected and assigned skillful personnel, and placed science parks under private management.
Moreover, efficiency and speed were emphasized to eliminate inefficient strategies.
“Construction of knowledge infrastructure” in Finland depended on whether late-started science
parks were able to replicate the successful experience from Oulu. So, uniqueness of Finland
appears especially to be in the science parks.
Under this vision, universities throughout the whole country became cores of guiding this
development, and many science parks started up in this period. Today, those science parks have
become engines that support the growth of Finland because Finland adheres to an industrial
strategy of which the mainspring is technological innovation. Through governmental policy, the Finns promoted regional leadership instead of excessive
centralization. Thus, individual science parks were able to expand their network of global
interaction.
The entire country now shows a self-proliferated network and expansion. Moreover, there seems
to be an effect of improving the mutual competitive edge among domestic science parks, too.
As a result, coupled with the brand recognition of Nokia around the world, Finland gained the
presence of an IT establishment which incorporates knowledgeable workers. It may reasonably be concluded that the main reason for these growth phenomena lies in the role
which TEKES carried out as the driving force. Science park: Organic cooperation
enterprises (SMEs), and their manner of leadership is a good model of a set of organizational
activities that positively affect knowledge creation.
“Ambitious and lively national organizations like TEKES might be very few.” Such kind of
positive evaluations can be heard from many voices abroad. The principal aim of TEKES is
strengthening international competitiveness through acquisition of foreign currency.
TEKES way of thinking strives to thoroughly utilize leverage of capital, talent, and technology;
and TEKES has adopted an attitude directed to eliminating wasteful investment and inefficient
procedures. TEKES begins by arranging the necessary organization for a successful SME first; thereby
making it possible to attract a talented staff. In every country, “vitality of private sector” is the
keyword for successful business ventures. There seems to be a deep understanding and respect
for this notion within TEKES. The extent to which its SMEs are energetic, projecting a strong
and favorable image of a society, is a barometer of industrial advancement of the country. A dynamic knowledge creation activity is necessary to promote the function of science
parks. Universities offer the technologies, the science park companies offer premises and business
services, local authorities offer sites and social infrastructures, and enterprises offer their vigor
in pursuing commercial activity. Clearly, collaboration and networking are the nexus of this
model.
Knowledge enabling grid and its practice
As outlined by Professor Ikujiro Nonaka, “knowledge enabling” is the overall set of organizational
activities that positively affect knowledge creation. In order to create knowledge, we must pass
through five steps cited in the top horizontal axis in this figure.
TEKES is the agency which carries out intensive investments in R&D of small and medium-sized
Firstly, [Sharing the Tacit Knowledge], next [Creating the Concept], [Justifying the Concept],
[Building a Prototype], and finally, [Cross-Leveling Knowledge].
Within each step, five factors for promoting knowledge creation are identified. These are (1)instill
a knowledge vision, (2)manage conversations, (3)mobilize knowledge activists, (4)create the
TEKES Presentation Materials http://www.tekes.fi/eng/publications/A_technopol/RD-Finland.PPT
325
von Krogh, Nonaka, Ichijo (2000), p9.
326
right context, and (5) globalize local knowledge.
Those so-called “enablers”, indicated on the left vertical axis, play important roles.
First one is [Sharing Tacit Knowledge]. This is the step where individuals socialize their tacit
knowledge mainly through conversation in the appropriate context. Next, [Creating a Concept] is
the step where the concept is created in conversation by using metaphor and analogies. [Justifying
the concept] is the step where invited people from outside the organization meet with insiders
to evaluate a business idea. The Venture Cup Finland that TEKES sponsors might be a good
example. [Building a Prototype] is the step where participants shape abstract ideas into concrete
form. And finally, [Cross-Leveling Knowledge] step unites the community members to achieve
the actualization of the idea. Among these, “creating the right context” and “management of
conversation” are the enablers which are deeply related to all the steps.
So, what kind of working environment is needed in the science parks? Instead of using the words
“enabling context”, Prof. Nonaka use a Japanese word “Ba” which means physical, virtual and
mental context which may include virtual communication via e-mails, for instance. As we are
in the Internet era, “Ba” is a keyword which attracts more and more interest and attention. If we
want to use IT tools effectively, it is indispensable to foster strong inter-personal relationships
that will support an effective cooperation undercurrent.
When we look at the structure of the buildings at the science parks, cafés and restaurants are
intentionally located at the centre of those buildings. And also, corridors are designed to allow key
personnel to interact more frequently and freely.
However, knowledge creation cannot be promoted simply by enhancing the structure of
buildings. Personnel need to be encouraged to interact collegially by sharing and elaborating
ideas. For this purpose, you need “face to face” communication. Therefore, within every step,
“conversation management” is definitely important. The people in the science parks interviewed
for this project are practicing well the “walk and talk” with people, and are actively contributing
to knowledge creation.
When we ask the Finns how they see themselves, they answer using words such as “open minded”,
“trusting”, “cooperative” or sisu. On the other hand, the Finns also say that they are “shy”. Especially
in former times, we heard that the Finns were characterized as “backward”, but through our
fieldwork, we have come to have a completely opposite, far more positive, impression.
If there were a criticism that the Finns seem passive on the outside, the reality is that the Finns
today are positively promoting the idea of “conversation management” and “creating the right
context” very deliberately. The Finns are not just constructing buildings within a science park,
but practicing the underlying aims through understanding of means and processes. . This is the
hidden factor of the Finnish success, in my opinion.
However, one intriguing question comes to mind. It concerns the Finnish people’s is initiating
present Science Parks. If that is the reason why the Finns can keep naturally “open minded”,
then, can this skill continue to be practiced when a large number of foreigners flow into Finland?
Similarly, can the Finns do the same thing in foreign settings?
Anyway, in the knowledge creation process, it is clear that necessary skills have been provided
as I have seen through field work. That is why it might be preferable to study these “Enablers”,
327
and make explicit what personnel are already doing unconsciously.
Incubational Stage
Turning to the second half of this discussion, a key question emerges: In the incubational stage,
what dimensions are most important in order to build upon the profits secured from success in the
infrastructure stage?
I would like to refer to some criticisms that have arisen in this area. As I mentioned earlier,
if a nation is determined to promote “a welfare state”, it must have a realistic point of view of
what will increase the wealth of the nation. A government has to be conscious of globalization
and international competition and it must position the most profitable enterprises as the growth
engines. Technological innovation and the existence of science parks are the triggers.
However, the level of technology being high, ultimately, the national wealth is determined by how
many vigorous enterprises exist in that country. By crafting a strong policy of market economy,
Finland has embarked on national economic management. Speaking directly, profit corresponds
to investment, and development of enterprises has become indispensable.
But, in order to move on to the next stage, it is necessary to place more focus upon actual marketing
and production efficiency that will secure profit amounting to several times the original investment. Doing so will change somewhat the way we evaluate success.
Firstly, numerous former evaluations obtained high appraisal, based mainly on the viewpoint of
predominance for “growth potential”, in other words, an index of possibilities.
Secondly, given the inherent conditions of their small economy, the Finns mined research fields,
injected capital, and increased their effectiveness over a short period. Unfortunately, these
prudent actions are too often appreciated only in the closed world of R&D which recognizes that
a degree of investment that exceeds profit is inevitable for eventual success of an enterprise.
Finland, in the incubational stage seems to be facing the turning point as to whether “Potential
Power” can be converted into “Actual Power”. The key is a strong approach to “Marketing”
and “Production”. It is necessary to factor in all three powers of “R&D”, “Marketing” and
“Production” in order to achieve a substantial result.
Nokia became a global enterprise in mobile phone production with the highest market share
328
in the world, but did Nokia stop at R&D? NO! Nokia shows the model of corporate selfdevelopment moving beyond the process of “Marketing” and “Production”.
The business profit of Nokia brought the formation of the remarkable IT cluster which is called
“the Finnish model”. Nokia uses profit to stimulate research with that profit. Research funding
is also provided to universities and other research institutes for further development of new
technologies. And in Espoo, residential development and service industries to meet demands of
a newly incoming population were promptly started. Nokia not only realized its own development,
but also brought the bloom of regional economic prosperity.
This is what I mean by “the business result”. Among the Finnish science parks, is there any
other industrial cluster formed at the same level as this example? Probably not! In the global
marketplace, a self-recovered enterprise like Nokia is a rare case. To expand economic success,
we ought to generalize to gain the business profit.
Topology of industries
The key industries that have supported Finland up to now are the paper industry that effectively
uses still preserved forest resources and the metal industry which has gained renewed attention
with the expansion of mobile phone manufacturing. But as you can see in the figure, both lie in
the same lower left. For us as end-users, both are quite “upstream industries” which are “heavy,
long, and large”.
You may bundle them with the industry of a technology-oriented economy where the special
know-how of the upstream is accumulated. On the other hand, the newly appeared IT industries
reach consumers directly, and thus can be plotted as “downstream industries”. The mobile
telephone is a representative product. Its feature is “light, short and small”.
Whenever a product is close to the end-users, new innovations must be offered constantly to
meet various and changing tastes, so the competition is very keen. Thus, R&D activity is
concentrated here.
329
In Oulu we can see an IT cluster base coexisting along with traditional industries. In theory,
one might predict a synergy-effect between new and old industries. But Finland has enjoyed
a long, successful experience as a leader in the paper and pulp industry. So, it is probable the
technology orientation of smoke-stack industry still predominates Finnish people’s way of
thinking.
All ICT (Information and Communication Technology) industries are positioned on the right of
the above chart. Moreover, there are two distinct types within the ICT industrial domain.
Firstly, there are enterprises that offer hard-technologies such as security control and operating
systems. Finnish companies like NetHawk, SSH Communications Security, and F-Secure are
prominent examples. These ICT ventures play an active role in the global market. Free Operating
Systems, such as Linux can be plotted here as well. As the topology shows, all of these are
examples of upstream industries.
Secondly, “new industries” such as Amazon and Google or Second Life and You Tube offer
soft-technologies, particularly communication services. This second group belongs to the
downstream industries. So, where might we place Nokia in this typology? This year, Nokia’s entry into the developing country of India was headline breaking news. But in
2004, the business community was astonished to observe that Nokia’s market share suddenly fell
to the level as low as five years previously. The reason may be related to the company’s failure to
develop a variety of “folding-type” mobile phones, which are extremely popular in Asian and
North American markets. Nokia took over Motorola and became the market leader after the GSM
technology from Europe became the dominant global standard. But Nokia stuck to the “Candy
bar” type mobile phone for years and fell behind in introducing a line of “folding-type” phones.
It was not until 2004 that the company finally started to market the folding type. Because end-users buy their mobile phones from the mobile carriers, they don’t usually show
any particular brand awareness of mobile phone manufacturers. But Nokia only belatedly started
to view end-users as their direct customers. While other makers tried to cooperate with the
mobile carriers, Nokia resisted this approach. As a result, there arose a crucial gap between the
company’s products and consumer tastes and needs. However, one must appraise highly Nokia’s
speed in reaction, once they noticed that their solutions to bridge this gap were inadequate. Some critics would say that Nokia became self-righteousness by ignoring end-users and
considering mobile carriers to be their true customers, but I do think technological overemphasis
was deep-rooted in this case. Likewise, the semiconductor major, Intel, which is a global enterprise the same as Nokia,
wrongly adopted a company culture of “if good technology is developed, it can be sold”. After
some years, Intel started to listen to its customers’ needs, and strain its eyes to track the change of
the market. Apple Computer, renowned for its ever popular i-Pod also follows such a consumer
orientation.
Finland has gained worldwide recognition as being quite advanced in ICT utilization. But there
are few globally recognized ICT enterprises that fall in the upper right of the topology chart.
330
Innovation Model
Products that incorporate new technologies, such as mobile phones, thin LCD TVs, and digital
cameras, have become household commodities almost instantaneously. We live in an age of
a fierce competition where today‘s hot brand items can turn into obsolete merchandise by
tomorrow. Technological development of any one enterprise cannot always catch up with the
market trend; therefore, its market share is always fluid. So an enterprise must give priority to
a customer-appealing design to assure its market leadership. Even ordinary products are being
marketed as fashion items nowadays. In order to respond to constantly changing demands of the
market, innovation must also occur in the way an enterprise is structured. Formerly, the process of innovation which created economic value was perceived as a linearmodel as shown in the upper part of this chart. We start from “research”, followed by development,
design, production, and, finally, we end up with profitable sales.
This linear model suggests that the realization of a product idea is “driven by technology itself”. However, the market is actually quite different nowadays.
In Kline’s newer “chain-link model”, the starting point is “idea” and “market discovery.” Including
architecture, the different designs relate closely to each other, and knowledge is built upon the
interaction of research and economic value.
Under this model, the essence of innovation rests on the assumption that “consumers and the
market take the initiative”. For example, in Japan, there is a venture company developing a
domestic wind power generator. In order to create this product, the combination of different
technologies is needed. For example, high aeromechanics obviously, but also conversion to light
weight materials and special processing are also required. So many scientists, enterprises and
universities are collaborating. But, in order to make a break-through from [a- high-price-product-with-low-market-share] to [alow-price-product-with-high-market-share], we have to clear the big hurdle, production method
and cost. Just the same as changing R&D into technology, in order to change technology into
profit, Kline’s Chain-link Model can serve as a practical guide.
331
Whether an enterprise is strong enough to survive in the market or not depends on value creation
for consumers via an economically rational process. If we separate marketing from production,
we cannot acquire profits. Because marketing emphasizes “how to create customer value” as its
primal object, while Production actually supplies finished products, both must clear the hurdle
together.
Society innovates Finland
Consider the example that the world automotive industry is not as preoccupied with developing
new model cars as it was before. Since environmental protection and soaring gasoline prices
have become consumer issues, society is increasingly demanding innovation in transportation,
not merely newer models of what is seen to be inefficient.
We are entering an age in which the economy and technology don’t move the world, rather, society
innovates the world. It is our first time to experience such an age. Until the 1990’s, technology
and economy have always predominated social issues. In his book, Managing in the Next Society,
Peter Drucker discusses in detail the emergence of these factors.
Among the four factors that are likely to greatly change the present trend of Finland, I have
looked mainly at demographics: the shrinkage within younger population, and expansion of
the ageing population. The rapid decrease in younger population not only brings difficultly
in recruiting an effective work force as part of the nation’s capital, but also brings substantial
changes in market formation.
Market formation becomes difficult in the domestic market as long as immigrants and “guest
workers” are not accepted in the more economically advanced countries. In addition, the mass
consumption market is fed mainly by shifting from a youth market to the middle-aged, elderly-aged
market. Moreover, the system of recruitment and employment of elder people who have superior
academic backgrounds becomes important due to population decrease. 1) Finland does not have a sizable domestic market, and so, it inevitably must aim toward the overseas
332
market. Competition will overheat. A more advanced value creation is demanded if an economy aims
at advanced country markets. If developing countries are market targets, the know-how of low-cost
mass production becomes inevitable. But if you want to cover both advanced country markets and
developing country markets, enormous capital and know-how are absolutely required.
2) The dependency rate upon the younger generation will be heavy. In Finland, which advocates
egalitarianism, there must be a guarantee of an adequate tax base. In other words, the younger
workers must become a high earning work-force.
3) As the economic growth of Finland progresses, the level of income demand will rise. People
will seek an ever higher standard of living. Pursuit of quality of the living environment
and everyday comforts will produce a service industry on a scale that has never existed before. 4) Knowledge in the “knowledge society” travels even more effortlessly than money. So, in the
borderless society, upward mobility becomes available. However, although anyone may obtain
the “means of production”, not everyone can win. Thus, it will be a society where the potential
for failure as well as success exists.
5) An income gap might trigger changes in tax revenues as well as personal wealth and the
traditional consciousness of equal social obligation which has supported the present social
structure.
Thus, today’s extremely egalitarian society may change into a highly competitive society.
The population problem can well lead to political changes, market changes, business changes
and, inevitably, industrial changes. Therefore, starting from the population problem, the
mainspring of change will likely shift from economy or technology to society.
Innovation of value “Innovation” is the word which was first defined by Austrian economist, Joseph Schumpeter.
Innovation is to create something new or to improve something existing by introducing new
enhancing elements. And “production” refers to the fusion of material and power. This is a matrix
of patterns of innovation and their impact upon the market and technology.
There are at least four types of “innovation”:
1) Architectural Innovation: Deconstruction of an existing technology and production system
and creation of a completely new market. The inventions of the airplane and the computer would
be located here.
2) Revolutionary Innovation: Deconstruction of an existing industry or production
system, while keeping the connection with existing market. Audio technology innovations from
analog to digital and automobile transmission from manual to automatic are examples here. 3) Market Niche Innovation: While using an existing technology or production system, new
markets are developed. The headphone stereo and home video games are good examples. 4) Regular Innovation: Through improvement of technology or methods of production, a product
or service of high quality can be provided more cheaply. Common concerns of advanced economies are environment, health and aging. Among present
social priorities in Finland, there are health care, food and nutrition, and energy and environment
– all of which can be expected to assume vital roles in a “post IT” society. All of these are located
in the domain of Architectural Innovation.
These problems cannot be solved by “academic” institutions that are vertically divided. Rather,
the solution lies in the creative collaboration of knowledge and technologies. Today, in order
to meet the demands of society, all industries and enterprises must look outward for inspiration.
So, no innovation can succeed if it is not supported by current social and cultural values. Society obtains customer satisfaction from technological innovation, but we can say customer
appreciation is based on clever marketing.
Conclusion
What is a proper agenda in order to bring substantial growth in the “knowledge creation” age?
I would like here to offer what may be some prevailing views.
The key context is the paradigm shift of:
1. Moving from a technology orientation toward a market orientation
2. Moving from an economic orientation toward a social orientation
Many people think that innovation lies exclusively in R&D --- in other words, it’s a matter of
technology. But real innovation is to initiate change in your products and services in order to
respond to an ever changing market.
Marketing is not a concept directed on how to sell technology or products. That is what we call
“sales” or “sales promotion”. Marketing is, based on “customer consciousness”. By accurately
predicting what customers NEED and WANT in advance, it is the activity which keeps creating
new products and services.
This is in contradiction to the presently dominant technology-centered concept. Currently,
marketing aims at differentiating among market niches so that product development is based on
investigating and analyzing the life style and sense of values of that segment of the market who
333
334
might be likely to consider buying the product or those who actually did buy it.
However, the Internet society has changed the dynamics of the relation between customer and
the market. Through the spread of Internet, consumers around the world may know what is
available, what suits their needs, and where to buy it. In regard to marketing, it is necessary to
consider the emergence of new opinion leaders born in the Internet age. The Internet is a means of
reaching potential customers, and even “non-customers” who, in turn, may convey their needs and
preferences, thus allowing the enterprise to more accurately predict changes coming in the market.
Nowadays, it is more important than ever to develop better marketing tools. We are in an age where
an individual enterprise cannot establish its own market easily if it doesn’t understand that the
self-proliferate customers and non-customers exchange information and share or propagate
opinions via Internet.
To assure success, customer needs and preferences must continually be taken into account at
all points in the business process from start to finish. It might seem easy to follow the “how-to”
of marketing. However, marketing is not a mathematical technology. It is an abstract knowledge
activity, not simply a robotic sequence. As Peter Drucker has already pointed out, it cannot be
achieved only through “curriculum of university and MBA method”. Isn’t it an important thing to
make the IDEA OF MARKETING take root more than marketing itself? Knowledge creation does
not belong to R&D alone. In marketing and production, knowledge creation is also important.
I have already mentioned three public institutions which led successful R&D at the (first)
“knowledge infrastructure stage” --- Academy of Finland, TEKES and SITRA. Can these three
institutions be expected to also take the lead even in the (second) “incubational stage aiming
at acquisition of profit”? I don’t really think so.
In the flood of information in which we are now living, science has been intricate and the speed of
its change is rapid. So, technology has to concentrate on technology, and R&D has to concentrate
on R&D, and marketing has to concentrate on marketing. If each one is not fully focused on its
own unique and vital role, it is impossible to face global competition and continuous growth
is completely out of the question. It is impossible for any one organization to handle different
specialties at the same time. It is the same as Schumpeter’s emphasis: “the creative deconstruction that destroys existing value
by the entrepreneur and creates new value is a source of economic growth”. Therefore, as we
move into the second stage, the main actors must change. I believe the best use of the experience
of a foundation such as TEKES is to allow it to focus on the first stage, “infrastructure”, and
create new organizations to address issues concerned with the second stage, “marketing and
production”.
Looking at Japan, the industrial system can be viewed as a “problem child” that changed into an
“honour student” and then reverted back to a “problem child”, all in the span of forty years.
Based on a management form of vertical integration, Toyota became No1 in the global automotive
industry while following the Japanese system. On the other hand, in the mobile phone industry,
335
Nokia selected a vertical, integrated type model of mass production in contrast to its competitors
since they make most products in-house, designing their own wireless chips. However, I think
that the challenges facing Japan are not caused by the “Japanese management system”, but by the
low recognition of knowledge base which began with the IT revolution.
In an era of knowledge based production, architectural reform is indispensable. But Japan, being
still overly dependent on mere process innovation and accumulated differentiation strategy in
production, appears to be almost unaware of newer waves in innovation. Finland which has persevered with utmost effort resembles Japan after World War II. Finland
has an advantage in producing technological hardware, but comparatively, is at something of a
disadvantage in developing software. However, as Finnish society continues to mature, people
will increasingly demand products and services which offer enjoyment, beauty, and relaxation.
I would like to conclude this discussion by summarizing some key concepts to keep in mind
as Finland moves forward toward 2015.
Marketing
The fields of Post-IT deeply relate to human sensitivity and individual tastes. Product development
must be based on customer appreciation. Otherwise, there is no hope for success. All the more, if
you set the advanced countries as your target market, individual preference and sense of values
are in infinite variety and customer expectations are extremely high.
Production
In manufacturing, there are new movements. New business models appear such as “foundry”
(production system) and EMS (Electronics Manufacturing Services) as new industries in Taiwan
and China who have become major employers, without requiring large manufacturing sites of
their own.
Also, there are a great many enterprises in United States where most of the headquarters’
function is dominated by marketing. Moreover, countries on the receiving end of “knowledge
process outsourcing” such as India have recently emerged. Advances in globalization might
inevitably force global manufacturers to shift the focus of their business to the service industry.
Society
Finland should overcome any unknown hurdles beyond the technological side, once it moves into
the “operational stage”.
No one can tell what kind of age the knowledge based society will be. But, in order to find their
own solutions, every government, enterprise, and the individual must construct viable models
based upon the sum total of available knowledge.
In order to maintain the national welfare, it is necessary to move forward toward a “knowledge
society” that is leveraged on principles of dynamic knowledge creation. Interested observers
around the world are looking forward to seeing what new models the Finns present to overcome
their limited resources and exploit their inherent strengths.
336
Acknowledgement
I would like to express my gratitude to Prof Daniel Michel Walsh for his continuous effort in
providing translation.
References
Castells, Manuel and Pekka Himanen (2002), The Information Society and the Welfare State: The
Finnish Model, Oxford Univ. Press.
Drucker, Peter F. (2003), Managing in the Next Society, Griffin.
Hatano, Tohru (Ed.) (2006), White Paper for Technology Competitive Advantage, PHP (in
Japanese).
Kline, Stephen J. (1985), “Innovation Is Not A Linear Process”, Research Management,24(4),
pp.36-45.
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (2006), White Paper on Science
and Technology 2006, MEXT
Schumpeter, Joseph A. (1942), The Process of Creative Destruction, Unwin
TEKES, Academy of Finland (2007), Finnsight2015: The Outlook for Science, Technology and
Society, TEKES, Academy of Finland.
von Krogh, Georg, Kazuo Ichijo, Ikujiro Nonaka (2000), Enabling Knowledge Creation: How to
Unlock the Mystery of Tacit Knowledge and Release the Power of Innovation, Oxford, Oxford
University Press.
337
338

Creative Futures Conference Proceedings

Transcription

Similar documents

birssi.net - Data Group Pietarsaari

Research Elaborated

Dr. Tomi Kauppinen, Docent, PhD Publications (by October 15, 2014)

Ari Stenroos

Luovan tutkimustyön johtamisen teoriat

CPM_Creative_Project_Management_ISBN_9789526790114_pdf

Organisaation uudistumiskyvyn kehittäminen

abstraktikirja - WordPress.com

Lista myönnetyistä apurahoista 2011

Semioottisesti kyvykkäät koneet sovelluksineen

ESPON tiedote 18.3.2014 - Suomen ESPON Contact Point

Integroitu raportointi yritysten näkökulmia EK ProCom 200514

Uusi journalismi?

SOTKAnetin avoin rajapinta

Voiko sosiaalista suoriutumista työpaikalla ennustaa

Liisa Välikangas

Salimaki Elisa DP