Companies are organised to fulfil two distinctive functions: efficient and resilient exploitation of current business and parallel exploration of new possibilities. For the latter, companies require strong organisational infrastructure such as team compositions and functional structures to ensure exploration remains effective. This paper explores the potential for designing organisational infrastructure to be part of fourth order subject matter. In particular, it explores how organisational infrastructure could be designed in the context of an exploratory unit, operating in a large heritage airline. This paper leverages insights from a long-term action research project and finds that building trust and shared frames are crucial to designing infrastructure that affords the greater explorative agenda of an organisation. https://doi.org/10.33114/adim.2019.07.227 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christine-de-lille-8039372/
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Energy management and carbon accounting schemes are increasingly being adopted as a corporate response to climate change. These schemes often demand the setting of ambitious targets for the reduction of corporate greenhouse gas emissions. There is however only limited empirical insight in the companies’ target setting process and the auditing practice of certifying agencies that evaluate ambition levels of greenhouse gas reduction targets. We studied the target setting process of firms participating in the CO2 Performance Ladder. The CO2 Performance Ladder is a new certifiable scheme for energy management and carbon accounting that is used as a tool for green public procurement in the Netherlands. This study aimed at answering the question ‘to what extent does the current target setting process in the CO2 Performance Ladder lead to ambitious CO2 emission reduction goals?’. The research methods were interviews with relevant stakeholders (auditors, companies and consultants), document reviews of the certification scheme, and an analysis of corporate target levels for the reduction of CO2 emissions. The research findings showed that several certification requirements for target setting for the reduction of CO2 emissions were interpreted differently by the various actors and that the conformity checks by the auditors did not include a full assessment of all certification requirements. The research results also indicated that corporate CO2 emission reduction targets were not very ambitious. The analysis of the target setting process revealed that there was a semi-structured bottom-up auditing practice for evaluating the corporate CO2 emission reduction targets, but the final assessment whether target levels were sufficiently ambitious were rather loose. The main conclusion is that the current target setting process in the CO2 Performance Ladder did not necessarily lead to establishing the most ambitious goals for CO2 emission reduction. This process and the tools to assess the ambition level of the CO2 emission reduction targets need further improvement in order to maintain the CO2 Performance Ladder as a valid tool for green public procurement.
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In this case study, we want to gain insights into how residents of three municipalities communicate about the new murder scenario of the cold case of Marianne Vaatstra and the possibility of a large-scale DNA familial searching. We investigate how stakeholders shape their arguments in conversation with each other and with the police. We investigate the repertoires that participants use to achieve certain effects in their interactions with others in three focus groups. The results show that the analyzed repertoires are strong normative orientated. We see two aspects emerge that affect the support for large-scale DNA familial searching. These are: 1. Cautious formulations: respondents showed restraint in making personal judgments and often formulated these on behalf of others. Participants would not fully express themselves, but adjusted to what seemed the socially desirable course. 2. Collective identity: respondents focused on the similarities between themselves and the needs, interests, and goals of other participants. Participants also tried in a discursive way to convince each other to participate in the large-scale familial searching. These two major discursive activities offered the communication discipline guidance for interventions into the subsequent communication strategy.
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This PD project explores alternative approaches to audiovisual technologies in art and creative practices by reimagining and reinventing marginalized and decommodified devices through Media Archaeology, artistic experimentation, and hands-on technical reinvention. This research employs Media Archaeology to uncover “obsolete” yet artistically relevant technologies and hands-on technical reinvention to adapt these tools for contemporary creative practices. It seeks to develop experimental self-built devices that critically engage with media materiality, exploring alternative aesthetic possibilities through practice-based investigations into the cultural and historical dimensions of media technologies. These developments provide artists with new creative possibilities beyond mainstream commercial standardized tools and infrastructures. A key component of this project is collaborative innovation with artist-run analog film communities, such as Filmwerkplaats. By fostering knowledge exchange and artistic experimentation, this research ensures that reinvented tools remain relevant to both analog film communities and contemporary media art practices. The intended outcomes directly benefit two key groups: • Artist-run film labs gain sustainable methods for evolving their practices, reducing dependence on scarce, out-of-production equipment. • Digital-native artists are introduced to alternative methods for engaging with analog processes and media materiality, expanding their creative toolkit. This collaboration also strengthens art and design education by embedding alternative technological perspectives and research methodologies into curricula, providing students and practitioners with resourceful, sustainable approaches to working with technology. It advocates for a more diverse educational paradigm that incorporates media-technological history and critical reflection on the ideologies of linear technological progress. Ultimately, this research fosters critical discourse on media culture, challenges the dominance of corporate proprietary systems, and promotes innovation, redefining the relationship between creativity and technology.
