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Zelf initiatief en nieuwe technologie niet genoeg om CO2 uitstoot reisindustrie te verminderen

Mens en technologie

Lectorale rede, in verkorte vorm uitgesproken bij de aanvaarding van de functie van lector Mens en Technologie aan Fontys Hogeschool HRM en Psychologie op 7 juni 2013. In deze rede wordt men meegenomen op een tochtje door de wereld van mens en technologie. Eerst worden een aantal relevante ontwikkelingen op het snijvlak van psychologie en technologie getoond. Vervolgens wordt men meegenomen in de praktijk door voor verschillende toepassingsdomeinen de mogelijkheden van technologie te laten zien en relevantie onderzoeksvragen te bespreken. Tenslotte wordt door de wereld van het HBO en het lectoraat gereisd, waarbij wordt getoond wat de missie is van het lectoraat en hoe er gestalte aan gegeven zal worden. Onderweg wordt geregeld uit het raampje gekeken om inspirerende voorbeelden te zien van projecten, producten en samenwerkingsverbanden.

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Voor wat en wie het waard is...

As labour is becoming more and more knowledge controlled, it also getting closer to the individual person. We sometimes seem to forget this. To an increasing extent it is becoming a part of oneself and therefore of the personal identity. The increasing humanization of labour asks for an HRM-policy and an organizational context in which the individual is able to identify with the organization, colleagues, customers/clients and product. Heterononimous or abstract organizations, organizations in which the employees and civilians have been reduced to numbers and in which there is no real consideration for the individual differences, have to make way for organizational structures in which the individual feels (self) responsible again. The future lies with personal, tribally inspired organizations in which managers will be leaders and where employees and managers can show social commitment. Images like that of: the egocentric boss who by making swift career moves avoids responsibility for employee/co-worker and customer/client; of colleagues taking the day off without consultation or who are putting their phone through to someone else without saying so beforehand, meeting rooms which are not being cleaned up after use and the image of a Xerox machine not being refilled up with paper by anyone, are all too frequently dismissed as not being part of productivity.

Geleidelijk digitaal, een nuchtere kijk op sociale gevolgen van ict

Het World Wide Web (WWW) en andere informatie- en communicatietechnologie (ICT) krijgt grote maatschappijke gevolgen toegedicht. Zowel utopische als dystopische toekomstbeelden worden eraan opgehangen. Bij gebrek aan empirisch onderzoek kunnen beide aanspraak maken op realiteitswaarde. Wat is waan? En wat is werkelijkheid? Zonder twijfel is de technologische ontwikkeling iin van de centrale krachten achter maatschappelijke ontwikkelingen. Dit rapport presenteert de stand van zaken in het onderzoek naar sociale gevolgen van technologische ontwikkeling. Wat zijn de relevante vraagstellingen? Welke theoriekn zijn reeds ontwikkeld? Hoeveel empirisch onderzoek is voorhanden? In dit rapport wordt onderzoek naar de sociale gevolgen van technologische ontwikkeling gerelateerd aan hoofdvragen van de sociologie, te weten vragen naar de rationalisering van de samenleving, sociale ongelijkheid en sociale cohesie. Burgers worden steeds vaker geconfronteerd met technologische innovaties die hun maatschappelijk functioneren beonvloeden. Door nieuwe ICT verandert geleidelijk de manier waarop zij werken, leren en communiceren. Langzaam maar zeker passen burgers zich aan de beschikbare mogelijkheden aan, omdat hierdoor bestaande handelingen sneller, gemakkelijker of efficiknter uitgevoerd kunnen worden.

Advisering van het midden- en kleinbedrijf. Wie wil voelen zal niet luisteren.

This relationship between external knowledge providers, e.g. consultants and academic institutions, and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is a difficult one. SME entrepreneurs think external advice is expensive, not required and/or not useful. In this paper these arguments are explored against the specific characteristics of SMEs. The argument of price probably tells more about the consultants inability to quantify the returns on their advice than about the cost of their services. Support policies enable free consults for SMEs on numerous topics, but the use of these facilities is relatively low. The suggestion that SME entrepreneurs do not need external knowledge is contradicted by their own assessment of their qualities. Typically the entrepreneurs lack expertise in supporting business functions like HR, IT, Finance and Legal. In SMEs these blank spots are not compensated by specialist staff members because the of the scale of the organization. The argument that the advice of an external consultant is generally not useful raises the question whether the insights gained in several business sciences only apply to large companies. This seems unlikely. Given the characteristics of SMEs the difference is probably more the context in which the insights are applied than the content of the insights itself. From the analysis of the characteristics of SMEs the dominant influence of the person of the owner/director, together with the absence of specialist staff, appeared as two of the most significant differences between SMEs and large companies. Given the personal profiles of these owners/directors as studied by Blom (Blom, 2001), the external knowledge providers should realize the three ways in consulting. The first way is the way of thinking. For this way it was stated already that the content of business sciences is not likely to differ for SMEs. The second way, the way of working, represents for the way information is gathered and the entrepreneur and his staff is involved in the process of developing the advice. In this way the consultant should allow for interaction and should make it fun for the participants. In this aspect, the process approach of consulting shows promising. The third way, the way of communicating, represents the way the knowledge is transferred from the advisor to the entrepreneur. In this way it is crucial to acknowledge the different personal profiles of SME entrepreneurs and consultants and to adjust the communication accordingly. Taking the three ways into account, the conclusion could be that the transfer of knowledge should be more the sharing of experiences. The Chair of Management Consulting will adjust her activities to explore this insight further.