Complex Work Processes Research Articles

The Slitscope.

Slit lamp biomicroscope is the right hand of an Ophthalmologist. Even though precise, its bulky design and complex working process are limiting constraints, making it difficult for screening at outreach camps, which are an integral part of this field for the purpose of eliminating needless blindness. The torchlight is the main tool used for screening. Recently, the integration of smartphones with instruments and the digitization of slit lamp has been explored, to provide simple and easy hacks. By bringing the slit of the slit lamp to traditional torchlight, we have created "The Slitscope". It combines the best of both worlds as a simple innovative do-it-yourself novel technique for precise cataract screening. It is especially useful in peripheral centers, vision centers, and outreach camps. We present two prototypes which can also be 3D printed.

Enabling End-Users in Designing and Executing of Complex, Collaborative Robotic Processes

Over the last years, capabilities of robotic systems have quantitatively and qualitatively improved. But going beyond isolated robotic systems, the integration and interoperability of robotic capabilities in complex work processes remains a major challenge. This lack of tools to integrate robots needs to be addressed on technical, semantic and organizational level. In the ROBxTASK research project, we developed an approach to support cooperation between different types of users in order to enable domain experts, with no robotic know-how, to work with robot-assisted workflows. By engineering robotic skills at a useful and usable level of abstraction for experts in different domains, we aim to increase re-usability of these skills on two different levels, (robotic) device level, and on level of application specific workflows. The researched prototype consists of a web platform, which allows (a) engineers to register (robotic) devices and the implemented skills of the devices, (b) domain experts to use a graphical task design environment to create workflows across multiple robotic devices and lastly (c) robot co-workers to download and execute the workflow code in a local environment with digital twins or real robots. Additionally skills and workflows can be shared across organisations. Initial user studies have shown that the visual programming environment is accessible and the defined skill-set is easy to understand even for domain experts that are inexperienced in the field of robotics.

Romanticisation and monetisation of the digital nomad lifestyle: The role played by online narratives in shaping professional identity work

Some occupations are subject to more complex identity work processes than others. This rings true for those professional endeavours that are relatively poorly known and that cannot rely on institutions as a reference for identification, such as digital nomadism. Digital nomads can broadly be defined as professionals who embrace extreme forms of mobile work to combine their interest in travel with the possibility to work remotely. Building on a two-stage data collection process, this paper proposes a typology that characterises four archetypes of digital nomad lifestyle promoters’ narratives found online and show how these online narratives play a role in the process of identity work of other digital nomads. Our contributions are two-fold. First, we show that while the archetypes act as an important online identity regulatory force, they do so through dis-identification. Second, we explain how identity work for digital nomads involves evaluating discursively available subjectivities and propose a three-step reflexive process that entails (i) interpreting, (ii) dis-identifying and (iii) contextualising. We contend that our findings extend beyond the specific case of digital nomads and shed light onto the intricacies of work identity for ‘new’ occupations that are romanticised and monetised through social media and beyond.

Quality Evaluation of Order-Based Talent Training in Internationalized Enterprises Based on Machine Learning

Internationalized enterprises conduct business and operation in more than one country. Their complex work processes raise a high demand for the work efficiency of employees. As a result, the enterprises in need of internationalization attach great importance to individual ability and quality when recruiting talents, and need to train talents based on orders. To improve the degree of specialization and employment quality of graduates, it is necessary to effectively evaluate the order-based talent training in internationalized enterprises, which helps to rationalize the training scheme and realize scientific education. However, there are very few studies that quantify the order-based talent training in internationalized enterprises. To fill the gap, this paper evaluates the quality of order-based talent training in internationalized enterprises based on machine learning. Section 2 summarizes the flow of order-based talent training in internationalized enterprises, and establishes an evaluation index system for the training quality, referring to the requirements of internationalized enterprises on the skills, cultural qualities, and professional ethics of talents. The feature data of the evaluation indies were preprocessed through principal component analysis (PCA), which reduces the computing load and increases the computing speed for the order-based talent training quality in internationalized enterprises. Section 3 optimizes the backpropagation (BP) neural network for prediction, and further reduces the dimensionality of the multi-dimensional data on the evaluation indices through locality preservation projection (LPP). The proposed model was proved effective through experiments.

Resilience organizing: a multilevel communication framework

Abstract This study advances communication-centered resilience theory by examining adaptive capacity of nonprofit networks impacted by Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Data show how formal structures set up conditions for adaptive/informal organizing. This highlights a quandary for disaster planning: improvising emerges from organizations having plans in place. Iterative processes between formal and informal structures expanded capacity, building a foundation for work processes to scaffold from individual to organizational to interorganizational networks. Yet some employees were personally vulnerable, revealing a multilevel dilemma: organizations were resilient even if employees were not. This study also theorizes time as an endogenous mechanism. As workers perceived less urgency, process experts broadened communication across levels, integrating more complex work processes. Resilience differed between organizations that lacked process experts, revealing their critical role across levels. Findings point to a policy-making dilemma: successful resilience processes undermine pressure on policy-makers to mitigate threats that necessitate improving resilience processes to begin with.

Workarounds in the Shadow System: An Ethnographic Study of Requirements for Documentation and Cooperation in a Clinical Advisory Center.

Hospital information systems (HIS) are meant to manage complex work processes across healthcare organizations. We describe limitations of HIS to address local information requirements and how they are circumvented at different organizational levels. Results can be used to better support collaboration in socio-technical systems. Workarounds describe a mismatch between a technology's purpose and its actual use, whereas shadow systems are unofficial IT systems circumventing limitations of official systems to support workflows. Boundary infrastructures are conceptualized as the entirety of all (in)formal digital and analog systems connecting different communities of practice in a socio-technical system. An ethnographic study with observations and semi-structured interviews was conducted and analyzed through categorization and iterative coding. Several digital-analog workarounds are employed for documentation and a shared server functions as a shadow system to support workflows in ways the HIS cannot. For collaborative documentation, all (official and informal) information sources were used simultaneously as part of an interconnected boundary infrastructure. Formal and informal IT systems are interconnected across different organizational levels and provide insights into unmet information requirements, effective and problematic work practices, and how to address them to improve system functioning. An integrated perspective on boundary infrastructures, workarounds, and shadow systems may advance system analysis, providing a more comprehensive picture of IT requirements than any concept alone. Workarounds and shadow systems highlight that HIS should support systemic and local needs. Customized interfaces in HIS to support search, access, and exchange of relevant data might help to mitigate current shortcomings.

Analysis of the Deformation Characteristics of Loess Based on Thermal–Mechanical Coupling under an Energy Internet

In response to the major challenges faced by China’s transition to green low-carbon energy under the dual-carbon goal, the use of energy Internet cross-boundary thinking will help to develop research on the integration of renewable clean energy and buildings. Energy piles are a new building-energy-saving technology that uses geothermal energy in the shallow soil of the Earth’s surface as a source of cold (heat) to achieve heating in winter and cooling in summer. It is a complex thermomechanical working process that changes the temperature of the rock and soil around the pile, and the temperature change significantly influences the mechanical properties of natural loess. Although the soil temperature can be easily and quickly obtained by using sensors connected to the Internet of Things, the mechanical properties of natural loess will change greatly under the influence of temperature. To explore the influence of temperature on the stress–strain relationship of structural loess, the undrained triaxial consolidation tests were carried out under different temperatures (5, 20, 50 and 70∘C) and different confining pressures (50, 100, 200 and 400[Formula: see text]kPa), and a binary-medium model was introduced to simulate the stress–strain relationship. By introducing the damage rate under temperature change conditions, a binary-medium model of structural loess under variable temperature conditions was established, and the calculation method of the model parameters was proposed. Finally, the calculated results were compared with the test results. The calculation results showed that the established model has good applicability.

Ambidextrous learning in a customer order–based context

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to describe ambidextrous learning in organizations within the customer order-based context (COBC), here based on a dynamic view of work processes. The study focuses on how organizations can learn while working with customer orders, considering learning in organizations as both a process and an outcome.Design/methodology/approachThis conceptual article focuses on learning in the COBC, where the individual customer requirements represent a key input into the organization’s work processes, thus limiting the possibilities to plan and standardize. The COBC brings about challenges and potentials for learning in organizations where task variety and complexity are high and in which the contradictory interplay between efficiency and responsiveness is apparent not only at a strategic level but also at an operative level in the customer order fulfillment processes. Depending on the variations in tasks and parallel complex work processes between different units in the organization, the ambidextrous learning dynamic can appear in the COBC.FindingsFive propositions were made from the analysis: Proposition 1: Learning in the COBC can occur both in real-time but also in retrospect and with sporadic and recurrent interventions. Proposition 2: Learning in the COBC can occur for, as well as from, customer order processes. Proposition 3: Learning in the COBC varies and will depend on the delivery strategy. Proposition 4: Learning can be stimulated by the variation in priorities among customer orders in the COBC because the work characteristics for the back office and front office differ between customer order fulfillment processes. Proposition 5: Learning in the COBC can occur both within the back office and front office but also between these organizational units. The paper discusses the importance of building learning infrastructure in COBC and how that can be supported by a suggested learning office.Originality/valueThe present study demonstrates the importance of functions being able to act both as back office and front office in relation to delivery strategy. It also shows the ambidextrous learning process for the sake of improving both the internal efficiency and external effectiveness across the organization.

Unplanned managerial work: an ambidextrous learning potential

ABSTRACT Learning processes have an impact on both specific problems and provide wider knowledge of different work processes. For this, managerial work has been identified as crucial. Managerial work is ad hoc and full of daily disturbances, and as learning in organisations often occurs unplanned, it is of interest to study learning processes during unplanned managerial work. A theoretical framework with two learning logics, developmental and executional learning were used. These logics are interpreted as an interdependent duality and not only as two equally important entities. The purpose of this study is to understand learning processes during unplanned managerial work in practice, from an ambidextrous perspective. An in-depth qualitative approach was used, where four learning processes were identified and analysed. We identify two ambidextrous learning logics, within complex work processes, based on either the executional or developmental mode, as a complement to existing knowledge on learning in organisations.

Doctors documenting: an ethnographic and informatics approach to understanding attending physician documentation in the pediatric emergency department.

The pediatric emergency department is a highly complex and evolving environment. Despite the fact that physicians spend a majority of their time on documentation, little research has examined the role of documentation in provider workflow. The aim of this study is to examine the task of attending physician documentation workflow using a mixed-methods approach including focused ethnography, informatics, and the Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety (SEIPS) model as a theoretical framework. In a 2-part study, we conducted a hierarchical task analysis of patient flow, followed by a survey of documenting ED providers. The second phase of the study included focused ethnographic observations of ED attendings which included measuring interruptions, time and motion, documentation locations, and qualitative field notes. This was followed by analysis of documentation data from the electronic medical record system. Overall attending physicians reported low ratings of documentation satisfaction; satisfaction after each shift was associated with busyness and resident completion. Documentation occurred primarily in the provider workrooms, however strategies such as bedside documentation, dictation, and multitasking with residents were observed. Residents interrupted attendings more often but also completed more documentation actions in the electronic medical record. Our findings demonstrate that complex work processes such as documentation, cannot be measured with 1 single data point or statistical analysis but rather a combination of data gathered from observations, surveys, comments, and thematic analyses. Utilizing a sociotechnical systems framework and a mixed-methods approach, this study provides a holistic picture of documentation workflow. This approach provides a valuable foundation not only for researchers approaching complex healthcare systems but also for hospitals who are considering implementing large health information technology projects.

Courts and Artificial Intelligence

This article explores the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in courts of law. AI raises any number of questions for courts and judges. Importantly, what can AI do for the administration of justice, and what does that require? Complexity reduction is at the heart of court processes, irrespective of subject matter. Not all court work is complex custom work and routine processes have different requirements from complex customised work of the courts. It follows, that forms of information technology, including artificial intelligence, are also not the same for all cases. Which form of AI has already proven itself for these different processes? The work of courts and judges is governed by the standards of proper procedure, including Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, so what does this mean for those working with AI? The Council of Europe has developed the Ethical Principles for the use of AI in the administration of justice. Can legal information be made more usable for AI?

Managing complexity in the operating room: a group interview study

BackgroundClinical work in the operating room (OR) is considered challenging as it is complex, dynamic, and often time- and resource-constrained. Important characteristics for successful management of complexity include adaptations and adaptive coordination when managing expected and unexpected events. However, there is a lack of explorative research addressing what makes things go well and how OR staff describe they do when responding to challenges and compensating for constraints. The aim of this study was therefore to explore how complexity is managed as expressed by operating room nurses, registered nurse anesthetists, and surgeons, and how these professionals adapt to create safe care in the OR.MethodData for this qualitative explorative study were collected via group interviews with three professional groups of the OR-team, including operating room nurses, registered nurse anesthetists and operating and assisting surgeons in four group interview sessions, one for each profession except for ORNs for which two separate interviews were performed. The audio-taped transcripts were transcribed verbatim and analyzed by inductive qualitative content analysis.ResultsThe findings revealed three generic categories covering ways of creating safe care in the OR: preconditions and resources, planning and preparing for the expected and unexpected, and adapting to the unexpected. In each generic category, one sub-category emerged that was common to all three professions: coordinating and reaffirming information, creating a plan for the patient and undergoing mental preparation, and prioritizing and solving upcoming problems, respectively.ConclusionCreating safe care in the OR should be understood as a process of planning and preparing in order to manage challenging and complex work processes. OR staff need preconditions and resources such as having experience and coordinating and reaffirming information, to make sense of different situations. This requires a mental model, which is created through planning and preparing in different ways. Some situations are repetitive and easier to plan for but planning for the unexpected requires anticipation from experience. The main results strengthen that abilities described in the theory of resilience are used by OR staff as a strategy to manage complexity in the OR.

Sustainable Risk Assessment through the Analysis of Financial Losses from Third-Party Damage in Bridge Construction

Due to the recent introduction of innovative construction methods and technologies, construction projects increasingly require sustainability in their high degrees of specialization and complex work processes. This is due to a wide variety of new risk factors associated with construction projects that can lead to extensive and severe damage. When an accident occurs during a construction project, it can cause material, property, or bodily damage not only within the actual construction site but also outside, affecting third parties. This study analyzed the record of such third-party damage and the subsequent financial losses in bridge construction management, to identify the objective and quantified relationship of risk indicators related to the damage and losses. In order to assess the actual losses in construction projects, we adopted the loss claim payout data as recorded and provided by a major Korean insurance company, and conducted a multiple regression analysis to identify the loss indicators and to develop a loss estimation model. In this study, the analysis of the data indicated that the superstructure type, the foundation type, floods, and company ranking by the amount of the contract were the four statistically significant risk indicators that affected financial losses from third-party damage, among the nine variables used as independent variables, which included the superstructure type, foundation type, superstructure construction method, maximum span length, floods, typhoons, total construction cost, total construction period, and company ranking. As this study focused on identifying the risk factors and producing a loss assessment model quantified in numerical values, the results provide important references for assessing and minimizing the risks to third parties and the consequential financial losses in bridge construction, while promoting sustainability objectives.

국내 녹색건축 인증제 (G-SEED) 평가를 위한 BIM 시스템 적용방안에 관한 연구

Green buildings are result of the Framework Convention on Climate Change adopted by developed countries as a response to the crisis sense of the global environment, as energy depletion and environmental pollution. To reduce the load on the environment and improve the environmental performance of buildings, a certification system is established. To acquire a green building certification, the requirements must be considered in the early design stages of the building. However, many complex problems and work processes need to be recognized effectively apply the detail of many items that require analysis and data. BIM template provides BIM-based standardized data that allows users to take make use of the objective information and analysis on the design phase of eco-friendly building. However, the results are different because of the absence of standardized working environment for designers or users of the BIM library and models. Accordingly, the objective of this study is to propose and apply the BIM system which can confirm green building certification score and grade on the basis of the constructing green building data through GBT, and to verify its effectiveness. As a result of this study, it was verified that the algorithm of the proposed system was correctly constructed with the same BIM assessment and general assessment except one item.

What kind of expertise is needed for low energy construction?

The construction industry is responsible for 40% of European Union (EU) end-use emissions but addressing this is problematic, as evident from the performance gap between design intention and on-site energy performance. There is a lack of the expertise needed for low energy construction (LEC) in the UK as the complex work processes involved require ‘energy literacy’ of all construction occupations, high qualification levels, broad occupational profiles, integrated teamworking, and good communication. This research identifies the obstacles to meeting these requirements, the nature of the expertise needed to break down occupational divisions and bridge those interfaces where the main heat losses occur, and the transition pathway implied. Obstacles include a decline in the level, breadth and quality of construction vocational education and training (VET), the lack of a learning infrastructure on sites, and a fragmented employment structure. To overcome these and develop enhanced understanding of LEC requires a transformation of the existing structure of VET provision and construction employment and a new curriculum based on a broader concept of agency and backed by rigorous enforcement of standards. This can be achieved through a radical transition pathway rather than market-based solutions to a low carbon future for the construction sector.

Research of a Pharmaceutical Enterprise Warehouse Management System Based on RFID Technology

Under the background of a pharmaceutical company, this paper describes the problems in ex-warehousing, warehousing, inventory management process, which including low level of information, excessive label work and manual production operations, complex work processes, high working strength in employees and so on. In order to solve these problems, this paper makes a description of these issues and proposes the application of RFID technology in pharmaceutical warehouse management system, which based on the characteristics of RFID technology for material storage and automatic bulk information collection. RFID technology is widely used in logistics management and process optimization as a new type of Internet technology. Warehouse management system based on RFID technology can combine the GMP certification requirements and standards, automatically complete the input and output of information. So that it can effectively assign storage location automatically, avoid the medicine pollution problem caused by improper manual operation, improve operation efficiency, reduce error rates. The application of RFID technology in medicine warehouse management system is an exploration in domestic pharmaceutical enterprise. It is of great importance to optimize the enterprise storage management.

Interactional Processes of Handling Errors in Vocational School: Students Attending to Changes in Vocational Practices

Making errors is an inevitable part of work and learning situations. Recent research has shown that errors can provide important learning opportunities, in particular in education or training, where there may be ample time and support to learn from them. Yet, more knowledge is needed of how learning from errors is developed through interactional processes in a particular context. Adding to prior research of learning from errors in education, the present study is conducted in a vocational school context, where there may be opportunities to learn from errors conducted as students gain new experiences with the complex work processes of a vocation. Thus, this study aims to provide novel insight into how students’ learning from errors in school-based vocational training is developed. Findings from a 1-year field study of culinary vocational education show that teachers and students participate in learning activities of shared experience, improvisation, and reflecting on errors in ways, where the students learn to pay constant attention to the complex cooking procedures. The findings further demonstrate students’ transformed participation in challenging and error-prone vocational assignments as a central part of their identification with the culinary vocation.

Integrated planning as a 'one for all' solution in distinctive business environments: a case-based comparison between the North Sea and Bohai Bay

In the offshore oil and gas (O&G) production industry, integrated planning (IP) is under development and implementation in some oilfields for better management of complex work processes. Despite many challenges, major producers are interested in promoting IP as a standard solution across their assets around the world. This paper is based on a case study conducted in close cooperation with one of the major oil producers in the North Sea, with the presumption that IP processes towards regional assets are highly affected by various factors in different business environments. Thus the study compared the IP development and implementation process in two separate business environments: namely, the North Sea and Bohai Bay. It elaborates on the major differences noted in the IP process, and discusses the internal and external influence factors that have clear effects on IP.

Will information and communication technology disrupt the health system and deliver on its promise?

Investment in information and communication technology (ICT) in the health sector can bring important benefits. To date, the focus has been on automating clinical work practices such as ordering tests and prescriptions, which significantly improves efficiency and safety. Uptake of ICT has been slow and the results less favourable than anticipated for various reasons, including poor integration of systems into complex clinical work processes, limited training, and the intermittent nature of ICT funding. As a result, many health care organisations have been operating hybrid paper and computer systems that introduce new patient risks, staff frustration, and outcomes below expectation. The focus must shift from automation of clinical work to innovation; from evolutionary application of ICT to revolutionary uses. Health professionals must embrace ICT as a "disruptive technology" that will produce significant changes in their roles and responsibilities and lead to real health reform with new, innovative models of health care delivery. As other industries have shown, substitution and role changes are areas in which ICT can lead to the greatest gains.

Empirical research findings on telework: Management experiences and attitudes

Based on the technological progress and the complex work processes of our increasingly globalised world, novel ways of organising work can be seen everywhere. The EU has defined atypical forms of employment as breakthrough points in improving employment indices. Telework is probably the the most innovative atypical working form, offering huge amount of benefits for the employer, employee and the society. Gaining a deeper understanding of employment trends and employers’ decision-making mechanisms, we can understand the specifics of this spreading working form, and we can use this knowledge to stimulate the employment trends. This study summarises the finding of an empirical research among medium and large enterprises in Hungary using telework.