Search results

This paper aims to investigate the role of information as a source of resilience in organizations. It presents both a theory based construct of information filters of the environment scanning and a pragmatic tool for managing the process.

The filter construct was tested in three qualitative case studies where the filter setting was changed in order to identify its impact on the results of the environment scan. This paper used Igor Ansoff's theory of information filters as a basis and added the required additional elements by applying complex adaptive systems theory.

The authors were able to define two dimensions: information filters' width and depth, that define the outcome of the environment scanning process. The preliminary testing of the research hypotheses was possible with the new research tool.

There was only one case that analyzed the impact of connectivity: the role of feedback loops with the external stakeholders and their impact on the outcome of the scanning process. This interesting finding should be studied further.

By applying the filter construct, management is able to either destabilize the organization (for innovation or in order to facilitate a major transformation) or to stabilize the organization (e.g. post‐merger integration).

This paper is one of the rare pragmatic applications of complex adaptive systems theory.

Mobile communication has grown beyond its original scope and scale, and mobile operators have played a significant role in this phenomenon. Since the mobile operator business is highly regulated, the authors aim to analyze the effects of regulation on the industry during the period 1985‐2009. They also aim to consider its potential effects in the years 2010‐2015.

The method selected for this research was the Delphi method. The challenge was that this method was originally created to assess experts' opinions about the course of development of a certain technology or phenomenon in the future, and then by using for example a scenario technique, to draw conclusions about its possible futures. Here the authors used the Delphi method for estimating past development also, i.e. experts' opinions of the causes and effects of laws and other regulations in the past few decades.

According to this research the ultimate goals of the regulator, set as early as in the middle of the 1980s, have been actualized: in Finland there are several competing nationwide mobile operators and the use of mobile phones is cheap compared to many other countries. One significant finding of this study is that the regulatory framework for the mobile operator business has become more complex over the years and that this complexity is also likely to grow in the future.

Dynamic regulation has enabled strong competition in Finland's mobile operator market and at the same time a very high service level for subscribers. The Delphi method is proven to be a powerful tool also when examining past events, and the authors recommend Delphi for use in studies related to other sectors of administration and fields of business.

This paper enables better monitoring of the changes in regulatory framework over a long period in which several changes have been made, compared to previous studies which focus on a single regulatory action.