Becoming a Swarm Catalyst

Juhana Kokkonen, Sami Paavola and Yrjö Engeström
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Juhana Kokkonen: Center for Research on Activity, Development and Learning (CRADLE), University of Helsinki, & Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, Helsinki, Finland
Sami Paavola: Center for Research on Activity, Development and Learning (CRADLE), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
Yrjö Engeström: Center for Research on Activity, Development and Learning (CRADLE), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

International Journal of Knowledge-Based Organizations (IJKBO), 2013, vol. 3, issue 1, 57-70

Abstract: This article analyzes the problems of bringing in social media in a traditional, hierarchical organization. Difficulties rise from the contradiction between the bureaucratic approach of an organization and the collaborative community approach connected to social media. A change in the role of a developer is analyzed through a case study. The data was collected in a co-development process of a work unit at a Finnish University of Applied Sciences. The method of this study is analytic autoethnography, which proved to be a valuable tool for capturing a long-term development process and the changing role of the developer inside the organization. A new change agent, a swarm catalyst, is introduced at the end of the article. The initial characteristics of a swarm catalyst are based on the experiences of various, iterative developmental experiments. A swarm catalyst operates within an organization as an autonomous developer, and as a negotiator between the traditional organization and decentralized developmental swarms.

Date: 2013
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:igg:jkbo00:v:3:y:2013:i:1:p:57-70

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