Forthcoming

An investigation of how elite professional service firms (PSFs) in law and architecture adapt to digitalization by balancing exploration (learning new skills) and exploitation (refining existing expertise). The study introduces the concept of "ambidextrous learning," where firms both adapt their ways of working to learn new skills and develop dynamic capabilities for continuous adaptation. It argues that PSFs can integrate digital innovation while preserving their core professional identity by structuring their learning processes strategically. This work contributes to the literature on ambidexterity and digital transformation in knowledge-intensive industries.

August 6, 2024

Private and public organizations are increasingly using algorithms to automate decision-making, but what happens if algorithms get things wrong? Not much, according to this study. The paper examines how public institutions engage in "organizational ignoring" of the injustices created by algorithmic decision-making (ADM) systems.​​ Using a case study from the public school administration in Sweden, the authors demonstrate how legal and governmental bodies fail to address or correct harmful ADM outcomes, effectively blackboxing the systems at multiple levels—technological, social, and institutional. The paper provides a conceptual model explaining how this blackboxing sustains social and legal injustice, calling for legal frameworks to ensure accountability in ADM practices. The findings highlight the need for interdisciplinary research on algorithmic justice and governance.​​

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July 11, 2023

The paper investigates how professional service firms (PSFs), particularly the Big Four auditing firms in Sweden, navigate digital disruption by engaging in "creative accumulation." The authors challenge the perception of PSFs as technologically inert, showing that they proactively integrate new digital skills with existing expertise through three overlapping processes: skill acquisition, skill dissemination, and skill integration. This approach enables them to complement competence-destroying innovations with competence-enhancing ones, allowing them to maintain relevance in a rapidly digitalizing industry. The study contributes to research on digital transformation, demonstrating how PSFs leverage both top-down and bottom-up innovation strategies to reshape their work and defuse digital threats.​

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March 2023

Should we expect data to be useful in the future? Nobody asks, nobody knows. The article explores the concept of data sustainability, emphasizing the need for data to endure across both technological and human generations. The authors argue that data governance literature has largely focused on organizational and interorganizational settings but lacks a long-term temporal perspective. They introduce three meta-theoretical perspectives—evolutionary, relational, and durational—to examine how data infrastructures can support long-term knowledge discovery while balancing competing temporal demands. The study highlights the critical role of data sustainability in ensuring the continued relevance of historical and present data for future generations, with implications for both social and environmental sustainability.​​

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March 3, 2022

The authors explore how collaborative practices emerge within coworking spaces, particularly in open and flexible work environments. Based on case studies of seven entrepreneurial Tech/FinTech firms in London’s Level 39 coworking space, the study examines how interstitial spaces—characterized by informality and spatiality—can both enable and inhibit collaboration. The findings highlight key catalysts that influence the emergence of collaborative practices, emphasizing the role of informal interactions, proximity, and shared legitimacy in fostering innovation. However, the study also identifies challenges such as transient interactions and institutional diversity that may hinder sustained collaboration. The article contributes to the literature on coworking by articulating the conditionality of openness in shaping new collaborative work practices​.

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​​The study explores why individuals and organizations ignore data they produce, even when it is relevant to their decision-making. Using a case study on Swedish Public Comparisons in healthcare, the authors identify rationales that actors use to justify ignoring performance data. These rationales are shaped by organizational, ideological, technological, and image-related factors, forming "buffers" that shield against the need for action. The paper contributes to research on ignorance by highlighting self-inflicted ignorance and the structural conditions that sustain it.

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May 21, 2020

The article examines how frontline professionals in auditing and public relations (PR) consulting respond to digitalization. It finds that auditing firms embrace digital tools more than PR firms due to differences in how technology fits with their core expertise and market demands. The study develops a conceptual model showing that occupational identity, service climate, and the perceived urgency of digital transformation influence professionals’ willingness to integrate new technologies. The findings suggest that firms should support their employees in adapting to digital changes to stay competitive.​​

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March 25, 2020

The article explores the role of the street as an overlooked but crucial site for organizing and organizational activity. It argues that while organization studies have focused on formal spaces, the street has historically been a space of planning, spontaneity, conflict, and coexistence. The authors identify four modes of interaction between organizations and the street: organizing on the street, through the street, organizations entering the street, and the street entering organizations. Using historical and contemporary examples, they highlight how the street influences organizational practices, from political movements to flexible workspaces and digital connectivity. The article advocates for organization scholars to incorporate the street as both an empirical setting and a theoretical lens to better understand contemporary forms of work, mobility, and organizing.

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