Cecilie Schjerven - Profile on Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Related Authors
Uploads
Papers by Cecilie Schjerven
Towards a Cultural Model in Design Management
A returning challenge in management practices is to communicate to firms and organisations the be... more A returning challenge in management practices is to communicate to firms and organisations the benefits of engaging with methods and procedures other than those that directly link corporate strategy and investment to market returns. The challenge is rooted in the problem of communicating 'soft' and qualitative aspects of a product or service to a corporate culture whose modus operandi is given by the 'hard' facts of quantitative measures. In addressing this challenge, this paper offers a theoretical speculation on the multifaceted role of culture as a phenomenon in design management. The argument unfolds the 'soft' aspects of design management as cultural phenomena. These phenomena are initially premised by an individual's or a group's core values and assumptions that in turn influence the way that we relate to and take in the world. These kinds of qualities cannot be keyed into quantitative analysis, yet they may eventually return substantial market gains. Hence, how do we understand, communicate, access and work with these 'soft' features of a product or a service? A review of two studies and the theoretical discussion suggest that using linguistic analysis gives access to value expressions as the core of cultural phenomena.
The creative and performing arts have recently entered the university system in many European cou... more The creative and performing arts have recently entered the university system in many European countries. They bring with them expectations of forms of practice and understandings that are nontraditional. These practices and understandings are manifestations of underlying values held by each community and, in our analysis, we see the difference in values as being the fundamental cause of the ensuing conflict. This article describes the development of a Profiling Culture model used by the authors to investigate this phenomenon. Following a usability trial, questionnaires were completed at TU Delft by 'aspiring members', 'full members' and 'gatekeepers' of the academicized community of professionals in Spatial Planning, in which they identified their 'heroes & icons', habits & behaviour, techniques & skills, language & rhetoric, and place & environment. The analyses of the data from the Profiling Culture model, using comparative analysis of culture as 'variable' and as 'root-metaphor', will yield initial outcomes that are based on a qualitative 'categorical' analysis. Ultimately, the findings will be expressed in terms of the different worldviews in operation in the academicized design field and the professional design field, in terms of a comparison between the academic worldviews and research models on the one hand, and the practitioners' worldviews and expectations on the other. The critical interpretation of the empirical data will enable both diagnosis (in which we will infer underlying values from observed practices) and prognosis (in which we will associate inferred values to significant practices) of the observed conflict.
Towards a Cultural Model in Design Management
A returning challenge in management practices is to communicate to firms and organisations the be... more A returning challenge in management practices is to communicate to firms and organisations the benefits of engaging with methods and procedures other than those that directly link corporate strategy and investment to market returns. The challenge is rooted in the problem of communicating 'soft' and qualitative aspects of a product or service to a corporate culture whose modus operandi is given by the 'hard' facts of quantitative measures. In addressing this challenge, this paper offers a theoretical speculation on the multifaceted role of culture as a phenomenon in design management. The argument unfolds the 'soft' aspects of design management as cultural phenomena. These phenomena are initially premised by an individual's or a group's core values and assumptions that in turn influence the way that we relate to and take in the world. These kinds of qualities cannot be keyed into quantitative analysis, yet they may eventually return substantial market gains. Hence, how do we understand, communicate, access and work with these 'soft' features of a product or a service? A review of two studies and the theoretical discussion suggest that using linguistic analysis gives access to value expressions as the core of cultural phenomena.
The creative and performing arts have recently entered the university system in many European cou... more The creative and performing arts have recently entered the university system in many European countries. They bring with them expectations of forms of practice and understandings that are nontraditional. These practices and understandings are manifestations of underlying values held by each community and, in our analysis, we see the difference in values as being the fundamental cause of the ensuing conflict. This article describes the development of a Profiling Culture model used by the authors to investigate this phenomenon. Following a usability trial, questionnaires were completed at TU Delft by 'aspiring members', 'full members' and 'gatekeepers' of the academicized community of professionals in Spatial Planning, in which they identified their 'heroes & icons', habits & behaviour, techniques & skills, language & rhetoric, and place & environment. The analyses of the data from the Profiling Culture model, using comparative analysis of culture as 'variable' and as 'root-metaphor', will yield initial outcomes that are based on a qualitative 'categorical' analysis. Ultimately, the findings will be expressed in terms of the different worldviews in operation in the academicized design field and the professional design field, in terms of a comparison between the academic worldviews and research models on the one hand, and the practitioners' worldviews and expectations on the other. The critical interpretation of the empirical data will enable both diagnosis (in which we will infer underlying values from observed practices) and prognosis (in which we will associate inferred values to significant practices) of the observed conflict.