title: Knowledge management in a New Zealand tree farming company: Ambiguity and resistance to the “technology solution”

authors: Lowe, Alan

subjects: case studies

abstract: Purpose – Managers at the company attempt to implement a knowledge management information system in an attempt to avoid loss of expertise while improving control and efficiency. The paper seeks to explore the implications of the technological solution to employees within the company. 
Design/methodology/approach – The paper reports qualitative research conducted in a single organization. Evidence is presented in the form of interview extracts. 
Findings – The case section of the paper presents the accounts of organizational participants. The accounts reveal the workers' reactions to the technology-based system and something of their strategies of resistance to the system. These accounts also provide glimpses of the identity construction engaged in by these knowledge workers. The setting for the research is in a knowledge-intensive primary industry. Research was conducted through observation and interviews. 
Research limitations/implications – The issues identified are explored in a single case-study setting. Future research could look at the relevance of the findings to other settings. 
Practical implications – The case evidence presented indicates some of the complexity of implementation of information systems in organizations. This could certainly be seen as more evidence of the uncertainty associated with organizational change and of the need for managers not to expect an easy adoption of intrusive IT solutions. 
Originality/value – This paper adds empirical insight to a largely conceptual literature.

text: Knowledge management in a New Zealand tree farming company: Ambiguity and resistance to the “technology solution” Purpose – Managers at the company attempt to implement a knowledge management information system in an attempt to avoid loss of expertise while improving control and efficiency. The paper seeks to explore the implications of the technological solution to employees within the company. 
Design/methodology/approach – The paper reports qualitative research conducted in a single organization. Evidence is presented in the form of interview extracts. 
Findings – The case section of the paper presents the accounts of organizational participants. The accounts reveal the workers' reactions to the technology-based system and something of their strategies of resistance to the system. These accounts also provide glimpses of the identity construction engaged in by these knowledge workers. The setting for the research is in a knowledge-intensive primary industry. Research was conducted through observation and interviews. 
Research limitations/implications – The issues identified are explored in a single case-study setting. Future research could look at the relevance of the findings to other settings. 
Practical implications – The case evidence presented indicates some of the complexity of implementation of information systems in organizations. This could certainly be seen as more evidence of the uncertainty associated with organizational change and of the need for managers not to expect an easy adoption of intrusive IT solutions. 
Originality/value – This paper adds empirical insight to a largely conceptual literature.

year: 2007

title: Science, governance, and public participation: An analysis of decision making on genetic modification in Aotearoa/New Zealand

authors: Kurian, Priya A.

subjects: decision making on genetic modification

abstract: The acceptance of public participation in science and technology governance in liberal democratic contexts is evident in the institutionalization of a variety of mechanisms for participation in recent decades. Yet questions remain about the extent to which institutions have actually transformed their policy practice to embrace democratic governance of techno-scientific decision making. A critical discourse analysis of the response to public participation by the Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA), the key decision-making body on genetic modification in Aotearoa/New Zealand, in a specific case demonstrates that ERMA systematically marginalized concerns raised by the public about risk management, ethics, and ecological, economic, and cultural issues in order to give primacy to a positivist, technological worldview. Such delegitimization of public perspectives pre-empts the possibility of the democratic governance of science.

text: Science, governance, and public participation: An analysis of decision making on genetic modification in Aotearoa/New Zealand The acceptance of public participation in science and technology governance in liberal democratic contexts is evident in the institutionalization of a variety of mechanisms for participation in recent decades. Yet questions remain about the extent to which institutions have actually transformed their policy practice to embrace democratic governance of techno-scientific decision making. A critical discourse analysis of the response to public participation by the Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA), the key decision-making body on genetic modification in Aotearoa/New Zealand, in a specific case demonstrates that ERMA systematically marginalized concerns raised by the public about risk management, ethics, and ecological, economic, and cultural issues in order to give primacy to a positivist, technological worldview. Such delegitimization of public perspectives pre-empts the possibility of the democratic governance of science.

year: 2010

title: Claiming spaces: Maori (indigenous persons) making the invalid valid

authors: Hickey, Huhana

subjects: Maori

abstract: Identity is a shifting paradigm because of the constant movement between identities throughout our lives, depending on the context within which we are identifying ourselves. Once we identify, we place ourselves within a certain construct. When positioning within identity labels, multiplicitous experiences of marginalisation need to be accounted for in clarifying identity frameworks. Barile (2000) asserts that it is the multiple minority status of persons of minority ethnic identity with disabilities that positions them into multiple minority discriminatory experiences with greater limitations and discrimination than those with a single minority status identity. Barile (2000) also asserts that it challenges ethnic minority people with disabilities who work collectively and as a group where they are forced to work as individuals, often in isolation from their ethnic and cultural communities.

text: Claiming spaces: Maori (indigenous persons) making the invalid valid Identity is a shifting paradigm because of the constant movement between identities throughout our lives, depending on the context within which we are identifying ourselves. Once we identify, we place ourselves within a certain construct. When positioning within identity labels, multiplicitous experiences of marginalisation need to be accounted for in clarifying identity frameworks. Barile (2000) asserts that it is the multiple minority status of persons of minority ethnic identity with disabilities that positions them into multiple minority discriminatory experiences with greater limitations and discrimination than those with a single minority status identity. Barile (2000) also asserts that it challenges ethnic minority people with disabilities who work collectively and as a group where they are forced to work as individuals, often in isolation from their ethnic and cultural communities.

year: 2008