Mid Sweden University

Technical communication (TC) is an important activity in order to provide the users of technical artifacts with necessary information concerning the operation and maintenance of the products they are using. In the current working procedures of TC, however, the users become too passive. They are just receivers of information. Further, there is no effective feedback from the users to the producers of the information. In order to overcome those problems we here propose an application of social media (SM) in future TC. By using SM as a complementary channel for TC it becomes possible for technology firms to boost their competitive advantage and to improve the quality and completeness of their TC. This technique, however, is still more of a potential and less of a reality. Several problems, mostly concerning security and confidentiality remain to be solved. The empirical base for this work comes from TIC, an EU-funded development project involving several Swedish technology companies. Published research results are somewhat scattered but several sources coherently indicate both the need and potential for SM as a vehicle in TC. By scanning the net it is further possible to identify a number of seemingly successful applications of SM in such applications.

Governmental as well as other public systems are facing new challenges due to, among other things, current information technology trends and changes in peoples’ lifestyles. Hence, ideas of web services for the citizens and agencies accessible over the net 24-hours per day are born. However, in order to implement this new type of net-based services a set of accessibility, integrity and security problems and hindrances are to be overcome. Further, the methodological challenges are far from unproblematic. Neither the artefact approach nor the approach of social systems design seems to be directly applicable. Instead, an approach called pragmatic systemics is proposed. At last, organizational transformation is not only a technical problem. Seen in a systemic perspective, the technological changes and the introduction of new artefacts have to be carefully balanced with changes in human competence, organizational structures, and system culture. © 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present best practices and areas of improvement in Technical Communication (TC) analyzed with Lean values as a base. The purpose is also to analyze the results from a holistic perspective using the Synergy-4 model, a multi-perspective approach which considers four different spheres of an organization at a time in order to discover synergies.

Methodology/Approach: To fulfill the purpose, 15 interviews in four different companies were conducted. These were then analyzed and the results were categorized into a number of predefined Lean areas. The results from the Lean values were then further analyzed with the Synergy-4 model as a base.

Findings: Taking a Lean perspective could enhance the status of TC with regard to finding ways to incorporate the customer’s voice more clearly when it comes to strengthening the role of TC. The result from the analyses indicates that Lean and Synergy-4 can enrich each other.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper was to present best practices and areas of improvement in Technical Communication (TC) analyzed with Lean values as a base. The purpose was also to analyze the results from a holistic perspective using the Synergy-4 model.Methodology- To fulfill the purpose, 15 interviews in four different companies have been conducted. The interviews were analyzed and the results were categorized into a number of predefined Lean areas. The results from the Lean values were then further analyzed with the Synergy-4 model as a base.Results - Taking a Lean perspective could enhance the status on TC with regard to finding ways to incorporate the customer’s voice more clearly when it comes to strengthening the role of TC. The result from the analyses indicates that Lean and Synergy-4 can enrich each other.

This paper addresses the issue of competence management in companies in the branch of Technical Communication. The problems these companies deal with concerns lack of specific education, more complex products, and a rapid change in how technical information is produced. Due to the rapid change the companies also need to be proactive and steer towards a desired future state. A design of a tool, SYNCOM, for competence management in modern high technology companies is presented. The tool is developed during a process based in idealized design.  SYNCOM constitutes of a group of systemic models and techniques for competence management and competence development that has been used in earlier projects. The SYNCOM Tool presented is a general tool aiming to be a model for organizations. Implementation of the tool will require adjustments and adaptation to the specific organizations. The SYNCOM Tool has not yet been tested as a tool in any organization. The systemic models and techniques for competence management and competence development have been tested with good results in earlier projects where they in form of prototypes have been tested and verified.

The idea of anticipatory modeling and simulation with subsequent learning from the outcomes is here applied on inter-regional security work. In this setting, multi-actors have to both cooperate and make coordinated decisions with just partial information about each other. With help of netAgora, a net based environment for simulation, learning, and communication, the goal of training, preparedness and continuous improvement of decisions is met.

The idea of anticipatory modeling and simulation with subsequent learning from the outcomes is here applied on inter regional security work. In this setting, multiactors have to both cooperate and make coordinated decisions with just partial information about each other. With help of netAgora, a net based environment for simulation, learning, and communication, the goal of training, preparedness and  continuous improvement of decisions is met.