Professor - Department of Leadership and Organizational Behaviour
Biography
Thorvald Haerem earned his Ph.D. at Copenhagen Business School in Denmark and is currently an Associate Professor of Organization Psychology at Norwegian School of Management. His research interests include technology in organizations, organizational and individual routines, behavioral decision making, and expertise. He has published his research in journals as Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, Organizational Studies, and Organization Science.
Teaching areas
Thorvald Haerem is resonsible for graduate course in Judgment and Decision Making, Creativity, & Organizational Science at the Norwegian School of Management
This paper uses a simulation to build new theory about complexity and phase change in processes that are supported by digital technologies. We know that digitized processes can drift (change incrementally over time). We simulate this phenomenon by incrementally adding and removing edges from a network that represents the process. The simulation demonstrates that incremental change can lead to a state of self-organized criticality. As the process approaches this state, further incremental change can precipitate nonlinear bursts in process complexity and significant changes in process structure. Digital technology can be designed and used to influence the likelihood and severity of these transformative phase changes. For example, the simulation predicts that systems with adaptive programming are prone to phase changes, while systems with deterministic programming are not. We use the simulation to generate a set of theoretical propositions about the effects of digitization that will be testable in empirical research.
Valaker, Sigmund; Hærem, Thorvald & Bakken, Bjørn T. (2018)
Connecting the dots in counterterrorism: The consequences of communication setting for shared situation awareness and team performance
Elite sport organizations invest considerable efforts in continuous evaluation of training and development. A key challenge is to promote athletes’′ reliable learning. This requires critical reflection. In this paper we look at how highly successful elite cross-country skiers reflect on their training. The theoretical framework of organizational mindfulness and reliable learning directs attention to three key mechanisms that influence reflection: socialization, sensemaking and interpretation. We identified an inherent tension in the way athletes are socialized into elite athletes. On the one hand, they internalize strong beliefs in key success factors. Such beliefs serve as a normative framework that provides commitment and enthusiasm. However, strong beliefs may weaken the athletes’ ability to notice ambiguous feedback signals in complex training situations. We found four different styles of reflection, but only one of them is consistent with requirements for reliable learning.
Hærem, Thorvald; Pentland, Brian T. & Miller, Kent (2015)
This paper uses data on invoice processing in four organizations to distinguish empirically between two competing theories of organizational routines. One theory predicts that routines should generate patterns of action that are few in number and stable over time, and that atypical patterns of action are driven primarily by exceptional inputs. The competing theory predicts the opposite. By modeling the routines as networks of action and using a first-order Markov model to test for stationarity, we find support for the competing theory. The routines generated hundreds of unique patterns that changed significantly during a five-month period without any apparent external intervention. Changes did not appear to reflect improved performance or learning. Furthermore, we found that exogenous factors (such as large invoices from unusual vendors) are not associated with atypical patterns of action, but endogenous factors (such as the experience of the participants) are. We also found that increased automation can increase variation under some circumstances. These findings offer empirical support for endogenous change in organizational routines and underscore the importance of the sociomaterial context in understanding stability and change.
Bakken, Bjørn T. & Hærem, Thorvald (2011)
Intuition in crisis management: the secret weapon of successful decision makers?
Sinclair, Marta (red.). Handbook of Intuition Reserach
Hærem, Thorvald; Kuvaas, Bård, Bakken, Bjørn T. & Karlsen, Tone (2011)
Do military decision makers behave as predicted by prospect theory?
Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 24, s. 482- 497. Doi: 10.1002/bdm.704
Rau, Devaki & Hærem, Thorvald (2010)
Applying an organizational learning perspective to new technology deployment by technological gatekeepers: A theoretical model and key issues for future research
Appendix G: Cognitive and organizational challenges in a navigation team. In: Report on the collision between the Frigate HMNS Helge Ingstad and the oil tanker TS Sola outside the Sture Terminal in the Heltefjord in Hordaland county.
[Report]. Statens Havarikommisjon.
Hærem, Thorvald; Valaker, Sigmund & Lofquist, Eric (2018)
Better Late than Never? Communication Media and Adaptive Team Performance
[Academic lecture]. Academy of Management Meeting.
Hansson, Mathias; Hærem, Thorvald & Pentland, Brian T. (2018)
Simplify or complexify? Patterns of action as antecedents of team performance.
[Academic lecture]. Academy of Management Annual Conferance.