The University of Oslo is closed. The PhD defence and trial lecture will therefore be fully digital and streamed directly using Zoom. The host of the session will moderate the technicalities while the chair of the defence will moderate the disputation.
Ex auditorio questions: the chair of the defence will invite the audience to ask ex auditorio questions either written or oral. This can be requested by clicking 'Participants -> Raise hand'.
Trial lecture
"Institutional theory: An overview of the historical roots, the most important critiques and how it needs to develop in a digital age."
Main research findings
Digital technologies are constantly transforming the existing business landscapes and correspondingly, represent unprecedented opportunities for entrepreneurs. This novel type of entrepreneurship, based on digital technologies, is referred to as digital entrepreneurship. Organizations such as Google, Amazon, Apple and Atari offer some examples, with products and services ranging from online platforms and software to digital hardware and console games.
In her dissertation, Raissa explores how digital entrepreneurs create innovative products at the intersection of digital and “analog” fields. Recombining diverse fields is known to be fruitful for the generation of innovative outcomes, however, such settings are also ridden by a range of challenges that can jeopardize innovation efforts. Focusing on digital (serious) games as the empirical site, this dissertation increases our knowledge of how entrepreneurial firms create digital innovation, how they navigate challenges instantiated in such settings, and uncovers various tools, strategies, and underlying principles they employ in order to accomplish it.
Overall, Raissa’s dissertation contributes to the emerging research field of digital entrepreneurship and innovation and joins the ongoing conversation on digital shifts that transform industries and society at large. Consequently, this work may have important implications for researchers, managers, policymakers, and various industry players alike.
Contact information to Department: Mozhdeh Sheibani Harat