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By exploring the process of concept revitalization, this paper contributes to a better understanding of the intraorganizational retention of organization concepts. Concept revitalization occurs when an organization refocuses attention and resources toward a previously adopted organization concept. This paper investigates why and how organization concepts are revitalized.

The findings are based on a case study of a Norwegian energy company's revitalization of the organization concept “lean”, whose initial implementation had been unsuccessful. The data were analyzed inductively by identifying how the concept was reframed during the second attempt and how the revitalization was justified.

In the case company, the revitalization was driven by (1) replacing the original label, (2) maintaining the original content in a slightly modified form and (3) altering the implementation mode. The changes were supported by a narrative of past shortcomings, lessons learned and a plan for future success, authored by internal experts in lean with a strong interest in ensuring positive results.

Concept revitalization implies that there is more continuity in the application of ideas than is suggested in the literature on management fashions.

So far, the retention of organization concepts has only been studied at the field level. This study is the first to offer an empirically grounded understanding of intraorganizational concept revitalization.

This study aims to emphasize the importance of taking into account the perspectives of prospective participants and identifying potential tensions in action research.

This paper reflects on a (participatory) action research (AR) project in which the first author was involved as an embedded researcher. The data were gathered through semi-structured interviews, field notes and observed project activities. The authors conducted a thematic analysis.

This paper thematically categorized four types of tensions between both groups. These were tensions connected to: internal facilitators giving guidance, project goals, top-down expectations and unfamiliarity with AR working formats.

Quintessential to AR is giving the less privileged a voice. For this to work, gaining a good understanding of their perspectives is crucial.

This paper challenges the implicit assumption that prospective participants of AR projects are always willing to participate.

Organisation concepts consist of prescriptive ideas concerning how to manage or organise. The simultaneous use of multiple concepts in an organisation may create synergies but also confusion and conflicts. This paper aims to explore how change agents deal with the simultaneous use of multiple organisation concepts within a single organisation.

A qualitative case study of a Norwegian energy company using lean, agile and design thinking.

The findings show that change agents compare the concepts with each other and recognise commonalities and differences. They also match individual concepts and tools to the nature of tasks, the different phases of projects/initiatives based on their perceived maturity or internal communities. Most agents emphasise similarities between concepts and complementarities between tools. This approach creates a versatile toolbox for improvement.

Companies making use of multiple organisation concepts should continuously discuss and actively manage the tensions that exist between concepts while establishing a unified approach and common culture for improvement.

This study offers a novel understanding of how change agents make sense of different approaches to improvement within a single organisation.

This paper aims to identify why warehouses do or do not succeed in putting to use digital technologies for order picking.

Building on structuration theory, the authors investigate the situated use of one such a digital technology, more particularly the head-worn display (HWD). Based on a most-similar comparative case study of two Belgian warehouses pioneering HWDs, the authors focus on whether and how order pickers and their manager interact to modify the properties, functionalities, and the context in which the HWD is used.

In one warehouse, using the HWD was discontinued after implementation. In the other, order pickers and the order pickers' manager succeeded in implementing the HWD into their work. The authors find that the prime explanation for these opposite findings lies in the extent to which order pickers were given room to improve the properties and functionalities of the HWD as well as the conditions that unfold in the HWD's use context. In the latter warehouse, pressing issues were overcome and improvement suggestions were implemented, both regarding the HWD itself as well as regarding the job-related and person-related conditions.

Theoretically, the authors contribute to the situated use of technology stating that (1) giving room to alter the use of digital technologies, and (2) fostering continuous employee participation regarding conditions stemming from the use context are necessary to realize the promising and unexploited potential of digital technology in practice. Empirically, this paper exposes distinct types of interactions that explain whether and how digital technologies, in particular HWDs, are put to use for order picking practices.

Age is one of the critical factors used by many organizations to determine employees' performance. It is being considered in the retirement process of construction professionals. However, age as a critical factor is not considered in the recruitment of a specific set of workers in the construction industry. Therefore, this study investigated the significant relationship between the ages of tradespeople and their performance in construction projects. The study also explored the age at which performance begins to decline and proposes strategies that can be used to sustain their effectiveness before the official retirement age.

Mixed methods research designs were adopted in the study. To be precise, physical observations, interviews and questionnaires were the instruments used for data collection in the mixed methods research design.

The outcomes of the study revealed that the age groups of tradespeople in the Nigerian construction industry are 16–30 (group one), 31–45 (group two) and 46–58 (group three) respectively. Group three is the prevalent age group. It was also discovered that performance begins to decline at 53 years. The age-performance decline of tradespeople in Nigerian construction projects can be delayed through certain strategies such as regular strength training exercises and an adequate nutritional lifestyle.

The study enables construction managers to have an adequate understanding of the negative influence of old age on the performance of tradespeople in construction projects. This will enable construction firm managers to recruit from the age range of 16–52 and stop retiring employees within this age bracket, consequently curbing the skills gap which is prevalent in the study context and the global construction industry. The study is limited to tradespeople performance in construction firms in Abuja, Nigeria where there are several ongoing projects on a daily basis.

The study enables project managers to estimate the number of tradespeople required for a particular task and consequently save the aged tradespeople from health risks associated with excessive workloads.

This paper is the first of its kind to be conducted in the study context, to establish the specific age at which performance begins to decline among construction tradespeople.