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Michael Fast
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Address:
Aalborg
University
Department of Business and Management
Organization & Strategy
Fibigerstraede 2, Room 102
9220 Aalborg se
Phone: +45 9940 8333
Fax: +45 9815 6950
E-mail: fast@business.aau.dk
Educational
Background:
- Ph.D. Business Economics
- M.Sc. Business Economics
(organizational-sociology)
- Pedagogical Course
Areas of Research
Interest:
- Philosophy of Science
- Methodology and Qualitative Methods
- Organization Theory
- Organizational Sociology
- The broad Phenomenology (E. Husserl, A.
Schutz, M. Merleau-Ponty, M. Heidegger, H-G. Gadamer)
- Symbolic Interactionism (H. Blumer, G. H.
Mead)
- Hermeneutic (M. Weber, W. Dilthey)
- Central concepts in research: Action,
Knowledge, Interaction, Intersubjectivity, Understanding, Theory of
Knowledge, Organizing, Organizational Development, Internationalization of
the Organization, Management
Areas of Research:
- Organization Theory and Organizational
analysis with the aim of developing conceptual understanding of
organizational reality, organizing and internationalization.
- Philosophy of Science and Methodology in
Lifeworld Traditions and Subjectivism (e.g. phenomenology, hermeneutic,
symbolic interactionism).
Projects in Progress:
·
"Herbert Blumer Symbolic Interactionism: The Lectures"
A
research project together with Dr. Woodrow W. Clark II., Senior Fellow for Sustainable
Development Finance, Milken Institute, Santa Monica,
CA and Managing Director Clark Communications,
LLC, Beverly Hills, CA, USA
This book is
about the most central issue in organization, society and human activity: the
discussion of interaction among people. The essence of organizations is people
interacting in everyday of life, trying to making sense of the present,
understand the past and construct the future. In order to understand these
everyday interactions as, we have written this book as a purposeful exercise in
order to discuss interactionism and its roots in an interactionistic historical
and philosophical tradition. We have taken as a starting point, the use of
philosophy of science focus on traditions oriented toward every day of life. As
the 21st Century moves rapidly into a new economic era, that some would call or
characterize as global, international or whatever, businesses and the people
engaged in them need to define and understand interaction more today then ever
before. There is a need to examine the ontological or philosophical roots of
interaction in organizations and business economics, in order to understand the
local, regional and global economies of today and tomorrow.
The central discussion in this book
of interactionism is Herbert Blumer and his symbolic interactionism. Part II of
the book builds directly on the never before published graduate school lectures
given in the period 1975-1977 by Professor Herbert Blumer at the University of
California, Berkeley. At that time, Clark was
finishing his Ph.D. thesis and followed Blumer´s seminars and lectures. With
Blumer´s permission and the support from the Center for the Study of Social
Change at the University of California, Berkeley, Clark taped, transcribed, and then held discussion
seminars with other professors on the topics that Blumer presented in his
graduate classes. The material on which Blumer built his lectures has never
been published previously, as Blumer spent most of his academic life on teaching.
We have, therefore, a unique possibility of presenting Blumer´s thoughts on
social science and symbolic interactionism.
Central ideas and
concepts: Herbert Blumer - Symbolic Interactionism, Phenomenology (Alfred
Schutz, Maurice Merleau-Ponty), Noam Chomsky - Linguistics, Philosophy of
Science, Interaction, Consciousness,
Organizing, Making Sense.
·
"Videnskabsteori og Metodologi i Studier af Livsverden - en
diskussion af en Livsverden tilgang indenfor samfundsvidenskaben, specielt
virksomhedsøkonomi."
Research project in
Social Science and Lifeworld traditions & qualitative methodology; e.g. I
Kant, Phenomenology, Hermeneutics, Symbolic Interactionism, Critical Theory,
Ethnomethodology.
Hvad er virkeligheden og hvad er forskning?
Eller hvornår er virkeligheden virkelig og
hvornår er forskningen forskning?
Eller hvad er virkeligheden i forskningen,
og hvad er forskning i virkelighed?
Eller har virkeligheden og forskningen noget
med hinanden at gøre?
Hvis
man ikke tager virkelighed og forskning for givne, og i stedet stiller sig selv
undrende an overfor disse to fænomener, fremtræder de som både ufattelige
enorme i deres kompleksitet, og samtidigt meget konkrete i deres fremtrædelses
form - som de præsenterer sig for mig.
Man
kan slå fast, at virkeligheden er
interessent, forskning er
interessent. Men hverken det første eller det andet er så lige til, som de
indledende spørgsmål henviser til. Der er mange problemer i både virkeligheden
og i forskningen, der giver sig udtryk på vidt forskellige måde. Specielt i
hvordan man kan forstå virkeligheden
og forskning: hvordan er de og hvordan
er de i forhold til hinanden.
Noget
af det som jeg tænker over i min hverdagsvirkelighed, og som er nogle af mine
problemer med forståelse af virkelighed og forskning, specielt virksomhedsøkonomisk
forskning og samfundsvidenskaben, er selve forståelsen af dem. Mange
filosoffer, teologer, videnskabsmænd og lægfolk har gennem tiderne, med større
eller mindre succes bidraget til diskussion og forståelse af virkelighed og
forskning. De har været enige og uenige, der har udviklets tænkning i forskellige
traditioner indenfor den brede samfundsvidenskab. Nogle traditioner har
domineret på et tidspunkt, blevet afløste af andre, og andre er blevet
genopdagede og udviklede.
I
hverdagen møder vi opfattelser om virkeligheden, af hvordan man kan eller skal
forstå den, teoretisk eller praktisk, og hvad som er sand eller falsk i denne
virkelighed. Mange (men ikke alle) af disse opfattelser som vi hører om i medierne
og gennem samtale, og som er med til at danne grundlaget for vores egen
forståelse af virkeligheden, er på en
bestemt måde. Det er udtryk for en tradition, men en tradition som ikke
bliver præsenteret som en af mange traditioner, men som den der udtaler sig om virkeligheden. Denne tradition har en lang
historie, og kan i stor udstrækning siges dominerer den samfundsmæssige
diskussion, herunder samfundsvidenskaben. Denne vil jeg indledningsvis
benævne som den positivistiske og objektivistiske tradition.
Gennem
min egen hverdagsoplevelse af den samfundsmæssige og videnskabelige diskussion,
har jeg gennem mange år følt et behov for at præsentere og diskutere et samlet
alternativt tænkende og metodologisk tilgang til virkelighed. Jeg vil
diskutere et alternativ til den objektivistiske tradition i
samfundsvidenskaben, med udgangspunkt i en subjektivistisk tradition og videnskabsopfattelse
- en videnskab der er orienteret imod hverdagsvirkeligheden.
Published Projects:
A
research project together with Dr. Woodrow W. Clark II., Senior Fellow for Sustainable
Development Finance, Milken Institute, Santa Monica,
CA and Managing Director Clark Communications,
LLC, Beverly Hills, CA, USA
This book is about science.
Specifically building a science of economics, grounded in understanding of what
is beneath the surface of business activities and figures. Economics should be,
as a science, concerned with formulating ideas of reality and produce
descriptions of how to understand phenomenon and create experiences, hypotheses
generation and data to prove or disprove a particular hypothesis. Today
economics is more focused on numbers and statistics. It rarely generates
hypotheses that are tested, analyzed, and explained. Moreover, economics today
rarely describes and discusses the definitions, meaning and forecast of the
numbers. It simply can not. Why? Economics today is problematic in claiming
that it is a science.
Economics
like science is about how actions and interactions work. And that is where
qualitative economics can make economics into a science. The actions and
interaction of people and their networks are Organizations are about people
interacting in everyday of life, trying to construct the future and making
sense of the present. The science of economics is about the monetary, financial
and numbers that transpire and move between people and their organizations.
That is business. Our focus is on the economics among people. While we acknowledge
and recognize the value of quantitative approaches to such interactions, we
believe that there is a significant missing element: qualitative economics
which completes the field’s claim to being scientific.
In order to understand these
everyday interactions as “qualitative economics”, we have written
this book as a purposeful exercise in order to construct a new perspective with
roots in an interactionistic historical and philosophical tradition. We have
taken as a starting point, the use of philosophy of science. As the 21st
Century moves rapidly into a new economic era, there is a need to examine the
ontological roots of organizations and business economics in order to
understand the local and global economies of today and tomorrow.
Central ideas and concepts:
Herbert Blumer - Symbolic Interactionism, Phenomenology (Alfred Schutz, Maurice
Merleau-Ponty), Noam Chomsky - Linguistics, Philosophy of Science, Methodology
(Qualitative), Interaction, The Generalized Other, Action, Consciousness,
Intersubjectivity, Management, Innovation, Entrepreneourship, Organizing.
Publications:
·
"Forandringskommunikation”
sammen med Frederik Hertel, Aalborg
Universitet, Department of Business and Management. In review
·
”Making some Sense of Organisations” sammen med Frederik Hertel, Aalborg Universitet, Department of
Business and Management. In review,
·
"Ledelse af meningsfulde fællesskaber”
sammen med Frederik Hertel, Aalborg
Universitet, Department of Business and Management. In review
·
”Meningsgivende
Ledelse” sammen med Frederik Hertel,
Aalborg Universitet, Department of Business and Management, ”Et snit
gennem dansk ledelse”: Det Danske Ledelsesakademis 2010 konference
Aalborg Universitet
·
"The Logic of Qualitative Econimics – a perspective on science"
with Dr. Woodrow W. Clark II, Senior Fellow for Sustainable Development Finance, Milken Institute,
Santa Monica, CA and Managing Director Clark Communications, LLC, Beverly
Hills, CA, USA. In review
·
"Betydningsfuld ledelse”
sammen med Frederik Hertel, Aalborg Universitet, Department of
Business and Management, Working paper series nr 11 2009.
·
"Qualitative Economics: Toward
a Science of Economics" with Dr. Woodrow W. Clark II, Senior Fellow for Sustainable
Development Finance, Milken Institute, Santa Monica, CA and Managing Director
Clark Communications, LLC, Beverly Hills, CA, USA, Coxmoor Publishing Company,
Oxford UK 2008.
·
“Kvalitativ Metodologi &
Vidensproduktion”. Aalborg Universitet, Department of Business Studies,
Working paper series nr 14 2008
·
”Erhvervsøkonomiens rødder og logik
– det Funktionalistiske Paradigme”. Aalborg Universitet, Department of Business
Studies, Working paper series nr 15 2008
·
“The
Logic of Qualitative Economics – Toward a Science of Business-economics”.
Paper presented at Western Economics Association, 83rd annual
conference, The Sheraton Waikiki June 2008
·
“Alfred
Schütz – Fænomenologi & Fodbold”, Aalborg University,
FIRM Working Paper, 2006
- “Qualitative Economics
– Toward a Science of Business-economics” With W W Clark II.,
Paper presented at Western Economics Association, annual conference San Francisco July
2005
·
Qualitative
Economics: theory into practice” With WW Clark II., Aalborg University,
Working paper, 2002
- Interactionism and a Theory of
the Firm" With W W Clark II., Aalborg University,
Working paper, 2002
- "Interactionism in
Micro-Economics." With W W Clark II., Aalborg University,
Working paper, 2001
- "A New Foundation for
Micro-Economic Theory." With W W Clark II., Aalborg University,
Working paper, 2001.
- "Interactionism in
Business Management." With W W Clark II., Aalborg University,
Working paper, 2001.
·
"Interactionism:
A Scientific Perspective to understand Economics." With W W Clark II., Aalborg University, Working paper, 2001.
·
"Toward
a Science of Business - Economics: Building a Theory of the Firm for New
Ventures." With W W Clark II., Lawrence
Livermore National Laboratory, Davis, Cal. USA. Paper, Scancor Conference: sept.
1998.
·
"The
Lifeworld Paradigm - Understanding of its History." Paper & Lecture on
Ph.d. Seminar in: "Philosophy of Science", SPIRIT. May 1997
- "Livsverden Paradigmet -
virkelighed & videnskabsforståelse." Paper and Lecture on Ph.d.
Seminar in: "Philosophy of Science", Faculty of Social Science, Aalborg University, January 1994
- "Internationalization of
Organizations in North Jutland - how
companies organize and how they apply Knowledge in the Process of
Internationalization." Paper presented on European International
Business Associations' conference, Helsinki,
Finland
1989
- "Virksomhedens
Internationalisering - en undersøgelse af 20 virksomheder i Hadsund
Kommune." With Bohn,
K., Carlsen, John & Sørensen, Olav Jull. Aalborg University
1989
Curriculum Vitae:
Michael Fast (Lic.
merc./Ph.D.)
Home adress:
Nørholmsvej 101
9000 Aalborg
Phone: +45 9833 7078
E-mail:
Date of Birth: 23 june 1959
in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Married to Lisbeth,
together we have two children (Pelle Sebastian Gjörtz Fast (17 Marts 1988)
& Cecilia Carola Gjörtz Fast (8 February 1991)).
Academic positions:
1996-: Associate
Professor, International Business Economics, Aalborg University.
1991-1996: Assistant Professor, International Business Economics, Aalborg University.
1988-1991: Ph.D. student, International Business Economics, Aalborg University.
1987: Consultant, Aalborg Handelsstandsforening and Aalborg
Handelsskole.
1985-1987: Research fellow, International Business Economics, Aalborg University.
1986: Research Fellow, The Nordtek-Program, North Jutland.
Educational background:
1994: Pedagogical
course, Aalborg University.
1992: Lic. Merc./Ph.D. (economics), Aalborg
University
1984: Master of Science degree (economics), University of
Aalborg, Denmark
1982: Bachelor of Science degree (economics), University of Aalborg, Denmark
Member of:
2004-: FIRM - Firms, Innovation, and
Relations Management. Research Group, Department
of Business Studies. Aalborg
University
2002- : Coordinator
Master of Science: Organization
& Strategy.
1999-2000 : The Ph.D.
Board, Faculty of Social Science.
1996-2000: The
Security Organization, the Department of Development & Planning.
1996-2000: The
Assembley of Representatives, the Department of Development & Planning.
1996-2000 : The Board
of the Department of Development & Planning.
1996-1999: Vicehead of
the Department of Development & Planning
1985-2003: The Group
of International Business Economics, International Studies, Aalborg University.
1985- : The Group of
Organization sociology.
1994- : Forum for
Philosophy of Science & Methodology.
1996- : Center of Philosophy &
Philosophy of Science.
Hobbies:
·
Horses
Dressage & Breeding - Warmblood
Bloodlines:
Bernice
DH 2398 (04-85-9996 VB SWE) (born 1985): Brisad 450 - Herkules 504 (Brisad: Breeding Index, Herkules: Breeding Index)
-
Romance 9803718 (born 1998): Blue Horse Romancier DVH 551
- Brisad 450 (Breeding Index)
-
Donneé
xxxxx397 (born 2004): Blue Horse Schufro 690-
Brisad 450 (Breeding Index)
Necita
DS 10584 (04-91-4944 VB SWE) (born 1991): Napoleon 625 -
Brisad 450 (Napoleon
Breeding index)
-
Akita
9803718 (born 1998): Aktuel
DVH 510 - Napoleon
625 (Napoleon Breeding
index)
-
Rocita 0004223 (born 2000): Robin
DVH 576 DV DK - Napoleon
625 (Napoleon Breeding
index)
·
Football
·
Alpine
Skiing
