I am a business historian with special interest in the professional history of engineers, history of technology and management history. I have a masters degree from University of Oslo and PhD from Oslo University College of Applied Sciences. I wrote a master thesis on the engineers' role in Norsk Hydro, and expanded on the same topic with my PhD-thesis on the professional history of norwegian engineers. I have written a book on the history of the norwegian road administration 1912-1960.
In my research, I have an affinity towards ideal-typical concepts and transnational history. Currently, I am working on systems of innovation, digitalization and software history. In addition, I have a special interest in the history of road construction and traffic regulation, currently working on projects related to WW2 on this topic.
Project studies have emerged as a thriving subfield of management
and organisation research. Central to project studies, is the idea that
engaging in projects has long-term effects on businesses capabilities
and structure. While understanding organisational change has been
central to business history’s mission, historians have paid little attention
to the role projects play in shaping organisations. We address this gap.
Based on three cases, we analyse why and how businesses in different
contexts increased their engagement with projects, whether their
engagement was part of a conscious strategy, and how it affected their
structure and capabilities. The article contributes to business history by
showing how concepts developed in project studies cast new light on
projects as a historical phenomenon and provides a valuable theoretical
framework for explaining organisational change. Based on this, we suggest projects constitute a fruitful avenue for further historical research
and interdisciplinary dialogue with management and organisation
research.
Nygaard, Pål (2020)
Engineering way lost: Norwegian engineers’ reactions to challenges from Americanization and industrial democracy
This article investigates how the Norwegian Engineering Association responded to challenges from Americanization and industrial democracy in the period from 1945 to 1980. This period was the heydays of the engineering way to top management positions in Norway. The engineering way was justified with reference to the engineers technical ‘Fachkompetenz’. As in many countries, Norway became subject for an institutional push toward Americanization of management the first decades after WW2. This process challenged the engineering way to management by propagating the need for management education. In Norway, there was not a smooth and swift process of Americanization of management and business. Rather, the Norwegian trajectory is a complex set of international and national influences and agendas. Primarily, Norwegian management practice was from the 1970s shaped by a political push for industrial democracy that was initiated by the Labor party and the labor movement in the 1960s. The process of introducing industrial democracy challenged both the traditional engineering way and the American way of making managers in Norway. This article unpacks how the Engineering Association responded to the challenges from Americanization and industrial democracy.
Åsgård, Tina & Nygaard, Pål (2019)
From Theoretical to Practical Competence on Health and Safety
Purpose
The construction industry is considered worldwide to be a dangerous industry because of its high rate of fatal accidents and serious injuries. This study aims to find ways to improve this situation by focusing on how to improve competence on health and safety (H&S) among newly graduated construction engineers in Norway.
Design/Methodology/Approach
In Norway, the regional safety representatives (RSRs) are considered to be cornerstones in ensuring H&S in the construction industry. Information in this study was gathered by conducting semi-structured in-depth interviews with 15 RSRs.
Findings
The results show that RSRs believe that while construction engineers have sufficient theoretical competence on H&S; however, many seem to lack the practical competence needed to ensure and implement H&S measures. The informants underline the importance of work practice on construction sites as part of the education as key to improve H&S competence among graduates.
Research Limitations/Implications
Input on possible improvements is collected from only one group of stakeholders in the industry. Other stakeholders might have valuable input that should be considered before concluding what improvements in the education are most effective.
Practical Implications
The findings may help to decide upon and implement improvements in the education of construction engineers and, thus, contribute to a safer and healthier industry in the future.
Originality/Value
The stakeholder perspective of RSRs on education of construction engineers has not been considered in earlier research despite the fact that they represent vital competence on H&S in the construction industry. This study aims to fill some of this gap.
Byrkjeflot, Haldor & Nygaard, Pål (2018)
How and Why Management Has Not Become a Profession
På 1960-tallet begynte en gruppe atomforskere å besøke Kristiansand og Øvre Årdal. De komfraInstitutt for atomenergi (IFA, i dag Institutt for energiteknikk (IFE)) på Kjeller, og mente de kunne effektivisere aluminiumsproduksjonen ved å lage et datamaskinprogram. Programmet skulle simulere de industrielle prosessene med mål om å skape mer stabil og effektiv drift, samt finne måter strømforbruket kunne reduseres på. Dette ble starten på et etter hvert omfattende samarbeid mellom IFA, SINTEF og norsk aluminiumsindustri. Ved hjelp av atomforskerne på Kjeller tok aluminiumsbedriftene i Norge tidlige steg mot digitalisering, og denne digitaliseringen hevder IFE ga avgjørende bidrag for at norsk aluminiumsindustri klarte å oppnå nesten 30 % reduksjon i kraftforbruket. I denne artikkelen vil jeg argumentere for at møtet mellom de to i utgangspunktet forskjellige teknisk-industrielle feltene er en nøkkel hvis vi vil forstå den norske versjonen av fenomenet vi med tiden har gitt merkelappen den tredje industrielle revolusjon. Jeg vil peke på tre sentrale elementer som i for liten grad er knyttet sammen i tidligere forskning. For det første at programvare spilte en helt sentral rolle i den tredje industrielle revolusjon, mens maskinvare har blitt forsket mest på. For det andre at utvikling og bruk av informasjonsteknologi foregikk på en utpreget interaktiv måte med samarbeid mellom en rekke aktører, institusjoner og kunnskapstyper, noe som har vært krevende å fange opp gjennom oppdragsforskningen på feltet. For det tredje at dette interaktive samarbeidet vi her konkret snakker om oppstod somfølge av uintenderte konsekvenser av strategiske planer for industriforskning og industrivekst, planer som ofte blir forstått som mislykkede.
Nygaard, Pål (2016)
Fortrengte veier - Fortielsen av de norske veienes historie under krigen
Professionalism and bureaucracy tend to be understood as incompatible systems of work organization, represented by the ideals of collegiality and auton-omy versus control and supervision. I present a historical case study from early 20th century Norway examining the potential clash between efforts made toward professionalization and bureaucratization in industry. Based on my findings, I argue that there is neither an inherent conflict between professionalism and bureaucracy nor static national trajectories at the level of professional versus bureaucratic work organization.
Buns, Melina Antonia & Nygaard, Pål (2022)
25 millioner til atomforskning er et dyrt villspor
[Kronikk]
Nygaard, Pål (2018)
«Folkeopplysningen» behandler avfallsproblemet på kjernekraftindustriens premisser
[Kronikk]
Nygaard, Pål (2017)
De ukjente datapionérene
[Kronikk]
Nygaard, Pål (2015)
Veiselskapet - en oppklaring
[Kronikk]
Nygaard, Pål (2015)
I ubehagelig veiselskap
[Kronikk]
Nygaard, Pål (2015)
Tiåret de norske veiene ble forsømt
[Kronikk]
Nygaard, Pål (2014)
Mens norske soldater sloss mot invasjonshæren jobbet Vegvesenet med flyplasser for Hitler
Carbon capture – from waste to energy: a stylized case from a pioneering initiative at Klemetsrud, Oslo. Report to the CLIMIT – demo project 618215: Potential for financing and pricing Carbon Capture in Waste-to Energy Installations in cities
[Report Research].
Oslo has recently been given the European Environmental Capital award for 2019, following its adoption of an ambitious green strategy of reducing CO2 emissions by 50% by 2022, and by 95% by 2030. A core premise for Oslo reaching its goals is, however, that the city’s waste to energy plant installs carbon capture for sequestration (CCS). With 400,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year (Fortum 2019), Oslo’s Klemetsrud waste to energy plant is the largest single point carbon emitter in the city, and with these emissions it will be impossible for Oslo to reach its CO2 targets.
However, carbon capture at Klemetsrud also carries significance in a wider global climate perspective. Global climate models are increasingly reverting to CCS in order to arrive at scenarios that are compatible with the Paris Agreement . This has created new pressure for CCS implementation, and Klemetsrud – if successful – could be an important trigger for CCS in Europe.
This report is a styilized business case study of the Klemetsrud CCS project in light of four different regulatory scenarios.
Nygaard, Pål (2019)
Strukturproblemer i norsk industri: NOU'en som banet veien for et oppbrudd fra teknologiorientering til lønnsomhetsorientering i norsk industri?
