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
Lill, Irene & Witt, Emlyn (red.). Volume 2 - 10th Nordic Conference on Construction Economics and Organization
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.
Nygaard, Pål (2018)
Institutt for atomenergi og digitaliseringen av norsk aluminiumindustri
How and Why Management Has Not Become a Profession
Örtenblad, Anders (red.). Professionalizing Leadership. Debating Education, Certification and Practice
Nygaard, Pål (2016)
Fortrengte veier - Fortielsen av de norske veienes historie under krigen
Borgen, Linn Willetts (red.). Fortidsminneforeningens årbok 2016
Nygaard, Pål (2016)
Veisystemet i Norge - teknokratistyrt eller offer for distriktspolitikk?
Espeli, Harald & Johannesen, Finn Erhard (red.). Historikere i oppdrag. Festskrift til Trond Bergh, Sverre Knutsen og Lars Thue i anledning 70-årsdagen i 2015 og 2016
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]. Handelshøyskolen BI.
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)
Store drømmer og harde realiteter – Veibygging og biltrafikk i Oslo og Norge i historisk perspektiv
[Academic lecture]. Bymiljøetaten i Oslo.
Nygaard, Pål (2018)
Vegdirektørene og deres strategier 1900-1970 – Systembyggerne og de karismatiske
[Academic lecture]. Teknologihistorisk gruppe i TEKNA.
Nygaard, Pål (2018)
Nuclear waste, an unsolvable dilemma? Difference of temporality in politics and the nuclear fuel life cycle
[Academic lecture]. The 7th Norwegian Conference on the History of Science.
Nygaard, Pål (2018)
Controlling the flow of oil and gas subsea: A case study of the software OLGA
[Academic lecture]. European Business History Association 22nd Annual Congress.
Nygaard, Pål (2018)
Atomavfall bortenfor offentligheten: Begrensninger på eksperter og politikeres evne og vilje til å løse problemer med lang tidshorisont
[Academic lecture]. Norske historiedager.
Nygaard, Pål (2017)
Vegvesenet under okkupasjonen
[Popular scientific article]. Norgeshistorie.no
Nygaard, Pål (2017)
Creating OLGA: an innovation for oil and gas industry stemming from nuclear research
[Academic lecture]. European Business History Association 21st annual congress.
Nygaard, Pål (2017)
Fag over politikk: drømmen om teknokratisk styring av samferdsel på 1930-tallet
[Academic lecture]. Norske historiedager.
Nygaard, Pål (2017)
Kunnskaps- og teknologiutvikling i IFA med vekt på den digitale kompetansen og betydningen dette har hatt for deler av norsk industri
[Academic lecture]. Norske historiedager.
Nygaard, Pål & Byrkjeflot, Haldor (2017)
How and why management has not (yet) become a profession
[Academic lecture]. 33rd EGOS Colloquium.
Nygaard, Pål & Byrkjeflot, Haldor (2017)
From professionalization of management to managerialization of professions. The relationship between management and professions revisited
[Academic lecture]. Interim Conference of the ISA Research Committee 52, Sociology of Professional Groups.
Nygaard, Pål (2016)
Vei:Fra hestetransport til motorisert ferdsel
[Academic lecture]. Samkultsymposium.
Nygaard, Pål (2016)
Historien om Institutt for energiteknikk og flerfaseteknologien
[Academic lecture]. Forskningskonferanse med Norsk olje- og gassarkiv & Norsk Oljemuseum.
Nygaard, Pål (2016)
Teknovitenskapens anbud til verden:Historisk blikk på ingeniørprofesjonen og samfunnsansvar
[Academic lecture]. Profesjonsetisk årskonferanse 2016: Profesjon, teknologi og etikk.
Nygaard, Pål (2016)
Creating OLGA - why certain technologies prevail
[Academic lecture]. S.Net meeting The Co-Production of Emerging Bodies, Politics and Technologies.
Nygaard, Pål (2016)
Professionalization of management: towards a Nordic model?
[Academic lecture]. EBHA World Congress of Business History.
Nygaard, Pål (2014)
Bokens innhold og hovedinnholdet i vegdirektørenes strategier
[Academic lecture]. Seminar og boklansering av "Store drømmer - harde realiteter.
Nygaard, Pål (2014)
Veiarbeidernes glemte streik
[Popular scientific article]. Klassekampen
Nygaard, Pål (2014)
Biltrafikken: politimessig eller teknisk anliggende? Etats- og profesjonsstrid i mellomkrigstiden
[Academic lecture]. Forum for politi, rett og historie.
Nygaard, Pål (2014)
Bilkontrollen: politimessig eller teknisk anliggende. Etats- og profesjonsstrid i mellomkrigstiden
[Academic lecture]. Nordpro.
Nygaard, Pål (2013)
Andre verdenskrig sett fra Vegdirektoratet
[Academic lecture]. Arbeid på vegen. Vegvesenet og Organisation Todt 1940-45.
Nygaard, Pål (2011)
Professionalization of engineers. The case of Norway
[Academic lecture]. Professions, expertise and the knowledge society.
Nygaard, Pål (2010)
In search of leadership: Norwegian engineers' campaign for top-positions in civil service, 1945-1955
[Academic lecture]. Third conference on the history of science in Norway.
Nygaard, Pål (2009)
Industrial Engineering - en utfordring for de norske ingeniørene
[Academic lecture]. Forum for kunnskapshistorie.
Nygaard, Pål (2008)
Da nazistene splittet ingeniørene
[Popular scientific article]. Magasinet Tekna, s. 28- 29.
Nygaard, Pål (2008)
Kuppet som endret ingeniørenes historie
[Popular scientific article]. Magasinet Tekna, s. 28- 29.
Nygaard, Pål (2008)
Sivilingeniør: Tittelen ingen ville ha
[Popular scientific article]. Magasinet Tekna, s. 28- 29.
Nygaard, Pål (2008)
Professional autonomy versus corporate control. Challenges to professionalism for engineers during the rise of big business
[Academic lecture]. 5th Interim Conference of the International Sociological Association.
Akademisk grad
År
Akademisk institusjon
Grad
2012
Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences
Ph.D.
2003
University of Oslo
Master Cand. Philol.
2000
University of Oslo
Bachelor
Arbeidserfaring
År
Arbeidsgiver
Tittel
2015 - Present
BI Norwegian Business School
Researcher
2014 - 2015
Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences