Here, you can find an overview of my past, current, and forthcoming journal articles, conference proceedings, and other academic contributions.
September 2024
Mapping Digital Transformation of Municipalities through the Lens of Institutional Isomorphism.
Patalon, Marcel & Wyczisk, Anja. (2024): Mapping Digital Transformation of Municipalities through the Lens of Institutional Isomorphism. International Journal on Social and Education Sciences (IJonSES), 6(4), 600-635. https://doi.org/10.46328/ijonses.701
This paper examines the role of institutional isomorphism in influencing digital transformation (DT) within municipalities. It addresses the gap in understanding how coercive, mimetic, and normative pressures shape municipal strategies and operations as they adopt and implement digital technologies. Through a systematic literature review and thematic analysis, the study identifies key actors in municipal DT and maps out the domains of action in which institutional pressures are influential. The findings indicate that municipal DT can be seen as a bridging-issues field, where coercive pressures often stem from regulatory mandates requiring compliance with digital standards, where mimetic pressures arise from the need to emulate successful digital practices, and where normative pressures are related to professional standards and expectations within the administrative context. The study concludes that institutional pressures significantly dictate the pace and direction of digital innovation within municipalities. Understanding these pressures is crucial for municipal leaders to effectively manage and implement DT initiatives that are both compliant and innovative. Recommendations for future research include empirical studies to validate theoretical models and explore the variability in DT across different municipalities by considering their unique environments and challenges.
April 2024
From Ivory Towers to Rural Powers: Higher Education Institutions as Knowledge Partners in Digital Transformation
Weber, Peter.; Wyczisk, Anja.; Patalon, Marcel.; Borowicz, Ingo. (2024). From Ivory Towers to Rural Powers: Higher Education Institutions as Knowledge Partners in Digital Transformation. In: Luis Gómez Chova, Chelo González Martínez und Joanna Lees (Hg.): INTED2024 Proceedings. 18th International Technology, Education and Development Conference. Valencia, Spain, 06.03.2024 – 07.03.2024: IATED (INTED Proceedings), S. 1521–1530. https://doi.org/10.21125/inted.2024.0441
Resource constraints, perceived overburdening, and lack of orientation pose significant obstacles for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), a crucial economic factor in the rural region of South Westphalia, in dealing with digitization and digital transformation. Against this background, the Virtual Institute for Digital Business (VIDB) was established as part of the overarching project Digitalise_SWF. Its purpose is to accompany and support the digitization and transformation process in the region through knowledge transfer. The VIDB is a collaborative effort involving multiple educators and researchers from two Higher Education Institutions. Throughout the five-year project, the partners will develop and implement transfer offerings in a recursive process together with regional SMEs and support institutions. In the first project phase, alongside organizational challenges, the collaboration is particularly focused on delineating relevant content areas as well as developing suitable transfer activities and formats. This article thus presents the defined: 1) content areas /structured along the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) Framework), 2) transfer activities and objectives, 3) and transfer formats,and outlines how they were derived in a combined qualitative approach comprised of a literature analysis and focus group discussions with educators and multipliers. In doing so the paper answers the question: „How can Higher Education Institutions support SMEs in the process of digitization and digital transformation as knowledge partners?“
April 2023
Digitale Transformation der Hochschullehre durch digitale Kompetenzen als offenen Bildungsressourcen
Thesenpapier zur ORCA-Tagung -24. & 25. November 2022, Stand April 2023 von Geschäftsstelle des Landesportals ORCA.nrw, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, CC BY-SA 4.0. Contributers: Haage, Anna; Patalon, Marcel; Werner, Severin; Nitzsche, Sina; Gödecke, Svenja
This paper presents key findings and theses discussed during the ORCA conference held on November 24-25, 2022. The focus is on the development and promotion of digital competencies in higher education within North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Germany. It explores various strategies for implementing digital literacy and fostering digital learning environments in educational institutions. The authors emphasize the importance of collaboration between universities, educators, and policymakers to enhance digital education. The paper provides recommendations and outlines best practices for integrating digital competencies into university curricula.