Lise Justesen

My research is empirically grounded and explores the interplay between organizations, management, and technology. I aim to develop new insights into how digitalization creates unforeseen consequences and challenges in organizations—and how managers can address these challenges in everyday practice. My main focus is on digitalization in a public sector context. 

A central theme in my work has been the invisible work that emerges in the wake of digitalization and organizational change. This work often reshapes organizational practices at different levels, but often remains unrecognized. The topic was at the core of a five-year, DFF-funded project Valuing Invisible Work: Efficiency ambitions and digitalization projects in practice. The project highlighted the overlooked and undervalued aspects of “invisible digi-work” and introduced a vocabulary to help practitioners identify, understand, and respond to these consequences. This analytical framework is e.g. presented in the textbook Usynligt arbejde og digitalisering, written for both students and practitioners. 

I also have a strong interest in how artificial intelligence influences professional expertise, vision, and ethics. I explore these issues in collaboration with both academic colleagues and practitioners. 

A second strand of my research examines how nature, biodiversity, and climate shape organizational life. I study how these factors affect project management, accountability, temporality, and organizational boundaries. This line of research will be pursued further in the collaborative project EcoCorp, funded by Velux HumPraxis. In close collaboration with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the project will develop a framework to guide biodiversity action in offshore wind energy—seeking to better reconcile ecosystem-based and corporate management.