DiTex at the Institute for Ecological Economy Research in Berlin (2/3)

Week Nr. 10

After six weeks; I must conclude that it took me longer than I had expected it to get into the project. It is certainly due to the home office circumstances and consequently thereof the unavailability of quick check-ups, excess to material and longer waiting periods for feedback. Nonetheless, I adjusted myself somehow to this new way of working and conducted a literature research during the last weeks. Moreover, I developed a framework for my interviews based on the literature research results, compiled a list of possible partners and created an interview guideline. This week I am contacting all potential interviewees while continuing to write the theoretical and methodology part of the final paper.

Apart from my own project work, the internship offered me the chance to get an insight into the complexities and challenges of a multilingual trans- and interdisciplinary project. I took part in several phone calls and online workshops by the institute and its project partners. To an extent his complexity also partly influenced my field study and therefore I want to share some reflections upon this: 

For the digital tracking solution, I collaborate with a Tech-Start-up. It took me a while to realize that there is only a limited overlap between their interests and my scientific oriented approach in the project. Together we brainstormed a list of questions for laundry companies which turned out to be too specific for my scientific research. It is the method of material collection that bears the biggest challenges: while companies just ask for information if its needed via a spontaneous phone call or a mail without any methodological basis, the information gathering process has to be more theoretically consolidated in a scientific study in order to ensure reliability and validity. That means a seamless documentation and a clear and single method. From a scientific point of view companies use a method and material mix as a basis for the decision-making process. While in research one tries to avoid these method mixtures to reduce the complexity and factors that could distort the results.

Withal another difference between a cooperate and a scientific way of working is the pace, while research is an iterative process, companies need to make pragmatic and fast decisions due to the time-pressure which is sometimes not the best in terms of a logical argumentation. Furthermore, I observed a language problem, often terms are used differently in different branches, in a scientific or in an industrial context. Moreover, firms tend to use something that I would call “marketing language” which aims to sell a product or a service, including less numbers or profound facts rather than addressing the emotions of the counterpart. This way of information sharing contributes to the slow speed in those science-industrial collaborations because both sides have a lack of understanding what information quality is needed and how the information could be useful for other partners within the project.

My biggest learning during that internship is that science and enterprises have a different way of gathering information and it needs a strong moderator to constantly create a space of mutual understanding to turn collaborations into a fruitful outcome for both sides.