Viktor Dörfler

University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Management Science, Professor of AI Strategy

Faculty of Economics, University of Zagreb, Management, Visiting Professor of Research Philosophy

Corvinus University of Budapest, Strategic Management Department, Research Professor

Followers

336

Following

Co-authors

Public Views

I am Professor of AI Strategy at the Department of Management Science, University of Strathclyde Business School, UK. I hold a Research Professor position at the Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary and a Visiting Professor appointment at the Faculty of Economics & Business, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia. I was appointed member of the British Standard Institution's Artificial Intelligence Committee (BSI ART/001) 2019-2024.

My scholarly research focuses on talent, creativity, intuition, and the grandmaster-apprentice relationship. I conducted in-depth open-ended interviews with 20 top scientists, including 17 Nobel Laureates and two Eckert-Mauchly Award winners, in order to understand the thinking of scientists at the highest level of mastery. As a practitioner, 1999-2004 I spearheaded the development of AI software, a knowledge-based expert system shell, compared various AI solutions, and explored the validity of AI. In my consultancy work, I advise companies on AI implementation to support complex decisions through modelling expert knowledge and on fostering grandmaster-apprentice relationships to improve organizational learning.

To date, I have written 30+ journal papers, three books, 15 book chapters, and 100+ conference papers. Since 2018, I have delivered 20+ talks on Human Mind and AI in New York, London, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Manama, Lausanne, Budapest, and Birmingham, including two IEEE keynote talks, a TEDx talk, and other prestigious conference appearances.

less

InterestsView All (10)

Uploads

Journal papers by Viktor Dörfler

Uncovering the dynamics of human-AI hybrid performance: A qualitative meta-analysis of empirical studies

International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 2025

Human-AI collaboration is an increasingly important area of research as AI systems are integrated... more Human-AI collaboration is an increasingly important area of research as AI systems are integrated into everyday workflows and moving beyond mere automation and augmentation to more collaborative roles. However, existing research often overlooks the dynamics and performance aspects of this interaction. Our study addresses this gap through a review of empirical AI studies from 2018-2024, focusing on the key factors influencing human-AI collaboration outcomes within the spectrum of Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HCAI). We identify 24 critical performance factors that influence hybrid performance, grouped into four categories using thematic analysis. Then, we uncover and analyze the complex, non-linear interdependencies between these factors. We present these relationships in a factor dependency graph, highlighting the most influential nodes. The graph and specific factor interactions supported by the papers reveal a quite complex web, an interconnectedness of factors. As opposed to being an easy-to-predict combination of inputs, human-AI collaboration in a given context likely leads to a dynamic, evolving system with often non-linear effects on its hybrid performance. Our findings and the previous research on automation technologies suggest that the application of AI tools in collaborative scenarios would benefit from a comprehensive performance framework. Our study intends to contribute to this future line of research with this initial framework.

Download

AI in Medical Diagnosis: AI Prediction & Human Judgement

Artificial Intelligence in Medicine, 149: 102769, 2024

AI has long been regarded as a panacea for decision-making and many other aspects of knowledge wo... more AI has long been regarded as a panacea for decision-making and many other aspects of knowledge work; as something that will help humans get rid of their shortcomings. We believe that AI can be a useful asset to support decision-makers, but not that it should replace decision-makers. Decision-making uses algorithmic analysis, but it is not solely algorithmic analysis; it also involves other factors, many of which are very human, such as creativity, intuition, emotions, feelings, and value judgments. We have conducted semi-structured open-ended research interviews with 17 dermatologists to understand what they expect from an AI application to deliver to medical diagnosis. We have found four aggregate dimensions along which the thinking of dermatologists can be described: the ways in which our participants chose to interact with AI, responsibility, 'explainability', and the new way of thinking (mindset) needed for working with AI. We believe that our findings will help physicians who might consider using AI in their diagnosis to understand how to use AI beneficially. It will also be useful for AI vendors in improving their understanding of how medics want to use AI in diagnosis. Further research will be needed to examine if our findings have relevance in the wider medical field and beyond.

Download

Sensing: The Elephant in the Room of Management Learning

Management Learning, 2023

This conceptual paper examines reasons why analytically educated learners may be reluctant to eng... more This conceptual paper examines reasons why analytically educated learners may be reluctant to engage in sensory-based learning. Sensing is indispensable for constructing knowledge and should be employed on par with the intellect, particularly in today's complex and uncertain context. Yet, we have observed learners' reluctance to engage with sensing and attempted to understand the reasons for it. Our theoretical contribution illuminates the underlying causes of this phenomenon, thus furthering the study of sensing in the fields of individual learning and management learning. Our practical contribution prompts researchers, learners, educators, and managers to think more systematically about ways to overcome this reluctance and openly bring sensing into management learning practice on par with intellectual processing. With the help of phenomenal theorizing, the presented exploratory study identifies the following common barriers to sensorybased learning for analytically educated learners: corporate social norms against sensory-based evidence, discomfort of learning outside of one's comfort zone, inadequate vocabulary for sensory experiences, lack of sensory awareness, preference for sequential reasoning, mistrust in sensory-based evidence, dismissive attitude, and denying (or not admitting to) the use of sensing.

Download

Navigating the open innovation paradox: an integrative framework for adopting open innovation in pharmaceutical R&D in developing countries

by Viktor Dörfler and Jillian Macbryde

Journal of Technology Transfer, 2023

In this paper, we combine evidence from eight Indian pharmaceutical firms with extant literature ... more In this paper, we combine evidence from eight Indian pharmaceutical firms with extant literature and global best practices to conceptualize an integrative framework addressing the open innovation paradox (OIP), i.e., the tension between intellectual protection and openness. Firms in developing countries face additional challenges in the adoption of open innovation, such as the prevalence of open science norms, weak technology transfer systems, and mistrust between universities and industry; therefore, they employ open innovation selectively for pharmaceutical research. Prior research has examined the strategies to resolve OIP in the context of developed countries; the integrative framework proposed in this paper describes strategies for resolving the OIP in the context of developing countries. This framework illuminates the coping processes of the case firms and provides guidelines to uplift and accelerate the adoption of open innovation strategies in developing countries' pharmaceutical sectors, and thus provides value to both theory and praxis.

Download

Stepping Into the Participants' Shoes: The Trans-Positional Cognition Approach

International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 2022

To conduct a phenomenological study, researchers often follow the principles from either the desc... more To conduct a phenomenological study, researchers often follow the principles from either the descriptive or interpretive phenomenological schools of thought. This constrains researchers within the domain and limits the potentials of their data set. This paper introduces the Trans-Positional Cognition Approach (TPCA) as a novel synthesised phenomenological research method for conducting qualitative research to address this challenge. The TPCA synthesises the principles of the descriptive and interpretive phenomenological schools and helps to bridge the divide occasioned by polemical arguments between them. At the heart of TPCA is the process of trans-positional cognition or, in simple words, 'stepping into the participants' shoes'. TPCA, within the phenomenological tradition, proposes a structured methodological approach as a way to reduce the complexity of the extant methods, which novice researchers associate with phenomenology. The purpose of TPCA is not to pit one phenomenological research approach against another but to elucidate an inclusive approach to phenomenological research that can serve as a methodological alternative. A set of dimensions is used to compare TPCA with extant descriptive and interpretive phenomenological approaches in order to demonstrate its distinctiveness. Furthermore, an implementation study illustrates the use of the TPCA. Hence, the TPCA, by bridging the divide between the phenomenological schools of thought, could potentially help sustain the growing interest of researchers in phenomenological research.

Download

Practices of creative leadership: A qualitative meta‐analysis in haute cuisine

Creativity and Innovation Management, 2021

Creative leadership has been studied in different collaborative contexts that can be summarized a... more Creative leadership has been studied in different collaborative contexts that can be summarized as facilitating employees' creativity, directing the realization of the creative vision of a leader and integrating different and diverse creative contributions. In this paper, we present the findings from a qualitative meta-analysis of literaturebased accounts of chefs' creative leadership practices from the context of haute cuisine. We bring together both the leader-chefs' and academic authors' understandings of practices available in scholarly papers to achieve a credible picture of creative leadership practices in haute cuisine. We present our findings as a meta-vignette introducing nine prototypical characters representing patterns of practices that leader-chefs perform as they are fostering creativity. We further demonstrate when and how leader-chefs employ practices that are more typical of facilitating and integrating contexts. The nine characters afford an immediate intuitive understanding of the creative leadership practices in haute cuisine, helping scholars to look for and analyse creative leadership and support creative leaders to understand better and be more mindful of their practices.

Gamifying situated learning in organisations

Management Learning, 2022

Gamification is an emerging area in research and practice that has sparked considerable interest ... more Gamification is an emerging area in research and practice that has sparked considerable interest in management studies. The attention to gamification is amplified by the ubiquitous nature of digital technologies and augmented reality which touches on how people work and learn socially. Consequently, gamified tools' affordances affect situated learning in working environments through their implications on human relations in practice. However, the dynamics between gamification and situated learning have not been considered in the literature. Thus, drawing on the synthesis of gamification and situated learning literatures, we offer a model of gamifying situated learning in organisations. Thereby, our discussion explains the role of gamified affordances and their socio-material characteristics, which blend with situated learning as people indwell on such tools in their work. Moreover, gamified tools can afford the technological support of communitybuilding and networking in organisations. Such gamified communities and networks, in turn, can be seen to existing within a gamified altered reality as part of which the physical distance and proximity of situated learning activities become inevitably bridged and joined together.

Download

Bracketing: A Phenomenological Theory Applied Through Transpersonal Reflexivity

Journal of Organizational Change Management, 2021

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to improve our understanding of bracketing, one of the mos... more Purpose – The purpose of this study is to improve our understanding of bracketing, one of the most central philosophical and theoretical constructs of phenomenology, as a theory of mind. Furthermore, we wanted to showcase how this theoretical construct can be implemented as a methodological tool.

Design/methodology/approach – In this study we have adopted an approach similar to a qualitative metasynthesis, comparing the emergent patterns of two empirical projects, seeking synergies and contradictions and looking for additional insights from new emerging patterns.

Findings – On a philosophical level, we have found that bracketing, as a theoretical construct, is not about the achievement of objectivity; quite to the contrary, it embraces subjectivity and puts it centre-stage. On a theoretical level, we have achieved a better understanding of Husserl’s phenomenology, as a theory of mind. On a methodological level, we have achieved a powerful way of supplementing and/or clarifying research findings, by using a theoretical construct as a methodological tool.

Originality/value – Our paper contributes to the phenomenology literature at a philosophical, theoretical and methodological level, by offering a better understanding and a novel implementation of one of the central theoretical constructs of phenomenology.

A Dynamic Model of Knowledge Management in Innovative Technology Companies: A Case of the Energy Sector

European Journal of Operational Research, 2021

This paper presents fresh insights into how medium to large innovative technology companies in th... more This paper presents fresh insights into how medium to large innovative technology companies in the energy business evolve their knowledge management (KM) capability. To date existing models of KM have been static, while this work provides a more dynamic approach. The primary data is analysed using a combination of an operational research (OR) approach (causal mapping) with a well-established generic qualitative research method (the Gioia method). This paper contributes to KM literature by developing a dynamic model of KM, which shows how KM capability evolves over time within an organisation. In this model, KM evolves from managing explicit knowledge through knowledge sharing to creating new knowledge. Such understanding of KM as a process can help managers in decision making with respect to both KM and innovation activities.

Investigating the Potential for Using Gamification to Empower Knowledge Workers

Expert Systems with Applications, 2020

The increasingly popular trend of gamification has proved powerful in many areas, such as educati... more The increasingly popular trend of gamification has proved powerful in many areas, such as education and marketing, and has started making its way to the corporate environment. This exploratory study is focused on a particular part of corporate applications – using gamification to empower knowledge workers and to help them to interact with each other. Based on a review of the extant literature and an exploratory case study, we conceptualise different ways in which gamification supports knowledge workers and influences the dynamics of their interactions. The case study we present is that of online retailer Zappos who have been pioneers in this field. This paper is intended as the beginning of a journey towards utilising gamification in various aspects of knowledge work. Through studying the Zappos case, we draw out key learning points that can be used by other organisations in their journey to use gamification to empower knowledge workers. The paper also identifies areas for further research relevant to expert and intelligent systems, including the potential for synergies between gamification and intelligent systems, and the use of gamification in intelligent systems implementation.

Gamifying the process of innovating

Innovation: Organization & Management, 2020

Gamification is a new, rapidly growing trend impacting many areas of business such as learning an... more Gamification is a new, rapidly growing trend impacting many areas of
business such as learning and marketing. It has also been predicted
to revolutionise the process of innovating. However, there have been
very few examples of gamification supporting the innovating process
within the academic literature. The starting point for this thought
piece is whether this prediction can ever be fulfilled. We intend to
open a discussion about the ways in which gamification and innovating
may intertwine and how the mindset and the toolset of gamification
can support the process of innovating. In particular, we
showcase and review a set of examples of gamifying innovating
activities from both research and practice. Coupling this review of
practice with academic evidence from innovation literature, we highlight
some gaps and explore potential directions for further research.

Understanding "expert" scientists: Implications for management and organization research

Management Learning, Nov 1, 2019

This article contributes to the debate about rigor and relevance in management and organization r... more This article contributes to the debate about rigor and relevance in management and organization research. The contribution derives from an empirical inquiry into the view of the research process of acknowledged experts in scientific research: Nobel Laureates. The research was conducted through loosely structured in-depth interviews with, and background information about, 19 of these expert researchers. The analysis of the interviews suggests emergent themes of the process of successful research that are likely to be relevant to the conduct of management and organization research. We focus on three themes from our interviews: the role of the "big leap" and its relationship to intuition; the significance of seeing both the "big picture" and the detail; and the ways of building and developing successful research teams. We set out our findings from the interviews in the context of the literature from history and philosophy of science and examine the implications for management and organization research.

Download

Communities of practice in landscapes of practice

Management Learning, Sep 1, 2019

The original formulation of communities of practice primarily focused on describing how learning,... more The original formulation of communities of practice primarily focused on describing how learning, meaning, and identity within a community can translate into a sustained practice. Wenger-Trayner et al. elaborated the concept of landscapes of practice to describe how different communities of practice may interact, and belong to broader landscapes of practice, rather than rely exclusively on their own local situated practices. In this conceptual article, we apply the perspective of landscapes of practice to organizations. The first part of our argument is descriptive, and is aimed at developing a model of landscapes of practice in organizations. With regard to this model, we propose that practices can be seen as multilevel, including local situated practices, generic practices, and cultural fields. This, in turn, helps to clarify and organize a number of central concepts within the practice literature. The second part of our argument is prescriptive, as we suggest that landscapes of practice call for triple-legitimization of situated learning, meaning that legitimization is not only needed at the level of community and organization, but also by attending to the dynamically changing epistemic texture of the landscapes.

Download

Paradoxes of Creativity: Examining the Creative Process Through an Antenarrative Lens

The Journal of Creative Behavior, Jun 3, 2019

Accounts of the creative process tend to be retrospective and implicitly ground the creative act ... more Accounts of the creative process tend to be retrospective and implicitly ground the creative act within the person, the mind, the moment, the idea; in doing so, they often miss the larger sociomaterial qualities that can provide us with important insights about the social relationality and playfulness of the creative process. In this article, we examine the creative process through an antenarrative lens that we consider very useful for theorizing the creative process from a cultural and sociomaterial perspective. More specifically, we argue that ‘having an idea’ is a contextualized and embodied process that can be regarded as an antenarrative of the overall creative process. We also discuss how the paradoxical relation between the formative and sudden manifestations of the creative act can be understood through the notion of play.

Thinking Together: What Makes Communities of Practice Work?

Human Relations, Apr 1, 2017

In this article, we develop the founding elements of the concept of Communities of Practice by el... more In this article, we develop the founding elements of the concept of Communities of Practice by elaborating on the learning processes happening at the heart of such communities. In particular, we provide a consistent perspective on the notions of knowledge, knowing and knowledge sharing that is compatible with the essence of this concept – that learning entails an investment of identity and a social formation of a person. We do so by drawing richly from the work of Michael Polanyi and his conception of personal knowledge, and thereby we clarify the scope of Communities of Practice and offer a number of new insights into how to make such social structures perform well in professional settings. The conceptual discussion is substantiated by findings of a qualitative empirical study in the UK National Health Service. As a result, the process of 'thinking together' is conceptualized as a key part of meaningful Communities of Practice where people mutually guide each other through their understandings of the same problems in their area of mutual interest, and this way indirectly share tacit knowledge. The collaborative learning process of 'thinking together', we argue, is what essentially brings Communities of Practice to life and not the other way round.

Download

Changing the Game A Case for Gamifying Knowledge Management

by Agnessa Shpakova, Viktor Dörfler, and Jill Macbryde

World Journal of Science, Technology & Sustainable Development, Mar 2017

This exploratory paper investigates gamification as a medium for knowledge workers to interact wi... more This exploratory paper investigates gamification as a medium for knowledge workers to interact with each other. The paper aims to open the discussion around the sustaining impact that gamification might have on knowledge management. Design/methodology/approach: The paper employs an exploratory literature review investigating the current state of the art in relation to knowledge management and gamification; this literature review serves as the starting point of subsequent theorizing. Findings: Based on the literature review we theorize that the use of gamification in knowledge management can go far beyond the motivational aspects. To name just a few uses of gamifi-cation, it can help in: supporting flexibility, facilitating transparency and therefore improving trust, visualizing skills and competences as well as generating requirements for new compe-tences, and promoting a collaborative environment among the knowledge workers. Research limitations/implications: This paper opens the discussion around knowledge management and gamification and suggests a wide range of areas for further research. Practical implications: In this paper we argue that by looking at gamification as more than just a set of tools for improving motivation and engagement a company can address some pitfalls of a particular type of knowledge workers. Originality/value: Gamification is a new, but increasingly popular approach, which has been shown to be to be powerful in many areas. This paper is novel in that it initiates a dialogue around the impact that gamification might have on knowledge management.

An Essay Concerning Human Decisions

by Zoltan Baracskai and Viktor Dörfler

Transdisciplinary Journal of Engineering & Science, Dec 2017

Based on decades of combined experience in teaching, observing and working with decision makers, ... more Based on decades of combined experience in teaching, observing and working with decision makers, we realized that the praxis of decision making as well as our own approach has always been transdisciplinary. Therefore in this paper we offer a transdisciplinary model of decision making at three levels of reality, namely model, method and tool. We conduct our inquiry in the realm of human-social studies, and argue that in this realm we need to transcend the traditional hard sciences and include a soft approach. Along the way we examine the concept of transdisciplinarity within human-social studies, and introduce the concept of meta-knowledge. Examining the research and teaching of decision making on this basis, we suggest that 'coffeehouse philosophers' should teach about decision making, bringing in practicing decision makers whom they interview, while students will need to go through a process of 'bootstrap learning' figuring out their decision problems.

Download

The Role of Intuition in the Creative Process of Expert Chefs

The Journal of Creative Behavior, Jan 4, 2016

Scholars studying intuition are frequently focusing on decision-takers and to this day conceptual... more Scholars studying intuition are frequently focusing on decision-takers and to this day conceptualize intuition as a form of judgment. More recently, the notion of intuition in creativity has been challenged by the argument that although the creative process may contain intuitive judgments, any creative idea or solution is essentially the result of intuitive insight. This interpretivist study seeks an increased understanding of the role of intuition in the creative process by providing empirical evidence from in-depth interviews with expert chefs. The findings show that the interviewees describe their experiences of the creative process in line with how the literature describes intuition and explain intuitive insight and judgment as instantaneous yet distinct and rapid processes.

The New Practitioner: Transcending Disciplinary Boundaries

by Zoltán Baracskai and Viktor Dörfler

Work Based Learning e-Journal International, Dec 20, 2016

In this opinion paper we introduce a school-wide concept at doctoral level aimed at professional ... more In this opinion paper we introduce a school-wide concept at doctoral level aimed at professional practitioners, who wish to stay in their respective areas of work. The rationale behind this school-wide concept is that in Hungary, where its implementation is currently in progress, gaining a PhD automatically means becoming an academic. However, there is a significant demand amongst high-performing professional practitioners, who are not inclined to become academics, for further learning opportunities at the highest level. They are our target market. We also wish to respond to one of the current challenges the academy is globally facing globally, namely to maintain the highest scholarly standard while achieving high relevance for practice. The school-wide concept that can adequately engage with both of these problems is naturally a work-based one. Thus what we outline here is a professional doctorate in a school-wide context. We frame this new approach based on three principles: Popper's tentative problem solving process, Nicolescu's method of transdisciplinarity, and Bourdieu's approach to reflexivity. From these three principles we have synthesised a transdisciplinary tentative process of creative problem solving, which is both reflexive and reflective. We bring this process into the foreground and build a knowledge landscape in the background. The taught components (content) of the knowledge landscape are delivered by the disciplines involved in the form of high-level meta-knowledge. Since there are two focal dimensions of the programme content, we label it bifocal. The enquiring practitioners, who are also passionate learners, will make their journey through the professional doctoral school. They will follow their own transdisciplinary tentative processes of creative problem solving in this bifocal knowledge landscape, which is composed of taught components and additional elements that are to be discovered or created in the community of New Alexandrians.

Download

Supporting the Competent Practitioner: Trans-disciplinary Coaching with a Knowledge-Based Expert System

by Jolan Velencei, Zoltán Baracskai, and Viktor Dörfler

International Journal of Management Science and Business Administration, Nov 30, 2016

The purpose of this paper is to describe the roles of the coach and the coachee from the perspect... more The purpose of this paper is to describe the roles of the coach and the coachee from the perspective of their respective competences and a particular type of the coaching process that we call 'competent coaching'. We also show how this process can be supported with a knowledge-based expert system (KBS); to illustrate this, we introduce a particular knowledge-based expert system shell, Doctus, that can assist the coaching process. We also offer a set of concepts, organised into a conceptual framework, in order to help both coach and coachee to (reshape e the coaching process and thus achieve greater contextual sensitivity. Our contribution is a multi-personal account, rooted in some 100 years of combined coaching experience and around four decades of researching and teaching coaching to business school students at the undergraduate, MBA and doctoral level, including executive education.

Download

Viktor Dörfler

Uploads

Journal papers by Viktor Dörfler

Log In