Overview
Background
Karolina Mikołajewska-Zając is a Research Fellow in Strategy and Entrepreneurship at the UQ Business School. Her research revolves around patterns of societal crises and their influence on entrepreneurship and the dynamics and systemic effects of digital platforms' growth. Karolina's work uses ecological epistemologies, emphasizing relationality, process, and systemic connection.
Karolina obtained her PhD in Management and Organization Studies from Kozminski University in Warsaw, Poland. During her PhD, she held a 2-year visiting position at the University of California at Berkeley, where she conducted fieldwork tracing the organizational trajectory and ecosystemic effects of digital platforms focused on hospitality (Couchsurfing and Airbnb). Her research has been published in Organization Studies, European Journal of Social Theory, Internet Histories, and The Handbook of the Sharing Economy, among others. Karolina is a member of the editorial collective at ephemera. theory & politics in organization and a member of the steering committee at the International Sociological Association's Thematic Group 10 Digital Sociology.
Availability
- Dr Karolina Mikolajewska-Zajac is:
- Not available for supervision
- Media expert
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Sociology, Warsaw University
- Masters (Research) of Sociology, Warsaw University
- Doctor of Philosophy of Management Studies, Leon Kozminski Academy of Entrepreneurship and Management
- Member, European Group for Organization Studies, European Group for Organization Studies
- Member, International Sociological Association, International Sociological Association
- Board Member, Thematic Group 10 Digital Sociology, International Sociological Association, Thematic Group 10 Digital Sociology, International Sociological Association
- Journal Editorial Board Member, ephemera. theory & politics in organization, ephemera. theory & politics in organization
Research interests
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Digital platforms
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External enablers of entrepreneurship
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Organisation theory
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Digital ecology and ecosystems
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Digital organization
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Entrepreneurship during crises
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Futures of the digital economy
Works
Search Professor Karolina Mikolajewska-Zajac’s works on UQ eSpace
2024
Journal Article
Ecologies of friction in digital platform investment
Laamanen, Mikko and Mikołajewska-Zając, Karolina (2024). Ecologies of friction in digital platform investment. Information, Communication and Society, 27 (10), 1964-1982. doi: 10.1080/1369118x.2024.2352631
2023
Conference Publication
Follow the pattern: an ecological epistemology for the study of platforms’ societal effects and resilient organizing
Mikolajewska-Zajac, Karolina (2023). Follow the pattern: an ecological epistemology for the study of platforms’ societal effects and resilient organizing. XX ISA World Congress of Sociology, Melbourne, VIC Australia, 25 June-1 July 2023.
2023
Conference Publication
An ecosystemic perspective on the growth of Airbnb
Mikolajewska-Zajac, Karolina (2023). An ecosystemic perspective on the growth of Airbnb. XX ISA World Congress of Sociology, Melbourne, VIC Australia, 25 June-1 July 2023.
2023
Other Outputs
Airbnb’s humanitarian aid during the war in Ukraine: Indispensability, dependence, and platform politics
Mikolajewska-Zajac, Karolina (2023, 03 01). Airbnb’s humanitarian aid during the war in Ukraine: Indispensability, dependence, and platform politics economic sociology. perspectives and conversations 13-19.
2023
Conference Publication
After platforms: ecosystemic ideas for a sustainable digital economy
Mikolajewska-Zajac, Karolina (2023). After platforms: ecosystemic ideas for a sustainable digital economy. Australian Centre for Entrepreneurship Research Exchange Conference (ACERE), Brisbane, QLD Australia, 6-10 February 2023.
2022
Conference Publication
The sharing economy’s past and our platformed future through a digital ecology lens
Mikolajewska-Zajac, Karolina (2022). The sharing economy’s past and our platformed future through a digital ecology lens. Weizenbaum Symposium: New Perspectives on the Digital Economy: Sharing, Platforms and Regulation, Berlin, Germany/Virtual, 2 December 2022.
2022
Journal Article
Couchsurfing with Bateson: an ecology of digital platforms
Mikołajewska-Zając, Karolina, Márton, Attila and Zundel, Mike (2022). Couchsurfing with Bateson: an ecology of digital platforms. Organization Studies, 43 (7), 1115-1135. doi: 10.1177/01708406211058628
2022
Conference Publication
A global digital corporation and its hometown: shedding light on Airbnb through the conflict over short-term rentals in San Francisco
Mikolajewska-Zajac, Karolina (2022). A global digital corporation and its hometown: shedding light on Airbnb through the conflict over short-term rentals in San Francisco. 38th EGOS Colloquium 2022, Vienna, Austria, 7-9 July 2022.
2022
Journal Article
The four deaths of Couchsurfing and the changing ecology of the web
Mikołajewska-Zając, Karolina and Márton, Attila (2022). The four deaths of Couchsurfing and the changing ecology of the web. Internet Histories, 6 (1-2), 1-22. doi: 10.1080/24701475.2022.2057751
2022
Conference Publication
Gender bias in idea generation and the evaluation of creative ideas: an online behavioural experiment
Langham, Jo’Anne, Lin, Caihui, Jenkins, Anna, Bongiovanni, Ivano, Mikolajewska-Zajac, Karolina and Paulsen, Neil (2022). Gender bias in idea generation and the evaluation of creative ideas: an online behavioural experiment. 17th European Conference on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, ECIE 2022, Pafos, Cyprus, 15-16 September 2022. Reading, United Kingdom: Academic Conferences and Publishing International Limited.
2021
Journal Article
The pasts, presents and futures of critical publishing
ephemera collective and Mikolajewska-Zajac, Karolina (2021). The pasts, presents and futures of critical publishing. Ephemera, 21 (4), 1-21.
2021
Conference Publication
What dead-and-dying platforms do for internet studies: situating technological failure, digital afterlife, and the web that was
McCammon, Muira Nicollet, Ruan, Lotus, Miltner, Kate, Gerrard, Ysabel, Montalbano, Kathryn, Mikołajewska-Zając, Karolina and Márton, Attila (2021). What dead-and-dying platforms do for internet studies: situating technological failure, digital afterlife, and the web that was. 22nd Annual Conference of the Association of Internet Researcher, Online, 13-16 October 2021. San Francisco, CA United States: University of Illinois Libraries. doi: 10.5210/spir.v2021i0.12125
2021
Conference Publication
The life and deaths of Couchsurfing and the changing ecology of the Web
Mikolajewska-Zajac, Karolina and Márton, Attila (2021). The life and deaths of Couchsurfing and the changing ecology of the Web. Society for the Social Studies of Science (4S) Annual Meeting, Online, 4-6 October 2021.
2019
Conference Publication
Legitimacy in the platform economy: an ecosystemic perspective
Mikolajewska-Zajac, Karolina = and Márton, Attila (2019). Legitimacy in the platform economy: an ecosystemic perspective. 35th European Group on Organization Studies (EGOS) Colloquium, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, 4-6 July 2019.
2019
Book Chapter
The rhetoric of sharing: managerial literature on the sharing economy
Mikołajewska-Zając, Karolina (2019). The rhetoric of sharing: managerial literature on the sharing economy. Handbook of the Sharing Economy. (pp. 362-374) edited by Russell W. Belk, Giana M. Eckhardt and Fleura Bardhi. Cheltenham, United Kingdom: Edward Elgar. doi: 10.4337/9781788110549.00039
2018
Conference Publication
Path 501(c)(3): access denied. How platform rhetoric prevented Couchsurfing from institutionalizing as a charity
Mikolajewska-Zajac, Karolina (2018). Path 501(c)(3): access denied. How platform rhetoric prevented Couchsurfing from institutionalizing as a charity. 34th European Group on Organization Studies (EGOS) Colloquium, Tallinn, Estonia, 5-7 July 2018.
2018
Journal Article
Terms of reference: the moral economy of reputation in a sharing economy platform
Mikołajewska-Zając, Karolina (2018). Terms of reference: the moral economy of reputation in a sharing economy platform. European Journal of Social Theory, 21 (2), 148-168. doi: 10.1177/1368431017716287
2018
Conference Publication
A vicious circular economy? The struggle over the regulation of short-term rentals in San Francisco
Mikolajewska-Zajac, Karolina (2018). A vicious circular economy? The struggle over the regulation of short-term rentals in San Francisco. International Interdisciplinary Seminar Socio-technical aspects on circular and collaborative economy, Tarragona, Spain, 16 March 2018.
2018
Book Chapter
Alternatywne organizacje
Strumińska-Kutra, Marta and Mikołajewska-Zając, Karolina (2018). Alternatywne organizacje. Socjologia ekonomiczna: przewodnik. (pp. 14-25) edited by Witold Morawski. Warsaw, Poland: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
2017
Conference Publication
'Paradigm clash' in the digital labor literature: Reconciling critical theory and interpretive approach in empirical research
Rodak, Olga and Mikołajewska-Zając, Karolina (2017). 'Paradigm clash' in the digital labor literature: Reconciling critical theory and interpretive approach in empirical research. #SMSociety17: 2017 International Conference on Social Media & Society, Toronto, Canada, July 28 - 30. Washington, DC United States: Association for Computing Machinery. doi: 10.1145/3097286.3097341
Media
Enquiries
Contact Dr Karolina Mikolajewska-Zajac directly for media enquiries about:
- business ventures' growth during crises
- digital platforms
- external enablement of entrepreneurship
- hype
- sharing economy
- sustainable digitalization
- Web ecology
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