We discuss the introduction of an information system where the dominant coalition claimed project success. While the key users did not use the system as intended and the project goals were not ...achieved, the project committee reported success to the top management board. Using a multi-methodological approach, we can follow how different stakeholders attributed different meanings to the system introduced over time. The rhetorical tools used are analysed using a narrative methodology. We draw on the social construction of technology and use the concept of relevant social groups to understand the different interests influencing the organisational dynamics. We complement this approach by employing the concepts of organisational power and cultural fit between the new system and the different subcultures. We found that this multiple approach explains well how the acceptance of the new software processes was interpreted differently within the organisation, and also by the software supplier. Although limited, our case study reveals the process of socially constructing the success or failure of an information system using this multiple research approach. We compare our results with the literature on IS failures and we consider the value of combining constructionist and critical approaches through a narrative methodology.
This article identifies a gap in the inclusion of the postmodern concept in critical information systems (IS) research. Starting from the three critical tasks, insight, critique, and transformative ...definition, we argue that the second task of critique has been less commonly addressed. Filling that gap can begin by exploring how critical management studies have used both critical theory and postmodernism. The authors draw on Alvesson and Deetz’s (1996) argumentation that these two bodies of literature can complement each other and cohabit. There is no need for a unitary critical position, but there is currently an imbalance in critical IS research, as Habermassian approaches have remained untouched by a poststructuralist critique. Postmodern approaches are more cautious on transformative definition, and they are well suited to the task of critique. They have also been applied to examine modernist themes such as performativity and managerialism, which relate to underresearched and undercritiqued modernist concepts in IS.
We present a reflexive retrospective account of a UK government research council funded project deploying knowledge management software to support environmental sustainability in the construction ...industry. This project was set up in a form typical of a Mode 2 research programme involving several academic institutions and industrial partners, and aspiring to fulfil the Mode 2 criteria seen as transdisciplinarity and business relevance. The multidisciplinary nature is analysed through retrospectively reflecting upon the research process and activities we carried out, and is found to be problematic. No real consensus was reached between the partners on the ‘context of application’. Difficulties between industry and academia, within industry and within academia led to diverging agendas and different alignments for participants. The context of application does not (pre‐)exist independently of institutional influences, and in itself cannot drive transdisciplinarity since it is subject to competing claims and negotiations. There were unresolved tensions in terms of private vs. public construction companies and their expectations of ICT‐based knowledge management, and in terms of the sustainable construction agenda. This post hoc reflexive account, enables us to critique our own roles in having developed a managerial technology for technically sophisticated and powerful private industrial actors to the detriment of public sector construction partners, having bypassed sustainability issues, and not reached transdisciplinarity. We argue that this is due to institutional pressures and instrumentalization from academia, industry and government and a restricted notion of business relevance. There exists a politically motivated tendency to oppose Mode 1 academic research to practitioner‐oriented Mode 2 approaches to management research. We argue that valuing the links between co‐existing Mode 1 and 2 research activities would support a more genuine and fuller exploration of the context of application.
JOINING THE SOCIOMATERIAL DEBATE Pozzebon, Marlei; Diniz, Eduardo Henrique; Mitev, Nathalie ...
Revista de administração de emprêsas,
11/2017, Volume:
57, Issue:
6
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Integrative presentation on sociomateriality in management and organizational studies.
Apresentação integrativa do fórum sobre sociomaterialidade em gestão e estudos organizacionais.
Presentación ...integrativa del foro sobre sociomaterialidad en gestión y estudios organizacionales.
In the introductory paper of this special issue on new ways of working (NWW) the editors first reflect on the meaning of the ‘new’, finding inspiration in Hannes Meyer's essay “The New World” (1926). ...The ‘new’ is always relative, of course, closely associated with technological innovation, in our case digitalization, and integrates spatiotemporal, technological and socio-cultural dimensions of life and organizing. This SI seeks to offer a reflection on and contribution to deeper understanding of ongoing flexibilization, virtualization and mediation of work practices. The authors go on to contextualize and discuss the contributions of the papers included in this special issue, focussing on significant technological, spatiotemporal, organizational and individual developments associated with new ways of working. Finally, they reflect on the possible relevance of the recent Covid-19 pandemic for the future of work, arguing that this pandemic accelerated NWW in many ways and – given the many paradoxical NWW dynamics and developments – that there could very well be unexpected and adverse consequences, including a turn away from formal ways of working.
Compared to traditional organizations, a coworking organization needs to be clearly distinguished, recognized and identified in its environment. The question of legitimacy is therefore relevant for ...coworking spaces. We investigate their spatial practices through Lefebvre's spatial triad, and how they affect their organizational legitimacy, in order to establish whether these practices support the values promoted by coworking organizations. Based on an ethno-architectural survey, interviews and an analysis of their websites, we focus on two main values promoted by the collaborative spaces we investigated: alternative modes of governance and sustainability. We found that their spatial practices did not fully align with these values. We introduce the concept of spatial legitimacy, and our ethno-architectural survey contributes in methodological terms to the analysis of spatial practices in the field of organizational studies.
Management research is increasingly using fiction as an insightful way to analyze complex organizational dynamics. Focusing on user appropriation of Knowledge Management Systems, we describe how we ...used the popular Astérix, a well-known French cartoon to better understand KMS appropriation. We came to use this approach in an action research project in a large French construction firm initially designed to help Chief Knowledge Officers address KMS non-use. After our first findings showed paradoxical cultural issues, and based on the idea that culture is central to sensemaking and appropriation, we used the notion of the cultural metaphor to help better understand the cultural aspects associated with KMS appropriation. These results contribute knowledge in three different areas. First, we underline the role of cultural metaphors in information systems appropriation. Second, we enrich the literature on the role of fiction in management by illustrating the role of cultural metaphors. Third, we report on how this can be used in an action research project to help better understand KMS appropriation issues, which has the potential of leading to practical managerial action.
•The cultural metaphor to explore cultural aspects in organizational dynamics.•Asterix as a cultural metaphor for the French mindset.•Asterix to better understand KMS appropriation dynamics in a French firm.•The cultural metaphor in action research.•Popular fiction as an analytical lens for understanding cultural issues.
Mapping themes in the study of new work practices Aroles, Jeremy; Mitev, Nathalie; Vaujany, François‐Xavier
New technology, work, and employment,
November 2019, Volume:
34, Issue:
3
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Both shaping and shaped by technological, economic and social facets, the world of work has witnessed a wide array of changes. This review article sets out to provide a synthesis of some of the main ...directions and insights of existing research connected to the new world of work. In particular, we approached the topic of new work practices through four key dimensions: (1) Conceptual and methodological dimensions in the study of new work practices; (2) Spatial and temporal manifestations of new work practices in the collaborative economy; (3) Individuals, organizations and new work configurations; (4) Power and control. The review article critically discusses the future of work and argues that the ‘new’ world of work simply repeats asymmetrical power relations and inequalities that characterise work activities, with the potential of exacerbating even further disparities, inequalities and precarity.
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