The notion of resilience is becoming an important consideration in addressing the needs of vulnerable individuals and groups in the public sector. In Information Systems development, resilience has... Show More

The notion of resilience is becoming an important consideration in addressing the needs of vulnerable individuals and groups in the public sector. In Information Systems development, resilience has often been treated as a non-functional requirement such as scalability and little or no work has aimed at building resilience in end-users through systems development. Sociotechnical approaches while not specifically addressing resilience, have strived for a balance between technology and humans. While there are many variants of sociotechnical approaches, in this paper the authors introduce a refinement of the value sensitive action-reflection model used in co-design, first introduced by Yoo et al, that recognises the tension between values and resilience. The authors report on their activities of using this approach for a project aimed at developing mobile apps for promoting better engagement between young people in conflict with the law and their case workers in the UK youth justice system. They examine the ambiguity created when designer and stakeholder prompts change their role and purpose during the co-design process and discuss the impact of this on resilience building for the end-user and the possible implications for Information Systems design processes.

After more than forty years the principles of the socio-technical approach still offer a sound basis on which Information Systems, interpreted as socio-technical systems, can be constructed to... Show More

After more than forty years the principles of the socio-technical approach still offer a sound basis on which Information Systems, interpreted as socio-technical systems, can be constructed to address the increasing need of flexibility of the modern organizations, and to satisfy the will to exploit the technological evolution that now offers unprecedented opportunities for adaptability and flexibility. The paper reconsiders some of the basic principles of socio-technical theory, namely openness, underspecification and interdependence, and on their basis it outlines new ways to conceive IT-supported organizations so that these organizations, their IS artifacts and the constituting IT artifacts can more easily co-evolve without mutually imposing unnecessary constraints. To this aim, we advocate the application of a socio-technical approach to both the design of the social structures and the design of the technical components of the organizations, by leveraging recent frameworks and technological platforms that are aimed at empowering the frontline end-users.

In this paper the authors explore ideological influences on the organizational adoption and development of the Managed Learning Environment (MLE), an enterprise level approach to information systems... Show More

In this paper the authors explore ideological influences on the organizational adoption and development of the Managed Learning Environment (MLE), an enterprise level approach to information systems development in Higher Education, that was advocated by UK national agencies such as the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC). The authors present three detailed longitudinal case studies. To capture the ideological dimension of MLE we use the concept of Technology Action Framing. They find that the ideological dimension of the technology has a significant impact on organisational socio technical processes by shaping strong and often conflicting attitudes to the adoption of MLE. The findings contribute to better understanding of this pattern of socio technical adoption and development.

Enterprise wide integrated systems (ES) have been extensively procured in large organizations but much research fails to develop sociotechnically informed approaches that facilitate their... Show More

Enterprise wide integrated systems (ES) have been extensively procured in large organizations but much research fails to develop sociotechnically informed approaches that facilitate their implementation within complex organizational environments. In this paper the authors take a critically informed sociotechnical approach to power and improvisation in ES implementation. A review and synthesis of the pertinent literature, has led to the development of an analytical framework. This framework has been used to explore these concepts through a longitudinal, ethnographic study of an ES within a UK university. The contribution of this paper is a combined ‘circuits of power-improvisation' (CPI) framework which can facilitate a better understanding of ES implementation, sociotechnical theory and practice. Lessons learnt from the study may potentially be used to avoid some of the problems experienced due to the lack of recognition of the important role of power and improvisation in what may be misrepresented as planned strategic and deliberate organizational change.

In the context of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for development (ICT4D) the capability approach raises questions about the best way to generate human development outcomes through... Show More

In the context of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for development (ICT4D) the capability approach raises questions about the best way to generate human development outcomes through governments' implementation of ICT, encompassing specific demands of the people. Considering that quality of working life was an emergent value for the sociotechnical supporters and could foster human development, this perspective can also be used to explain the use of ICT in government. This research proposes a conceptual model to explain how governments' implementation of ICT contributes to improved human development through a sociotechnical perspective and its alignment with users' needs and expectations. The contribution of this study is the extending of the ICT4D research in a sociotechnical view and its impact in human development. By including the social context in the model, it emphasizes the differences between countries in different levels of development, the differences between users' demands and the differences in human development outcomes.

In this paper the authors report on a socio-technical analysis of the change caused by an e-textbook implementation in a secondary school in South Africa. The Punctuated Socio-Technical Change... Show More

In this paper the authors report on a socio-technical analysis of the change caused by an e-textbook implementation in a secondary school in South Africa. The Punctuated Socio-Technical Change (PSIC) model was considered because it affirms the socio-technical nature of existing educational research on ICT enabled change, and also extends it by recognising the episodic nature of change. On a vertical level the model allowed the authors to identify and distinguish between the factors and events which influenced the change in the organisation on four different levels. On a horizontal level, the model makes the disequilibrium between the socio-technical system components visible as they happen over time. Data was collected during the first phase of action research and analysed using the PSIC model. It is found that, despite the preparatory events leading to the full roll out, as well as the positive affordances of the new technology, the equilibrium of the socio-technical components of the work system was severely disrupted. The technology infrastructure did not support the e-textbook platform and the implementation of more than one platform clearly caused confusion. The experience of the teachers was that they were not offered sufficient support and that the e-textbooks they were expected to use, did not support the teaching and learning task. Consequently, the authors suggested some interventions to stabilise the socio-technical work system, of which some have already realised. As the ST-model used within the PSIC model fails to address the vertical gaps between levels in sufficient detail, the authors intend to apply ANT in future research to overcome this shortcoming.

When working in globally distributed settings, the perception of presence in collaboration and the use of technology directly impact how people are able to act in daily work practices. This paper... Show More

When working in globally distributed settings, the perception of presence in collaboration and the use of technology directly impact how people are able to act in daily work practices. This paper identifies new ways to transform the way people think about presence in global collaboration, with the aim of improving their work. Thus, the researchers conducted, an action research study over a period of 21 months, where collaborative partners working within a global engineering company were invited to participate in workshops facilitating improved global collaboration. Through two action cycles the techniques were improved in order to make people reflect upon current practices with the aim of transforming their perceptions of presence when working remotely. This paper builds on a sociotechnical approach and presents the results of the action research arguing that while discursive interventions challenging people's perceptions are important, the embodied experience of the activities are essential to be able to transform people's perceptions on presence and improve the global collaboration.

Nowadays, organizations pursue their aims in a context of distributed collaboration, creating a need not only for supporting work systems, but for a human-centred focus in which individual and group... Show More

Nowadays, organizations pursue their aims in a context of distributed collaboration, creating a need not only for supporting work systems, but for a human-centred focus in which individual and group sense-making and learning are supported by appropriate toolsets. The authors argue that development of such toolsets requires an open systems approach. This paper discusses examples of such approaches, including non-competitive benchmarking (NCB), as a vehicle for knowledge transfer, leading to process improvement and potential for enhanced organizational performance. The paper goes on to discuss tools and techniques that may be used to support desire to reflect upon ‘best practice' in socio-technical design, without losing contextual relevance in design. The authors use these examples to explore ways in which engaged actors may be supported to create and share their contextually-dependent tacit knowledge. The foundation of open systems approaches is discussed, showing how socio-technical approaches continue to have relevance today.