Applicability of Socio-Technical Model (STM) in Working System of Modern Organizations

Knowledge has been identified as one of the most important resources in organization that contributes to competitive advantages. Organizations around the world realize and put into practice an approach that bases on technological and sociological aspects to fill-up the gaps in their workplaces. The Socio-Technical Model (STM) is an established organizational model introduced by Trist since 1960s at Tavistock Institute, London. It relates two most common components exist in all organizations, namely social systems (human) and technological systems (information technology, machinery and equipment) in organizations over many decades. This paper reviews the socio-technical model from various perspectives of its developmental stages and ideas written by researchers. Therefore, several literature reviews on socio-technical model have been compiled and discussed to justify whether its basic argument matches with required practices in Techno-Social environments. Through a socio-technical perspective on Knowledge Management, this paper highlights the interplay between social systems and technological system. It also suggests that management and leadership play critical roles in establishing the techno-social perspective for the effective assimilation of Knowledge Management practices

Editorial: emerging issues in sociotechnical systems thinking and workplace safety

The burden of on-the-job accidents and fatalities and the harm of associated human suffering continue to present an important challenge for safety researchers and practitioners. While significant improvements have been achieved in recent decades, the workplace accident rate remains unacceptably high. This has spurred interest in the development of novel research approaches, with particular interest in the systemic influences of social/organisational and technological factors. In response, the Hopkinton Conference on Sociotechnical Systems and Safety was organised to assess the current state of knowledge in the area and to identify research priorities. Over the course of several months prior to the conference, leading international experts drafted collaborative, state-of-the-art reviews covering various aspects of sociotechnical systems and safety. These papers, presented in this special issue, cover topics ranging from the identification of key concepts and definitions to sociotechnical characteristics of safe and unsafe organisations. This paper provides an overview of the conference and introduces key themes and topics. Practitioner Summary: Sociotechnical approaches to workplace safety are intended to draw practitioners’ attention to the critical influence that systemic social/organisational and technological factors exert on safety-relevant outcomes. This paper introduces major themes addressed in the Hopkinton Conference within the context of current workplace safety research and practice challenge

Proposing a systems vision of knowledge management in emergency care

This paper makes a case for taking a systems view of knowledge management within health-care provision, concentrating on the emergency care process in the UK National Health Service. It draws upon research in two casestudy organizations (a hospital and an ambulance service). The case-study organizations appear to be approaching knowledge (and information) management in a somewhat fragmented way. They are trying to think more holistically, but (perhaps) because of the ways their organizations and their work are structured, they cannot ‘see’ the whole of the care process. The paper explores the complexity of knowledge management in emergency health care and draws the distinction for knowledge management between managing local and operational knowledge, and global and clinical knowledge

Re-reengineering the dream: agility as competitive adaptability

Organizational adaptation and transformative change management in technology-based organizations is explored in the context of collaborative alliances. A Re-reengineering approach is outlined in which a new Competitive Adaptability Five-Influences Analysis approach under conditions of collaborative alliance, is described as an alternative to Porter’s Five-Forces Competitive Rivalry Analysis model. Whilst continuous change in technology and the associated effects of technology shock (Dedola & Neri, 2006; Christiano, Eichenbaum & Vigfusson, 2003) are not new constructs, the reality of the industrial age was and is a continuing reduction in timeline for relevance and lifetime for a specific technology and the related skills and expertise base required for its effective implementation. This, combined with increasing pressures for innovation (Tidd & Bessant, 2013) and at times severe impacts from both local and global economic environments (Hitt, Ireland & Hoskisson, 2011) raises serious challenges for contemporary management teams seeking to strategically position a company and its technology base advantageously, relative to its suppliers, competitors and customers, as well as in predictive readiness for future technological change and opportunistic adaptation. In effect, the life-cycle of a technology has become typically one of disruptive change and rapid adjustment, followed by a plateau as a particular technology or process captures and holds its position against minor challenges, eventually to be displaced by yet another alternative (Bower & Christensen, 1995)

E-democracy and values in information systems design

In this paper I demonstrate the utility of a Values in Design (VID) perspective for the assessment, the design and development of e-democracy tools. In the first part, I give some background information on Values in Design and Value-Sensitive Design and their relevance in the context of e-democracy. In part 2, I analyze three different e-democracy tools from a VID-perspective. The paper ends with some conclusions concerning the merits of VID for e-democracy as well as some considerations concerning the dual tasks of philosophers in assessing and promoting value-sensitive technology design

CSCW and Enterprise 2.0 - Towards an Integrated Perspective

In CSCW we are researching support for collaboration in work groups for several decades now. Web 2.0 and Social Software entered this field from another starting point recently, and quickly expanding towards support for collaboration in enterprises (Enterprise 2.0). However, the interaction between both fields is minimal. In this paper I am trying to contribute to bridging the gap by identifying the core contributions of the two fields, and how they can be integrated or used to the benefit of both fields

Governing with Clean Hands: Automated Public Toilets and Sanitary Surveillance

To anyone familiar with the story of urban decay in major American cities in the 1980s – and with the subsequent abolition of toilets from city streets – the introduction of automated public toilets (APTs) to urban spaces sounds like very good news. This article explores the re-democratizing message that commonly accompanies the introduction of APTs to North American city streets as well as their on-the-ground manifestations. It focuses on two major components of APTs: privatization and automation. The process of privatization, which characterizes most APT operations in North America, carries with it various exclusionary effects that stand in stark contrast to the democratic aspirations of public space. Additionally, the APTs normally feature automated devices, and, most prominently, the auto-flush and the automated faucet and dryer. On the face of things, these devices eradicate the injustices that sometimes accompany human discretion. However, they also conceal the necessarily social and value-ridden human decision making that goes into their design. The article proposes that both the privatization and the automation of public toilets are part of a broader and increasingly expansive sanitary regime, one that imposes a morality in practice on its users. The latter are left with relatively limited options as to how to use the space of the washroom and at times join the nonhuman devices themselves in “kicking-back” at their programmers. By comparing automated toilets with attendant-based ones, the article suggests that the project of sanitary surveillance exemplifies the fluidity between traditional and new forms of surveillance

The Extended Knowledge Management Adoption Model.

Knowledge Management (KM) adoption theory, research and practice appears to have its primary foundations in generic organisational change theory. Recent research into KM adoption by individuals indicates diffusion of innovation theory may better explain individual adoption. This paper presents the Extended KM Adoption (EKMA) model and proposed research to test and further develop this model. The EKMA is a research framework which recognises the changing dynamics at play across four phases in the lifecycle of KM adoption by organisations. The EKMA model builds on research into the factors that influence the volitional adoption by individuals of KM

The Sensible Organization: A New Agenda for IS Research

IS research and practice does not adequately address modern organizational forms of flatter hierarchies; decentralized decision-making, greater capacity for tolerance of ambiguity, permeable internal and external boundaries, capacity for renewal, self-organizing units, self-integrating coordination mechanisms and continual change. The important challenge for IS is to determine what sort of organizational forms, structures and systems are most appropriate to meet the demands of the current and foreseeable environment. We argue that this challenge can be met through a new agenda for IS based on the concept of the ‘sensible organization’. Our argument is grounded in evidence drawn from the findings of a number of our empirical studies. We conclude that the new agenda for IS needs to targets the agile, social and networked organization, in the context of its chaotic, complex environment, in order to support knowledge work practices that integrate thinking and doing