Computerization and social transformations

This paper examines the relationship between the use of computer-based systems and transformations in parts of the social order. Answers to this question rest heavily on the way computer-based systems are consumed - not just produced or disseminated. The discourse about computerization advanced in many professional magazines and the mass media is saturated with talks about "revolution" - and yet, substantial social changes are often difficult to identify in carefully designed empirical studies. The paper examines qualitative case studies of computerization in welfare agencies, urban planning, accounting, marketing, and manufacturing to examine the ways that computerization alters social life in varied ways: sometimes restructuring relationships and reinforcing social relationships in other cases. The paper also examines some of the theoretical issues in studies of computerization, such as drawing boundaries. And it concludes with some observations about the sociology of computer science as an academic discipline.This paper is based on a keynote address for the annual conference of the Society for the Social Studies of Science in November, 1989

Reading "all about" computerization: five common genres of social analysis

This paper examines unstated, but critical, social assumptions which underlie analyses of computerization. It focuses on the popular, professional and scholarly literature which claims to describe the actual nature of computerization, the character of computer use, and the social choices and changes that result from computerization. This literature can be usefully segmented five ideal type genres: utopian, anti-utopian, social realism, social theory, and analytical reduction. Each genre is characterized and illustrated. The strengths and weaknesses of each genre are described. In the 1990s, there will be a large market for social analyses of computerization. Utopian analyses are most likely to domínate the popular and professional discourse. The empirically oriented accounts of social realism, social theory and analytical reduction, are likely to be much less common and also less commonly seen and read by computer professionals and policymakers. These genres are relatively subtle, portray a more ambiguous world, and have less rhetorical power to capture the imagination of readers. Even though they are more scientific, these empirically anchored genres don't seem to appeal to many scientists and engineers. It is ironic that computing -- often portrayed as an instrument of knowledge -- is primarily the subject of discourses whose knowledge claims are most suspect. Conversely, the discourses whose claims as valid knowledge are strongest seems to have much less appeal in the mass media and technological communities

Information Systems Control: A Review and Synthesis of the Literature

The control of information systems (IS) activities has an extensive research history, ranging from early views on themanagement of systems development projects to more recent examinations of technology outsourcing. Using a structuredmethodology, 48 control-related articles from a range of IS journals are examined and individually coded. Based on patternsemerging from the literature, a comprehensive framework of IS control research is presented. The study’s findings revealopportunities for future research, including the use of a wider range of research methodologies and epistemologies, anexpanded focus beyond project level controls, and the creation of innovative conceptualizations of IS control that betterreflect the realities of technology in today’s organizations

GOAL COMMITMENT IN ENTERPRISE SYSTEM LEARNING: AN EXPLORATORY EXAMINATION OF ITS ANTECEDENTS AND CONSEQUENCE

The success of enterprise system (ES), to a great extent, depends on users\u27 learning outcomes, which in turn, are determined by motivation and cognitive ability. Given the central role played by motivation, this paper applies the goal-setting theory and the expectancy theory to investigate the antecedents and consequence of users\u27 commitment to the goal of learning how to effectively apply ES. In particular, we focus on the effects of workplace environmental factors (i.e., work overload, leader member exchange and IT support) on goal commitment, which leads to user competence. In addition to the direct, main effects, we also explore how IT support and socialization tactics moderate the relationships between antecedents and goal commitment and between goal commitment and user competence, respectively. The research model is largely supported by data collected in a two-wave survey. Theoretical contribution and implications of this study are discussed

Critical Success Factors for an Effective Security Risk Management Program: An Exploratory Case Study at a Fortune 500 Firm

We investigate differences in perception between management and staff with regard to the influence of criticalsuccess factors (CSFs) on security risk management (SRM) effectiveness at a Fortune 500 company. Nine CSFs areconfirmed to exist in the organization. Management and staff agree that each CSF is important for SRMeffectiveness, but differ on the level of importance of each CSF. With regard to six of the nine CSFs (executivemanagement support, organization maturity, open communication, holistic view of organization, corporate securitystrategy, and human resource development), management and staff concur on their current implementation, and havea positive perception about their impact. The results also indicate that both management and staff are not satisfiedwith the current practices pertaining to risk management stakeholders, team member empowerment, and securitymaintenance. Recommendations are presented for the organization as part of possible solutions to counter thedissatisfaction with these three CSFs

Using a Positivist Case Research Methodology to Test a Theory About IT-Enabled Business Process Redesign

We derive a process theory, the “technology-oriented theory of business process redesign,” from the business process reengineering (BPR) literature and test it in a positivist case study of a corporation that implemented BPR. Our evidence refutes the theory. The future direction we suggest for researchers and practitioners is to adopt, from the beginning, an orientation that is not technocentric or overly technological, but gives equal consideration to social dimensions and the interactions between the social and the technological

Digital technologies and power dynamics in the organization: A conceptual review of remote working and wearable technologies at work

In this article, we examine the kinds of control practices that emerge with the introduction of digital technologies, and how these technologies are employed to shape power within workplaces. We present a comparative conceptual review of work practices by contrasting remote work and the use of workplace wearables. We trace forms of power and control that have been enacted with the adoption of these work-related technologies and associated practices. We find that the prevailing literature focuses on the practices enacted by management in order to control workers and exert power over them, and we propose that a more comprehensive approach be taken. In support of this view, we show how the concept of appropriation emerges from science and technology studies, and we argue that such a concept would be useful for exploring how workers use and incorporate digital technologies into their daily lives, thus reshaping power in organizations