1,319 research outputs found
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Centralized vs. decentralized computing : organizational considerations and management options
The long-standing debate over whether to centralize or decentralize computing is examined in terms of the fundamental organizational and economic factors at stake. The traditional debate is examined and found to focus predominantly on issues of efficiency vs. effectiveness, with solutions based on a rationalistic strategy of optimizing in this tradeoff. A more behavioralistic assessment suggests that the driving issues in the debate are the politics of organization and resources, centering on the issue of control. The economics of computing deployment decisions is presented as an important issue, but one that often serves as a field of argument that is based on more political concerns. The current situation facing managers of computing, given the advent of small and comparatively inexpensive computers, is examined in detail, and a set of management options for dealing with this persistent issue is presented
The Politics of Efficiency The Mobilization of Computing in Organizations
Mostbehavioral studies of the social andinformationprocessingarchitectures of computerbased information systems (CBIS) focus on the early stages of their life cycles, their conception, design, adoption, and organizational implementation. Because of this focus on earlyperiodsinthelifecycleofCBIS, wearemostawareoftheorganizationaldramasinthese early stages. This article examinesone aspectofthe laterstages ina CBIS\u27 life cycle: theways in which organizational actors select and implement enhancements to existing CBIS. The implementation of computer-based information systems is not mechanical If implementing a new technologyenhancedaspects of worklife equally forallparticipants, allmight agree on implementation schedules, strategies, and use of the CBIS. However, CBIS implementations are often accompanied by disagreements and delays, and sometimes failures. There are two streams of research on information systems implementation: procedural analyses of implementation and studies of the political dimensions of implementation. This study builds on the political stream of information systems studies and organizational studies. The political studies of information systems implementation have traditionally focused on the early stages of implementation Readers mightassume thatonce a CBIS has been successfully implemented political elements are less central to its routine administration. We show how political campaigns can continue throughout the life of a CBIS and are equally critical in maintaining or shifting the balance of powen This paper explains the nature of political mobilization in some detail The primary data are drawn from an extensive case study of a medium sized manufacturing firm (PRINTCO) which operates a complex computerized inventory control system shared by several departments. We also show how the organization of a CBIS does not simply evolve; rather, key actors shape the developmental trajectory of the organization of computing. (A developmental trajectory for a system is a sequence of social and technical configurations through which it has developed and a sequence of future configurations) Usually there is a range of variation in future sequences, and different groups may prefer different developmental trajectories. Inordertogaincontroloverthedevelopmentaltrajectory, keyactorsattempttocreatesetsof procedures and beliefs about the computing arrangements which other participants will accept as legitimate. These actors develop long-term strategies to mobilize support fortheir own preferences and to block the emergence of conflicting preferences. Participants in different work groups have different computing preferences which derive from their own lines of work. Subunits within an organization push for information system architectures and data access in forms which secure their own interests and enable control or significant influence over others.
At any given time the infrastructure for providing computing services is structured, but not for everyone\u27s simultaneous convenience. (Infrastructure refers toresources and procedures which support the efficient use of some focal computing resource). It includes access to programmers, terminals, or appropriate computer- based reports; provision of training in system usage or programming languages; or participation in decision- making about appropriate procedures and priorities in system development Those groups which are successful indevelopingandmaintainingfavorablearrangementsamplifyexistingstructuresincrementalls Because computing resources are insufficient to meet all actor\u27s preferences simultaneosly, dominant coalitions can build powerby guidingthe development of a system to their own advantage and limiting other groups Theincremental developmentofa CBIS takes place overaperiod ofyearsratherthanweeks. The specific directioninwhichpowerfulactors guidea CBIS hasimportantconsequences for others inthe organizationinthatsome groups willbe betterservedthanothers. Overtimethe organization of the system becomes a taken- for-granted way of managing and coordinating workactivities. Asfinancialandideological commitments areincurred,itmaybecometoo costly to radically alter its developmental trajectory. We identifytwo key aspects of campaigns for computing: (1) a structural dimension, and (2) an ideological dimension. The structural dimension refers to the standardized arrangements for providing computing services (e. g., the infrastructure) and the process by which they become woven into organizational life and institutionalized. The ideological dimension focuses attention on the articulation of a world view which takes on meaning in the social worldofan organization.Key actors seeklegitimacy fortheircampaigns by convincingothers that their world view makes sense. In the paper we describe selected strategies key actors use to mobilize support for their preferences and to quiet opposition. The struggles for contzol might be perverse if power and control were the only issues. At PRINTCO we found that a coalition of manufacturing managers coupled their initiatives for control with material policies that could improve organizational efficienci However, efficiency was not the only issue since these manufacturing managers did not engage in many varied experiments to improve material efficiencies. They engaged in a relatively narrow array of strategies largely tied to their computerized inventory control system. The language of efficiency was both real and an acceptable rationale for leveraging organizational influence. Manyorganizationshavenowlivedwithseveralsuccessivegenerationsofthe same kindof CBIS. By common standards of successful implementation, the computerized inventory control system atPRINTCO was adequately implemented. The company was also successfulin growing rapidly and reaping good profits. The computerized inventory control system was heavilyused for sixyears, centraltothe operations ofthe organization, andthe subjectof tremendous continuing commitment However, its operation was not smooth, and its enhancement was the subject of several failed initiatives, including a major software conversion. It did not evolve. A coalition of manufacturing managers tried to move the system, and the associated computing environment along a particular developmental trajectory. Their efforts were embodied in a series of campaigns which gave continuing life to the computerized inventory control system. This coalition dominated the local computing environment, but had neither perfectinformationnottotal control Some oftheir campaign strategies failed Inone period, they released substantial control over computing resources through a local micro-revolutioni but rapidly regained control when they appreciated its scale. The paper explains how key actors developed a variety of structural and ideological strategies to mobilize support for the arrangements they preferred and to quiet opposition. These structural arrangements became institutionalized; they were taken for granted and fit together in a mutually reinforcing complex. CBIS live and develop through the energies of their promoters rather than evolve through a life of their own
On Rob Kling: The Theoretical, the Methodological, and the Critical
We explore Rob Kling’s conceptual scaffolding for Social Informatics: his integration of theory, method and evidence and philosophical underpinnings and moral basis of his commitment to a critical stance towards computers and social life. He extended his focus on organizational practices and a lifelong meditation on democracy, value conflicts and social choices to the discourses of computerization and social transformation and to the education of the information professional. He came to his project through careful observation of organizational life and a critical reading of research conducted by other scholars and the rhetoric about ICTs, As Kling conceptualized it, the project of Social Informatics was to intervene in the social construction of the meaning, value, use and even design of technologies as shaped by discourse and education.Indiana Universit
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COMPUTERS AND THE CONSTITUTION - A HELPFUL, HARMFUL OR HARMLESS RELATIONSHIP
Rob Kling: A Remembrance
This article presents a remembrance of Rob Kling, a long-time intellectual leader in IS by three colleagues who worked closely with him
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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 domĂnate 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
Digital Science: Electronic Association and Groupware in Facilitating Third Sector Research
In thinking about the application of computers and the internet technology to problems of association, collaboration and civil society we need to get beyond the current state of mimicking existing social processes and discover new ways to extend and enhance those social processes
Rob Kling In Search of One Good Theory: The Origins of Computerization Movements
Rob Kling’s intellectual contribution is a corpus of work that exemplifies the craft of inquiry and the social enterprise of science. He applied core sociological ideas and grounded them in evidence. His work connected theory, method, and evidence. His observations of the empirical world over more than a quarter-century led to research questions that transcended disciplinary boundaries, invigorated disciplines, transformed our thinking, and helped us develop a working vocabulary about technology and social life. He was decidedly unapologetic about his eclecticism — instead, reveling in the need to employ multiple theoretical frameworks, multiple methodologies, and multiple sources of evidence to make his arguments. This paper examines Rob Kling’s craft of inquiry. It traces the evolution of his theorizing, methodological choices, and gathering of evidence to understand computerization movements, an inquiry that situates his analysis in an unfailingly consistent critical stance towards computers and social life.Indiana Universit
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