The Doing of Datafication (And What this Doing Does): Practices of Edification and the Enactment of New Forms of Sociality in the Indian Public Health Service

In this paper, we offer a performative, praxeological account of ongoing attempts to cultivate practices of datafication in the Indian public health service. In particular, we distinguish between two broad forms that such practices took—systematic practices of datafication and edifying practices of datafication—that involve data being enacted or performed in different ways. We explore the power of these different kinds of datafication practices by examining what their doing does and demonstrate how each—by enacting particular kinds of subject and object positions—is deeply implicated in the (re)production of different forms of human sociality. Describing these socialities as “authoritarian-bureaucratic” and “dialogic”, we explore the distinctive kinds of moods and affectivities that they generate. We conclude by drawing out some of the implications for research and practice

Distributed Communication as Collective Socio-material Sensemaking in Global Software Work

In this paper, we address the issue of communication difficulties on globally distributed offshoring projects. We argue that although communication issues feature prominently in the extant literature on offshoring, and in that pertaining to project management more generally, they are not dealt with in a very satisfactory way. In particular, much of the literature either treats communication as an unproblematic process of information exchange, thus implicitly embracing a naïve conduit model (Kelly 2005; Lakoff et al. 1980; Reddy 1979), or adopts a detached, factor based approach that neglects the actual practices sustaining the process of communication (for notable exceptions see Boland 1995; Kelly 2005). We draw on in-depth, longitudinal, processual case study of an offshore relationship comprised of two software development projects with varying degrees of success. By contrasting and comparing these two projects we develop a richer understanding of communication practices and the specific challenges posed by the globally distributed nature of the project teams. Based on the rich empirical evidence from these two detailed projects, we build upon and develop previous work (i.e. Kelly et al. 2008) in order to synthesize a distinctive theoretical perspective on communication practices in distributed projects based on the notion of collective socio-material sensemaking. On basis of this perspective, we, furthermore, suggest a more holistic role of project managers that is crucially concerned with senseshaping

IS and the Integrated Network Organization: A Cautionary Tale from the Financial Services Sector

Modern information and communication technologies (ICTs) have been heralded as a key enabler of more integrated, flexible, network forms of organising. In this paper we critically examine such claims by drawing on evidence from a longitudinal, interpretive study of the strategic use of IT within the Irish credit union movement. While various economic and technological factors had contributed to the emergence of an impetus for organisational reform and modernisation in some quarters, the realisation of such changes was complicated by historically-constituted contradictions and ideological differences. IT, however, appeared to offer a relatively painless solution to such problems by promising the prospect of significant organisational change without substantial reform. Here, we argue that the allure of unproblematic and flexible ITenabled organisational integration encouraged credit unions to embark on a disastrous implementation effort while conveniently ignoring fundamental contradictions within the movement. Interestingly, while the implementation attempt was unanimously regarded as a costly failure, the process associated with its development and demise brought the contentious issue of reform to a head. The result seems likely to be a significant transformation in the organisation of the movement. Paradoxically, the failure of the strategic implementation effort triggered this transformation by accident rather than by design

The Information Technology Workforce: Trends and Implications 2005-2008

In 2005, a team of researchers sponsored by the Society for Information Management Advocacy program interviewed senior executives in Information Technology (IT) departments about their current and future workforce trends and skill requirements. This paper presents the results of that research: more organizations are increasing their in-house IT staffs than are decreasing them. IT executives say it is critical to own business and project management skills, and they seek these skills in their mid-level hires. The use of offshore workers is increasing, primarily through domestically headquartered providers. Technical skills are more likely to be externally sourced, but they are also sought in entry-level hires. The study points out the challenge of transforming technically skilled entry-level hires into mid-level IT managers with strong business and project management skills, given current IT recruiting and hiring trends. It also highlights the need for practitioner-academic collaboration to ensure appropriate development of IT professionals throughout their careers