Entanglement of Infrastructures and Action: Exploring the Material Foundations of Technicians’ Work in Smart Infrastructure Context

This study explores the mutual constitution of materiality and action in smart infrastructure context by focusing on technicians’ IT-enabled work with complex, distributed, and inherently unreliable smart power grid. Past research suggests infrastructures form a context and a topic unlike the dyadic interaction of humans and computers, and have provided accounts of the ways in which the smart infrastructures shape technicians’ work. This study develops a view of agency in smart infrastructure context in order to increase understanding on materiality of action. A concept of infra-acting is brought forth that situates action as part of (the material constitution of) infrastructure. Infra-acting posits that performing actions as part of infrastructures are (1) conditioned by material history; (2) dependent on mobilizing actors; (3) shaped by invisible and dynamic actors; and (4) riddled by vagaries. An ethnographic research provides an empirical illustration to foreground technicians’ actions corollary to the materiality of infrastructure

SOCIOMATERIAL ETHNOGRAPHY: TAKING THE MATTER SERIOUSLY

Ethnographic research is a form of qualitative inquiry that creates deep and rich understanding of a studied naturalistic phenomenon. Traditionally, ethnographic research has focused on uncovering the meanings and interpretations of those studied. In other words, ethnographies have focused on uncovering the social construction of the world that reflects underlying interpretive stance. However, recent theoretical developments within Information Systems (IS) and management research emphasize that it is not only social constructions but \u27matter\u27 that matters. Research that aims at taking matter seriously in their theorizing are referred to as sociomateriality. Despite that empirical sociomateriality research seems to prefer ethnography as research approach, explicit reflections on the applicability of ethnography for sociomaterialist studies lack. This paper aims at contributing by arguing for the applicability of ethnography for sociomaterialist studies, building especially on agential realist worldview. Applying sociomaterial stance for ethnographies emphasize (1) studying the entanglement of social and material in lieu of social constructions; (2) sensitivity to performativity over representations; and (3) viewing researcher as part of, in lieu of, within, the phenomenon studied. The study contributes to the discussions on sociomateriality by lowering the barrier to conduct sociomaterialist empirical work. Conclusions are draw

Performing Continuity of/in Smart Infrastructure : Exploring Entanglements of Infrastructure and Actions

Nearly everything we do in contemporary organizations and societies builds on some form of infrastructure. Our reliance on infrastructures underscores the importance of the continuity of these infrastructures. However, the infrastructures are inherently unreliable and unpredictable and achieve veneers of permanence and stability only through constant and ongoing efforts. In their functioning, they become established through complex and uncertain processes that involve a number of actors and factors. Consequently, understanding those processes is a key concern for organizations that are responsible for these infrastructures. Traditionally, the literature on the business continuity of organizational functions has emphasized the importance of planning and management approaches. Practitioners and academics have brought forth frameworks to aid organizations in planning and managing their continuity-related issues. The frameworks offer universally applicable processes and procedures that organizations should follow to improve their continuity. However, these frameworks tell little about continuity itself. Organizations rarely function as they document or as management describes organizational work. As such, the complex and uncertain processes of continuity cannot be directly inferred from the documents or from the managerial descriptions of work. If we wish to enact meaningful changes to those complex and uncertain processes through which infrastructure continuity becomes established, we need to understand how those processes unfold in practice. This dissertation focuses on infrastructure continuity in a smart infrastructure context. Smart infrastructures are traditional infrastructures that have been extended with digital technologies. In this research, infrastructure continuity is approached from the perspective of technicians working in the smart infrastructure context. The technicians’ work in these contexts is constitutively entangled with information systems and the technologies that form the infrastructures. As such, the smart infrastructures form an intriguing and fruitful yet rather unexplored context for information systems research. Theoretically, this research builds on sociomaterial theorizing and especially on Karen Barad’s agential realism. The purpose of this dissertation is to increase understanding on how the continuity of smart infrastructure becomes performed. This purpose is explored through six research articles that form the foundations of this dissertation. Methodologically, this research builds on conceptual and empirical research approaches. The conceptual research focuses on developing and clarifying business continuity- and sociomateriality-related concepts and approaches through argumentation and a literature review. The empirical research builds on a qualitative research approach and, more specifically, on ethnographic research. As is typical for ethnographic research, the empirical material was collected from a single organization that was studied extensively over a several-month participant observation. Reflecting the purpose of the study, the ethnography was conducted in a centralized operations center of a smart infrastructure (smart power grid) where technicians work with information systems and technologies. This dissertation contributes to the literature on infrastructure continuity and on sociomateriality. The primary contribution to the infrastructure continuity literature is a performative conceptualization of the infrastructure continuity. This conceptualization suggests that business continuity is not an attribute of any single measure but is an outcome of a joint accomplishment of sociomaterial networks of agencies that becomes established through recurrent actions. As such, the findings of this research challenge some of the taken-for-granted assumptions embedded in the literature but also extend the earlier literature. In addition, this dissertation extends discussions on sociomaterial agency. In the light of the findings, when agency is situated in the context of a smart infrastructure, agency becomes historic, polycentric, dynamic, and discontinuous.Lähes kaikki mitä me teemme nyky-yhteiskunnassa nojaa infrastruktuureihin. Voimmekin sanoa elävämme keskellä infrastruktuurien verkostoa. Riippuvaisuutemme infrastruktuureista korostaa niiden toiminnan jatkuvuuden tärkeyttä. Nämä infrastruktuurit ovat kuitenkin perustaltaan epäluotettavia ja arvaamattomia. Niiden toimivuus syntyy monimutkaisten ja epävarmojen prosessien kautta, jotka sisältävät moninaisia toimijoita ja tekijöitä. Näiden prosessien ymmärtäminen on keskeistä organisaatioille, jotka vastaavat näistä infrastruktuureista. Perinteisesti kirjallisuudessa, joka keskittyy toiminnan jatkuvuuteen (eng. business continuity), on korostettu suunnitelmien ja hallinnoinnin merkitystä. Suunnitteluun ja hallinnointiin on kehitetty useita johtamisen viitekehyksiä. Ne tarjoavat universaaleiksi tarkoitettuja määrämuotoisia prosesseja ja menettelytapoja, joita organisaatioiden tulisi noudattaa. Nämä viitekehykset kertovat kuitenkin hyvin vähän siitä mitä tai miten toiminnan jatkuvuus itsessään käytännössä ilmenee. Organisaatiot harvoin toimivat kuten dokumentoivat tai kuten organisaatioiden johto kuvailee toimintaa, joten näistä ei voida suoraan päätellä organisaation toimintaa. Kuitenkin jos haluamme toteuttaa merkityksellisiä muutoksia niihin monimutkaisiin ja epävarmoihin prosesseihin, joiden kautta toiminnan jatkuvuus syntyy, meidän tulee ymmärtää paremmin näitä prosesseja käytännössä. Tässä tietojärjestelmätieteisiin sijoittuvassa väitöskirjassa keskitytään toiminnan jatkuvuuteen älykkäiden infrastruktuurien (eng. smart infrastructure) kontekstissa. Älykkäillä infrastruktuureilla tarkoitetaan tässä tutkimuksessa perinteisiä infrastruktuureja, kuten sähköverkkoja, vedenjakelua, ja tieverkostoa, jotka ovat digitalisoitu. Aihetta lähestytään erityisesti infrastruktuurin parissa toimivien teknikoiden työn kautta. Teknikoiden työ näissä ympäristöissä on nivoutunut kiinteästi yhteen tietojärjestelmien ja teknologioiden kanssa, jotka muodostavat infrastruktuurin. Älykkäät infrastruktuurit muodostavatkin näin erityisesti tietojärjestelmätieteiden tutkimukselle kiinnostavan, mutta vähän tutkitun kontekstin. Tutkimus pohjautuu teoreettisesti sosiomateriaalisuuteen ja nojaa erityisesti Karen Baradin filosofiseen ja teoreettiseen viitekehykseen toimijarealismista (eng. agential realism). Tutkimuksen tavoite on tuottaa ymmärrystä siitä, miten infrastruktuurien jatkuvuus toteutuu käytännössä. Tätä tavoitetta on tässä väitöskirjassa tutkittu kuuden vertaisarvioidun artikkelin kautta. Menetelmällisesti tutkimuksessa on nojattu sekä konseptuaaliseen että empiiriseen tutkimukseen. Konseptuaalinen tutkimus keskittyy toiminnan jatkuvuuden ja sosiomateriaalisuuden käsitteiden ja lähestymistapojen kehittämiseen sekä selventämiseen argumentoinnin ja kirjallisuuskatsauksen avulla. Empiirinen tutkimuspohjautuu laadulliseen tutkimusotteeseen ja nojaa etnografiseen tutkimusmenetelmään. Kuten etnografiselle tutkimusmenetelmälle on luonnollista, aineisto pohjautuu pääosin osallistuvaan havainnointiin yhdessä organisaatiossa, jota on tutkittu intensiivisesti. Heijastaen tutkimuksen tavoitetta ja ongelmanasettelua, etnografinen tutkimus suoritettiin älykkään infrastruktuurin (sähköverkon) keskitetyssä valvomossa, jossa teknikoiden työtä tietojärjestelmien ja teknologioiden parissa seurattiin useiden kuukausien ajan. Tutkimuksen tulokset osallistuvat infrastruktuurien toiminnan jatkuvuuden ja sosiomaterialisuuden keskusteluihin. Tutkimuksen keskeisin tulos toiminnan jatkuvuuden tutkimukseen on toiminnan jatkuvuuden konseptualisointi suoritettuna toimintana. Tämän konseptualisoinnin mukaan toiminnan jatkuvuus ei ole jonkin menetelmän ominaisuus vaan jatkuvuus tuotetaan yhteisesti sosiomateriaalisessa toimijoiden verkossa toistuvien tekojen kautta. Tutkimuksen tulokset siis haastavat mutta myös edistävät aiempaa kirjallisuutta toiminnan jatkuvuudesta. Lisäksi, tutkimuksen tulokset edistävät keskusteluita toimijuuden sosiomateriaalisuudesta. Tulosten valossa, kun toimijuutta tarkastellaan infrastruktuurikontekstissa, on toimijuus historiallinen, polysentrinen, dynaaminen ja yllätyksellinen.Siirretty Doriast

MCIS 2014 Proceedings

Ethnographic research is a form of qualitative inquiry that creates deep and rich understanding of a studied naturalistic phenomenon. Traditionally, ethnographic research has focused on uncovering the meanings and interpretations of those studied. In other words, ethnographies have focused on uncovering the social construction of the world that reflects underlying interpretive stance. However, recent theoretical developments within Information Systems (IS) and management research emphasize that it is not only social constructions but &#39;matter&#39; that matters. Research that aims at taking matter seriously in their theorizing are referred to as sociomateriality. Despite that empirical sociomateriality research seems to prefer ethnography as research approach, explicit reflections on the applicability of ethnography for sociomaterialist studies lack. This paper aims at contributing by arguing for the applicability of ethnography for sociomaterialist studies, building especially on agential realist worldview. Applying sociomaterial stance for ethnographies emphasize (1) studying the entanglement of social and material in lieu of social constructions; (2) sensitivity to performativity over representations; and (3) viewing researcher as part of, in lieu of, within, the phenomenon studied. The study contributes to the discussions on sociomateriality by lowering the barrier to conduct sociomaterialist empirical work. Conclusions are drawn.</p

Designing a Thrifty Approach for SME Business Continuity: Practices for Transparency of the Design Process

Business continuity (BC) management is an organizational approach to preparing information systems (IS) for incidents, but such approaches are uncommon among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Past research has indicated a gap in approaches that are designed for SMEs since BC management approaches tend to originate from larger organizations and SMEs lack the resources to implement them. To fill this gap, and to respond to a practical need by an IT consultancy company, we employed design science research (DSR) to develop a BC approach for SMEs coined as the thrifty BC management approach. Jointly with the company’s practitioners, we developed a set of meta-requirements for BC approaches for SMEs anchored in prior BC literature, practitioners’ practical expertise, and the theories of collective mindfulness and sociotechnical systems. We evaluated our thrifty BC management approach with multiple SMEs. These evaluations suggest that the designed approach mostly meets the defined meta-requirements. Moreover, the evaluations offered ample opportunities for learning. The design process, unfolding in a real-world setting, was precarious, rife with contingencies and ad hoc decisions. To render the design process transparent, we adapted four writing conventions from the confessional research genre familiar to ethnographic research but novel to DSR. We offer a threefold contribution. First, we contribute to SMEs’ BC with meta-requirements and their instantiation in a new BC approach (artifact); second, we contribute with four practices of confessional writing for transparency of DSR research; and third, we contribute with reflections on our theoretical learning from throughout the design process

The Importance of Business Continuity for Making Business: The Case of Design Kitchen

Design Kitchen is a typical, small business about to secure a major deal with a prospective customer. The crux of this deal: Design Kitchen’s ability to work as a reliable subcontractor. Business continuity (BC) teaching cases usually describe a disruption that requires reaction. This teaching case elucidates the importance of BC for making business. It provides a rich description of Design Kitchen receiving an audit, and posits the task of creating a BC plan based on this audit’s findings. Completing this case, students will learn how to analyze and identify BC risks; how to craft a BC plan; and about the complications stirring when top management is not engaged in BC. While fictional, the case description presents a composite narrative based on empirical studies of several companies’ BC risks. Besides teaching BC, lecturers can use the case text for courses of information security management or business process modeling

Enacting Accountability in IS Research after the Sociomaterial Turn(ing)

Sociomateriality represents an emergent philosophical stance that instantiates an ontological turn towards relationality and materiality in information systems (IS) research. As an emergent perspective or way of seeing, sociomateriality has significant implications for researchers and the practices they employ. If we accept that the ontological, epistemological, and methodological assumptions we enact in our research shape the realities we perceive and create, questions around researchers’ accountability for the realities they produce need to be addressed. The sociomaterial turn(ing) in IS challenges our deeply held assumptions about what constitutes reality. What are these challenges, and how are they being addressed in sociomaterial research? And what implications for accountability in IS research more generally does a turn towards relationality and materiality hold? The objectives of this editorial are: (1) to sensitize IS researchers, irrespective of their ontological and epistemological persuasions, to the field’s turn(ing) toward relationality and materiality; (2) to provide insight into the practices of data generation, analysis, and presentation through which this turn(ing) is being enacted in sociomaterial theorizing; and (3) to contemplate the implications of this turn(ing) for the accountability of IS research more generally

Do SETA Interventions Change Security Behavior? – A Literature Review

Information security education, training, and awareness (SETA) are approaches to changing end-users’ security behavior. Research into SETA has conducted interventions to study the effects of SETA on security behavior. However, we lack aggregated knowledge on ‘how do SETA interventions influence security behavior?’. This study reviews 21 empirical SETA intervention studies published across the top IS journals. The theoretical findings show that the research has extended Protection Motivation Theory by (1) enhancements to fear appeals; (2) drawing attention to relevance; (3) incorporating temporality; (4) and shifting from intentions to behavior. In terms of behavior, the SETA interventions have targeted (1) information security policy compliance behavior; and (2) information protection behavior. We argue that while these studies have provided insights into security intentions and behavior, knowledge on designing effective SETA training has remained primarily anecdotal. We contribute (1) by pointing out gaps in the knowledge; and (2) by proposing tentative design recommendations

Means to Survive Disruption: Business Model Innovation and Strategic Continuity Management?

Advances in Information Technology provide opportunities for totally new business. However, we are facing not only growing number of new ventures, but increasing restructuring of existing businesses. This can be perceived e.g. in shortening life-cycles of the companies. The restructuration and birth of new companies means changing or even disrupting existing businesses. Therefore, companies, regardless of their maturity, should be prepared to evaluate these threats and opportunities actively. Against this backdrop, we suggest to combine business modelling with systematic Business Continuity Management. We discuss the two approaches and their usefulness under different circumstances and illustrate their use when implementable, rapid reaction to changes is required, such as in industry restrucutration, or business merging and reorganization. We coin this combination as Strategic Busiess Continuity Management

Designing Extended Zero Trust Maturity Model – From Technical to Socio-Technical

Recent successful cybersecurity attacks have exploited trust to compromise organizational information systems. Scholars and practitioners agree that the issue originates from the organizational perimeter security approach, within which perimeter trust is assumed. To improve the situation, building security principles on the idea that trust is not inherent but earned has been proposed, coined as Zero Trust. However, the current discussions spearheaded by technology-minded practitioners have focused mostly on trust at the network security and architecture levels, largely omitting the organizational aspects of security. To address this gap, we build on socio-technical approach and maturity models to develop a novel artifact with security experts, addressing the need for organizational Zero Trust through the Extended Zero Trust Maturity Model. Our research contributes to discussions on holistic information security management by extending the principles of Zero Trust from technical into socio-technical approach and responds to calls to reconsider foundational assumptions of IS security