American and European social embeddedness in IS research: the case of structurational approaches.

Whether in Europe or in North America, Structuration Theory has been widely applied in Information System research. Looking at some structurationists’ trajectories, it seems that European and American researchers correspond each to specific sub-theoretical streams. After having put forward institutional explanations of the overall dynamic, we suggest analysing the situation from an epistemological point of view: the various conceptions of management enacted by the different structurationist leaders. This results in the disappearance of the apparent continental dichotomy we first raised. As a conclusion, we propose two perspectives for the new European academy of management.Key-words: Structuration theory; social embeddedness of management research; research trajectories; epistemology

Between eternity and actualization: the co-evolution of the fields of communication in the Vatican

Most research on structuration or the appropriation of ICT in organizations has put aside the problem of dyschronies. It has not taken into account the differences in nature, speed, and temporality of changes that co-exist within an organization. To address this limitation, the author of this paper suggests a model based on the theory of practice and neo-institutionalist perspectives, so as to make sense of the co-evolution of intra-organizational fields. This model, which proposes a balance between various institutional tensions, has been worked out inductively from a longitudinal case study on communication fields within the Roman Curia, the administrative headquarters of the Catholic Church located in the Vatican. These tensions are related to socio-technical, socio-theological, socio-organizational, and socio-economic areas. A set of propositions regarding the link between intra-organizational fields and tensions and the relationships between intra-organizational fields (parallel, convergent, and competing evolutions) is proposed.Keywords: Dyschronies; structuration; intra-organizational fields; communication; medias; ICT; Roman Curia

Strategic Alignment: What Else? A Practice Based View of IS Value.

Pour l’essentiel, les recherches traitant des valeurs stratégiques du SI restent dans le paradigme de l’alignement stratégique, et utilisent des notions telles que celles de "processus" ou "d’activités". En s’appuyant sur la perspective offerte par les théories de la pratique, cet article offre une alternative en distinguant trois formes de praxis et des valeurs spécifiques.Literature about IS strategic management or IS strategic value is abundant. Nonetheless, the bulk of existing studies are focused on the concept of alignment. They do not make sense of a strategic value "in practice" and still draw on notions such as activity or process to make sense of alignment. By means of a practice-based view of technology, three praxis are suggested here for the modeling of strategic value: legitimacy-related (based on adoption praxis), assimilative (related to design and acceptance praxis) and appropriative (linked to local adaptation and improvisation praxis). They are introduced by means of a "thought experiment" (a short story about a rifle).Strategic alignment; IS strategic value; Practice-based views; strategic value in practice; thought experiments;

Modelling Sociotechnical Change in IS with a Quantitative Longitudinal Approach: The PPR Method.

The following article suggests a critical realistic framework, which aims at modeling sociotechnical change linked to end-users' IT appropriation: the "archetypal approach". The basic situations it includes (the "sociotechnical archetypes"), and the possible appropriative trajectories that combine them, together with three propositions linked to the model, are developed. They are illustrated by means of a case study describing the implementation of an e-learning system within a French university. The paper then presents an instrumentation of the theoretical framework, based on a quantitative longitudinal approach: the Process Patterns Recognition (PPR) method. This one draws mainly on Doty, Glick and Huber (1993, 1994) who propose to evaluate the distance between organizational archetypes and empirical configurations by means of Euclidean distance calculus. The adaptation consists in evaluating the distance between appropriative trajectories (embodied by series of theoretically specified vectors) and empirical processes linked to the implementation of computerized tools in organizations. The PPR method is then applied to the same organizational setting as the one related to the case study. It validates the relevance of this type of a research strategy, which makes it possible to model sociotechnical dynamics related to end-users' IT appropriations.Technology-organization interaction; sociotechnical process modelling; Process Patterns Recognition; critical realism; Structuration; methodology of research; longitudinal methods; e-learning;

Moving towards appropriability of academic knowledge: a post-actionalist perspective

Based on recent contributions in managerial research, this article aims to suggest a new perspective for appraising and developing knowledge usability by studying the processes underlying its production: appropriation. The underlying problem is the following: how can the academic community help a community of practitioners appropriate knowledge it produced, co-produced or stimulated? First, a preliminary analysis is put forward as regards management sciences and the concept of knowledge 'actionability'. Some limitations are raised (1.). Then, the authors suggest to move from an 'actionability' (rather coherent with a classic vision of management sciences linked to the "sciences of the artificial") to an 'appropriability' perspective (2.). Lastly, the specificities of both perspectives are discussed (3.). Some limitations of this new vision are also pointed out, especially from a psychological standpoint.Management sciences; actionable knowledge; appropriability of knowledge; epistemology; methodology

Why there will never be a robot-entrepreneur and why it’s important

Robots will never feel complex human emotions that help stop dangerous processes, writes François-Xavier de Vaujan

Between Eternity and Actualization: The Difficult Co-Evolution of Fields of Communication in the Vatican

Most research on structuration or the appropriation of ICT in organizations has put aside the problem of dyschronies. It has not taken into account the differences in nature, speed, and temporality of changes that co-exist within an organization. To address this limitation, the author of this paper suggests a model based on the theory of practice and neo-institutionalist perspectives, so as to make sense of the co-evolution of intra-organizational fields. This model, which proposes a balance between various institutional tensions, has been worked out inductively from a longitudinal case study on communication fields within the Roman Curia, the administrative headquarters of the Catholic Church located in the Vatican. These tensions are related to socio-technical, socio-theological, socio-organizational, and socio-economic areas. A set of propositions regarding the link between intra-organizational fields and tensions and the relationships between intra-organizational fields (parallel, convergent, and competing evolutions) is proposed

Management transforms not only businesses, but everyday aspects of our lives

It's now making societies more liquid (entrepreneurial), writes François-Xavier de Vaujan

Information Technology Conceptualization: Respective Contributions of Sociology and Information Systems

International audienceThis article analyzes the different phases the Information Systems--Sociology relationship has gone through and points out some specific features of sociologists and Information Systems scientists in their conceptualization of Information Technology (IT). It shows that both academic fields develop more and more convergent theorizations. The first part is centered on an historical analysis of sociology itself. It shows the great comeback of the Object within the sociological field at the beginning of the 80s. Different models have been developed from the generalized kinds of sociology to those that have been focused on the social construction of the Object. These make up sociological groups, which we call "autonomous". The second part presents the sociological approaches used and worked out in the domain of Information Systems (IS). These are presented by means of three historical moments (causalist, actor-based and processual). For each of these stages the influence of sociologies, notably those that deal with the Object, is obvious and models are more or less "illuminated" by means of broader perspectives. In the third part, there is a discussion of ontological differences between the work of sociologists studying IS objects and the work of IS researchers drawing on sociologists' conceptual contributions. Lastly, it seems that if sociology and Information Systems sometimes diverge in the way they study sociotechnical systems, they converge gradually in their conceptualization of the IT artifact

La relation pratiques religieuses-pratiques managériales : une approche historique

Résumé Aux côtés de l'armée, les premières organisations ont été, pour beaucoup d'entre elles, de nature religieuse, ou en tous cas imprégnées de considérations religieuses. Les premières pratiques d'animation et de finalisation de l'action collective ont plus généralement été marquées par des pratiques religieuses. En centrant le propos sur l'Eglise Catholique et ses enclaves (monastères, abbayes, autorités diocésaines, universités du Moyen Age…), l'auteur propose de s'interroger sur l'articulation entre pratiques religieuses et pratiques managériales, étudiée dans une perspective historique (surtout sur le Moyen Age). L'analyse porte tout d'abord sur le rôle de l'Eglise et de ses différentes enclaves (tout particulièrement les monastères et les universités) dans l'émergence de l'organisation comme bureaucratie et lieu de pratiques managériales (1.). Le développement et l'affirmation de la règle bénédictine sont ainsi associés à une nouvelle forme d'action collective qui préfigure la bureaucratie à venir. En outre, le développement des universités et l'action isolée de nombreux religieux sont liés à l'élaboration et la diffusion de multiples techniques de gestion. Plus indirectement, les pratiques religieuses semblent également être un objet opportun pour comprendre les pratiques managériales "par contraste". L'étude historique n'est pas seulement utile afin d'établir une généalogie des pratiques managériales. En intégrant des variables centrales exacerbées dans les organisations religieuses et leur évolution (valeurs, culture, schèmes interprétatifs), elle permet aussi de mieux comprendre l'influence de ces variables sur le partage des connaissances ou la résilience organisationnelle (2.).Mots clés : pratiques religieuses; pratiques managériales; généalogie des pratiques managériales; organisations religieuses; Eglise; approche historique