Taking into account Context in IS research and practice

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Taking into account Context in IS research and
practice

• Chrisanthi Avgerou
• Professor of Information Systems
• London School of Economics

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context in the study of IS

• Inherent in the notion of IS as a
  socio-technical system, distinct from technology
  in the laboratory
• Yet, the prevalent perspectives in the field of
  IS are
• universalistic perspectives of IS innovation
• Or, narrowly situated perspectives of action

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Universalistic perspectives

• Based on either of the following assumptions
• That specific aspects of human nature imply
  common ways people perceive what is desirable and
  what is rational. And therefore lead to common
  motivation for action and common patterns of
  rational behaviour
• That there is an historical evolution of social
  institutions, therefore a trajectory of progress
  from under-developed to developed institutional
  infrastructures

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• In universalistic accounts of IS, the potential
  value of ICT and information, as well as the
  processes through which such value is achieved
  are considered independently from the
  circumstances of the social actors involved.
• Even contingency accounts of IS innovation assume
  common values, organizational mission and
  rational behaviour

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• Manifestation of the limitations of this
  approach
• Difficulties in exploiting the developmental
  potential of IT, i.e, high failure rate in
  developing countries
• Limited successes in government administration
  and in SMEs
• Emerging recognition of successful innovation
  behaviour that diverts from rational norms,
  e.g. open source software

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Situated perspectives

• Focusing on the specific circumstances of IS
  innovation incidents
• Innovation unfolds as actors embedded in a
  particular social and organizational setting work
  out its meaning, legitimacy and value
• Mostly phenomenological (e.g. Suchman, Ciborra)
• Emphasis on agency, improvisation,
  unformalizable behaviour, actors negotiations

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• Often rely on common assumptions of the social
  context of the organization and beyond the
  organization, e.g. professionally managed
  business firm in a competitive economy
• Unable to explain paradoxical processes of
  innovation bearing on actors behaviour that is
  embedded in atypical social settings that
  differ from those tacitly assumed.

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Pettigrews contextualist approach

• Two interconnected directions of analysis
• Horizontal analysis sequential unfolding of
  events in historical, present, and future time
• Vertical analysis tracing interdependencies
  between higher or lower levels of context within
  which the process studied has been unfolding
• The context should not be seen as a barrier to
  action, but as essentially involved in its
  production

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Three interrelated aspects of contextualist
analysis

• Content of change
• For IS studies intertwined technology shaping
  and organizational change
• Process of change
• Needs a theoretical perspective from life-cycle
  based socio-trechnical theory to ANT
• Context of change
• Organizational, national, global
• Examples of contextualist studies evaluation,
  computerization of public admin in India by Madon

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Towards a more dynamic contextualist approach

• Framing as the demarcation of the time span and
  the boundary of the social network of
  relationships under study
• Linking localized and time-specific interaction
  with the institutions of their broader context
• Frame of meaning involves tracing the
  justification of action with reference to
  organizational context

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• The convincingness of a researchers account (or
  the effectiveness of a practitioners
  intervention) depends on the extent to which
  actors frames of meaning are either commonly
  assumed or made explicit by drawing the research
  boundaries so that they are revealed.
• Seeking a contextualist approach capable of
  drawing a frame of referencing and meaning who
  are the actors? what meanings and emotional
  attitudes drive their actions? where do they stem
  from?

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Tracing the institutional underpinnings of IS
episodes

• Identifying actors involved (e.g. an ANT
  analysis)
• Identifying the institutional bearing of their
  action in terms of
• Enactment of roles
• Sense making and capacity for improvisation
• Emotional manifestations

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• Institutional influences originate in multiple
  sources (e.g. profession, organizational culture,
  and national culture, community)
• Change as a result of multiple institutional
  forces
• In need of drawing from domain theories to
  understand institutional influences on situated
  action