POWER, RATIONALITY, AND THE ART OF LIVING THROUGH SOCIO-TECHNICAL CHANGE.

Author List: Avgerou, Chrisanthi; McGrath, Kathy;
MIS Quarterly, 2007, Volume 31, Issue 2, Page 295-315.
Most information systems research takes for granted the assumption that IS practice and associated organizational change can be effectively understood as a process of technical reasoning and acting governed by a mix of concerns about software construction, administrative control, and economic gain. Its mission has been to empower managers, IS engineers, and information and communication technology users with knowledge and techniques for effective decision making. However, empirical research frequently encounters human activity that is at odds with the assumed pattern of rational behavior. Recent work tries to explain behavior in IS and organizational change in terms of social processes rather than as a consideration of rational techniques of professional practice. In this paper we address this ambivalence of the IS field with regard to technical/rational knowledge and practice. We draw from the theoretical work of Michel Foucault on power/knowledge and the aesthetics of existence to argue that the rational techniques of IS practice and the power dynamics of an organization and its social context are closely intertwined, requiring each other to be sustained. Furthermore, we develop a context-specific notion of rationality in IS innovation, through which interested parties judge the value of an innovation for their lives and consequently support or subvert its course. We demonstrate these ideas with a case study of a social security organization in Greece.
Keywords: aesthetics of existence; IS innovation; power/knowledge; Rationality; regime of truth; techniques of the self
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List of Topics

#282 0.189 power perspective process study rational political perspectives politics theoretical longitudinal case social rationality formation construction shows multiple instead understanding fact
#35 0.097 technology organizational information organizations organization new work perspective innovation processes used technological understanding technologies transformation consequences perspectives use administrative economic
#128 0.089 dynamic time dynamics model change study data process different changes using longitudinal understanding decisions develop temporal reveal associated state identifies
#26 0.081 business large organizations using work changing rapidly make today's available designed need increasingly recent manage years activity important allow achieve
#210 0.076 innovation innovations innovative organizing technological vision disruptive crowdsourcing path implemented explain base opportunities study diversity taking actors practice shape creation
#21 0.075 research information systems science field discipline researchers principles practice core methods area reference relevance conclude set focus propose perspective inquiry
#245 0.059 knowledge sharing contribution practice electronic expertise individuals repositories management technical repository knowledge-sharing shared contributors novelty features peripheral share benefit seekers
#60 0.053 analysis techniques structured categories protocol used evolution support methods protocols verbal improve object-oriented difficulties analyses category benchmark comparison provided recognition
#220 0.053 research study different context findings types prior results focused studies empirical examine work previous little knowledge sources implications specifically provide