DIALECTICS OF COLLECTIVE MINDING: CONTRADICTORY APPROPRIATIONS OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN A HIGH-RISK PROJECT.

Author List: Carlo, Jessica Luo; Lyytinen, Kalle; Richard J. Boland, Jr.;
MIS Quarterly, 2012, Volume 36, Issue 4, Page 1081-A3.
In unpredictable and unforgiving environments, organizations need to act with care and reliability, often referred to as collective mindfulness. We present a theory-generating, interpretative field study of a highly complex and successful building project by architect Frank O. Gehry. We argue that what has been labeled collective mindfulness is only possible through a dialectic process of collective minding, in which organizational actors simultaneously exhibit elements of being mindful and mindless. Our analysis reveals that collective minding emerges from struggling with contradictions in the five elements of mindfulness. We argue that when actors struggle with these dialectic tensions, the same information technology capabilities are enacted as multiple, contradictory technologies-in-practice. Implications for the further study of collective minding and the appropriation of IT capabilities are discussed.
Keywords: collective mindfulness; Collective minding; Complex sociotechnical systems; dialectics; High-reliability organizations (HROs); IT affordances; IT capabilities; technology-in-practice
Algorithm:

List of Topics

#111 0.347 e-government collective sociomaterial material institutions actors practice particular organizational routines practices relations mindfulness different analysis ways draw agencies drawing ideas
#180 0.210 multiple elements process environments complex integrated interdependencies design different developing integration order approach dialogue framework capabilities settings building focus distinct
#154 0.101 memory support organizations information organizational requirements different complex require development provides resources organization paper transactive depth process outside difficult breadth
#237 0.099 boundary practices capacity new boundaries use practice absorptive organizational technology work field multiple study objects actors actor theory practical spanning
#127 0.082 systems information research theory implications practice discussed findings field paper practitioners role general important key grounded researchers domain new identified