Socio-Technical Structure: An Experiment in Integrative Theory Building

Abstract

When it comes to investigating the relationship between the social and the technical, the Information Systems (IS)discipline has been a net importer of theories. These theories often carry differing interpretations of central concepts, which then become both contusing and difficult to integrate. In response to calls for IS to become a reference discipline in its own right (in other words, a theory exporter), this paper offers an example of integrative theory development. Instead of adapting a theory from another discipline or building a theory from empirical data, we examine the structure concept in some of its various theoretical adaptations in IS and try to integrate them to produce theory focusing on IS concerns while resolving some of the major areas of contention. Both social and technological versions of structure are investigated through three theoretical IS perspectives drawn from different reference disciplines. The first perspective relates to social theories (principally structuration theory), the second to linguistic theories (principally the structural linguistics of Chomsky), and the last to science studies (principally actor-network theory). The objective is to study areas of agreement and contention around the structure concept. Areas of agreement can be incorporated into integrative theory development, whereas areas of contention must be resolved (a far more difficult task). The resulting theoretical model is illustrated with a case study involving competence management systems design and use at Volvo Information Technology in Goteborg, Sweden.