Web technologies in practice: the integration of web technologies by environmental organizations

Abstract

This article uses a structuration model to explore the interaction between technology and organizations. Based on a case study of three environmental organizations in Norway and opposing visions of a single predetermined effect of web technology, it argues that the implications of web technologies within organizations are diverse and can strengthen existing organizational characteristics. With diverging organizational structures, norms and culture, different interpretations, meanings and practices tied to the same technologies develop. Technology is situated and used in concrete social contexts, being shaped by and in turn shaping social and organizational structures. In established and institutionalized organizations new communication technology can reinforce existing ways of conduct, while in less institutionalized groups, features of new web technology may have greater implications for the further development and shaping of these groups. Although this study is context- and time-specific, the observed patterns of web technology usage, their meanings and implications might also point to functions of web technologies in other comparable contexts.