Information Technology and the Structuring of Organizations

TLDR

Social theory now views phenomena as comprising both subjective and objective elements, moving beyond earlier traditions. The study applies this duality premise to analyze how information technology relates to organizations, aiming to guide research in systems development and organizational consequences. The authors construct a structuration‑based framework that treats IT deployment as a social phenomenon, integrating material and social dimensions to transcend common dichotomies.

Abstract

Recent work in social theory departs from prior traditions in proposing that social phenomena can be understood as comprising both subjective and objective elements. We apply this premise of duality to understanding the relationship between information technology and organizations. We construct a theoretical framework in which the development and deployment of information technology in organizations is a social phenomenon, and in which the organizational consequences of technology are products of both material and social dimensions. The framework is based on Giddens' theory of structuration, and it allows us to progress beyond several of the false dichotomies (subjective vs objective, socially constructed vs material, macro vs micro, and qualitative vs quantitative) that persist in investigations of the interaction between organizations and information technology. The framework can be used to guide studies in two main areas of information systems research—systems development and the organizational consequences of using information technology.