Ola Henfridsson: Decision Support or Decision Justification? - On the Stategic Use of Computer-Based Decision-Support

During this seminar, Ola Henfridsson intends to discuss to what extent the use of information technology is determined by its design. The subject of discussion has mainly derived from reflections upon the paper Decision Support or Decision Justification? - On the Stategic Use of Computer-Based Decision-Support presented at IRIS 19. This paper explores the limitations of the database design (a design rationale that today's executive information systems are claimed to be based on) when it comes to strategic decisions and actions. It is claimed that executive information systems support presuppositions and preconceptions, rather than provide new insights for better strategic decisions.

The paper disregards, however, the complexity that characterises the relation between the design and use of information technology. Generally, the use of information technology tend to have unintended consequences, consequences that emerge from the interaction between information technology and organisations. In order to understand and explain this complexity, various researchers have developed models and concepts such as the duality of technology, interpretive flexibility, and formative contexts.

Andreas Lund: Behaviour out of Place

During the seminar, Andreas Lund will present his paper Behaviour out of place. This paper is a revised version of a paper presented at the IRIS 19 conference earlier this year.

The paper discusses social implications of the World Wide Web. The discussion is based on a general framework, provided by Joshua Meyrowitz, for analysing media and social change. According to this framework, social roles have three different aspects: group identity, socialisation and hierarchy. These different aspects are susceptible to change as a result of media when three different situational variables are altered: (1) relative access to social information, (2) distinction between on-stage/ backstage behaviour and (3) the importance of physical locations. The paper discusses how the World Wide Web may alter the situational variables. A strict interpretation of the framework gives that the World Wide Web may contribute to blur formerly distinct group identities, decrease the number of socialisation stages and undermine the foundations for the communication of authority.

However, these results are questioned in the paper and it is argued that Meyrowitz` framework is not sufficient for undestanding social implications of the Web. What differs the Web from many other kinds of media is that in addition to bridging distances in physical space, it also constitutes what might be called a virtual space or imaginative space, a space which is created in the mind of the Web traveller. The insufficency of Meyrowitz` framework is largely due to the failure of accounting for social importance of this new kind of spatiality. In support of this claim, an illustration is provided, where -non-physical - proximity seems to contribute to an unwanted social affiliation.

Välkommna!
Kenneth Nilsson