Ola Henfridsson: What's the meaning of First Class: Making sense of new IT in social work

I intend to explore the processes by which First Class - a client/server system developed by SoftArc Inc. - was adapted in a Swedish social services department. Of special interest are the cognitive processes by which managers, group leaders and social workers made sense of First Class in their practical work. Besides the department's overall intention to promote internal information exchange, First Class was attributed a variety of meanings by the actors involved. To mention a few, the role of making the social worker an active information consumer, enabling vertical integration, establishing the learning organization and supporting the relationship between the department and the citizens were some of them. On the basis of this interpretive case study, certain attention-structures are identified as both facilitators and restrictions for how IT is constructed meaningful in social work.

Jonny Holmström: Inscribing Organizational Behavior - IT Infrastructure and the Idea of the Rational Organization

My presentation deals with IT infrastructure development and use in the municipal organization of Umeå. The main element of the infrastructure discussed is a new decision-support application for the organization. However, this application is not an isolated artifact; its effects are emerging as it is becoming an integrated part of a larger infrastructure. This infrastructure is initially designed and controlled, but as the project proceeds it becomes increasingly an actor shaping its environment. This view is expressed by one of the initiators: 'This project is not only a matter of technical implementation, but also an implementation of a new economical behavior. In my presentation, I will focus on the case study for my PhD thesis. The purpose of my PhD thesis is to generate better understanding of the role and meaning of IT infrastructure in organizational activities. An understanding of the role and meaning of IT infrastructure in organizational activities is developed theoretically and empirically, using data collected during an 30 month study at a municipal organization. Semi-structured interviews and ethnographic observations are used as data collection techniques. The development and subsequent use of a new IT application is analyzed as part of an IT infrastructure. Actor-network theory is employed to highlight how actors are enrolled as the network grows. I understand design and use of IT infrastructure as a process of negotiation, where decisions are improvised and technologies are drifting. If the process of negotiation is successful, the IT infrastructure finds its place as an element in a larger network. I conclude with some tentative conclusions on IT infrastructure adaptation and on IT infrastructure for decision-support.

Välkommna!
Ola Henfridsson