INF5210 Information Infrastructure Class #4 Reflexive Modernisation - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Information Infrastructure Class #4 Reflexive Modernisation

Ben Eaton Dan Truong Le 11/09/2013

INF5210

Discuss this weeks required reading

Cha 3. From Control to Drift:

Hanseth & Braa - Globalization and Risk Society

Towards a Theory of Information Infrastructures

A Theories of Information Infrastructures (Evolution & Design) Assemblage Theory

Process Strategies Architecture Governance Complexity Science Actor Network Theory Reflexive Modernisation

Aims

• To provide you with a vocabulary to describe and explain:

▫ Unpredictable nature of changes in IIs ▫ Side effects caused by changes in IIs ▫ Increased risk that occurs with growth of II and integration of IIs

Key Concepts

• Tension between flexibility & control

▫ designing IIs to be flexible ▫ designing IIs to be controlled and to control

• Reflexivity

▫ Changes to a system feedback to the behaviour of the system in unpredictable ways

Overview

• Models of the Organisation in the Modern Era
• Theories of Modernity
• Consequences of modernity on organisations & their IIs

Models of the Organisation in the Modern Era

“Old School” models of the

• rganisation
• What is the traditional view of the organisation

(Weber)?

▫ The view of organisational structure & function as a machine ▫ Functions can be designed and engineered to be more effective & efficient => productive & profitable -> through a process of rationalisation ▫ The accompanying process by which organisations are structured to facilitate control is known as bureaucratisation.

• What is the role of information technologies in

this view (Beniger)?

▫ The general purpose for information technologies is to facilitate control (includes communication technologies)

“Old School” models of the

• rganisation
• What is the traditional view of the organisation

(Weber)?

▫ The view of organisational structure & function as a machine ▫ Functions can be designed and engineered to be more effective & efficient => productive & profitable -> through a process of rationalisation ▫ The accompanying process by which organisations are structured to facilitate control is known as bureaucratisation.

• What is the role of information technologies in

this view (Beniger)?

▫ The general purpose for information technologies is to facilitate control (includes communication technologies)

More recent views of global ogs

• What are more recent strategies (Bartlett &

Ghoshal 1998)

▫ Multinational – autonomy / distributed resources / delegation ▫ International - more formal control & coms from centre ▫ Global – efficiencies through standardised products processes through centralised control ▫ Transnational – networked organisation & more exchange between centre and local operations

• What forces are in tension behind these

strategies?

▫ Control & integration verses flexibility & local autonomy

More recent views of global ogs

• What are more recent strategies (Bartlett &

Ghoshal 1998)

▫ Multinational – autonomy / distributed resources / delegation ▫ International - more formal control & coms from centre ▫ Global – efficiencies through standardised products processes through centralised control ▫ Transnational – networked organisation & more exchange between centre and local operations

• What forces are in tension behind these

strategies?

▫ Control & integration verses flexibility & local autonomy

Aligning global IT strategies with global management strategies Ives & Jarvenpaa (1991)

1. Independent global IT operation ▫ Subsdiaries pursue independent paths 2. Headquarters-driven global IT ▫ corporate wide IT solutions imposed by "group HQ" 3. Co-operation ▫ mutual assistance between head office and subsidiaries ▫ innovations emerge from the bottom and are propogated company wide 4. Integrated global IT ▫ to cater for transnational strategies - none found!!

• Example Helly Hansen adoption of Microsoft Cloud Service – Office 365

Theories of Modernity

Giddens (1991) – Consequences of Modernity Beck (1992) – Risk Society

What does Giddens mean by his essential dynamics of modernity?

• Separation of Time & Space

▫ Technologies such as clock enabling coordination of activities across time & space ▫ A precondition for rationalisation and control technologies

• Disembedding Mechanisms

▫ Lifting social activity out of localised contexts ▫ Reorganising social relations across time & space

 Mechanism #1 symbolic tokens  Mechanism #2 expert systems

• Reflexive appropriation of knowledge

▫ Knowledge generated through insights into social phenomenon ▫ Reflects back & changes that social phenomenon – e.g. smoking ▫ Possibility that knowledge is then invalidated

What does Giddens mean by his essential dynamics of modernity?

• Separation of Time & Space

▫ Technologies such as clock enabling coordination of activities across time & space ▫ A precondition for rationalisation and control technologies

• Disembedding Mechanisms

▫ Lifting social activity out of localised contexts ▫ Reorganising social relations across time & space

 Mechanism #1 symbolic tokens  Mechanism #2 expert systems

• Reflexive appropriation of knowledge

▫ Knowledge generated through insights into social phenomenon ▫ Reflects back & changes that social phenomenon – e.g. marriage ▫ Possibility that knowledge is then invalidated

What does Giddens mean by his essential dynamics of modernity?

• Why does increased knowledge make things more unpredictable through

the effects of:

• DIFFERENTIAL POWER:

▫ The powerful have access to specialist knowledge, which can be used to serve their interests.

• THE ROLE OF VALUES:

▫ Different groups with different cultural value systems, react in different ways to common problems, which can make problems more complex

• THE IMPACT OF UNINTENTED CONSEQUENCES

▫ Knowledge (or lack of) of social life transcends the intentions of those who apply it to transformative ends.

• THE CIRCULATING OF SOCIAL KNOWLEDGE IN THE DOUBLE

HERMENEUTIC … aka reflexivity ▫ New knowledge feeds back to society, changing their behaviours- invalidating the knowledge created in the first place.

CONSEQUENCES OF GLOBALISATION AND MODERNISATION: RISK SOCIETY

• Beck (1992) identifies the "risk society":

▫ The unpredictability of events ▫ The increased number of risks confronting us

CONSEQUENCES OF GLOBALISATION AND MODERNISATION: RISK SOCIETY

• Giddens (1991) risk profile of modernity:
• Globalisation increases contingent events

▫ Things are more connected

▫ Changes in the global division of labour

• Globalisation increases the intensity of risk

▫ Things are more concentrated

▫ AWS server farm goes down – we are all affected

• The influence of human knowledge on the material environment
• Development of institutionalised risk environments

▫ Effect of derivatives in financial markets on global economy

• Limitations of expertise

▫ Unknown consequences of applying expert knowledge

• Giddens: the careering juggernaut of modernity

Consequences of modernity on

• rganisations & their IIs

How have organisations and their systems been adapted to cater for globalisation and modernity & what are the consequences?

How have organisations and their systems been adapted to cater for globalisation and modernity & what are the consequences?

• The response by many organisations to having global operations is to

integrate their IT systems in an attempt to control their global operations

▫ integrated supply chains, strategic alliances, outsourcing etc ▫ => More complex and tightly integrated systems

• This is an anology of the ideas put forward by Giddens & Beck – just replace

the phrase “knowledge” by “systems”

▫ More knowledge => unpredictability & risk ▫ More (integrated) systems => unpredictability & risk

• Information Infrastructures also have a reflexive nature

▫ Changes to IIs feedback on the IIs unpredictably

Describe the consequences of the reflexive nature of infrastructures

Describe the consequences of the reflexive nature of infrastructures

• The number of actors shaping the infrastructure is so high – it is possible for any of

them to overlook the actions of others – which makes changes in the network unpredictable

• Impossible for individuals “to understand” the whole system, it is quite possible for

changes that are implemented to have unintended consequences

• The side effects of known and unknown actions make the network change in

unpredictable ways

• One change, including the side effects of other changes, trigger new changes =>

increased risk

• Two extreme perspectives on flexibility of IT as a tool

▫ Malleable to users' changing needs – accommodating & flexible ▫ Autonomous of users & designer (Winner 1977) – independent & controlling of them ▫ Where do you stand?

Next Weeks Reading

1. Hanseth and Aanestad. 2003. Design as bootstrapping 2. Hanseth et al. 2012. Standardization Strategies and Service Innovation 3. Braa et al. 2007. Flexible Standardization 4. Hanseth 2002. Gateways