Abstract
The socio-technical framework (STF) is useful for describing how technologies are embedded in social systems and how people, groups and technologies are interrelated. This perspective, however, lacks theoretical specificity and has limited usefulness in explaining the dynamics of actual situations. In this paper we address the question of how to extend the STF to better analyse technologies in their social context. We build on the STF by including the concept of ‘information ecology’ and research on service provision to suggest a more empirically focussed way of analysing the relationships between people and technologies. In particular, we examine changes that have occurred as B2C eCommerce technologies have been implemented in service organisations, using case study findings from retail banking to introduce the concept of ‘Coactive Commerce Systems’. This concept provides a theoretically based descriptor for understanding the technologically-mediated interrelationships between organisations and their customers.
Recommended Citation
Blount, Yvette; Castleman, Tanya; and Coulthard, Darryl, "eCommerce in service industries: Extending the Socio-Technical Paradigm" (2005). ACIS 2005 Proceedings. 37.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/acis2005/37