Start Date
11-8-2016
Description
This paper examines the way in which the introduction and use of a new information system affects and is affected by the values of a diverse professional workforce. It uses the example of lecture capture systems in a university. Its contribution is to combine two concepts taken from actor-network theory, namely accumulation and inscription, and combine them with an integrated framework of diversity management. A model is developed of accumulation cycles which involve multiple interacting actants, including the broader environment, management commitment to diversity, work group characteristics, individual practices and the affordances of technology. Using this model, alternative future inscriptions can be identified – an optimal one, which enhances professional values, as a result of a virtuous accumulation cycle, or a sub-optimal one, as a result of a vicious cycle. It identifies diversity management as an important influence on the way in which professional values are enhanced, modified or destroyed.
Recommended Citation
Leonard, Jenny; Albores, Pavel; and Higson, Helen, "Virtuous or Vicious Cycle? Inscribing Diverse Professional Values in Lecture Capture Systems" (2016). AMCIS 2016 Proceedings. 1.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2016/Global/Presentations/1
Virtuous or Vicious Cycle? Inscribing Diverse Professional Values in Lecture Capture Systems
This paper examines the way in which the introduction and use of a new information system affects and is affected by the values of a diverse professional workforce. It uses the example of lecture capture systems in a university. Its contribution is to combine two concepts taken from actor-network theory, namely accumulation and inscription, and combine them with an integrated framework of diversity management. A model is developed of accumulation cycles which involve multiple interacting actants, including the broader environment, management commitment to diversity, work group characteristics, individual practices and the affordances of technology. Using this model, alternative future inscriptions can be identified – an optimal one, which enhances professional values, as a result of a virtuous accumulation cycle, or a sub-optimal one, as a result of a vicious cycle. It identifies diversity management as an important influence on the way in which professional values are enhanced, modified or destroyed.