Abstract
The sociotechnical systems approach emphasises the need to manage or to resolve the inconsistencies and conflicts that arise with the use of IT systems in organisations. This theoretical paper introduces an analytical framework to further develop this approach, by augmenting its ability to represent the complex social contextualisation of IT systems in terms of various human and functional aspects. This framework is used to systematically clarify the behavioural properties of organisational action (e.g. legitimacy, power, knowledge) around the use of information technologies, from a standpoint of both positive and negative dimensions. The utility of this analytical framework is demonstrated through a brief case example of the context of legitimacy surrounding an organization’s adoption of outsourced call centre operations. This paper equips sociotechnical systems theory towards incorporating a more inclusive account of the social dynamics surrounding the use of IT in different organizational contexts.
Recommended Citation
Corea, S., "A sociotechnical systems framework for mapping action and restriction in the use of it" (2006). ECIS 2006 Proceedings. 203.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/ecis2006/203