Talking About Change: An Analysis of Participative Discourse Amongst IT Operations Personnel

This paper presents some findings from a longitudinal study of the discourse of Operations personnel in a university Information Technology Centre (ITC). The study uses a four dimensional concept of discourse to examine the complex relationship between the discourse and the wider organisational context. The use of language characteristic of participatory design has been identified in this study as metaphorical, and appropriated by a drive towards increased management control. This paper suggests that in order to understand the nature of change management in an IT organisation, the relationship between discourse and other organisational practices needs to be elucidated.