A long-standing debate in the IS literature concerns the relationship between technology and organization. Does technology cause effects in organizations, or is it humans that determine how technology is used? Many socio-theoretic accounts of a middle way between the extremes of technological and social determinism have been suggested: in recent years the more convincing explanations have been ...

This article presents and discusses a selection of theories concerned with describing and explaining human action in context: activity theory, actor-network theory, interactionist theory of work, and structuration theory. The theories have some characteristics in common, although their emphasis and basic perspectives are different. The similarities and differences are illustrated by a case in t...

Prior research has extended Giddens' (1984) structuration theory to incorporate material agency as part of a social-technical ensemble. Yet the ways in which physicaldigital spaces contextualise interactions and structure work practices is under explored. In our study, we extend concepts of locale and regionalisation from structuration theory to IS fields of research in digitally mediated commu...

Although it is currently common to speak of organizational learning, this notion is still surrounded by conceptual confusion. It is unclear how notions like learning, knowledge and cognitive activities can be applied to organizations. Some authors have tried to unravel the conceptual and ontological problems by giving an account of the role of individuals in organizational learning. However, th...

The implementation and use of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems raise fundamental questions about the role of management accountants in an organisation. The case studied here, involving an attempt to establish an ERP system in an organisation funded by both the European Union (EU) and the Egyptian government, is an exploration of conflicting beliefs about the role of management account...

to the extent that a society is to work, there exist a need for a cooperative process, including weber’s and merton’s note of common means and goals. but at the same time, there exist no societal process without involving conflict; (conflict in a dynamic and dialectical sense.) dealing with this problematic situation the emergence of “division of labor”, as a compulsive social differentiation, ...

A revelatory case study has been conducted to investigate the influence of the organizational culture on risks in IT projects. Following the Grounded Theory Methodology, we interviewed 26 experts from a large financial service provider. We selected a company from the cooperative banking sector, which makes this case unique. With Giddens’ Structuration Theory as a theoretical lens, we show how t...