Wanda Orlikowski - Contribution

Contribution

Orlikowski contributes to information technologies and organization studies drawing on structuration and practice theories.

Structurational studies of technology and organizations have been highly influenced by the social studies of technology. Initially arguing for a view of the "duality of technology," Orlikowski went on to argue for a practice-based understanding of the recursive interaction between people and technologies over time. Orlikowski (2000) argues that emergent structures offer a more generative view of technology use, suggesting that users do not so much appropriate technologies as they enact particular technologies-in-practice with them. The ongoing enactment of technologies-in-practice either reproduce existing structural conditions or they produce changes that may lead to structural transformation.

Based on a series of empirical studies of collaborative technologies (groupware), Orlikowski identified at least three types of enactment produced within different conditions and producing different consequences associated with humans engagement with technology in practice. The first type of enactment is inertia and it leads to reinforcement and preservation of structural status quo. Human action with the use of technology tends to be incremental, with people using technology to continue their existing work practices. In the case of collaborative software, Orlikowski identified Inertial types of enactment in institutional conditions that included rigid career hierarchies, individualistic incentives, and competitive cultures. The second type of enactment identified is that of application which arises as people begin to use the technology in new ways within their practices. Such use tends to produce noticeable changes to existing information, tools, and artifacts, as well as work relations and practices. The third type of technological enactment identified is that of change, where people tend to integrate the technology into their ways of working so as to produce transformations in work relations and practices. Such changes can lead to important transformations in the structural status quo.