Socio-technical (S/T) elements and relationships and associated schools of thought and related theoretical positions form the principal axis through which information system scholars have theorized and explained the design, implementation, use and effects of digital technologies in organizational settings over the past 50 years. The content, scope and nature of such theorizing in the field has changed and advanced as  digital technology uses have expanded in organizations and all walks of life transforming technologies of work, information sharing and use and entertainment, and recently biological foundations of life. The origins of socio-technical thinking and theory dates back to applications of socio-technical change model in automating office work in the 60’s (Mumford/Land). The view was soon adopted by MIS scholar in the 70’s to design and explain the effects of growing pool of information systems systems (Davis, Bostrom-Heinen). Since then the theory, its uses and scope have expanded across multiple levels and settings of the design, implementation, and use of IS  (e.g. task/technology fit, process theorizing, organizational implementation and process change, organizational transformation). In line with this socio-technical thinking has been expanded to multiple theoretical positions with varying ontological, epistemological and theoretical positions of the technical elements and their nature and how they interact with social elements shaping emergently the properties of hierarchically nested socio-technical systems. Such positions cover classical S/T theory, work-life movement, actor-network theory, social-shaping of technologies (STS), social construction of technologies and varying forms of socio-materiality just to name a few. Recently, these theoretical positions have been expanded with incremental and punctuated views of socio-technical system change and novel theorizing of new forms of technical systems (AI) with novel emergent properties on S/T level behaviors (meta-human systems).

This 2 day seminar will take a broad view of the history of ST thinking and its impact of IS field and its evolution and analyzes how S/T schools of thought and positions has been applied to design, implement and understand the uses and effects of IS in varying organizational settings. The aim of the seminar is to organize S/T thinking and theories into a organized framework and positions and to provide students a plausible and original understanding how  S/T thinking has evolved and shaped the formation and evolution of the field. Many of the reviewed articles and positions reflect the  teachers personal engagement and experience in dealing with, making sense of and appreciating varying forms of S/T thinking over the past 40 years. The seminar will offer possibilities for students to learn and apply varying socio-technical positions to their own ongoing research.

Program

The program details will be updated later.

Credit points

Doctoral students participating in the seminar can obtain 2 credit points. This requires active participation and completion of the essay submission.

Registration fee

This seminar is free-of-charge for Inforte.fi member organization's staff and their PhD students. For others the participation fee is 400 €. The participation fee includes access to the event and the event materials. Lunch and dinner are not included.