Of maps and scripts: The status of formal constructs in cooperative work

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Abstract

The received understanding of the status of formal organizational constructs in cooperative work is problematic. This paper shows that the empirical evidence is not as strong as we may have believed and that there is evidence from other studies that contradicts what we may have taken for granted for years. This indicates that the role of formal constructs is more differentiated than generally taken for granted. They not only serve as `maps' but also as `scripts'.

Section snippets

Determining the meaning of formal constructs

In a large body of sociological literature, the commonsense presumption that pre-defined organizational constructs (formal structures, procedures, methods, plans) somehow determine action has been subjected to critical examination. For years, study after study have demonstrated, unambiguously and beyond any doubt, that the status of these formal organizational constructs in the actual course of work is problematic in that these constructs are abstract idealizations when taken as representations

The problem of generalization

On the basis of which kind of evidence can we make well-founded statements about the status and use of formal constructs in cooperative work settings? Or rather, what can be learned from which kind of evidence?

First of all, there is reason to assume that formal constructs are used in radically different ways in small ensembles and in large-scale cooperative settings. That is, we need to be cautious as to how and to which extent we generalize from studies of the use of formal constructs in small

Maps and scripts

Suchman's analysis of office procedures as the product of the orderly work of the office, rather than the reflection of some enduring structure that stands behind that work, has been generalized in her book on Plans and Situated Action: “plans are resources for situated action, but do not in any strong sense determine its course. While plans presuppose the embodied practices and changing circumstances of situated action, the efficiency of plans as representations comes precisely from the fact

The crucial role of artifacts

Formal constructs would be of only marginal utility if they were not inscribed upon artifacts. In the coordination of cooperative work (to stick to my main concern here) the role of the artifact is, fundamentally, to give permanence to the protocol for which it stands proxy in the sense that it conveys the stipulations of the protocol in a situation-independent manner. As observed by Jack Goody, “The written language [reaches] back in time” ([39], p. 280). Written artifacts can at any time be

Conclusions

I have tried to demonstrate that the prevalent understanding in CSCW of the status of formal constructs in cooperative work is problematic. The empirical evidence for the received understanding is not as robust as we may have believed and there is evidence from other studies that indicates that formal constructs are not always as feeble and ephemeral as we may have taken for granted. There are good reasons to believe that formal constructs incorporated in computer artifacts may be quite helpful

Acknowledgements

The research has been supported by the European Union's ESPRIT Basic Research (COMIC), by The Danish Natural Science Research Council, and by the European Union's HCM program (ENACT) and TMR program (COTCOS). I am indebted to the anonymous referees and to Liam Bannon, John Bowers, Christian Heath, John Hughes, Dave Randall, Wes Sharrock, and Carla Simone for critical comments—and, occasionally, also an encouraging word or two. Special thanks are due to Peter Carstensen and Bjarne Kaavé for

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