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Constructing Interdependencies with Collaborative Information Technology

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Abstract

Interdependencies are constructed when peoplegradually build mutual relationships betweenthemselves. In this study the focus is oninterdependencies at work, in long-termprojects or groups. Viewing interdependencerelationships dynamically, as social practices,it is possible to appreciate the complex andsituated nature of this formation. The maingoal of the study is to develop a theoreticalaccount of the dynamics of the intertwinedprocesses of interdependence construction andcollaborative technology appropriation and use.The main dimensions of this account are: (1)how interdependence is constructed andestablished as a social process, (2) howinformation and communication are involved inthese processes, and (3) in what wayscollaborative information technology cancontribute to or hamper these processes. Thefirst dimension builds upon structurationtheory. Three earlier case studies arere-visited with the approach, with the outcomeof several issues to be explored. Thetheoretical approach opens up an extensiveresearch program of interdependenceconstruction in relation to collaborativeinformation technology appropriation and use.

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  1. Department of Information Technology, University of Turku, Lemminkäisenkatu 14 A, 20520, Turku, Finland

    Helena Karsten

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Karsten, H. Constructing Interdependencies with Collaborative Information Technology. Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) 12, 437–464 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026197001679

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