Exploring sociotechnical interaction with Rob Kling: five “big” ideas
Abstract
Purpose
To provide a view of Rob Kling's contribution to socio‐technical studies of work.
Design/methodology/approach
The five “big ideas” discussed are signature themes in Kling's own work in the informatics domain, and of his intellectual legacy.
Findings
This paper conveys something of Kling's presence in social informatics (SI) thinking by focusing on a number of “big” ideas – “multiple points of view”, “social choices”, “the production lattice” (and its corollary, the problematization of the user), “socio‐technical interaction networks”, and “institutional truth regimes”.
Research limitations/implications
A growing research community has demonstrated the power of SI techniques. It is essential that this body of work is sustained and developed, demonstrating how to undertake investigation and observation, that is not driven by instrumentalism but is informed by and leads to “technological realism”.
Practical implications
The SI corpus, exposing the dangers of naïve instrumentalism as an approach to information systems design and management, can guide practitioners on how to unpack the history of what is in view. This may be a specific technology, a social formation, or a sociotechnical circumstance. Practitioners may draw on the concepts presented, not as a prescriptive toolkit, but rather as a sensitizing frame to assist those who wish to re‐vision the workplace.
Originality/value
Central to the successful utilisation of computers in work, we argue, is the continuing development of a portfolio of interpretive concepts (such as STINs, regimes of truth, production lattices) that can consolidate Rob Kling's “big” ideas that are the core of this paper.
Keywords
Citation
Horton, K., Davenport, E. and Wood‐Harper, T. (2005), "Exploring sociotechnical interaction with Rob Kling: five “big” ideas", Information Technology & People, Vol. 18 No. 1, pp. 50-67. https://doi.org/10.1108/09593840510584621
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2005, Emerald Group Publishing Limited