By the end of the course, the
students should be able to:
- Identify and explain the theories presented in the course,
including their underlying assumptions and approaches.
- Understand, combine and critically discuss these theories with
respect to a social analysis of information systems.
- Apply these theories on IS cases and demonstrate skills at
analyzing IS in their social and organizational context.
- Evaluate problems, challenges, and propose solutions at an
independent and reflected academic level.
|
Developing and implementing information systems (IS) in and
across organizational contexts is a rather multifaceted challenge
that does not only involve their design, but also the development
of supportive social frameworks and institutional structures as
well as normative conventions that complement and reinforce their
adoption and diffusion at large. Therefore, investigating the
technological nature of IS without examining their prevalent social
aspects yields an incomplete and somewhat shortsighted
understanding of the underlying issues at stake.
Thus far, the prevailing discourse on IS has had a techno-centric
orientation in spite of the far-reaching social ramifications of
these systems. Subsequently, the aim of this course is to explore
social and organizational aspects of IS by building on theories
such as actor-network theory, social construction of technology,
institutional theory, structuration theory, and other theories used
in organization studies. In particular, the course builds on
literature that explains, applies, builds on, or compares social
aspects of information systems.
The unifying themes that we wish to discuss in the course are:
what assumptions about the design, implementation, and use of
information systems are embedded in these strands of literature?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the approaches in terms of
conducting a social analysis of information systems, including
individual and collective practices with respect to the design and
use of IS? How can the theories be applied to real cases of IS in
organizations and what are the practical implications?
The course’s development of personal competences:
This course will develop the students’ skills in analyzing how
information systems impact social relations and organizational
structures in organizations, and how social relations influence the
design, implementation and adoption of IS. In this respect, the
course will enhance the students’ understanding of the complexity
of information systems.
|