DIALECTICS OF COLLECTIVE MINDING: CONTRADICTORY APPROPRIATIONS OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN A HIGH-RISK PROJECT

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Carlo, Jessica Luo; Lyytinen, Kalle; Boland, Richard J., Jr.
• 署名单位: Michigan State University; University System of Ohio; Case Western Reserve University
• 刊物名称: MIS QUARTERLY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0276-7783
• 发表日期: 2012
• 页码: 1081-1108
• 关键词: HIGH-RELIABILITY; STRATEGIC ALLIANCES; system-development; ORGANIZATIONS; PARADOX; MINDFULNESS; complexity; management; INNOVATION; DECISION

摘要

In unpredictable and unforgiving environments, organizations need to act with care and reliability, often referred to as collective mindfulness. We present a theory-generating, interpretative field study of a highly complex and successful building project by architect Frank O. Gehry. We argue that what has been labeled collective mindfulness is only possible through a dialectic process of collective minding, in which organizational actors simultaneously exhibit elements of being mindful and mindless. Our analysis reveals that collective minding emerges from struggling with contradictions in the five elements of mindfulness. We argue that when actors struggle with these dialectic tensions, the same information technology capabilities are enacted as multiple, contradictory technologies-in-practice. Implications for the further study of collective minding and the appropriation of IT capabilities are discussed.