Research programme
The aim of this theme is to examine the role of information systems and technologies (IST) at different levels, ranging from individuals and organisations to society as a whole. It will encompass developments in Europe during the twentieth century, looking in detail at three areas: user practices, the role of intermediaries, and European competitiveness.
Information systems and technologies are broadly defined as objects of
research in this theme. For the latter part of the twentieth century, they
include computer hardware, software, software-based organisation systems (e.g.
Enterprise Resource Planning) and different forms of information exchange (e.g.
eBusiness or "Chat"). For earlier periods, we would look at
predecessors of the computer, such as punch card-systems and keyboard office
machines, but also take into consideration different ways of organising
offices (e.g. filing systems) or the shop floor, such as time and motion
studies.
From a methodological point of view, the research for this theme will take a
broadly defined historical approach. This does not mean that we are mainly
concerned with reconstructing the past. Instead, we prefer to focus on the
long-term and the role of different actors, when examining a range of general
issues with relevance for the present. Most of the research will be case-based,
but there is also room for the collection of aggregate data and more
conceptual, theoretical work.
The research in this theme will examine three broad areas outlined below:
user practices, intermediaries and European competitiveness. At the same time,
it will address three issues that cut across all three areas.
The first issue concerns the complex interrelation between discourse and
action: This is a two-way relationship, because actors might use discourse to
defend and legitimise their decisions, but at the same time, the discourse
influences their actions and decisions. Also, the possibility to "de-couple"
discourse from action (saying one thing, but doing another) should also be
considered. One example showing all dimensions is the issue of European
decline or backwardness in information technology. It has certainly driven
action (in terms of investments in systems and technology) and it was used by
actors (for example companies) to call for government intervention. Regarding
decoupling, one can think of a company pursuing established practices, while
up dating its discourse.
The second issue concerns the formation of identity. This issue has to be
considered at several levels, from the organisation (including basic units
such as the family/household and the workplace), industry or user community to
the regional, national and European levels. Most individuals have multiple
identities, since they belong at the same time to several such levels, and
they might have a hierarchy of allegiances. The question here concerns the
role of IST in the process of identity and allegiance formation. This role can
be both positive and negative. Thus, implementation of new information systems
at the workplace might strengthen the identity and allegiance or, conversely,
produce alienation and cause rejection. The same applies at the societal or
national levels: Individuals might support government policies towards the
creation of an information society for reasons of regional, national and
European "grandeur"; instead, they also might perceive them as a
waste of taxpayers', i.e. their own money.
The final issue to be addressed in the research concerns power relations: This
is based on the insight that IST are not neutral when it comes to hierarchical
relationships within organisations, the position of individuals within society
and the interaction between different countries. Power relations have both a
control and an emancipatory dimension. For example, the application of IST in
a company might improve the flow and availability of information, which could
empower individuals in the decision-making process. However, at the same time,
it might also increases the central control over their actions, because they
become more transparent. The same applies for the society as a whole, where
individuals gain increasing access to information (for example through the
internet), while their behaviour simultaneously becomes more transparent for
companies and governments, who store and analyse their personal data, user
patterns etc. Finally, IST have always been an important issue in
international commercial as well as security relations, with examples ranging
from export control to the linking of police databases.
It should be obvious, that one important question pervading all the issues
above and all the areas below concerns the relationship between Europe, the
United States and global developments. This relationship sometimes remains in
the background, while it might take front stage during other periods. With the
overarching issues of discourse, identity and power in mind, the theme of
information systems and technology in organisations and society will examine
the following three interrelated areas.
The study of user practices with respect to information systems and
technologies focuses on the work and tasks of individuals (both at the shop
floor and in offices) as well as the formal and informal organisational
structures, which contain and accommodate users.
Whether studying work and tasks or structures, a number of issues present
themselves. The most obvious issue is the question of the reconfiguration of
work practices by technology. Alongside the issue of the reconfiguration of
work practices there are also questions about standardisation, both in IST
practices or caused by IST practices. Has standardisation taken place to any
extent and if so does this standardisation represent Americanisation,
globalisation or even Europeanisation? Or, has there been relatively little
standardisation in IT practice but rather a continuing diversity, which needs
to be managed? A third issue arising around users is the simplicity and
complexity of IST practices, particularly the problem of processes being
implemented in an attempt to simplify but which, in practice actually increase
the complexity of organisational operations. This may address the wider issues
of the tensions of Europe in that there may be a degree of misunderstanding of
national culture in such problems. A broader, but related issue arises then,
in the frequent discord between the rhetoric of technology introduction and
the practice of implementation. A final issue related to all of those already
mentioned is that of timing. Early developers versus late developers -whether
in countries, regions, sectors or companies- represent a possibility for
exploring tensions in IST user practices across Europe.
Possible ways of studying these topics and issues are examinations of the
variation in the process of implementation from place to place or analyses of
implementation in various parts of one multinational enterprise. Research
methods would include interviews, analysis of instruction manuals and other
documents of the organisation studied.
Intermediaries between producers and users are increasingly recognised to
be important for the development and application of technologies.
Intermediaries may give meanings to new products or services, may support the
implementation process at the user end, and may provide the required
complementary technologies or services. They may also form the required
networks of other relevant actors and they may create the conditions for the
successful adoption or adaptation of a product or service. At the same time,
such intermediaries may provide information, e.g. on user practices, to the
producers of the technology as an input to their innovation or marketing
processes. Examples of intermediaries for information systems and technologies
are user communities concerned with technology implementation and improvement;
consulting firms advising the users in the choice and implementation of
hardware and software; software houses that adapt and extend software packages
to the users conditions, educational institutions; media promoting the use of
technology or providing general advice to users; government agencies setting
standards or creating other conditions for the innovation and application
process; and public thinkers or 'gurus'.
The main question in this part of the research programme is how intermediaries,
as separate institutions or individuals between producers and users, have
influenced the development and implementation process of IST in the European
context. Of interest are professionalisation processes of intermediaries;
changes in the borders between different intermediaries in the course of time;
the mixed identities of intermediaries (for instance their identification with
engineering communities, national interests or specific firms); differences
between their role in different countries, the relations and co-operation
between intermediaries in different countries, and the emergence or creation
of intermediaries at a European level. For this latter purpose intermediaries
in Europe can be considered to be at the interchange of three processes of
information and knowledge exchange and creation: (1) a process between
producers, intermediaries and users, (2) a process between intermediaries in
different countries, including countries and continents outside the European
Union and (3) a process between different types of intermediaries. Sometimes,
of course, parts of these processes could coincide, for instance a part of (1)
and a part of (2) coincide when both the producer and the most important
intermediaries related to a specific technology were located in the same
country, i.e. the United States.
Possible questions are to what extent tensions and differences in context
existed between similar intermediaries in different countries, to what extent
a unification process took place between intermediaries at a European level
and how intermediaries dealt with the remaining tensions and differences in
context.
Since the early twentieth century IST have been used to enhance European
competitiveness, and from the inter-war years, they became a key for the
development of modern mass societies. Therefore, studies of these industries
are important both to improve our knowledge of the dynamics within European
industry and to understand the dynamics of industry and technology in society.
The IST industries were dominated by companies in the United States from the
outset, and the question of national autonomy was debated during all of the
twentieth century, crucial when war and warfare hampered supplies or as
advanced technologies might be withheld from Europe due to American distrust,
like West Germany experienced for advanced electronics around 1950, France for
sophisticated computers in the 1960s and the Eastern part of Europe until the
late 1980s.
The theme of American dominance in the IST industries versus national
independence has been studied in various national contexts and within the
wider discourse on European decline. Firstly, much has been accomplished in
published studies of the making of industrial policies, particularly national
analyses and macroeconomics studies. Most published studies have collected
data and provided reconstructions of developments, but we find that further
studies are needed to explore the discourses and to develop syntheses beyond
the national level. We would therefore encourage studies examining the
transnational level and adopting a global geographical perspective. This would
include research on co-operation between governments and companies in Europe,
within and outside the framework of European integration.
Secondly, the dynamics of corporate strategies in European IST industries have
been addressed in several published studies. Such studies can further our
understanding of the role of European issues on the actor, organisational and
government levels in the shaping of this industry. Though the IST industry was
dominated by American companies, European challengers emerged early and
several local affiliates of US companies managed to develop some degree of
independence from their bigger American partners. At the same time, most
European challengers in this industry preferred to establish alliances with
American and later Japanese competitors to arrangements with European rivals,
a tendency only modified during the last twenty years. Therefore, additional
studies of IST companies may contribute to the understanding of the internal
dynamics of multinationals, crucial to understand corporate strategies of
internationalisation, alliance making and mergers. Studies of corporate
strategies are also needed to understand the role of corporations in the
forming of national and European industrial policies, for the shaping of a
European identity, as well as for standard setting.