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Designing for ICT-enabled openness in bureaucratic organizations: problematizing, shifting and augmenting boundary work

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

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Type

Article

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Authors

Faik, I 
Thompson, MPA 

Abstract

There is a growing focus on achieving ‘openness’ in the design and transformation of organizations, in which the enabling role of ICTs is considered increasingly central. However, bureaucratic organizations with rigid structures continue to face significant challenges in moving towards more open forms of organizing. In this paper, we contribute to our understanding of these challenges by building on existing conceptualizations of openness as a form of boundary work that transforms by challenging both internal and external organizational boundaries. In particular, we draw on a performative view derived from actor-network theory to analyze a case study of ICT-based administrative reforms in a judicial system. Building on our case analysis, we develop a typology of the various roles that ICTs can play in both enabling and constraining ongoing boundary work within the context of their implementation. We thus present a view of ICT-enabled open organizing as a process where ICTs contribute to problematizing, shifting, and augmenting ongoing boundary work. This view highlights the inherently equivocal nature of the role of ICTs in transformations towards higher levels of openness.

Description

Keywords

Open Organizing, Organizational Boundaries, Boundary Work, Organizational Change, Actor-Network Theory, Justice System

Journal Title

Journal of the Association for Information Systems

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1536-9323
1558-3457

Volume Title

20

Publisher

Association for Information Systems