Making sense of context. “Conditions of possibility” and the shaping of website development
| Date | 04 May 2010 |
| Published date | 04 May 2010 |
| Pages | 88-104 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/13287261011042903 |
| Author | Bill Doolin |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management |
JSIT
12,2
88
Journal of Systems and Information
Technology
Vol. 12 No. 2, 2010
pp. 88-104
#Emerald Group Publishing Limited
1328-7265
DOI 10.1108/13287261011042903
Making sense of context
‘‘Conditions of possibility’’ and the shaping
of website development
Bill Doolin
AUT Business School, Auckland University of Technology,
Auckland, New Zealand
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present an exploratory analysis of how key actors in
three New Zealand regional tourism organizations interpret various local and general contextual
conditions in accounting for website development, and how such sense-making is likely to have
shaped the configuration of generic web technology in each organization.
Design/methodology/approach – Narrative analysis of accounts provided by key actors involved
in website development planning and decision-making in three small tourism organizations is used.
Where possible, the narrative analysis was supplemented by document review and interviews with
other organizational stakeholders.
Findings – Despite their ostensibly similar roles, the three organizations developed websites that
exhibited significant variation in scope, functionality and sophistication. The analysis suggests that
much of this local variation in website form and function was the result of how the general managers
(GMs) in these organizations, acting as ‘‘configurational intrapreneurs’’ in website development,
interpreted contextual ‘‘conditions of possibility’’ in which their organizations were situated.
Research limitations/implications – As analysis occurred after website development, recourse is
made to development narratives authored in an interview setting by the GMs of the three
organizations studied. It is argued that the sense-making occurring in these situated narratives
reflects the sense-giving performed by these key actors during the website development process.
Originality/value – The study suggests that how specific conditions of possibility are perceived
and mobilized by influential actors plays an important role in shaping the technological outcome of
website development, particularly in small organizations. It demonstrates the utility of analysing the
sense-making processes inherent in narratives of information systems development as a way of
understanding the strategic development and use of such systems.
Keywords Tourism management, Narratives, Communication technologies, Internet, New Zealand
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Studies of socio-technical change have established that technological development is as
much a social process as a technical one (Bijker and Law, 1992). Generic technologies
such as the world wide web are inherently malleable with respect to the possibilities
for their interpretation, configuration and use (Clarke and Preece , 2005). The local
adaptation of such technologi es frequently occurs within organizational settings where
competing interests and political activity shape the conduct of actors. In this sense,
the design and development of a website does not proceed in a technologically
deterministic manner. Rather, it is socially constructed. The aim of this paper is to
explore one way that this social construction of technology may proceed by focusing
on how context is implicated in processes of technological adaptation.
A focus on context highlights the situated nature of information sys tems
development. It acknowledges that the form and nature of development activity
‘‘depends in essential ways on its material and social circumstances’’ (Suchman, 2007,
p. 70), and must be viewed as situated in the context from which it emerges, rather than
isolated or divorced from it (Gasson, 1999; Walsham, 1993). From such a perspective,
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Making
sense of
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the trajectory of an info rmation system development, the configurations that are
proposed, and the consequences of its implementation, are shaped by the historical,
cultural, economic and institutio nal context in which development is situated. As
Avgerou(2002, p.9) observes:
Situated studies reveal the local dynamics of change: the way people enact their roles
and what meaning these roles ascribe to a particular technology innovation; how the
organizational structures and relationships enable or constrain them; what oppo rtunities they
perceive; and how, within the context of constraints and opportunities of the organization’s
particular setting, technology is shaped and change is enacted.
The ‘‘shaping and making’’ (Clarke and Preece, 2005) or adaptation of a generic
technology to a specific organizational situation frequently involves ‘‘configurational
intrapreneurs’’ (McLoughlin et al., 2000). These are influential individuals who
initiate change, guide the development of technological outcomes and manage their
boundaries (Badham et al., 2001). They secure resources for technology projects, make
or influence decisions at critical stages (such as system requirements or selection),
and provide indicators of appropriate behaviour towards the new technology for other
organizational participants. Focusing on configurational intrapreneurs is particularly
appropriate when considering information technolog y development in small
organizations, where decisions about internet and web adoption are typically made by
a single key decision-maker (and who is thus an important source of information)
(Beckinsale et al., 2006; Martin, 2005; Riemenschneider et al., 2003).
How a technology is adapted and used in organizational settings is shaped by the
meaning it is given. This can be viewed as a process of sense-making, in which
key individuals such as configurational intrapreneurs create meaning around a
technological change for themselves, and sense-giving, in which they communicate
that meaning to others – ‘‘to provide a viable interpretation of a new reality and to
influence stakeholders and constituents to adopt it as their own’’ (Gioia and Chittipeddi,
1991, p. 443; see also Pettigrew et al., 1992; Rouleau, 2005). In particular, such
individuals interpret and mobilize aspects of the technology and organizational and
wider socio-cultural contexts in order to constr uct meaning, justify their decisions,
influence the actions of others, and gain legitimacy for the new tec hnological
configuration (McLoughlin, 1999; Symon, 1998). Symon (1998, p. 62) refers to this as the
‘‘culturalizing’’of an ‘‘otherwise [...] anonymous generic product’’.
In order to explore the role of context in technological adaptation or configuration,
this paper discusses the findings of a study of website development in New Zealand
regional tourism organizations (RTOs) – small, geographically based destination
marketing organizations. The RTOs developed websites that exhibited significant
variation in scope, functionality and sophistication, despite their ostensibly similar
roles. The exploratory analysis presented in this paper suggests that much of this local
variation in website form and function was the result of how key actors in these
organizations interpreted the context in which the RTOs were situated.
This paper focuses on how the general managers (GMs) of three RTOs, the
configurational intrapreneurs in their organizations’ website developments, made sense
of the context in which they perceived their RTOs were located. Each GM framed his
discussion of the RTO’s website as a developmentnar rative or story, in which the website
emerged as a rational response to various internal or external conditions. As actors
intimately involved with the overall website development process, their interpretation and
mobilization of various contextual ‘‘conditions of possibility’’ (Knights and Mur ray, 1994)
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