Information Technology And Organizations

In this summary you will learn

• Why you should focus on the social relations within business and information technology
• How networks serve as vehicles for power relations
• Why you should align your IT strategy with organizational politics

getAbstract rating

Why you should read Information Technology And Organizations

Why does technology often fail to deliver promised benefits? The editors of this book propose a novel answer: More often than not, technology failings are not failures in technology at all, but are instead the result of botched interactions among individuals within organizations. Therefore, why not recruit social scientists to analyze information technology problems? That’s exactly what the editors did, to our simultaneous benefit and great distress. The benefit: The book whittles down more than 150 published reports into the eight sections presented here. Each section provides an innovative look at the complex relationship between the technological and the social. And now the distress: This is a heavy read, thickly and academically written. We can’t recall ever reading a business primer that requires you to have some familiarity with the likes of Foucault and Derrida plus a vague grasp of the Deconstructionist movement. getAbstract recommends this book to a selective audience that is curious about groundbreaking academic research in technology, and is up for a serious challenge of comprehension.

About the Authors

Brian Bloomfield  is a professor of information in management at the Management School of Lancaster University. Rod Coombs  is a professor of technology management at the Manchester School of Management, UMIST, where Dale Littler  is a professor of marketing. David Knights  is a professor of organizational analysis in the Department of Management at Keele University.