Module Information System for Printing and Internet Order Instructions: The module Information System introduces the student to the use and management of information systems in varied organizational settings.
It adopts social science and a management perspective to appreciate the history, function, and impact of Information Systems.
Technology I choose:
Printing press (1450)
Internet (the 1990s)
Essential readings
1. Brown, S. J. & Duguid, P. (2000) The Social Life of Information. Harvard Business
2. Newell, S. et al (2009) Managing Knowledge Work and Innovation, 2nd edition. Palgrave
3. Kallinikos, J. (2010) Governing Through Technology: Information Artefacts and Social
Practice. Palgrave Macmillan
Recommended readings
1. MacKenzie, D. & Wajcman, J. (1999) The Social Shaping of Technology. 2nd ed. Open University Press
2. Suchman, L. (2007) Human-Machine Reconfigurations: Plans and Situated Actions. 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press
3. Scarbrough, H. & Corbett, M. (1992) Technology and Organization: power, meaning, and design. Routledge.
4. Bouwman H. et al (2008) Information & Communication Technology in Organizations, SAGE
5. Nonaka I. & Tackeuchi H. (1995) The knowledge-creating company: how Japanese companies create the dynamics of innovation. Oxford University Press
6. Walsham, G. (1993) Interpreting Information Systems in Organizations. John Wiley & Sons Inc
6. Winner, L. (1999) ‘Do artifacts have politics?’ in The Social Shaping of Technology. 2nd ed. Open University Press. (Chapter 2). [Electronic]. Available at:
http://www.nyu.edu/projects/nissenbaum/papers/Winner.pdf
7. Clegg, S. et al (2008) Managing and Organisations: An Introduction to theory and practice, 2nd edition, London: Sage
8. Latour, B. (2007) Reassembling the Social: An Introduction to Actor-Network Theory. Oxford University Press.
9. Zuboff, S. (1989) In The Age Of The Smart Machine: The Future Of Work And Power. Basic Books
10. Jonhs, A. (2002) ‘How to Acknowledge a Revolution’, The American Historical Review, vol. 107, no. 1, pp. 106-125
11. Eisenstein, E. (2002) ‘An Unacknowledged Revolution Revisited’, The American Historical Review, vol.107, no.1, pp. 87-105
12. Latour, B. (1992) ‘’Where Are the Missing Masses? The Sociology of a Few Mundane Artifacts’’ In Shaping Technology/Building Society: Studies in Sociotechnical Change. Cambridge MIT Press. pp.225-258. [Electronic] Available at:
http://www.bruno-latour.fr/sites/default/files/50-MISSING-MASSES-GB.pdf
13. Grint, K. & Woolgar, S. (1997) The machine at work: technology, work, and organization. Cambridge, UK; Malden, MA, Polity Press?; Published in the USA by Blackwell.
Academic journals
Information and Organization
MIS Quarterly
Information Systems Research
?Information Systems Journal
New Technology, Work & Employment
Journal of Information Technology
European Journal of Information Systems
Module Information System for Printing and Internet Sample Answer
Introduction
Since the reception of technology, there has been socio techno debate emanating from different perceptions of people. Socio techno debate comes as a result of different orientations of people towards a certain technology. When a technology makes its way to the society, there is usually a confusion of the benefits and the harmful effects of the technology, (Vaast, Davidson & Mattson, 2013). This aspect leads to the occupation of different positions when it comes to the effects of such a technology to the society, and to a greater extent, a debate on whether the technology should be absorbed or not. This paper discusses application of socio techno debate on emergence of printing press as well as the internet. Implication of the analysis is given in understanding the technological innovations.
Printing press
Technology is one of the controversial aspects in the society. When a technology emergences, it comes with mixed reactions in as far as its reception is concerned. The society receives a technology with mixed reactions depending with their perception especially in terms of the advantages as well as the demerits associated with it, (Baek, Meroni, & Manzini, 2015). Before the emergence of printing press, no one had imagined the ease that such a technology would bring to the society.
On the other hand, there are some demerits of such technology, which still had not been imagined. With the emergence of the printing press technology, there came with it the socio technical debate on its acceptance or resistance, (Scarbrough & Corbett,1992). As it is with emergence of technologies and their reception in the society, there was debate on whether the printing press as new technology should be fully accepted and availed to the whole society or there should be limitations.
The printing press came with a lot of advantages in terms of making work easier. It is very difficult to even imagine how tiring it was to make many copies of documents before the emergence of the printing press technology, (Grint & Woolgar, 1997). With manual duplication of documents, there was bound to be many errors and it was almost entirely impossible to produce many documents with the same information in the required clarity. With the absence of a printing press, there was wastage of time and also loss of clarity of documents. But with its emergence, there was all possibilities of saving time as well as producing exactly similar documents hence avoidance of loss of prudence of document.
However, as is always with technology, there was the other side emerging from socio technical orientations. As earlier indicated, the socio technical debate emanates from a consideration of the demerits of a technology. Every technology usually has its negative side, (Eisenstein, 2002). As for the printing press, there were the issues associated with it such as a lot of noise. Consideration of the noise as an issue in the emergence of printing press may be considered as trivial, but it is one of the issues that led to the debate on the acceptability of printing press, (Reig-Otero, Edwards-Schachter, Feliú-Mingarro & Fernández-de-Lucio, 2014).
The socio technical debate over printing press was fuelled by the future focus of the younger generation at the time, which was foreseeing a better mode of doing the work with more efficiency and with little or no noise. A consideration of the cost of the printing press technology equipment was also a fuelling factor of the debate. In as far as some part of the society was concerned, it was not worthwhile to consider acceptance of the printing press due to the high cost of the equipment especially in comparison to the less need of printing in the time. However, in the absence of other better method, the printing press was retained for a while until the emergence of the more efficient technology.
Internet
It has been argued that; no new technology has brought socio technical debate as long and strong as the internet. Emergence of the internet came with many facets that influenced its reception in the society. As it is usual with every technology, the positive side is seen first. The negative side of a technology is usually there, right from the time a technology emerges in the society, but it is not noticed right away. It is after a while that the society notices the negative side of a technology, and there the socio technical debate begins, (Brown & Duguid, 2000).
With the internet, there was first full acceptance of the technology with little consideration of the negative side that could be detrimental to the society. The internet came as a great relief to the society especially in terms of easing communication, (MacKenzie & Wajcman, 1999). For instance, bulk information could be sent from one place to the other using the internet, such as by use of email. The Internet has enabled people in the society to share information in a more efficient manner. Here two aspects come into play.
Due to the efficiency of the internet, it is possible to share bulk information. For instance, many online books could be sent through the internet. This kind of endeavor would not be possible if the information was to be sent manually. There is also the issue of saving time. The internet makes it possible for information to be shared within a very short period of time, (Suchman, 2007). With a click of a button, it becomes possible to share so much information. The divergence of the modes of using the internet added the advantages of this technology/For instance, it is not limited to the computer. It is possible to make use of the internet through other simpler and cheaper devices such the phones. This diversification enables people in the society to make use of the internet in a more efficient manner.
However, there are varied disadvantages associated with the internet. It is such disadvantages that brought the socio technical debate on the internet, (Jonhs, 2002). For instance, the internet was associated with addiction. When one gets to use the internet for long periods of time each day, there is the danger of getting addicted to it. A person gets to feel very much uncomfortable when they happen to miss the sessions of the internet.
Many people, including internet users, take the issue of internet addiction as a light matter, (Lewis, Mengersen, Buys, 2015). What they do not realize is that internet addiction is a very critical condition. A person could get addicted to the internet such that; to reverse the condition, hospitalization is required. It becomes advisable to people to limit the usage of the internet so as to avoid addiction. It is such conditions that bring in the socio technical debate. There is a debate on whether an entity that is capable of bringing such degrees of addiction should be acceptable in society.
Another ill associated with the internet is the cost. Supply of the internet comes at a cost, (Tiropanis, Hall, Crowcroft et al, 2015). At times, it is costly to use the internet especially in situations where one needs to make use of it for a longer period of time. A consideration of the cost of usage of the internet has led to some part of the society being of the opinion that the internet is not of a positive impact and therefore should be done away with.
At times, the cost of the internet itself is not the issue of concern but rather the cost of the devices for facilitating internet usage, (Clegg et al, 2008). For instance, computers, which are meant to facilitate usage of internet are not cheap devices. The phones that are capable of anchoring internet usage are neither cheap. As such, some part of the society feel that the internet is not useful especially in ruining ones economic realms. Even when it comes to organizational level, there has been misgivings when it comes to adoption of usage of the internet due to the initial cost involved especially in installing the required devices.
Another ill of the internet that has fuelled the socio technical debate on this technology involves fraud and cheating, (Facer, 2012). There has been online cheating whereby; through the internet, people lie about their real identity and end up making people hook up with them only for them to realize that they are not the real people they had portrayed in the internet. With such lies, people have travelled even long distances to meet new friends only for them to receive the shock of their lives when they realize that they have been duped.
Implication
Analysis of socio technical debate point to the realization that; every technology comes with its merits and demerits. It is the merits that are first and easily observed. With time people come to realize the demerits of the technology, (Stratford, 2015). It is at such point that the society creates the socio technical debate whereby; some part feels that the new technology should be embraced due to the positive side of it, while the rest of the society feels that the new technology should be abandoned.
The debate by itself is not a bad thing. However, it is crucial that the society looks for ways of mitigating the ills associated with a technology. For instance, it would be viable if the society would be educated on the ills of technology such as internet addiction. When the society gets aware of internet addiction, it becomes possible for them to limit their usage of the internet such that they do not happen to be addicted, (Bouwman et al, 2008).
It is crucial for the society to come up with ways of mitigating the ills associated with a technology, (Newell, et al (2009). For instance, for the noise that was associated with printing press technology, usage of asbestos went a long way in ensuring that the noise did not go beyond the walls of the building housing the technology equipment.
It is also crucial for the society to be well enlightened on means of curbing the ills of technology instead of doing away with the technology. For instance, to mitigate the high cost associated with internet, it is crucial that the society is advised on usage of cheaper devices of internet connection such as phones instead of computers. The technology of shared internet should also be embraced to curb the high cost.
Module Information System for Printing and Internet References
Baek, J. S., Meroni, A., & Manzini, E. (2015). A socio-technical approach to design for community resilience: A framework for analysis and design goal forming. Design Studies, 4060-84. doi:10.1016/j.destud.2015.06.004
Bouwman H. et al (2008) Information & Communication Technology in Organizations, SAGE
Brown, S. J. & Duguid, P. (2000) The Social Life of Information. Harvard Business
Clegg, S. et al (2008) Managing and Organisations: an Introduction to theory and practice, 2nd edition, London: Sage
Eisenstein, E. (2002) ‘An Unacknowledge Revolution Revisited’, The American Historical Review, vol.107, no.1, pp. 87-105
Facer, K. (2012). Taking the 21st century seriously: young people, education and socio-technical futures. Oxford Review Of Education, 38(1), 97-113.
Grint, K. & Woolgar, S. (1997) The machine at work: technology, work, and organization. Cambridge, UK; Malden, MA, Polity Press?; Published in the USA by Blackwell.
Jonhs, A. (2002) ‘How to Acknowledge a Revolution’, The American Historical Review, vol. 107, no. 1, pp. 106-125
Kallinikos, J. (2010) Governing Through Technology: Information Artefacts and Social Practice. Palgrave Macmillan
Lewis, J., Mengersen, K., Buys, L., Vine, D., Bell, J., Morris, P., & Ledwich, G. (2015). Systems Modelling of the Socio-Technical Aspects of Residential Electricity Use and Network Peak Demand. Plos ONE, 10(7), 1-21. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0134086
MacKenzie, D. & Wajcman, J. (1999) The Social Shaping of Technology. 2nd ed. Open University Press
Newell, S. et al (2009) Managing Knowledge Work and Innovation, 2nd edition. Palgrave
Reig-Otero, Y., Edwards-Schachter, M., Feliú-Mingarro, C., & Fernández-de-Lucio, I. (2014). Generation and Diffusion of Innovations in a District Innovation System: The Case of Ink-Jet Printing. Journal Of Technology Management & Innovation, 9(2), 56-76.
Scarbrough, H. & Corbett, M. (1992) Technology and Organization: power, meaning and design. Routledge.
Stratford, E. (2015). A critical analysis of the impact of Island Studies Journal: retrospect and prospect. Island Studies Journal, 10(2), 139-162.
Suchman, L. (2007) Human-Machine Reconfigurations: Plans and Situated Actions. 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press
TIROPANIS, T., HALL, W., CROWCROFT, J., CONTRACTOR, N., & TASSIULAS, L. (2015). Network Science, Web Science, and Internet Science. Communications Of The ACM, 58(8), 76-82. doi:10.1145/2699416
Vaast, E., Davidson, E. J., & Mattson, T. (2013). TALKING ABOUT TECHNOLOGY: THE EMERGENCE OF A NEW ACTOR CATEGORY THROUGH NEW MEDIA. MIS Quarterly, 37(4), 1069-A2.
