The osmosis of ideas: an analysis of the integrated approach to IT management from a translation theory perspective
By: Doorewaard, Hans.
Contributor(s): Bijsterveld, Mark van.
Material type:
ArticlePublisher: 2001Description: p.55-76.Subject(s): Management | Information technology
In:
OrganizationSummary: Compared to the critical success factors approach, Translation Theory, which is based on Callon/Latour's Actor-network Theory, presents an innovative and inspiring perspective of analyzing a particular management fashion: the so-called Integrated Approach to IT Management. We argue that the `translation' of this vision on IT management into the organizational discourse resembles more the process of `osmosis' than it does the process of `coloning'. Actors do not simply emulate new ideas. The vision must fight its way through a `semipermeable organizational membrane', consisting of existing power networks, organizational culture and subcultures. As a result, during ongoing processes of intermingling and (re)interpreting concepts and practices, the organization slowly changes towards the realization of only a few of the core ideas of the new approach. Translation often takes place unintentionally, as part of a power-based process of implicit meaning and identity formation. We develop a simple conceptual framework of translation, while focusing on the translation processes of alignment, enrolment, congealment and hegemonic power. We illustrate our analysis by exploring PROMIS, a particular application of the Integrated Approach, which was implemented within a bank organization in the Netherlands. - Reproduced
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Articles
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Indian Institute of Public Administration | Volume no: 8, Issue no: 1 | Available | AR48209 |
Compared to the critical success factors approach, Translation Theory, which is based on Callon/Latour's Actor-network Theory, presents an innovative and inspiring perspective of analyzing a particular management fashion: the so-called Integrated Approach to IT Management. We argue that the `translation' of this vision on IT management into the organizational discourse resembles more the process of `osmosis' than it does the process of `coloning'. Actors do not simply emulate new ideas. The vision must fight its way through a `semipermeable organizational membrane', consisting of existing power networks, organizational culture and subcultures. As a result, during ongoing processes of intermingling and (re)interpreting concepts and practices, the organization slowly changes towards the realization of only a few of the core ideas of the new approach. Translation often takes place unintentionally, as part of a power-based process of implicit meaning and identity formation. We develop a simple conceptual framework of translation, while focusing on the translation processes of alignment, enrolment, congealment and hegemonic power. We illustrate our analysis by exploring PROMIS, a particular application of the Integrated Approach, which was implemented within a bank organization in the Netherlands. - Reproduced
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