Capturing the Complexity in Advanced Technology Use: Adaptive Structuration Theory

The past decade has brought advanced information technologies, which include electronic messaging systems, executive information systems, collaborative systems, group decision support systems, and other technologies that use sophisticated information management to enable multiparty participation in organization activities. Developers and users of these systems hold high hopes for their potential to change organizations for the better, but actual changes often do not occur, or occur inconsistently. We propose adaptive structuration theory (AST) as a viable approach for studying the role of advanced information technologies in organization change. AST examines the change process from two vantage points: (1) the types of structures that are provided by advanced technologies, and (2) the structures that actually emerge in human action as people interact with these technologies. To illustrate the principles of AST, we consider the small group meeting and the use of a group decision support system (GDSS). A GDSS is an interesting technology for study because it can be structured in a myriad of ways, and social interaction unfolds as the GDSS is used. Both the structure of the technology and the emergent structure of social action can be studied. We begin by positioning AST among competing theoretical perspectives of technology and change. Next, we describe the theoretical roots and scope of the theory as it is applied to GDSS use and state the essential assumptions, concepts, and propositions of AST. We outline an analytic strategy for applying AST principles and provide an illustration of how our analytic approach can shed light on the impacts of advanced technologies on organizations. A major strength of AST is that it expounds the nature of social structures within advanced information technologies and the key interaction processes that figure in their use. By capturing these processes and tracing their impacts, we can reveal the complexity of technology-organization relationships. We can attain a better understanding of how to implement technologies, and we may also be able to develop improved designs or educational programs that promote productive adaptations. (Information Technology; Structural Theory; Technology Impacts) 1.0. Introduction Information plays a distinctly social, interpersonal role in organizations (Feldman and March 1981). Perhaps for this reason, development and evaluation of technologies to support the exchange of information among organizational members has become a research tradition within the organization and information sciences (Goodman 1986, Keen and Scott Morton 1978, Van de Ven and Delbecq 1974). The past decade has brought advanced information technologies, which include electronic messaging systems, executive information sys1047-7039/94/0502/0121/$01.25 Copyright ? 1994. The Institute of Management Sciences ORGANIZATION SCIENCE/VO1. 5, No. 2, May 1994 121 This content downloaded from 140.119.81.207 on Mon, 14 Sep 2015 14:43:08 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions GERARDINE DESANCTIS AND MARSHALL SCOTT POOLE Adaptive Structuration Theory tems, collaborative systems, group decision support systems, and other technologies that enable multiparty participation in organizational activities through sophisticated information management (Huber 1990, Huseman and Miles 1988, Rice 1984). Developers and users of these systems hold high hopes for their potential to change traditional organizational design, intelligence, and decision-making for the better, but what changes do these systems actually bring to the workplace? Wh,at technology impacts should we anticipate, and how can we interpret the changes that we observe? Many researchers believe that the effects of advanced technologies are less a function of the technologies themselves than of how they are used by people. For this reason, actual behavior in the context of advanced technologies frequently differs from the "intended" impacts (Kiesler 1986, Markus and Robey 1988, Siegel, Dubrovsky, Kiesler and McGuire 1986). People adapt systems to their particular work needs, or they resist them or fail to use them at all; and there are wide variances in the patterns of computer use and, consequently, their effects on decision making and other outcomes. We propose adaptive structuration theory (AST) as a framework for studying variations in organization change that occur as advanced technologies are used. The central concepts of AST, structuration (Bourdieu 1978, Giddens 1979) and appropriation (Ollman 1971), provide a dynamic picture of the process by which people incorporate advanced technologies into their work practices. According to AST, adaptation of technology structures by organizational actors is a key factor in organizational change. There is a "duality" of structure (Orlikowski 1992) whereby there is an interplay between the types of structures that are inherent to advanced technologies (and, hence, anticipated by designers and sponsors) and the structures that emerge in human action as people interact with these technologies. As a setting for our theoretical exposition, we consider the small group using a group decision support system (GDSS). A GDSS is one type of advanced information technology; it combines computing, communication, and decision support capabilities to aid in group idea generation, planning, problem solving, and choice making. In a typical configuration, a GDSS provides a computer terminal and keyboard to each participant in a meeting so that information (e.g., facts, ideas, comments, votes) can be readily entered and retrieved; specialized software provides decision structures for aggregating, sorting, and otherwise managing the meeting information (Dennis et al. 1988, DeSanctis and Gallupe 1987, Huber 1984). A GDSS is an interesting technology for study because its features can be arranged in a myriad of ways and social interaction is intimately involved in GDSS use. Consequently, the structure of the technology and the emergent structure of social action are in prominent view for the researcher to study. There currently is burgeoning interest in GDSSs and their potential role in facilitating organizational change. GDSS is a rich context in which to expound AST, but the principles of the theory apply to the broad array of advanced information technologies. In this paper we outline the assumptions of AST and detail a methodological strategy for studying how advanced technologies such as GDSSs are brought into social interaction to effect behavioral change. We begin by positioning AST among an array of theoretical perspectives on technology and change. Next, we describe the theoretical roots and scope of the theory and state the essential assumptions and concepts of AST. We summarize the relationships among the theoretical constructs in the form of propositions; the propositions can serve as the basis for specification of variables and hypotheses in future research. Finally, we outline a method for identifying structuring moves and present an illustration of the theory's application. Together, the theory and method provide an approach for penetrating the surface of advanced technology use to consider the deep structure of technology-induced organizational change. 2.0. Theoretical Roots of AST 2.1. Competing Views of Advanced Information Technology Effects Two major schools of thought have pursued the study of information technology and organizational change (see Table 1). The decision-making school has been more dominant. This school is rooted in the positivist tradition of research and presumes that decision making is "the primordial organizational act" (Perrow 1986); it emphasizes the cognitive processes associated with rational decision making and adopts a psychological approach to the study of technology and change. Decision theorists espouse "systems rationalism" (Rice 1984), the view that technology should consist of structures (e.g., data and decision models) designed to overcome human weaknesses (e.g., "bounded rationality" and "process losses"). Once applied, the technology should bring productivity, efficiency, and satisfaction to individuals and organizations. Variants within the decision school include "task-technology fit" models (Jarvenpaa 1989), which stress that technology must match work tasks in order to bring improvements in 122 ORGANIZATION SCIENCE/VO1. 5, No. 2, May 1994 This content downloaded from 140.119.81.207 on Mon, 14 Sep 2015 14:43:08 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions GERARDINE DESANCTIS AND MARSHALL SCOTT POOLE Adaptive Structuration Theory Table 1 Adaptive Structuration Theory Blends Perspectives from the Decision-making School and the Institutional School Major Perspectives on Technology and Characteristics of Organizational Change Each Perspective Examples of Theoretical Approaches Decision-making School focus on technology engineering decision theory (Keen and Scott Morton 1978) hard-line determinism task-technology "fit" (Jarvenpaa 1989) relatively static models of behavior "garbage can" models (Pinfield 1986) positivist approach to research ideographic, cross-sectional research designs Social Technology School focus on technology and social structure sociotechnical systems theory (Bostrom (integrative perspectives) and Heinen 1977, Pasmore 1988) soft-line determinism structural symbolic interaction theory mixed models of behavior (Saunders and Jones 1990, Trevino et al. 1987) positivist and interpretive Barley's (1990) application of structuration theory approaches are integrated Orlikowski's (1992) structurational model adaptive structuration theory Institutional School focus on social structure segmented institutional (Kling 1980) nondeterministic models social information processing (Fulk et al. 1987, pure process models Salancik and Pfeffer 1978, Walther 1992) interpretive approach to research symbolic interactionism (Blumer 1969, Reichers 1987) nom