IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/ororsc/v6y1995i4p462-478.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Constructing the Networked Organization: Content and Context in the Development of Electronic Communications

Author

Listed:
  • Martin Lea

    (Department of Psychology, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL England)

  • Tim O’Shea

    (Institute of Educational Technology, The Open University, Buckinghamshire, England)

  • Pat Fung

    (Institute of Educational Technology, The Open University, Buckinghamshire, England)

Abstract

This paper presents a case study of the development of electronic communications in a changing organization with the aim of studying the complex relationship between content and context in the design and implementation of technological change in communications. The development of a computer-mediated communication system was followed over a period of four years during which time the participating organization expanded by acquisition and then reformed in conjunction with its neighbours in other countries into an integrated, “networked” organization in preparation for the creation of the Single European Market. The Actor-Network approach, which uses a network metaphor as a framework for understanding the relationship between content and context in technology design, is used to explore the co-construction of the new organizational form and the new communications system. We contrast this approach with traditional and other recently proposed approaches and conclude that the study of actor networks affords an opportunity to transcend the dualities between the technical and the social and between content and context that currently frame studies of electronic communications in organizations.

Suggested Citation

  • Martin Lea & Tim O’Shea & Pat Fung, 1995. "Constructing the Networked Organization: Content and Context in the Development of Electronic Communications," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 6(4), pages 462-478, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:6:y:1995:i:4:p:462-478
    DOI: 10.1287/orsc.6.4.462
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/orsc.6.4.462
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/orsc.6.4.462?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. JoAnne Yates & Wanda J. Orlikowski & Kazuo Okamura, 1999. "Explicit and Implicit Structuring of Genres in Electronic Communication: Reinforcement and Change of Social Interaction," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 10(1), pages 83-103, February.
    2. Martha L. Maznevski & Katherine M. Chudoba, 2000. "Bridging Space Over Time: Global Virtual Team Dynamics and Effectiveness," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 11(5), pages 473-492, October.
    3. Benson, Angela M. & Blackman, Deborah, 2011. "To distribute leadership or not? A lesson from the islands," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 32(5), pages 1141-1149.
    4. Han Chu & Robert Hassink & Dixiang Xie & Xiaohui Hu, 2023. "Placing the platform economy: the emerging, developing and upgrading of Taobao villages as a platform-based place making phenomenon in China," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 16(2), pages 319-334.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:6:y:1995:i:4:p:462-478. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.