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Liminal innovation in practice: understanding the reconfiguration of digital work in crisis

Author

Listed:
  • Orlikowski, Wanda J.
  • Scott, Susan V.

Abstract

As conditions of crisis disrupt established practices, existing ways of doing things are interrupted and called into question. The suspension of routine sociomaterial enactments produces openings for liminal innovation, a process entailing iterative experimentation and implementation that explores novel or alternative materializations of established work practices. We draw attention to three distinct tensions on the ground that arise in conditions of crisis — pragmatic, tactical, and existential — and show how these may be leveraged to produce liminal innovations in practice. While the process of liminal innovation can be challenging, it can also be generative, creating opportunities for the reconfiguration of digital work in conditions of crisis.

Suggested Citation

  • Orlikowski, Wanda J. & Scott, Susan V., 2021. "Liminal innovation in practice: understanding the reconfiguration of digital work in crisis," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 108858, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
  • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:108858
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    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/108858/
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jennifer Howard-Grenville & Karen Golden-Biddle & Jennifer Irwin & Jina Mao, 2011. "Liminality as Cultural Process for Cultural Change," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(2), pages 522-539, April.
    2. Martha S. Feldman & Wanda J. Orlikowski, 2011. "Theorizing Practice and Practicing Theory," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(5), pages 1240-1253, October.
    3. Wanda J. Orlikowski & Susan V. Scott, 2014. "What Happens When Evaluation Goes Online? Exploring Apparatuses of Valuation in the Travel Sector," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(3), pages 868-891, June.
    4. Karl E. Weick, 1988. "Enacted Sensemaking In Crisis Situations[1]," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(4), pages 305-317, July.
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    Cited by:

    1. Julian Marx & Stefan Stieglitz & Felix Brünker & Milad Mirbabaie, 2023. "Home (Office) is where your Heart is," Business & Information Systems Engineering: The International Journal of WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK, Springer;Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (GI), vol. 65(3), pages 293-308, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    digital work; liminality; materialization; practice; experimentation; conditions of crisis;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J50 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - General

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