Lessons Learned from the Use of E-mail
and Intranet in Support of an Organisational Change Process
Prof Dubravka Cecez-Kecmanovic, Dubravka@uws.edu.au
University of Western Sydney, Hawkesbury
Tuesday 19 May, 1998, 11 AM.
Abstract
The literature review provides contradictory evidence regarding the
social effects of collaborative technologies such as groupware and
electronically mediated communications in support of organisation-wide
decision-making processes. Due to their inherent characteristics, these
technologies are believed to contribute to freedom of speech, equality
of access, and the lowering of social barriers, and thus are considered
to advance participatory, democratic decision making (a technological
deterministic approach). However, many recent studies challenged these
views and provided evidence to the contrary. This seminar will address
the core problem in understanding the social effects of technologies on
organisational decision making processes which is the complex
interactions among the actors and these technology as contingent upon a
social and cultural context. The results from a case study of an
Organisational Support System (OSS) in a consultative organisational
change process in an Australian University will be reported. Through the
provision of a "virtual discussion forum", the OSS based on
e-mail and intranet was deployed to enable equal participation of all
University members and freedom of expression ("everybody will have
their say and will be heard") and to contribute to more
participative and consensus based decision making. The data collected in
this research (messages, documents, interviews, notes) provide mixed
evidence regarding the attainment of these objectives. We identified
significantly different modes of use of the OSS across the institution,
by departments, groups and individuals. We found that contextual
determinants such as management traditions, the use of power, and the
possible existence of a culture of consultation, conditioned the modes
of use and consequently the role the OSS played in the process. On the
other hand, we also observed how the OSS and the Consultative process in
turn impacted upon these contextual factors. The participants are
invited to discuss the relevance of these results to the the design and
implemenation of organisation support systems.
Back to Home Page