CAPTURING THE COMPLEXITY IN ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY USE - ADAPTIVE STRUCTURATION THEORY

The past decade has brought advanced information technologies, which i nclude electronic messaging systems, executive information systems, co llaborative systems, group decision support systems, and other technol ogies that use sophisticated information management to enable multipar ty participation in organization activities. Developers and users of t hese systems hold high hopes for their potential to change organizatio ns for the better, but actual changes often do not occur, or occur inc onsistently. We propose adaptive structuration theory (AST) as a viabl e approach for studying the role of advanced information technologies in organization change. AST examines the change process from two vanta ge points: (1) the types of structures that are provided by advanced t echnologies, and (2) the structures that actually emerge in human acti on as people interact with these technologies. To illustrate the princ iples of AST, we consider the small group meeting and the use of a gro up decision support system (GDSS). A GDSS is an interesting technology for study because it can be structured in a myriad of ways, and socia l interaction unfolds as the GDSS is used. Both the structure of the t echnology and the emergent structure of social action can be studied. We begin by positioning AST among competing theoretical perspectives o f technology and change. Next, we describe the theoretical roots and s cope of the theory as it is applied to GDSS use and state the essentia l assumptions, concepts, and propositions of AST. We outline an analyt ic strategy for applying AST principles and provide an illustration of how our analytic approach can shed light on the impacts of advanced t echnologies on organizations. A major strength of AST is that it expou nds the nature of social structures within advanced information techno logies 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 prom ote productive adaptations.