Sociotechnical reinvention: Implementation dynamics and collaboration tools

Abstract

Sociotechnical systems theory suggests several themes about implementation, including continuous mutual adaptation of tool and context, task emphasis, the priority of process, and changes in evaluative criteria over time. The effectiveness of these ideas is illustrated in the experience of the World Bank in its implementation of a group decision support system, GroupSystems.

Keywords:

• Groupware
• implementation
• innovation
• sociotechnical design
• technological change