Creative technological change1999

What is creative technological change? This text explores new ways of thinking and acting in relation to this question in contemporary organisations. It examines how technology shapes organisations and how organisations shape technology - especially 'virtual' and other information and computing technologies. A wide range of thinking on these issues from organisational theory, political economy, evolutionary economics, feminist analysis, the sociology of technology and the 'new socio-technical theory' is outlined. The idea of metaphor is deployed to capture the differences between, and strengths and weaknesses of, different ways of conceptualising the technology/organisation relationship. It is argued that this approach offers the possibility of developing new ways of thinking about, viewing and ultimately responding creatively to the organisational challenges posed by technological change. The book concludes by outlining a model of the process by which technology and organisation are configured.Topics covered include:* machine, biological and virtual ways of understanding technology and organisation* the evolution of innovative organisational forms* the politics of consuming technology in organisations* social constructivist perspectives on the production of technology* the socio-economic shaping of technology and organisation* configuring technology and organisation.