Valuing Technology - Paperback / softback

How does new information technology become part of the fabric of organisational life? Drawing on insights from social studies of technology, gender studies and the sociology of consumption, Valuing Technologyopens up new directions in the analysis of sociotechnical change within organisations. Based on a major research project focused upon the introduction of management of information systems in health, higher education and retailing, I explores the active role of end-users in innovationThis book argues that it is through the , often difficult, engagement between users and technology that new computer systems come to gain value within organisations. Key themes developed through analysis of case studies include*the valuing of technology via the on-going construction of needs, uses and utilitie*occupational identities, organisational inequalities and technological chang*the gendering of technological and organisational chang*interpretive flexibility and the 'stabilisation' of technological systems and their incorporation into the lives of people in organisationsA stimulating blend of the theoretical and substantive, this book demands a radical redefinition of 'technology acquisition'. It's highly original approach makes Valuing Technologyessential reading for students, lecturers and researchers within the fields of organisation studies and the sociology of technology.