Towards a more realistic appraisal of IT impacts and outcomes a case study analysis based on the structurational model of information technology

This paper attempts to conceptualise the various issues in the IT-change process within the framework of Olikowski and Robey´s (1991) structurational model of IT. This model is derived from Anthony Gidden´s interpretation of social reality in his theory of structuration and provides a meta-theoretical framework which allows for a broad-based systemic approach to the study of organisations. From Gidden´s concept of the duality of structure, Olikowski and Robey derives the four key sets of influences in the interaction between technology and organisation: IT as shaped by designers and users, IT as the medium of work, the influence of social systems on people interacting with IT, and IT´s influence an the organisation´s institutional framework. Our analysis of the people-technology interactions in this case is anchored on these four key sets of influences