Combining social shaping of technology and communicative action theory for understanding rhetorical closure in IT

Marlei Pozzebon, Ryad Titah and Alain Pinsonneault
Additional contact information
Marlei Pozzebon: EM - EMLyon Business School

Post-Print from HAL

Abstract: Purpose – Proposes the concept of rhetorical closure to address the phenomenon of pervasive IT "fashions". Suggests that prevailing discourses surrounding IT are dominated by the rhetoric of closure and that such closure, although mutually constructed by suppliers, consultants and managers, has had several adverse consequences in terms of organizational change and results. Stimulates a critical thinking regarding the persistence of successive waves of new IT fashions and the consequences of closure on practice. Design/methodology/approach – Theoretical framework informed by political views within the social shaping school combined with Habermas' theory of communicative action. Illustration of the argument is based on 22 semi-structured interviews (senior practitioners from client-firms, software suppliers and consulting-firms working on ERP projects). Findings – Outlines the nature of the "chain reaction" produced by rhetorical closure from individual practices to the segment level. Identifies occasions for breaking down rhetorical closure at the three levels of analysis. At the individual level, opportunities are related to daily users' practices. At the organizational level, opportunities are related to ongoing organizational decisions and negotiations regarding IT adoption. At the segment level, opportunities are related to forming coalitions, networks and groups of users. Originality/value – Adopts an original perspective, examining the concept of rhetorical closure from a combination of two approaches: social shaping of technology and communicative action theory. Connects different types of closure to different types of rationality, and recognizes the specific validity claims underlying them. Calls into question current decision-making processes that sustain IT pervasiveness and taken-for-granted assumptions of inevitability associated with new IT fashions. Keywords Communication technologies, Cost benefit analysis, Cost effectiveness, General management

Date: 2006-07-01
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Published in Information Technology and People, 2006, 19 (3), pp.244-271 P

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02311856

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Post-Print from HAL
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CCSD ().