Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Blending Complexity And Activity Frameworks For A Broader And Deeper Understanding Of Is, Helen M. Hasan, A Kazluaskas, Kathryn P. Crawford

Helen Hasan

A new age of significance and opportunity for Information Systems (IS) is upon us driven by current developments in the use of digital artifacts. In this paper we endeavor to make sense of contemporary IS, as well as possible future directions of IS, by bringing together the notions of complexity and activity within two theoretical frameworks, namely the Cynefin framework and contemporary uses of Activity Theory. We describe activity as a holistic unit of analysis within the Complicated and Complex Domains of the Cynefin framework. This will enable us to make sense of tool-mediated IS activities in those Domains. Our …