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Articles 1 - 19 of 19
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
An Activity-Theory Analysis Of Corporate Wikis, Helen M. Hasan, Charmaine C. Pfaff
An Activity-Theory Analysis Of Corporate Wikis, Helen M. Hasan, Charmaine C. Pfaff
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
Purpose: Wiki technologies, which are popular in social settings, are beginning to contribute to more flexible and participatory approaches to the exploitation of knowledge in corporate settings. Through the lens of activity theory, this paper aims to investigate contentious challenges to organizational activities that may be associated with the introduction of corporate wikis, in particular the potential democratization of knowledge work. Design/methodology/approach: From a study of several cases of corporate wiki adoption, this paper presents and interprets two representative cases sampled to provide more generalized results. Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews and observation. The analysis followed a systematic …
The Unit Of Analysis In Is Theory: The Case For Activity, Helen Hasan, Sumayya Banna
The Unit Of Analysis In Is Theory: The Case For Activity, Helen Hasan, Sumayya Banna
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
In the field of IS, researchers use and adapt existing theories to make sense of their data. They also build new theory from their research findings. The way theory is used, adapted or created usually assumes a certain unit of analysis, which could be the artefact, the system, the organisation, the user, the developer, the team or something else. In this paper we propose that ‘activity’ should also be considered as a suitable unit of analysis for theory in IS since the purpose of any information systems is to facilitate activities of use. To support this proposition, we describe tenets …
Blending Complexity And Activity Frameworks For A Broader And Deeper Understanding Of Is, Helen M. Hasan, A Kazluaskas, Kathryn P. Crawford
Blending Complexity And Activity Frameworks For A Broader And Deeper Understanding Of Is, Helen M. Hasan, A Kazluaskas, Kathryn P. Crawford
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
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 …
Board Composition, Board Activity And Ownership Concentration, The Impact On Firm Performance, Shiguang Ma, Gary Tian
Board Composition, Board Activity And Ownership Concentration, The Impact On Firm Performance, Shiguang Ma, Gary Tian
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
This paper provides a parallel investigation on the impact of board composition, board activity and ownership concentration on the performance of listed Chinese firms. We find that independent directors enhance firm performance effectively than other board factors. The frequency of shareholder meetings, rather than board meetings, is positively associated with firm value. Tradable share ownership concentration has a positive and linear relationship with firm value, while state and total share ownership concentration represent U(V) shapes. Importantly, companies with the highest levels of both total share and tradable share ownership concentration have a greater firm values than companies with the highest …
Ict Devices As Ubiquitous Tools For Information Seeking Activity, Joseph A. Meloche, Helen M. Hasan
Ict Devices As Ubiquitous Tools For Information Seeking Activity, Joseph A. Meloche, Helen M. Hasan
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
This paper investigates the use of current and developing ubiquitous digital devices and the way that they impact on, and are integrated into, use by groups within the community for information seeking. Three cases are presented involving ubiquitous use of the mobile phone, USB memory devices, and a wireless groupware system. The study considers the need for ongoing research to inform, direct and study the innovative use, appropriation and development of such tools. The primary methodological framework that is applied is activity theory, as it allows dasiatoolpsila to be examined in light of purposeful activity in the context of their …
A Cultural-Historical Activity Theory Approach To Users, Usability And Usefulness, Helen M. Hasan
A Cultural-Historical Activity Theory Approach To Users, Usability And Usefulness, Helen M. Hasan
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
This paper takes an historical overview of the field of Human-Computer Interaction. Itdescribes how the cognitive psychology emphasis on user involvement in systemsdevelopment of the 1980s reached its limit by the early 1990s. At this point the focus shifted onto support for the tasks of users using computer-based systems in real contexts, a focus that ideally suits the mobile, ubiquitous and social technologies of the new millennium. The Cultural-Historical Activity Theory provides an appropriate framework for understanding this phenomenon and is adopted in this paper to present the work, over a seven year period, of a usability laboratory grounded in …
A Contextual Approach To Design And Development Of Interfaces For Search Engines, Using Activity Theory As The Basis For Informing Design Decisions, Joseph A. Meloche, Li Cheng
A Contextual Approach To Design And Development Of Interfaces For Search Engines, Using Activity Theory As The Basis For Informing Design Decisions, Joseph A. Meloche, Li Cheng
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
The goal of this study is to support the design of more effective search engines. The research presented in this chapter investigates the design of search engines in the context of information seeking
activities. This study is also informed by Activity Theory and considers Information Seeking to be a Keystone Activity. This improvement in search engine design takes into consideration the context of users, and elicits and captures users' explicit and implied requirements. The study uses Q-methodology to elicit the subjective understanding of the participants thought the phases provided by the methodology. This entails collecting, sorting and analysis of detailed …
A Campus Portal Development Methodology To Match Stakeholder Activity, Tharitpong Fuangvut, Helen M. Hasan
A Campus Portal Development Methodology To Match Stakeholder Activity, Tharitpong Fuangvut, Helen M. Hasan
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
Although introduced less than seven years ago, a Campus Portal (CP) can be considered as an emerging technological innovation within higher education institutions. A large number have already adopted the concept and are currently implementing some type of portal to extend the services of their Web site and information systems to support the activities of institutional stakeholders, especially students. There is some literature recommending sets of characteristics and functionality for successful CPs, in particular personalisation and customisation. However there is a lack of evidence on which aspects of core attributes lead to the failure of a portal to satisfy user …
The Network Centric Environment Viewed Through The Lens Of Activity Theory, Irena Ali, Leoni Warne, Helen M. Hasan
The Network Centric Environment Viewed Through The Lens Of Activity Theory, Irena Ali, Leoni Warne, Helen M. Hasan
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
A network centric (NC) environment has the potential to transform the ways in which people gather, share, and process information with connectivity achieved thorough technological and social networks. This is of relevance to the military environment which is
characterised by constant change and uncertainty, and exposed to the vagaries of the political and economic climate. This chapter will analyse human activities in the military network centric context
through the lens of the Cultural-Historical Activity Theory. Based on current research findings it is proposed that the activity of sense-making is central to common awareness and decision making, through information sharing, in …
Systems Resemblance And Workpractice Evolution: Implications For Work Activity (Re)Design, Rodney J. Clarke
Systems Resemblance And Workpractice Evolution: Implications For Work Activity (Re)Design, Rodney J. Clarke
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
This paper is concerned with addressing the question of how apparently disparate and unconnected systems can resemble each other. The question of what counts as a systems resemblance necessitates developing contextual workpractice descriptions associated with the systems features and ultimately entire systems. Using systemic semiotics an apparent ontogenetic convergence between entirely different systems is used to show that systems resemblance can be inferred when the constituent workpractices of information systems consist of comparable register features and especially if they exhibit comparable generic features. The implications of these findings for a new class of work activity (re)design practices are considered.
Articulating Knowledge Work: The Contributions Of Activity Theory And Task-Based Knowledge Management, Henry Linger, Frada Burstein, Helen M. Hasan
Articulating Knowledge Work: The Contributions Of Activity Theory And Task-Based Knowledge Management, Henry Linger, Frada Burstein, Helen M. Hasan
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
This chapter addresses issues of knowledge work in organisations with a concern that mainstream knowledge management (KM) has fallen short of expectations. The real nature of knowledge work remains hidden, and thus inaccessible, to those who are trying to improve organisational outcomes through KM practices. The authors have conducted independent research within a new discourse on knowledge work in the context of modem complex organisations, the results of which are converging to a common understanding of this critical phenomenon. Their two theoretical frameworks, one task-based and one activity-based, are described here as eminently suited to this research. Two sets of …
Inter-Activity: An Activity Theory Model For Socio-Technical Work Spaces, Alanah Kazlauskas, Kate Crawford
Inter-Activity: An Activity Theory Model For Socio-Technical Work Spaces, Alanah Kazlauskas, Kate Crawford
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
The issues that face human society are often addressed in a sociotechnical context that utilizes both social and technical tools. Such socio-technical milieux do not just happen but evolve over time. The ongoing emergence of more and more complex socio-technical contexts presents challenges to those involved as well as for sociocultural researchers. Vygotsky's (1978) Cultural Historical Activity Theory has been expanded upon by a number of researchers including Engestrom (1999) in order to develop understandings of work-based activity systems with a view to the identification of tensions within and to further development of those activity systems. Other researchers (Lave & …
Socio-Technical Systems: From Individual Transactions To Situated Community Activity, Helen M. Hasan
Socio-Technical Systems: From Individual Transactions To Situated Community Activity, Helen M. Hasan
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
Although basic concepts of Activity Theory were articulated almost a century ago, they have stood the test of time and are proving to be appropriate for research into modem situation involving the use of socio-technical systems. Over the past decades the field of Information Systems has advanced from a focus on routine transaction processing systems to more sophisticated applications that support situated community activity. This chapter will describe how Activity Theory is becoming increasing relevant to these types of systems and can be complemented by other approaches such as Complexity Theory and a particular Knowledge Lens. Research is presented that …
An Activity Theory Analysis Of A Case Of It-Driven Organisational Change, Wannapa Suratmethakul, Helen Hasan
An Activity Theory Analysis Of A Case Of It-Driven Organisational Change, Wannapa Suratmethakul, Helen Hasan
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
The paper describes unexpected problems encountered in the automation of a scheduling process using an IT application already in use in other similar organisations. A grounded theory approach was used to collect and categorise data on the case. Activity Theory was then used to analyse the attempt by management to implement organisational change through the introduction of the system. The findings suggest that it is inadvisable to impose organisational change through the introduction of a complex IT system, particularly when this disrupts entrenched decision-making processes of the organisation.
Learning And Doing In Communities: Understanding Knowledge Management Through The Lens Of Activity Theory, Helen M. Hasan
Learning And Doing In Communities: Understanding Knowledge Management Through The Lens Of Activity Theory, Helen M. Hasan
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
No abstract provided.
Known 'Bugs' In Cultural Historical Activity Theory, John G. Findlay
Known 'Bugs' In Cultural Historical Activity Theory, John G. Findlay
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
When Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) was first propounded by the Vygotskian school of Russian psychologists in the 1920s it offered a robust explanation of how human development is mediated by cultural as well as biological influences. Along the way, CHAT has acquired some "bugs" or usability difficulties by remaining isolated from other theories that have a common heritage. This paper explores how the theory may have evolved if Vygotsky was alive today. Revisions to CHAT are proposed that borrow from complexity theory, innovation theory, group dynamics and Flow theory to explain the evolution of minds, tools and cultures as a …
Government Business Process Analysis With Activity Theory, Peter A. J Larkin
Government Business Process Analysis With Activity Theory, Peter A. J Larkin
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
Activity Theory tells us that a motivated person or group performs an activity directed at an object in order to transform the object into desired outcomes to fulfil a need. It also tells us that instruments and the community mediate human activity. The New South Wales state parliament in Australia performs the activity of creating Acts and those Acts prescribe within them the objects of the Act and the desired outcomes. To achieve the desired outcomes, the Act will establish or constitute the necessary instruments. This paper describes an application of Yrjo Engestrom's Activity Theory model, or structure of human …
Activity As A Unit Of Analysis For Knowledge Management Frameworks, Leoni Warne, Irena Ali, Helen Hasan
Activity As A Unit Of Analysis For Knowledge Management Frameworks, Leoni Warne, Irena Ali, Helen Hasan
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
The authors of this paper take the view that knowledge management is a set of practices for systematically adding value to the knowlege of individuals, which is generated and shaped through interaction with others. It is therefore appropriate that knowledge management research be conducted in the context of particular organisations, focusing on local activities. To that end two of the authors have conducted a four-year research program investigating the factors in organizations that enhance and enable the assimilation, generation, sharing and building of knowledge that transfonns an organization into a learning organization. Human activities in organisational contexts have been analysed …
Website Usability In Context: An Activity Theory Based Usability Testing Method, Lejla Vrazalic
Website Usability In Context: An Activity Theory Based Usability Testing Method, Lejla Vrazalic
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
Traditional laboratory based usability testing methodologies are plagued with shortcomings which affect the results of the testing process and their validity. The results of a preliminary study of this type of usability testing with 34 users indicate two categories of key shortcomings. A new summative website usability testing methodology based on the notion of distributed usability and Activity Theory is presented as a means of overcoming these problems. This paper describes the theoretical foundations and development of the methodology which is currently being evaluated and refined.