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Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Technology and Innovation

2011

Work system

Articles 1 - 4 of 4

Full-Text Articles in Business

Making A Science Of Service Systems Practical: Seeking Usefulness And Understandability While Avoiding Unnecessary Assumptions And Restrictions, Steven Alter Jan 2011

Making A Science Of Service Systems Practical: Seeking Usefulness And Understandability While Avoiding Unnecessary Assumptions And Restrictions, Steven Alter

Business Analytics and Information Systems

This book’s theme is “The Science of Service Systems,” yet there is substantial question about whether the definition and nature of service systems have been articulated adequately. This paper examines definitions of service and service system that could frame or otherwise influence future developments in service science and could have implications for what should and should not be included within service science. It argues that the initial development of service science should use straightforward definitions that are understandable, useful, broadly applicable, and teachable. It proposes a definition of service system that is different from the definition proposed in this book’s …


Reconciling The Social/Human And Technical/Material In Is Research Without Trying Too Hard, Steven Alter Jan 2011

Reconciling The Social/Human And Technical/Material In Is Research Without Trying Too Hard, Steven Alter

Business Analytics and Information Systems

This contribution to the SIGPHIL workshop on reconciling the social and technical in IS research proposes a sociotechnical approach that addresses many issues related to the long-standing duality of the social/human versus the technical/material. It shows that a sociotechnical approach based on work system concepts 1) highlights and potentially bypasses extremely basic ontological stumbling blocks in IS research, 2) incorporates many of the topics and concerns of the original sociotechnical school, 3) illuminates issues related to the duality of the social/human versus the technical/material, and 4) addresses these topics using concepts and terminology that are much easier to understand than …


Making A Science Of Service Systems Practical: Seeking Usefulness And Understandability While Avoiding Unnecessary Assumptions And Restrictions, Steven Alter Jan 2011

Making A Science Of Service Systems Practical: Seeking Usefulness And Understandability While Avoiding Unnecessary Assumptions And Restrictions, Steven Alter

Steven Alter

This book’s theme is “The Science of Service Systems,” yet there is substantial question about whether the definition and nature of service systems have been articulated adequately. This paper examines definitions of service and service system that could frame or otherwise influence future developments in service science and could have implications for what should and should not be included within service science. It argues that the initial development of service science should use straightforward definitions that are understandable, useful, broadly applicable, and teachable. It proposes a definition of service system that is different from the definition proposed in this book’s …


Reconciling The Social/Human And Technical/Material In Is Research Without Trying Too Hard, Steven Alter Jan 2011

Reconciling The Social/Human And Technical/Material In Is Research Without Trying Too Hard, Steven Alter

Steven Alter

This contribution to the SIGPHIL workshop on reconciling the social and technical in IS research proposes a sociotechnical approach that addresses many issues related to the long-standing duality of the social/human versus the technical/material. It shows that a sociotechnical approach based on work system concepts 1) highlights and potentially bypasses extremely basic ontological stumbling blocks in IS research, 2) incorporates many of the topics and concerns of the original sociotechnical school, 3) illuminates issues related to the duality of the social/human versus the technical/material, and 4) addresses these topics using concepts and terminology that are much easier to understand than …