Premium
Medical Innovation as a Process of Translation: a Case from the Field of Telemedicine
Author(s) -
Nicolini Davide
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
british journal of management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.407
H-Index - 108
eISSN - 1467-8551
pISSN - 1045-3172
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8551.2008.00627.x
Subject(s) - negotiation , sociology , field (mathematics) , process (computing) , narrative , politics , mainstreaming , telecare , innovation process , work (physics) , space (punctuation) , public relations , knowledge management , computer science , business , political science , marketing , social science , telemedicine , work in process , engineering , law , linguistics , philosophy , pedagogy , mathematics , special education , operating system , health care , mechanical engineering , pure mathematics
The paper makes a case for the use of sociology of translation as a way of integrating the classical rational and stepwise view of innovation, showcasing its capacity to produce accounts of innovation that are process oriented, sensitive to contextual conditions, and attentive to its political, conflictual and institutional aspects. It does so by utilizing the approach to study the establishment and mainstreaming of cardiac telecare in northern Italy. Building on the results of a three‐year longitudinal study, the paper describes the process through which this innovative approach carved a space within the existing texture of medical practices by enrolling in successive waves a range of allies and support. The detailed narration brings to the fore some crucial aspects of the local processes of negotiation and struggle and, more generally, the work and effort that goes into the making of any innovation. The paper concludes that this way of studying and narrating innovation is particularly capable of bringing back time, effort and politics into the account of the innovation process.