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Construction of Meaning in Socio‐Technical Networks: Artefacts as Mediators between Routine and Crisis Conditions
Author(s) -
Holzer Jacqueline
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
creativity and innovation management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.148
H-Index - 60
eISSN - 1467-8691
pISSN - 0963-1690
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8691.2012.00629.x
Subject(s) - boundary object , process (computing) , meaning (existential) , space (punctuation) , object (grammar) , nobody , coercion (linguistics) , discipline , sociology , shared space , epistemology , business , knowledge management , public relations , computer science , political science , linguistics , artificial intelligence , computer security , social science , operating system , negotiation , philosophy
This article focuses on the construction of meanings taking place in organizational routinized innovation processes. The results of the single case study investigating the company Carmlod, which institutionalized a routine process for their innovations, show how boundary objects like standardized methods and designed objects facilitate the communication process within interdisciplinary teams. Nevertheless, there is no guarantee that team members continue using the distinct meanings of the mutually shared object. They follow their strategies and goals according to their professional disciplinary knowledge. Only when a fundamental crisis takes place, in which nobody knows the right strategy to achieve a possible solution any more, do artefacts within the contingent space of manoeuvre become important. In the process, team members are forced to enter into a coercion‐free discourse within a socio‐technical network that allows them to come up with true innovation and genuine collectively shared meanings.