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Computing as an Occasion for Social Control
Author(s) -
Kling Rob,
Iacono Suzanne
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
journal of social issues
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.618
H-Index - 122
eISSN - 1540-4560
pISSN - 0022-4537
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1984.tb00193.x
Subject(s) - negotiation , hierarchy , control (management) , flexibility (engineering) , social control , dilemma , set (abstract data type) , work (physics) , management control system , position (finance) , knowledge management , public relations , computer science , psychology , social psychology , sociology , business , political science , engineering , economics , management , epistemology , social science , artificial intelligence , mechanical engineering , philosophy , law , programming language , finance
This paper examines three models of social control processes in computerized work settings. Two models, the management control model and the professional negotiations model, are derived from other analysts' conceptions. The third model, the institutional control model, is new. The models differ in their conception of the flexibility of norms, the proximity of social control agents to other participants, and the patterns of information flow in a system. We examine the explanatory value of these models in light of an intensive study of one complex organization. A set of episodes concerning one recurrent dilemma reported by information system users, the maintenance of accurate data, illustrates the usefulness of the institutional negotiations model. Control is exercised by many actors in a complex social fabric rather than simply through vertical management control or through lateral work relationships. Participation in a larger, institutionalized world of computer use defines work activities, and it subjects users, regardless of their position in the hierarchy, to tighter social controls than is suggested by the other models.