Activity Theory used as an Analytical Lens for Business Research

Activity Theory is used in this paper to demonstrate theprocess of critical analysis of qualitative data from two casestudies. The paper explains the elements of an activity system (thesubject, object, outcome, mediating tools, rules, community anddivision of labour). Thereafter, practical examples from the work oftwo recent PhD students are used to show the importance ofidentifying and analysing activities that are found either in theintroduction or the current use of information systems in businessorganisations. These examples highlight the applicability ofActivity Theory in analysing data from projects of interest toBusiness Management whose topics and contexts are very different.The first focusses on the introduction of an Accounting InformationSystem to microbusinesses in a low‑income community in South Africaand the second focusses on Information Security Management in MobileNetwork Organisations in Uganda. The examples illustrate the valueof Activity Theory as a lens and as a way of stimulating criticalanalysis. Activity Theory is known for its ability to identifyreasons for failure or disappointing performance in existingsituations by highlighting contradictions either between differentactivities, between an earlier version of an activity and a laterversion as the activity evolves, or within an activity (between theelements of that activity). However, as shown in the first example,it can also be seen as a useful tool when proposing a new project asa predictor of success. Despite the fact that data is typicallyqualitative, the analytical process related to Activity Theory canbe structured, which assists novice researchers or thoseunaccustomed to interpretivist analysis to uncover insights that arenot immediately obvious. Activity Theory is said to act as a lens indata analysis and is particularly useful in organisational sciencesfor the theorization of technology‑mediated organizationalchange.