Technology assimilation through conjunctures: a look at IS use in retail

Abstract

We study the assimilation of information technology by an organization establishing itself in the emerging retail industry in India. We highlight the need for conducting a holistic analysis of the assimilation process that considers the role of various organizational actors, the socio-technical environment, the exogenous factors and the historical context under which the organization is operating. We adopt strong structuration theory, a refinement of Giddens’ structuration theory, as the theoretical lens for studying the technology assimilation process. We combine this with actor network theory to incorporate the socio-technical perspectives. An organization in the Indian retail industry is selected as the empirical context. We analyzed the assimilation process as a series of conjunctures and illustrate how the socio-technical changes, the situated actions and the conjuncture’s context influence the assimilation process. We also highlight the influence of historical context, and the role of organizational actors and actants in the technology assimilation process.