Enacting Assemblages of Technology: A Practice Lens Analysis

Abstract

Given that ubiquitous computing environments are becoming integral to organizational processes in many industries, the integration of previously unconnected technologies is a worthwhile subject of study. However, there are few studies that investigate how organizations adopt assemblages of heterogeneous technologies across contexts. Recognizing that it is only when engaged by social actors that actual consequences of integrated technologies will occur, this paper explores how the increasing availability of information in multiple social and physical contexts may impact organizational practice. An interpretive multiple-case study of road transport organizations combining heterogeneous technologies is analyzed using a practice lens. The analysis of enactments of implemented technologies revealed both intended and unintended outcomes. Reflecting on the contradictory outcomes, the paper makes two contributions: 1) it conceptualizes organizational implications of the integration of embedded, mobile, and stationary technologies; 2) it extends the current understanding of how to study the interplay between agency, structure, and technology in sociotechnical assemblages.