Workflow meets work practice

Abstract

This paper explores computer-supported cooperative work in a workflow oriented material administration system in a large company. The community of users belong to different job categories with different opinions of the system. The company's regulative framework for material administration forms the basis for the workflow embedded in the system. However, the assumptions regarding organizational context underlying the regulations and the workflow, are based on conditions only partly fulfilled in everyday work practice. This creates a disparity between intended and actual use of the system, requiring articulation work. The paper identifies elements of the disparity, and analyzes the conditions that necessitates the articulation work. It is argued that the disparity is due to complex interactions between system design and organizational context. The paper intends to contribute to the development and grounding of concepts that enable us to grapple with the complexity of this interaction.