Temporality and Information Systems Research
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The document outlines the agenda for a research seminar series led by Dr. Niamh O'Riordan, focusing on the concepts of temporality and its implications for management information systems. It raises philosophical questions about the nature of time, including its objective versus subjective qualities, and how technological advancements affect the experience of time in organizational contexts. The seminar also explores various streams of research related to temporality in information systems, highlighting the significance of understanding time in decision-making processes.
![Some underlying currents
We are rooted in the past and thrust into the future
– Polt (1999, p. 5)
The future is, in a way, the source of the past… ‘we are [what]
we were, and we will be what we receive and appropriate from
what we were’… my past gets its meaning from me only from
Every individual is conscious of an inner flow of time
- Berger and Luckmann (1966, p. 40)
Digital natives exhibit (i) a craving for speed,
(ii) a desire to multitask, (iii) a preference for
collaboration and constant connectivity, (iv)
an expectation of immediate feedback and
‘payoff’ for their efforts
- Prensky, 2001, p. 442
Polychronicity “is a continuum describing the
extent to which people engage themselves in two
or more activities simultaneously”
- Bluedorn, 2002, p. 48
The greater the speed of
the strategic decision
process, the greater the
performance [of
increased the monocrhonicity of
radiologists’ work… [and] in turn
enhanced the symmetry of temporal
organization between radiologists’
organisations] in high-velocity
environments
- Eisenhardt, 1989, p. 567
Barley found that the new
computer-based equipment
and technicians’ work
- Lee and Liebenau, 2000, p. 50
The world of everyday life “has its own standard time which is intersubjectively available”
- Berger and Luckmann (1966, p. 40)
Practices “exist only in the temporal dimension of the urgency of engagement and
cannot survive in the reversible universe of rules and formal logic” – Nicolini, 2012, p.
Science has a time which is not that of practice- Bordieu, 1977, p. 9
Management Information Systems Córais Faisnéise Bainistíochta
63
my projection of a future
– Polt (1999, p. 96)
Time directly impacts the what, how, and why elements of a theory - George and Jones, 2000, p. 658](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/201410citoworkshop-141020063651-conversion-gate01/85/Temporality-and-Information-Systems-Research-9-320.jpg)
Temporality and Information Systems Research
- 1. UCD Centre for Innovation, Technology & Organisation (CITO) Research Seminar Series 2014-2015 “Temporality & Information Systems Research” Dr Niamh O Riordan 15th October, 2014 Management Information Systems Córais Faisnéise Bainistíochta
- 2. Agenda • The question of time – What do we mean by time? • The question of scope – Two thousand years of Western Philosophy? – The laws of physics and our understanding of the nature of the universe? – Narrowing the field: temporality of being – Future avenues Management Information Systems Córais Faisnéise Bainistíochta
- 3. THE QUESTION OF TIME Management Information Systems Córais Faisnéise Bainistíochta
- 4. Food for thought… 1. What does time mean to you? How would you define it? 2. Is time something that is independent of us and events taking place in the world? 3. Is time an objective entity or it is purely a subjective experience? 4. Is it true that time somehow flows from the future to the past? 5. If yes, how can we know this and must we assume time only flows in one direction?
- 5. What is time? Formally? • A non-spatial continuum in which events occur in apparently irreversible succession from the past through the present to the future - Ancona et al, 2001, p. 513 In everyday language? • Time is a noun (“the time we went to Auckland”) • Time is a verb (“I’m timing your presentation”) • Time is an adjective (“a well-timed workshop”) Temporal concepts are pervasive and polymorphous • Making time? Saving time? Keeping time? Management Information Systems Córais Faisnéise Bainistíochta
- 6. Objective v Subjective External v Internal Linear v Cyclical Absolute v Relative Biological, psychological and anthropological time Clock time The Philosophy of Time http://youtu.be/o4xVOi8cHt0 A theory, B theory and McTaggary’s Paradox http://youtu.be/iB7xZR-1L5M The reversibility of time http://youtu.be/4XybFYCt3OY Management Information Systems Córais Faisnéise Bainistíochta
- 7. Food for thought… 1. What kind of assumptions about time are made in your research? 1. In particular, what kind of assumptions are made about time when we try to explain / predict? a. When we say that x causes y, we tend to assume that x occurs before y. Why? b. When we say that x causes y, how much of a time gap should we accept between x and y? c. When we say that x causes y, must x actually occur? d. Could some expectation of some possible future x be enough to cause y? 2. To what extent does your research take a dynamic or process oriented view of the world? 1. How do you capture or represent that perspective in your research? In particular, how do you represent temporal patterns, rhythms, patterns or trends in your research? 1. What other kinds of methodological choices are affected by timing issues?
- 8. THE QUESTION OF SCOPE Management Information Systems Córais Faisnéise Bainistíochta
- 9. Some underlying currents We are rooted in the past and thrust into the future – Polt (1999, p. 5) The future is, in a way, the source of the past… ‘we are [what] we were, and we will be what we receive and appropriate from what we were’… my past gets its meaning from me only from Every individual is conscious of an inner flow of time - Berger and Luckmann (1966, p. 40) Digital natives exhibit (i) a craving for speed, (ii) a desire to multitask, (iii) a preference for collaboration and constant connectivity, (iv) an expectation of immediate feedback and ‘payoff’ for their efforts - Prensky, 2001, p. 442 Polychronicity “is a continuum describing the extent to which people engage themselves in two or more activities simultaneously” - Bluedorn, 2002, p. 48 The greater the speed of the strategic decision process, the greater the performance [of increased the monocrhonicity of radiologists’ work… [and] in turn enhanced the symmetry of temporal organization between radiologists’ organisations] in high-velocity environments - Eisenhardt, 1989, p. 567 Barley found that the new computer-based equipment and technicians’ work - Lee and Liebenau, 2000, p. 50 The world of everyday life “has its own standard time which is intersubjectively available” - Berger and Luckmann (1966, p. 40) Practices “exist only in the temporal dimension of the urgency of engagement and cannot survive in the reversible universe of rules and formal logic” – Nicolini, 2012, p. Science has a time which is not that of practice- Bordieu, 1977, p. 9 Management Information Systems Córais Faisnéise Bainistíochta 63 my projection of a future – Polt (1999, p. 96) Time directly impacts the what, how, and why elements of a theory - George and Jones, 2000, p. 658
- 10. Food for thought… 1. To what extent have new technologies affected the use and experience of time in firms? 2. To what extent have your own work practices been affected by ICTs? 3. How have the dynamics of your interaction with colleagues/students changed because of ICTs? 4. To what extent have your students' study practices been affected by ICTs? 5. To what extent have these changes made you / your students more productive / efficient? 6. What are the long term effects of increased velocity on organisations at a strategic level?
- 11. Two main streams of research… (digitally mediated) Being… fungible v epochal … and Temporality procedural For a relaxing time, make it Centauri Time. Can an instantaneous cube exist? past - present - future Management Information Systems Córais Faisnéise Bainistíochta chronos v kairos real time temporal schemata kairos horology chronometry time pressure duration coordination technology sociotemporality absolute v relative objective v subjective temporal decision-making biases Do avatars dream of electric sheep? process oriented generativity (auto)ethnographic exploitation
- 12. An agenda: the temporality of Being • To address what Bergson describes as a profound mistake of “reducing the qualitative difference between past, present and future to a simple quantitative distinction”: – The past, present and future are always with us: we bring our background to new situations and our actions are based on future imaginings or projections – In this sense, people cannot act in the world except on the basis of their prior knowledge – In this sense, innovation, as a phenomenon, must also be defined in relation to the past Management Information Systems Córais Faisnéise Bainistíochta
- 13. • O Riordan, N., Conboy, K., Acton, T. (2013) How Soon is Now? Theorizing Temporality in Information Systems Research. International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS). Milan. • O Riordan, N., Acton, T., Conboy, K., Golden, W. (2012) The Clockwork Organisation: Proposing a new theory of organisational temporality Proceedings of the JAIS Theory Development Workshop. Orlando, Florida • O Riordan, N., O’Reilly, P., Duane, A. and Andreev, P. (2014). “Business model innovation: a temporal perspective”. Forthcoming at the Australian Conference on Information Systems (ACIS) • O Riordan, N. “In search of lost time: investigating the temporality of student engagement, the role of learning technologies, and implications for student performance”. Forthcoming at the Australian Conference on Information Systems (ACIS) • O Riordan, N., Action, T., Conboy, K., Golden, W. (2012) It’s About Time: Investigating the Temporal Parameters of Decision-Making in Agile Teams. Proceedings of the 21st International Conference on Information Systems Development (ISD). Prato • O Riordan, N. Lohan, G. Mind the gaps: increasing the impact of IS research on ISD performance improvement. Forthcoming at the Australian Conference on Information Systems (ACIS) Management Information Systems Córais Faisnéise Bainistíochta
- 14. Dr Niamh O Riordan PhD MBS HDip BA Lecturer in Information Systems and Organisation Q235 UCD School of Business | University College Dublin | Belfield | Dublin 4 | Ireland t: +353 (0) 1 716 4723 e: niamh.oriordan@ucd.ie w: www.niamhoriordan.com l: ie.linkedin.com/in/niamhoriordan/ Management Information Systems Córais Faisnéise Bainistíochta