digital media and work

Here are some of my papers about digital media and work, and some of the abstracts to give you an idea of the kind of work I do:
Journal Papers

Ferneley, E. and Light, B. (2008) Unpacking End-User Relations in an Emerging Ubiquitous Computing Environment: Introducing the Bystander, Journal of Information Technology (Forthcoming).

Burns, B. and Light, B. (2007) Users as Developers: A Field Study of Call Centre Knowledge Work, Journal of Organizational and End User Computing, 19(4), 42-56.

Ferneley, E. and Light, B. (2006) Secondary User Relations in Emerging Mobile Computing Environments, European Journal of Information Systems, 15(3), 301-306.

Howcroft, D. and Light, B. (2006) Reflections on Issues of Power in Packaged Software Selection, Information systems Journal, 16(3), 215-235.

Light, B. and Wagner, E. (2006) Integration in ERP Environments: Rhetoric, Realities and Organisational Possibilities, New Technology, Work and Employment, 21(3), 215-228.

Light, B. Going Beyond ‘Misfit’ as a Reason for ERP Package Customisation, Computers in Industry, 56(6), 2005, 606-619.

Light, B. (2005), Potential Pitfalls in Packaged Software Adoption, Communications of the ACM, 48(5), 119-121.

Conference Papers

Burns, B. and Light, B. (2007) User Led Innovation in Call Centre Knowledge Work: A Social Shaping Perspective, IFIP 8.6 Conference, Manchester, UK..

Griffiths, M and Light, B. (2007) Risky Business: When a CRM Vendor Masqueraded as an ERP Specialist, European Conference on IS, St. Gallen, Switzerland.

Pinnington, B., Light, B. and Ferneley, E. (2007) Too Much of a Good Thing? A Field Study of Challenges in Business Intelligence Enabled Enterprise System Environments, European Conference on IS, St. Gallen, Switzerland.

Burns, B. and Light, B. (2006) Rewriting the Rules: Professionals, Technologies and Call Centre Working, in Proceedings of the European Association for the Study of Science and Technology (EASST), Lausanne, Switzerland.

Burns, B., Light, B. and Adam, A. (2006) Users as Professionals: A Study of IT Deployment and its Relationship to Professional Autonomy, in Proceedings of the 14th European Conference on Information Systems, Gotenberg, Sweden.

Griffiths, M. and Light, B. (2006) User Resistance Strategies and the problems of Blanket prescriptions: A Case Study of Resistance Successes, in Proceedings of the 14th European Conference on Information Systems, Gotenberg, Sweden.

Abstracts – technology and work

Ferneley, E. and Light, B. (2008) Unpacking End-User Relations in an Emerging Ubiquitous Computing Environment: Introducing the Bystander, Journal of Information Technology (Forthcoming).
The move towards technological ubiquity is resulting in the arrival of information and communications technologies (ICTs) in ‘unexpected places’ allowing a more idiosyncratic and dynamic working environment to emerge which may result in the restructuring of such technologies, and changes in their use through different user groups’ actions. Taking a ‘practice’ lens to human agency, we explore the evolving roles of, and relationships between these user groups and their appropriation of emergent technologies by drawing upon Lamb and Kling’s (2003) social actor framework in terms of their affiliations, environments, interactions and identities. To illustrate our argument we draw upon a study of a Fire Brigade in the publicly funded United Kingdom Fire and Rescue service. The Brigade has introduced a variety of technologies in an attempt to move towards embracing mobile and ubiquitous computing. Our analysis of the enactment of such technologies at incidents attended by the Fire Brigade reveals that Bystanders, a group yet to be taken as the central unit of analysis in information systems research, or considered in practice, are important actors and we offer some suggestions concerning why this is the case. The research implications of our work relate to the need to further consider Bystanders in deployments other than those that are mobile and ubiquitous.  In addition, further insights may be gained by comparing mobile and ubiquitous computing with ‘traditional’ ICT deployments.  For practice, we suggest that Bystanders require consideration in the systems development lifecycle, particularly in terms of design and education in processes of use.

Burns, B. and Light, B. (2007) Users as Developers: A Field Study of Call Centre Knowledge Work, Journal of Organizational and End User Computing, 19(4), 42-56.
Knowledge work is seen as integral to post-industrial society and, for some, information and communications technologies (ICTs) are critical enablers of the associated practices.  Many still propose the technologically deterministic route of rolling out ICTs and expecting that users will, and indeed can, ‘download’ what they know into a system.  This approach is usually underpinned by the predominant assumption that the system will be developed by one group (developers) and used by another group (users).  We report the findings of an exploratory case study of the enactment of ICT supported knowledge work in a HR contact centre which illustrates the negotiable boundary between the developer and user in knowledge sharing system development and use.  Drawing upon ideas from the social shaping of technology, we examine how discussions regarding producer-user relations require a degree of greater sophistication as we show how users develop technologies and work practices in-situ.  In this case different forms of knowledge are practised to create and maintain a knowledge sharing system.  We show how as staff simultaneously distance themselves from, and ally with, ICT supported encoded knowledge scripts, the system becomes materially important to the project of constructing the knowledge characteristic of professional identity.  Our work implies that although much has been made of contextualising the user, as a user, further work is required to contextualise users as developers and moreover, developers as users.   

Light, B. and Wagner, E. (2006) Integration in ERP Environments: Rhetoric, Realities and Organisational Possibilities, New Technology, Work and Employment, 21(3), 215-228.
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) packages are said to enable integration when the standard inscription is adhered to through software configuration. A social shaping perspective expands conceptualisations of ERP packages, enabling a view of them as configurational technologies. Thus, ERP integration is opened up and the ‘integration through standardisation thesis’ is challenged.

Howcroft, D. and Light, B. (2006) Reflections on Issues of Power in Packaged Software Selection, Information systems Journal, 16(3), 215-235.
The adoption of packaged software is becoming increasingly common in a variety of organizations and much of the packaged software literature presents this as a straightforward, linear process based on rationalistic evaluation. This paper applies the framework of power relations developed by Markus and Bjørn-Andersen to a longitudinal study concerning the adoption of a customer relationship management package in a small organization. This is used to highlight both overt and covert power issues within the selection and procurement of the product and illustrate the interplay of power between senior management, information technology (IT) managers, IT vendors and consultants and end-users. The paper contributes to the growing body of literature on packaged software and also to our understanding of how power is deeply embedded within the surrounding processes.