ICT and Uneven Globalisation

Social Study of Information Technology Workshop, LSE, 19-20 March 2001

Chrisanthi Avgerou (LSE)

Abstract

Information and communication technologies (ICT) are understood to play a central role in the processes of contemporary globalisation. Yet these technologies are used effectively by the organisations of few countries only, while large parts of the world have not been able to exploit their potential.

Concern about the grossly uneven diffusion of the 'technologies of globalisation' has been voiced loudly by influential sociologists, such as Castells, and economists, such as Sachs. Several roots of this worrying situation have been identified, such as lack of financial resources, the inherently exploitative nature of capitalism, or lack of management skills. Action to remedy the problem has been pursued by international institutions, such as the World Bank, and several academics, such as Mansell, have contributed facilitating knowledge and advice.

This paper offers a different analysis of the problem of uneven exploitation of ICT in the unfolding globalisation, drawing from the academic field of information systems, which in the past 30 years developed theory and shaped practice regarding ICT innovation and organisational change. Rather than examining why ICT has not diffused evenly, it asks why organisations in many countries fail to derive any substantial benefits from ICTs, even when they mobilise the required resources for ICT innovation.

The main argument made in this paper is that ICT has been institutionalised as a multifaceted force of industries, techniques for carrying out tasks in organisations, and principles for organising that is closely associated with a particular logic of business 'management'. The narrowness of the managerialist perceptions and normative knowledge that has been prevalent in much of the information systems literature and practice has been subject to a great deal of critical debate.

The point pursued here is that the rationality conveyed by 'business management' is a context-specific ideology that is often in conflict with the substantive rationalities underpinning many types of organisations around the world. Illustrative examples include family-run enterprises, state-run corporations, services such as health and education, and government institutions in many countries whose multi-dimensional development efforts are not completely led by free market forces. Such cases show that long-term efforts to use generations of ICT meet chronic obstacles and often add dysfunctional processes rather than efficiency benefits.

The argument that ICTs are not benefiting the diversity of organisations existing globally because they have been closely aligned with an organising rationality which is alien to many is supported by analysis drawing eclectically from contemporary critical theory. Various strands of literature on modernity and its critique provide relevant insights. More specifically, institutionalist theory, Foucault's notion of 'regime of truth', and concepts from actor-network theory form the basis for explaining that what appear to be irrational responses to ICT-enabled rationalisation interventions are manifestations of the different rationalities historically sustained in particular social contexts.

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