From Hand Drawings to Computer Visuals: Confronting Situated and Institutionalized Practices in an Architecture Firm

In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in practice-based studies of organizational change. Most of this research does not explicitly consider the tension between situated and sociohistorical practices that are central to the transformation of work practices associated with an episode...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Organization science (Providence, R.I.) R.I.), 2012-05, Vol.23 (3), p.651-671
Main Authors: Groleau, Carole, Demers, Christiane, Lalancette, Mireille, Barros, Marcos
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
activity theory
Architectural design
Architectural firms
Architectural practice
Architectural services
Architecture
Commercial architecture
Computer software
Construction industry
contradiction
Division of labor
Experimental methods
Institutionalization
institutionalized practices
Internships
Management
Organization theory
Organizational behaviour
Organizational change
situated practices
Social interaction
Software
Studies
Technological change
Technological innovations
Technology
Technology application
Visual arts
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Summary:In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in practice-based studies of organizational change. Most of this research does not explicitly consider the tension between situated and sociohistorical practices that are central to the transformation of work practices associated with an episode of change. In our study of the impact of off-the-shelf three-dimensional rendering software on the daily practice of architects in a small, highly regarded firm, we explore the incompatibility between these different levels of practice. By building on the concept of contradiction drawn from activity theory, we identify patterns of challenges, reenactments, and enactments through which situated change simultaneously reproduces and questions institutionalized practices.
ISSN:1047-7039
1526-5455
DOI:10.1287/orsc.1110.0667