3. Introduction
3.4 Relevance of Structuration Theory
Socio-technical phenomena such as Information Systems and other IT aspects including software applications are regarded as rule driven systems. This is particularly so for
40 enhanced communication between people over space and time, consisting of human or information and technology centred perspectives (Rose & Scheepers, 2001). These are the important aspects which are used by developers in software development, for end-users (actors) (Lyytinen & Ngwenyama, 1992; Loureiro-Koechlin, 2008). In ST, humans are conceptualized as agents practicing rules (quality standards, coding standards) whilst interacting with each other and the business (organization) during the development process (Wangler & Backlund, 2005). Software development is also a social activity where managers, end-user and system developers work together to develop a software product that meets organizational needs, and the technical requirements of the system (Rose &
Scheepers, 2001; Ewusi-Mensah, 2003). It is for these reasons that ST is found relevant in IS and other socio-technical projects. In effect, ST has been used as a framework and a lens to view a multitude of complex socio-technical research projects in a technology environment, with great success.
3.4.1 A Successful Use of ST in Similar Studies
The ST has been applied successfully in several studies including IS research, software process improvement, accounting (Dillard & Pullman, 2009) and organizational adoption of information systems (Orlikowski, 1991; Jeffery, 2003; Andrade & Zulia, 2007). The ST has been adopted to study the use of Information and Communication Technology ICT (Stillman
& Stoecker, 2005) and in agile software development (Stray, 2010). In software development in particular, the ST has been used as a guide to understand human interaction (social) with technology as the software is built and used (Lyytinen & Ngwenyama, 1992; Faegri, 2011) . According to Veenstra, Melin and Axelsson (2014, p.1), ST has been used “to gain better understanding of the development, implementation and use of information technology, with many scholars in the field of information systems [drawing from] ST”. For example, ST has often proved to be useful in gaining insights from the development and implementation of public sector IT and for identifying factors influencing outcomes, or for explaining (unintended) outcomes (ibid).
In a study by Clear and MacDonell (2011), ST was applied as a framework to analyse technology use in global virtual teams. The purpose of Clear and McDonells’s study was to understand how global virtual teams mediate the use of technology. Structuration theory was used as a lens to understand the context of global software activities as applied to the actions and interactions of global virtual teams. The theory assisted the researcher to break software development activities down into three sub-goals. The first of the three goals was to investigate the role of technology-use in supporting the work of global virtual teams. The second role was to develop and apply a framework for researching technology-use
41 mediation in global virtual teams and to gain a deeper insight, and to develop frameworks for the guidance of researchers investigating global virtual teams. In this project, ST was found to be a useful lens and was successfully used to give a holistic view of the phenomenon. It helped the researcher to better understand and analyse how and why things happened in real world situations. In the same context, Stray (2010) also applied the ST to compare teamwork in a Norwegian Agile Software Development Project, and to analyse the challenges and benefits of teamwork in global distributed software development. The aim was to develop and understand social factors and the challenges that arise in an agile software project such as Scrum. It is clear from this latter example that ST is an appropriate theory to use in analysing agile software development environments.
In a study by Orlikowski (1991, p.7), ST was also adopted to “reconstruct the concept of technology and to propose a model for investigating the relationship between technology and organization”. In this study, technology referred to both software and hardware, where the “duality of technology” concept (as per ST) was used to emphasize that technology and organization are interconnected entities (ibid). Major emphasis was placed on gaining deeper “insights into the limits and opportunities of human choice, technology development and use” (Orlikowski, 1991, p.4) and organizational design. In this project ST assisted the researcher to analyse the inter-relationship between people and technology in an organization. This project highlights the relevance and usefulness of ST in analysing technology projects, and in particular, to clarify that technology projects such as software development are not independent of the goals of organizations. They are developed within, and for, organizations.
In a different but equally useful context, Manuel (1999) used the ST to explore the effectiveness of IS implementation in organizations. According to Manuel (1999), technology as a socially constructed combination between hardware and software, calls for an interaction between technology and human actions in related projects. Therefore, technology is a “product of human actions” (Jones & Karsten, 2003, p.34) in that it is designed, developed and used by humans to improve society. In this instance, structuration theory claims that structural properties do not exist outside of human actions (Ma, 2010). An appropriate example would be in the software development life cycle where human agents (developers) design, develop and make necessary modifications after the product has been shipped to the user. It is clear therefore, that ST is a relevant tool to facilitate the analysis of a socio-technical project involving human and technology interaction – for example, a link between agency and structure (rules and technological resources).
Further, a study conducted by Theng, Pang, Kan, Miano and Tang (2008) also adopted ST as a guide to analyse the usability of e-Learning systems by looking at users’ interactions
42 with the product. The aim of the study was to use structuration theory to study the interactions between people and technology. The study looked at human actions and their effects on institutions, by identifying the positive and negative consequences or risks that may affect the usability of the e-Learning system. According to Theng et al. (1997), the application of structuration theory in the study was mainly to add a meaning and depth to the collected data, and to demonstrate that rich data can be obtained even if it is collected from a small number of subjects. Whilst this study substantiates the appropriateness of ST in analysing human-technology interactions (a user’s interactions with the e-Learning system in this instance), it also shows that ST is equally appropriate in analysing data from small research samples.
In closing, the appropriateness of the structuration theory as an analytical tool in a socio- technical project such as the analysis of quality assurance processes in Scrum projects (as explored in this study) is clearly demonstrated in this section. Whilst this study is socio- technical in nature, involving an interaction between human agency and technology, studies by Clear and MacDonell (2011), Orlikowski (1991), Stray (2010), Manuel (1999) and Theng et al. (1997) demonstrate a clear relevance of the ST as analytical lens in similar projects.
Similarly, the relevance of ST in analysing a relationship between technologies, as reflected by Orlikowski (1991), substantiates the relevance of ST to the context and focus of this study. As supported by this background, the application of ST in this study is presented in section 3.5.