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In this paper we propose a methodological tool that seeks to contribute to the empirical study of practices in organization studies. There is a need for innovating and improving analytical tactics for theorizing about practice, particularly for helping connect localized social interactions to broader contexts. We propose the "temporal bracketing of discourses" tool and provide a detailed example that empirically illustrates its application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we propose a methodological tool that seeks to contribute to the empirical study of practices in organization studies. There is a need for innovating and improving analytical tactics for theorizing about practice, particularly for helping connect localized social interactions to broader contexts. We propose the “temporal bracketing of discourses” tool and provide a detailed example that empirically illustrates its application.

This paper seeks to understand the use and the consequences of Participatory Geographic Information System (PGIS) in a Mexican local community. A multilevel framework was applied, mainly influenced by two theoretical lenses – structurationist view and social shaping of technology – structured in three dimensions – context, process and content – according to contextualist logic. The results of our study have brought two main contributions. The first is the refinement of the theoretical framework in order to better investigate the implementation and use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) artifacts by local communities for social and environmental purposes.The second contribution is the extension of existing IS (Information Systems) literature on participatory practices through identification of important conditions for helping the mobilization of ICT as a tool for empowering local communities.

Environmental sustainability has become increasingly important to businesses as a response to the rapid depletion of natural resources. Information Technology (IT) in particular represents a meaningful part of the environmental issues that society has been facing. Therefore, Green IT emerges as a way of combining available resources and sustainable and economic policies, thus, generating benefits for both the environment and businesses. The purpose of this paper, hence, is to explain the dynamics of Green IT implementation in organizations in light of the structurationist view of technology. We conducted a case study research based on the cases of three Brazilian companies interested in this movement. Results provide a better understanding of the relationship among technology, individuals, and organization institutional properties, thus enhancingthe role played by IT teams in institutionalizing the environmental dimension of sustainability in organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to understand the use and the consequences of Participatory Geographic Information System (PGIS) in a Mexican local community. A multilevel framework was applied, mainly influenced by two theoretical lenses -- structurationist view and social shaping of technology -- structured in three dimensions -- context, process and content -- according to contextualist logic. The results of our study have brought two main contributions. The first is the refinement of the theoretical framework in order to better investigate the implementation and use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) artifacts by local communities for social and environmental purposes.The second contribution is the extension of existing IS (Information Systems) literature on participatory practices through identification of important conditions for helping the mobilization of ICT as a tool for empowering local communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the still present hegemony of the structural-functionalist orthodoxy, the mid 1980's witnesses the insurgence of new philosophical approaches. This body of work had become a vital intellectual and ideological resource for those who wanted to confront the functionalist dominance in organization studies, such as structuration theory, labour process theory and neoinstitutionalist theory. The purpose of this paper is to review the incorporation of Bourdieu's work into neoinstitutionalism. I argue that this appropriation has resulted in a significant loss of theoretical strength. By giving place to the cognitivist metaphors of mental models, "scripts" and "schemas", instead of adopting the notion of habitus, neoinstitutionalism reinforces some of the ever-present dichotomies in social sciences, especially those of agency/structure and individual/society. While neoinstitutionalism was refining the cognitive approach in the 1990's, Bourdieu was moving towards psychoanalysis. Some indications for future research are provided in the concluding notes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the relevant issues in the field of studies into not-for-profit organizations is to understand the singular characteristics of this organizational phenomenon. In this work we have turned to the basis of the Structuration Theory for analyzing such organizations. We propose that its contribution to the advance of knowledge in this field is its use of the concept of structural processes, prepared from work originally done by British sociologist, Anthony Giddens. The conceptual framework identifies and analyses the ideas contained in the main theoretical perspectives found in academic works on Social Economics and not-for-profit organizations (NPO). This work makes a double contribution: by means of a case study, it offers empirical experience that takes a structuration analytical approach, and moves forward the discussion on singular characteristics of not-for-profit organizations as an organizational phenomenon, which increased during the last two decades of the XXth century. The concept of structuration processes allows for the analysis of organizational paradoxes and conflicts, taking the structure not as a static object that defines the restrictions to action or limits the scope of authority, but as an abstraction that reveals how the rules and resources of a social system relate with each other in a process defined by Giddens as the duality of structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]