Cited by 991Information Systems Theories and ImplementationManagement and Organizational StudiesInnovative Education and Learning Practices

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 19 of the 19 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Making work visible

Open access
Suchman, Lucy·1995·Communications of the ACM

Abstract

How people work is one of the best kept secrets in America."This provocative statement by David Wellman, a sociologist of labor, can be read as a kind of challenge to work researchers.The sense in which it rings true is particularly remarkable given the large and growing body of literature dedicated to work-flow modeling, business process reengineering, and other methods aimed at representing work in the service of transforming it.At the same time that we take Wellman's statement as a call to action, however, we need to reflect carefully on the kinds of secrecy that surround specific knowledges and experiences of working practice and the implications of making them visible.The notion of secrecy implies things known differentially among different actors, usually because those who hold the secret deliberately withhold it from others.Without taking over the connotations of collusion in this sense of secrecy, we can ask why it might be not only inevitable but also valuable that members of an organization know their own work in ways that others positioned differently in the organization do not.The premise that we have special authority in relation to our own fields of knowledge and experience suggests we should have the ability to shape not only how we work but how our work appears to others.Self-representation on this view is a form of empowerment.

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Research works printed but not linked: 10

  1. Blomberg J., PDC '94: Proceedings of the Participatory Design Conference, (Palo Alto, Calif.) R. Trigg, S. I. Anderson, & E. Dykstra-Erickson, Eds. 1994 Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, 99-109
  2. Blomberg J., 1993, Participatory Design: Principles and Practices
  3. Bowers J., 1995, Proceedings of the European Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work
  4. Hales M., 1993, Design lssues in CSCW
  5. Star S. L., 1991, Eds. North Holland, 81
  6. Suchman L., 1993, Ed. Routledge, 113
  7. Suchman L., Computerization and Controversy: Value Conflicts and Social Choices, 2d Ed.
  8. Wall P., 1994, PDC '94: Proceedings of the Participatory Design Conference (Palo Alto, Calif), R. Trigg, S. I. Anderson, and E. Dykstra-Erickson, Eds., 87
  9. Watson-Verran H., 1993, Melbourne Conference on Sex/Gender in Technoscience Worlds
  10. Yates J., 1989, Baltimore and London

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Metadata

Authors
Suchman, L.
Affiliations
Palo Alto Research Center (US)
Corresponding author
Suchman, Lucy
Venue
Communications of the ACM
Published
1995-09
Volume
38
Issue
9
Pages
56-64
ISSN
  • 0001-0782 (ISSN-L)
  • 1557-7317
OpenAlex
W2095270559
Cited by
991
References
19
Citations by year
2026: 54 · 2025: 31 · 2024: 30 · 2023: 34 · 2022: 51 · 2021: 46 · 2020: 30 · 2019: 30 · 2018: 44 · 2017: 42 · 2016: 37 · 2015: 42 · 2014: 35 · 2013: 25 · 2012: 30
FWCI
71.79
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Communications of the ACM (publishedVersion)
  • Lancaster EPrints (Lancaster University) (submittedVersion)
  • Lancaster EPrints (Lancaster University) (submittedVersion, public-domain)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Management Information Systems › Information Systems Theories and Implementation
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Management and Organizational Studies
  • Social Sciences › Education › Innovative Education and Learning Practices
Keywords
work practices, visibility of work, self-representation, empowerment, workflow modeling, business process reengineering, sociology of work, organizational knowledge

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