The DOI matches its Crossref record; 56 of the 59 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
A Foundation for the Study of IT Effects: A New Look at DeSanctis and Poole’s Concepts of Structural Features and Spirit
Open accessAbstract
Gerardine DeSanctis and Marshall Scott Poole made an important contribution to the study of IT uses and effects with their insightful concepts of “structural features” and “spirit.” Unlike their concept of “appropriation,” which has found broad acceptance in the IS community, the concepts of structural features and spirit have not been widely used. Published concerns that the concepts are not consistent with basic assumptions in Giddens’ structuration theory, on which the concepts were based, could account for their neglect. However, concepts like structural features and spirit are indispensable for any program of research that attempts to show how IT artifacts can, together with other influences, contribute to the consequences of IT use. Addressing the criticisms that have been leveled against these concepts is, therefore, important. In this paper we unpack DeSanctis and Poole’s concepts and propose redefining them as three new concepts: technical objects, functional affordances, and symbolic expressions. We believe this reconceptualization addresses several concerns about the original concepts, while retaining the core insights of DeSanctis and Poole’s innovative analysis.
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“Markus and Silver (2008), for example, emphasize the symbolic expressions that are communicated by IT artifacts to a potential user to reveal meaning and potential uses.”
From How affordances of chatbots cross the chasm between social and traditional enterprise systems (2020) · cites this paper as Markus and Silver (2008)
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Treem, J. W., & Leonardi, P. M. (2013) · Annals of the International Communication Association · doi:10.1080/23808985.2013.11679130 · Cited by 2,308
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Metadata
- Authors
- Bentley University, U., Markus, M. L., Silver, M., & Fordham University
- Affiliations
- Bentley University (US)
- Venue
- Journal of the Association for Information Systems
- Publisher
- Association for Information Systems
- Published
- 2008-10
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 609-632
- ISSN
- 1536-9323 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2789700923
- Cited by
- 927
- References
- 59
- Citations by year
- 2026: 72 · 2025: 73 · 2024: 63 · 2023: 68 · 2022: 76 · 2021: 64 · 2020: 68 · 2019: 48 · 2018: 47 · 2017: 33 · 2016: 47 · 2015: 55 · 2014: 49 · 2013: 64 · 2012: 35
- FWCI
- 74.96
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of the Association for Information Systems (publishedVersion)
- Journal of the Association for Information Systems (submittedVersion)
- 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 › Business, Management and Accounting › Management Information Systems › Information Technology Governance and Strategy
- Keywords
- structural features, alcoholic beverages, structuration theory, appropriations, technical objects, functional affordances, symbolic expression, reconceptualization
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