A contribution to SEAM with power analysis and technology impact

Abstract

Change readiness and cost-benefit analysis at the individual level are not sufficient to understand organizational change because they fall into the rational action theory. While organizational effectiveness theory goes beyond this reductionism by including the corporate level and the team level, Socio-Economic Approaches to Management (SEAM) combine behavioural approaches with structural approaches. This paper suggest to contribute to this trend by focusing even more on power analysis and on the role Information Technologies (IT). A way to analyse organizational power is Bourdieu’s practice theory (Bourdieu, 1977, 2005) that also suggests a way to articulate structure and agency through the rivalry between departments, such as the classical opposition between finance and marketing. Organizational moves rely on different kind of capitals, and try to increase the endowment of the groups regarding each capital. The first objective of this research is to show how the analysis of power through Bourdieu’s practice theory may improve the effectiveness of SEAM. In addition, it suggests to understand the role that IT can play in mediating the power relationships between a company and its distributors through the electronic brokerage theory (Fernandez and Gould 1994). These two theories are applied to a published case of an electronic platform case in the US insurance company (Schultze and Orlikowski, 2004) and to the description of a US company in China, Electrolux Central Vacuum Systems (ECVS). Finally, the generalizability of this theoretical framework is discussed as well as the potential implications for management consulting.