From Lock-in to Transformation: A Morphogenetic Theory of Emerging Technology and Organizing
The Information System Seminar Series features, Youngjin Yoo, the Elizabeth M. and William C. Treuhaft Professor of Entrepreneurship and professor of information systems in the Department of Design & Innovation at the Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University, USA
Time and place: – ,
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Abstract
We draw on ideas from biology, sociology, and general systems theory to articulate a morphogenetic perspective on emerging technology and organizing. The morphogenetic perspective reflects a move from a device-centric or an actor-centric understanding of technology to a path-centric understanding of the patterns of actions afforded by technology-in-use. We identify performing and patterning as self-reinforcing mechanisms of morphogenesis in the domain of emerging technology and organizing. We use a dynamic simulation to show that performing and patterning can lead to a wide range of trajectories, from lock-in to transformation, depending on how emerging technology-in-use influences the trajectory. When emerging technologies afford many new actions that can be flexibly recombined, decisive transformative effects are more likely. We illustrate this theory with examples from the practice of pharmaceutical drug discovery and discuss implications for future research.
Youngjin Yoo is the Elizabeth M. and William C. Treuhaft Professor in Entrepreneurship and Professor of Information Systems at the department of Design & Innovation at the Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University. He is also WBS Distinguished Research Environment Professor at Warwick Business School, UK. He has taught digital innovation strategy at Indian School of Business, Aalto University in Finland, and Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. He was Innovation Architect at University Hospitals in Cleveland and a research associate at NASA Glenn Research Center. He has received over $4.5 million in research grant from National Science Foundation, NASA, James S. and John L. Knight Foundation, the Department of Commerce, and National Research Foundation of Korea. His work was published at leading academic journals including MIS Quarterly, Information Systems Research, Organization Science, the Communications of the ACM, and the Academy of Management Journal. He was Senior Editor of MIS Quarterly, the Journal of AIS, the Journal Information Technology, and the Journal of Strategic Information Systems, and Associate Editor of Information Systems Research and Management Science. He is on the editorial board of Organization Science, Information and Organization, and Scandinavian Journal of Information Systems. He has worked with leading companies including Samsung Electronics, Goodyear Tire, American Greetings, Moen, NASA, Parker Hannifin, Poly One and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
