Digital Tactics: Resolving Emerging Sociotechnical Tensions in the Digital Worksplace

Louise Harder Fischer, Kalina Stefanova Staykova

Research output: Conference Article in Proceeding or Book/Report chapterArticle in proceedingsResearchpeer-review

Abstract

Knowledge professionals are increasingly facing various tensions in their digital workplace brought by emerging lightweight IT and existent heavyweight IT and the processes and practices they support and enable. In this paper, we uncover five digital tactics, which knowledge professionals utilize daily to resolve these tensions when carrying out and ameliorating their productivity and well-being at work. While existent IS-research recognizes these socio-technical tensions as an IS-strategic phenomenon that managers resolve by deploying various strategic responses, we illuminate how digital tactics on individual, employee level is an equally important element in resolving these tensions and reaching strategic goals during digital transformation. Based on data from group interviews with 22 knowledge professionals, we abstracted five different digital tactics of improvisation, accountability, maneuvering, fostering a both/and culture and acceleration, that employees adopt to resolve tensions. Going forward, we suggest broadening our understanding of the socio-technical realm with the concept of digital tactics.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationTwenty-Seventh Americas Conference on Information Systems
PublisherAssociation for Information Systems. AIS Electronic Library (AISeL)
Publication dateAug 2021
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2021
EventAmerican Conference of Information Systems - Virtuel, Canada
Duration: 9 Aug 202117 Dec 2021

Conference

ConferenceAmerican Conference of Information Systems
LocationVirtuel
Country/TerritoryCanada
Period09/08/202117/12/2021

Keywords

  • Digital Workplace
  • Socio-Technical Tensions
  • Knowledge Professionals
  • Digital Tactics
  • Productivity and Well-being

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