Agency, Socio-Cultural Context, and the Role of the Technical Communicator during IT Adoption: A Case Study in Innovation Diffusion across Cultures

Autor/in	Coggio, Grace Leinbach
Titel	Agency, Socio-Cultural Context, and the Role of the Technical Communicator during IT Adoption: A Case Study in Innovation Diffusion across Cultures
Quelle	(2010), (274 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Minnesota
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Monographie
ISBN	978-1-1241-6568-4
Schlagwörter	Hochschulschrift; Dissertation; Technical Writing; Change Agents; Innovation; Cultural Differences; Information Technology; Foreign Countries; Cultural Context; Case Studies; Theories; Questionnaires; Interviews; Decision Making; Administration; Comparative Analysis; Translation; Minnesota; Netherlands + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Thesis; Dissertations; Academic thesis; Technical documentation; Technische Dokumentation; Kultureller Unterschied; Informationstechnologie; Ausland; Case study; Fallstudie; Case Study; Theory; Theorie; Fragebogen; Interviewing; Interviewtechnik; Decision-making; Entscheidungsfindung; Verwaltung; Niederlande
Abstract	This dissertation examines the diffusion of an innovative information technology system across multiple cultures between 2000 and 2006. Developed and implemented by technical communicators in the technical communication department of a global medical device company, the Advanced Single-Source Authoring and Publication System (ASAPS) brought profound changes to documentation processes and was not wholly embraced by all of the writers in a position to use it. Employing the case study method, this project explores the influence of socio-cultural context and agency on the decision to adopt the new system, as well as the role of the technical communicator as change agent during the diffusion process. The inquiry is guided by an adapted hybrid theoretical framework incorporating Rogers' Diffusion of Innovations Theory, Engestrom's Cultural-Historical Activity Theory, Hofstede's Culture Dimensions, and the Cultural Studies Perspective. Using online questionnaires, the study examines the adoption decisions of technical writers and translators in the following three locations: Minnesota in the U.S.A., Gelderland and Limberg in the Netherlands. In addition, three technical communicators identified as the change agents instrumental to developing and implementing ASAPS are interviewed face-to-face. The more notable finding concerning the role of technical communicators as change agents is that a pro-innovation bias coupled with multiple levels of culture difference can hinder the change agent's ability to engage more reluctant users in reciprocal, adoption-conducive meaning making during innovation diffusion. This case suggests that by engaging their rhetorical agency during innovation diffusion, technical communicators can empower users to participate more fully in the adoption-decision process. One of the more notable findings concerning agency is that users can be empowered both actively and passively during the adoption-decision process, particularly when elements in the socio-cultural context open a window of agency for more silent resistance. Finally, this study suggests that national culture differences also can influence adoption decisions by demonstrating that Dutch management tends to reinforce collaborative decisions while U.S. management tends to reinforce individualized decisions. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.] (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10