Collaborative Infrastructures for Distributed Work: The Case of Haier's 1000-Day Information Revolution

Contemporary work environments are increasingly characterized by distributed collaboration. We argue that such collaboration is enabled through the enactment of a 'collaborative infrastructure' that is composed of shared practices, discourses, and objects. We present a model that describes these elements and their interrelationships. The model further indicates that the development of shared practices and artifacts by organizations engaged in collaboration is mediated by the emergence of common discourses between the parties. We demonstrate the importance of 'collaborative infrastructures' in fostering collaboration by examining the ‘1000-day Information Revolution’ at the Haier Group an enterprise-wide IT-enabled business transformation exercise that involved multiple organizational groups. The Haier case highlights the interplay among shared practices, discourses, and objects as well as the centrality of discourse in promoting collaborative relationships. We conclude the study by proposing possible avenues for future research.