The Tension of Work - arounds : how computer programmers negotiate the use of a technology

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I would like to thank all those at my research site, particularly the programmers in Administrative Computing Services (ACS), for putting up with my questions, and for letting me 'hang around' during what had to be the busiest and most chaotic six month period in the department's history. I would also like to acknowledge the support of the UK Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC) under which this research was funded. The actual research was initially carried out with an ESRC studentship, and later developed whilst I was working under the ESRC's Virtual Society? Programme. In terms of intellectual input, I would like to thank The Tension of Work-arounds: how computer programmers negotiate the use of a technology The notion of a 'work-around' is a much used resource within the sociology of technology, reflecting an interest in showing how users are not simply shaped by technologies but how through adopting artefacts in ways other than for which they were designed or intended are also shapers of technology. Using the language and concerns of actor network theory, and focusing on recent developments within computer systems implementation, this article seeks to explore and add to our understanding of work-arounds through unpacking the work of one group of 'users' as they attempt to tailor and roll-out a system within the administration departments of their university. The argument is made that paying attention to the various networks which lead to and from work-arounds can improve our understanding of the way users both shape and are shaped by technologies. Focusing on work-arounds as 'networks-in-place' also allows us to highlight some of their contingencies; i.e., the other actors and entities on which these depend and are constituted.