Organizations have traditionally been based on some more or less explicit notion of hierarchy. This paper is not concerned with varieties of alternative organization which may be obtained by tinkering with the hierarchical formula and introducing participative forms of decisionmaking, worker management, etc. The intention is to look beyond hierarchy (1). A recently much-favoured approach is tha...

Page xii ✍ The purpose of this thesis is to introduce a new broad approach to computing – Empirical Modelling (EM) – and to propose a way of applying this approach for system development so as to avoid the limitations of conventional approaches and integrate system development with business process reengineering (BPR). Based on the concepts of agency, observable and dependency, EM is an experie...

In the UK, bowel cancer is the second largest cancer killer. Diagnosing people earlier can save lives but demand for endoscopies is increasing and this can put pressure on waiting times. To address this challenge, an endoscopy unit in North East England decided to improve their facilities to increase capacity and create environments that improve the experience of users. This presented a signifi...

Household waste management has become essential in industrialized countries. For the recycling programs to be a success, all citizens must comply with the developed residential procedures. Governmental bodies are thus dependent on as many people as possible adhering to the sorting systems they develop. Since the 1970s oil crisis, governments have called upon social psychologists to help develop...

When trying to learn about a group of users, a researcher will interpret their behaviour on her or his own background, achieving an outside understanding. Inside understanding means to know how the people themselves interpret their own behaviour. The usefulness of inside and outside understanding is argued in the following areas: 1) information systems research, 2) concepts that relate the role...

Inspired by the experience of a river contract in Wallonia (Belgium) since 1990, the implementation of a first river contract has been initiated in a West African country, Burkina Faso. This application is not limited to a simple transposition of the Walloon model. The Burkina context calls for adaptation to the local environmental and socio-economical realities with an adequate partnership man...