Due process and the introduction of new technology: The institution of video teleconferencing

Abstract

Actor network theory (ANT) and the later work of Latour on "due process" are used to gain insight into how a new technology, video teleconferencing, has been introduced to a petro-chemical company, Xeon. The hallmark of ANT is a symmetrical treatment of people and things in a single collective. The due process model moves into normative mode and offers the prospect of using ANT ideas to aid planning for the introduction of new technology. The due process model consists of four dimensions: perplexity, consultation, hierarchy, and institution. Facts and values are co-produced through a series of trajectories. Perplexity and consultation are concerned with the issue of "how many are we", while hierarchy and institution address the question "can we live together". The application of these ideas to the Xeon case identifies a range of actants and demonstrates the intensively socio-technical imbroglio that constitutes the provision of video teleconferencing facilities. The paper concludes by arguing that IS should consider how the due process might be designed and that an even-handed approach to human and non-human actors is aJruitful basisfor this design. © 2001 by Springer Science+Business Media New York.