1. Using Bricolage to Facilitate
Emergent Collectives in an
Entrepreneurial Setting
(work in progress)
Jan Devos
ECIME 2012 Conference Cork Irl.
AOG FEB – Jan Devos - 06/03/2012 pag. 1
Faculteit Ingenieurswetenschappen en Architectuur – Campus West
2. Outline of the presentation
- Emergent Collectives
- Bricolage
- Research Question
- Research Methodology
- Findings
- Conclusion
AOG FEB – Jan Devos - 06/03/2012 pag. 2
Faculteit Ingenieurswetenschappen en Architectuur – Campus West
3. Emergent Collective
Petrie (2010) introduced the concept of “Emergent Collectives”
- A network of information/function nodes that has minimal
central control, and that‟s largely controlled by a protocol
specification.
- In which it‟s easy for people to add nodes to the network
- And where there are social incentives that motivate people
to act collectively.
www.emergent-collectives.be
AOG FEB – Jan Devos - 06/03/2012 pag. 3
Faculteit Ingenieurswetenschappen en Architectuur – Campus West
9. Emergent Collectives
• FLOSS (OpenERP and Magento)
• Twitter
• Cloud Computing
• On-line repositories (Wiki‟s)
AOG FEB – Jan Devos - 06/03/2012 pag. 9
Faculteit Ingenieurswetenschappen en Architectuur – Campus West
10. Trinidadian Steel drums (pans)
AOG FEB – Jan Devos - 06/03/2012 pag. 10
Faculteit Ingenieurswetenschappen en Architectuur – Campus West
11. Bricolage - French anthropologist Lévi-Strauss, „La pensée
sauvage‟ (1962)
“doing things with whatever is at hand”
Bricolage relates with (Duymedjian & Rüling, 2010)
organizational resilience
improvisation
sensemaking
entrepreneurship
utilization of technical systems and artefacts
the bricoleur versus the engineer
AOG FEB – Jan Devos - 06/03/2012 pag. 11
Faculteit Ingenieurswetenschappen en Architectuur – Campus West
12. Bricoleur Engineer
Everything matters A priori hierarchical order
Complex, interconnected system Reduction/decomposition
Closed universe Openness, transcending boundaries
Cyclical time Linear time
Intimate knowledge, familiarity Distant knowledge, representation
Knowledge about relationships implying a low Knowledge about structural characteristic entities
functional fixedness bias
Versatility implying resilience Specialization
Collection through unplanned encounters Search for the adequate, project-oriented means
Unclear outcomes Projects and designs
Dialogue with elements in stock (resources) Respect of prior specifications
Assemblage, substitution, …‟it‟s working‟ Evaluation through expected level of performance and
quality
Creation and use cannot be dissociated Separation of creation and use
Outcomes look unlike anything else Outcomes respond to field norms
AOG FEB – Jan Devos - 06/03/2012
Faculteit Ingenieurswetenschappen en Architectuur – Campus West
13. Literature on Bricolage
- Seminal work in anthropology (Strauss-Levi 1962)
- Entrepreneurship (Baker et al. 2003; Garud et al. 2003; Phillips
et al. 2007)
- Innovation research (Banerjee et al. 2009; Essen 2009;
Fuglsang et al. 2011)
- Organization theory (Duymedjian et al. 2010; Weick 1998)
- Information Technology (Ciborra 2002; DesAutels 2011;
Ferneley et al. 2006; Johri 2011)
AOG FEB – Jan Devos - 06/03/2012 pag. 13
Faculteit Ingenieurswetenschappen en Architectuur – Campus West
14. Research Question
How can the use of Bricolage facilitate
the adoption of Emergent Collectives in
an Entrepreneurial Setting?
AOG FEB – Jan Devos - 06/03/2012 pag. 14
Faculteit Ingenieurswetenschappen en Architectuur – Campus West
15. Research Methodology
- Action Research (Design Science)
- Case Endoxa (drop shipping)
- Interpretive epistemology (Walsham, 2004)
AOG FEB – Jan Devos - 06/03/2012 pag. 15
Faculteit Ingenieurswetenschappen en Architectuur – Campus West
16. Interpretive epistemology
- Our knowledge of reality is a social construction by
human actors
- Growing body of research stream in IS research
- Fundamental basis of an interpretive study is fieldwork
- Involved (participant, action) researcher versus outside
researcher
- Neutral observer (not necessarily unbiased)
- No consultancy
- Data collection: interviews and participant notes and reports
AOG FEB – Jan Devos - 06/03/2012 pag. 16
Faculteit Ingenieurswetenschappen en Architectuur – Campus West
17. Interpretive epistemology
- Role of theory
- Choice of theory = subjective !
- Use of theory as a final product of the research or as a
guide for design and data collection
- Contribution and how to generalize from interpretive
studies? (Klein & Myers, 1999)
- Ways of reflecting on the existing literature and identifying
gaps
- Framing material for particular audiences
AOG FEB – Jan Devos - 06/03/2012 pag. 17
Faculteit Ingenieurswetenschappen en Architectuur – Campus West
18. Action Research (Design Science)
(Baskerville 1999, Baskerville et al 2004)
- Two cycles of five phases (baseline,
implementation) (Street et al. 2004)
- Axial coding (Corbin et al 2008)
- Pattern mapping (Yin, 2004)
AOG FEB – Jan Devos - 06/03/2012 pag. 18
Faculteit Ingenieurswetenschappen en Architectuur – Campus West
19. AOG FEB – Jan Devos - 06/03/2012
Faculteit Ingenieurswetenschappen en Architectuur – Campus West
20. Client-System Infrastructure
Case Endoxa
E-business / Drop shipping / E-Supply chain
Minimal organization (Weick, 1993)
1) direct supervision,
2) strategy planned at the top,
3) little formalized behavior,
4) organic structure and
5) CEO tending to formulate plans intuitively (plans are an direct
extensions of his own personality)
Research team (PWO-project)
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Faculteit Ingenieurswetenschappen en Architectuur – Campus West
21. Endoxa
AOG FEB – Jan Devos - 06/03/2012 pag. 21
Faculteit Ingenieurswetenschappen en Architectuur – Campus West
22. Is Bricolage a theory?
• Levi-Strauss 1962
Bricolage is an analogy to shed light on the processes underlying
mythical thinking
• Constructs of Bricolage (Duymedjian & Rüling 2010)
Repertoire (stock)
= material and immaterial resources that are collected
independently of any particular project or utilization.
Dialogue
= the activity of assembling objects
Outcome
= refers both to the process and its results (circular dynamic)
AOG FEB – Jan Devos - 06/03/2012 pag. 22
Faculteit Ingenieurswetenschappen en Architectuur – Campus West
23. Is Bricolage a theory?
Seven oxymoron‟s as propositions (Ciborra, 2002)
• Value bricolage strategically (VBS)
• Design tinkering (DT)
• Establish systematic serendipity (ESS)
• Thrive on gradual breakthroughs (TGB)
• Unskilled Learning (UL)
• Strive for failure (SFF)
• Achieve collaborative inimitability (ACI)
AOG FEB – Jan Devos - 06/03/2012 pag. 23
Faculteit Ingenieurswetenschappen en Architectuur – Campus West
24. Diagnosing Action Planning Action Taking Evaluating Specifying
Learning
VBS Mission BRIDEE Negative Too complex
statement
DT
ESS Twitter Hashtags Hashtags Positive
TGB Web services
PUL Wiki‟s
SFF
ACI Open „model‟
Diagnosing Action Planning Action Taking Evaluating Specifying
Learning
VBS Mission Network
statement Orchestrator
DT
ESS
TGB E-commerce Magento Modules
Front-end Apps
ERP
Back-end OpenERP
PUL Lynda.com
SFF
ACI
AOG FEB – Jan Devos - 06/03/2012
Faculteit Ingenieurswetenschappen en Architectuur – Campus West
25. Findings
• Bricolage repertoire does exist
• OpenERP
• Magento
• Remark: no limits on repertoire
• Dialogue (action research / design science)
• Outcome: serving customers (making money)
AOG FEB – Jan Devos - 06/03/2012 pag. 25
Faculteit Ingenieurswetenschappen en Architectuur – Campus West
26. Findings
• Value bricolage strategically (VBS)
CEO sees drop shipping as an E-Supply Ecosystem
mission statement of Endoxa
- “Alignment clicks with bricks & mortar”
- “Network Orchestrator of the complete cross e-supply chain”
• Establish systematic serendipity (ESS)
• IceCat
• Magento
• e-Air Waybill (e-AWB)
• Keep on Tweeting
AOG FEB – Jan Devos - 06/03/2012 pag. 26
Faculteit Ingenieurswetenschappen en Architectuur – Campus West
27. Findings
• Thrive on gradual breakthroughs (TGB)
Magento
• Unskilled Learning (UL)
Training modules with Lynda.com
• Strive for failure (SFF)
• Achieve collaborative inimitability (ACI)
The process of bricolage leads to an inimitable
outcome, although the model is open
Drop shipping ecosystem
AOG FEB – Jan Devos - 06/03/2012 pag. 27
Faculteit Ingenieurswetenschappen en Architectuur – Campus West
28. Conclusions
- RQ: Yes
- OpenERP & Magento is bricolage
- Twitter „faster than e-mail‟
- Cloud Computing: no real impact
- Wiki‟s: repertoire is not limited
- Bricolage as a theory is more developed
- The „alternative‟ way of thinking of IS in
organizations iso control thinking is gaining more
validity
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Faculteit Ingenieurswetenschappen en Architectuur – Campus West
29. Questions?
AOG FEB – Jan Devos - 06/03/2012 pag. 29
Faculteit Ingenieurswetenschappen en Architectuur – Campus West
Hinweis der Redaktion
Upper partA necessary (but not sufficient) condition for the take-off of an EC is the speed by which data can be interchanged. A speed of 15Mbps is a strict minimum. According to the IUT by 2015 entry-level broadband services should cost less than 5% of the average monthly income. In Europe 11 of 15 countries has already affordable broadband services with sometimes only 0,3% of the monthly income.Lower partNot only the speed matters but also the degree of mobility of the connection. Users do not access the Internet at a specific place (and time) but anywhere and at anytime, since they are highly mobile with their Smartphones.
The disruptive usage of Internet-related ICTs all have in common that the content is under control of the user. Even Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook is now not in control of all the produced content on his platform. Although he stays in control of the whole Facebook platform; which is of course another issue to be concerned of. This makes the difference between an email system, which is merely an application and Facebook or Twitter which are social communities of people.
The spontaneous questions that comes up by most business managers is then: If we can’t control it will the absence of a centralized control mechanism than lead to anarchy and chaos? The answer is definitely no! Millions of people are using social media on a daily basis, in their job, at home and on the road. Although social media seems to have the power to change politics and government, as one could observe during the Arab spring last year, they do not aim at chaos. Chaos is merely a side-effect. And of course there are hackers who try to play their role in the piece, but their roles are extras.
This brings us to the next condition for an EC to become airborne: the customization and consumerization of IT and the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) to the company. Users today do not depend anymore on IT only available within the boundaries of a company, but can chose to use IT anywhere, at home, at the office and on the road. Tablets, BlackBerries, iPhones, and iPads are becoming commodities at an increasing speed and are capable to support almost every possible application (apps). Access to the Internet by these devices comes in a wide variety of protocols (3G, 4G, WIFI) and at high speeds. These powerful mobile stations drives the users out of the office and out of the organization.