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Article

Process descriptions as organisational accounting devices: the dual use of workflow technologies

Author:

Paul DourishAuthors Info & Claims

GROUP '01: Proceedings of the 2001 ACM International Conference on Supporting Group Work

Pages 52 - 60

https://doi.org/10.1145/500286.500297

Published: 30 September 2001 Publication History

Abstract

Workflow technologies present a problem for CSCW. On the one hand, they are perhaps the most successful form of groupware technology in current use; but on the other, they have been subject to sustained and cogent critiques, particularly from perspective of the analysis of everyday working activities. This leads inevitably to the question: in the face of these critiques, just why and how do work-flow technologies prove effective? This paper suggests that part of the solution lies in the fact that workflow technologies play more than one role in organisations, and that, in fact, the success of work flow technologies may have little to do with the typical relationship of those technologies to the accomplishment of everyday work. On the basis of the notion of a dual role for workflow technologies, I lay out a framework for considering the design and analysis of workflow systems that may help to bridge between these two roles.

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Cited By

Pun VStolz V(2024)Enforced Dependencies for Active ObjectsActive Object Languages: Current Research Trends10.1007/978-3-031-51060-1_13(359-374)Online publication date: 29-Jan-2024
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-51060-1_13
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https://doi.org/10.14763/2022.2.1663
Thomer AAkmon DYork JTyler APolasek FLafia SHemphill LYakel E(2022)The Craft and Coordination of Data Curation: Complicating Workflow Views of Data ScienceProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/35551396:CSCW2(1-29)Online publication date: 11-Nov-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3555139
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Process descriptions as organisational accounting devices: the dual use of workflow technologies

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Published In

cover image ACM Conferences

GROUP '01: Proceedings of the 2001 ACM International Conference on Supporting Group Work

September 2001

310 pages

ISBN:1581132948

DOI:10.1145/500286

Conference Chair:
Tom Rodden
University of Nottingham, UK
,
Editors:
Clarence (Skip) Ellis
University of Colorado at Boulder, USA
,
Ilze Zigurs
University of Nebraska at Omaha, USA

Copyright © 2001 ACM.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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SIGGROUP: ACM Special Interest Group on Supporting Group Work

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

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Published: 30 September 2001

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GROUP01: Conference on Supporting GROUP Work

September 30 - October 3, 2001

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Overall Acceptance Rate 125 of 405 submissions, 31%

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Cited By

Pun VStolz V(2024)Enforced Dependencies for Active ObjectsActive Object Languages: Current Research Trends10.1007/978-3-031-51060-1_13(359-374)Online publication date: 29-Jan-2024
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-51060-1_13
Sweidan SEjercito K(2022)Non-userInternet Policy Review10.14763/2022.2.166311:2Online publication date: 21-Apr-2022
https://doi.org/10.14763/2022.2.1663
Thomer AAkmon DYork JTyler APolasek FLafia SHemphill LYakel E(2022)The Craft and Coordination of Data Curation: Complicating Workflow Views of Data ScienceProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/35551396:CSCW2(1-29)Online publication date: 11-Nov-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3555139
Muller MWeisz J(2022)Extending a Human-AI Collaboration Framework with Dynamism and SocialityProceedings of the 1st Annual Meeting of the Symposium on Human-Computer Interaction for Work10.1145/3533406.3533407(1-12)Online publication date: 8-Jun-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3533406.3533407
Kusk KBossen C(2022)Working with WoltProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/34928236:GROUP(1-22)Online publication date: 14-Jan-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3492823
Ali MLamo YPun V(2022)Cost analysis for a resource sensitive workflow modelling languageScience of Computer Programming10.1016/j.scico.2022.102896(102896)Online publication date: Nov-2022
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scico.2022.102896
Sterner B(2022)Explaining ambiguity in scientific languageSynthese10.1007/s11229-022-03792-x200:5Online publication date: 19-Aug-2022
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Kross SGuo P(2021)Orienting, Framing, Bridging, Magic, and Counseling: How Data Scientists Navigate the Outer Loop of Client Collaborations in Industry and AcademiaProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/34760525:CSCW2(1-28)Online publication date: 18-Oct-2021
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Ammitzbøll Flügge AHildebrandt TMøller N(2021)Street-Level Algorithms and AI in Bureaucratic Decision-MakingProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/34491145:CSCW1(1-23)Online publication date: 22-Apr-2021
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Marcu GDey AKiesler S(2021)Tensions in Representing Behavioral Data in an Electronic Health RecordComputer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW)10.1007/s10606-021-09402-7Online publication date: 22-Jun-2021
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