UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA, IRVINE DISSERTATION DOCTOR of PHILOSOPHY Christine Therese Wolf
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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE Narrative Assembly: Technological Framing, Storytelling, and the Situating of “Data Analytics” in Organizational Life DISSERTATION submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in Information & Computer Sciences by Christine Therese Wolf Dissertation Committee: Professor J. Paul Dourish, Chair Professor Gillian R. Hayes Principal Researcher Jeanette L. Blomberg 2017 © 2017 Christine Therese Wolf DEDICATION to – my first audience, my favorite co-conspirator, my sister. i treasure our entwined plots. *** scientists in their laboratories are not mere technicians: they are also children, confronting natural phenomena that impress upon them like fairytales. -dr. marie curie ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ........................................................................................... v CURRICULUM VITAE ............................................................................................. vi ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION .................................................................. vii Chapter One – Introduction ................................................................................... 1 1.1 AI and Its Hype: An Opening Point of Departure ................................................................... 1 1.2 Encountering Technologies at Work – The Technological Frames Lens .............................. 6 1.2.1 The Gap – Structural Dimensions of Technological Framing ......................................... 7 1.2.2 Narrative Making – Three Vantage Points and Three Sub-Research Questions ................. 10 1.3 Narrative Arrangement - In what ways can people attempt to influence technological narrative making? ......................................................................................................................................... 11 1.4 Narrative Content - In what ways can norms and values shape technological narrative making? ......................................................................................................................................... 13 1.5 Narrative Audience - In what ways can technological narratives be “taken up” and assessed? ....................................................................................................................................................... 15 1.6 Recapitulation and Plan for the Dissertation ........................................................................... 18 Chapter Two – Case, Site, Methods, and Data Analysis ................................. 20 2.1 Empirical Focus – The Case of Data Analytics ....................................................................... 20 2.2 Field Site and Approach .......................................................................................................... 22 2.3 Data Collection ........................................................................................................................ 22 2.3.1 Generating Ethnographic Data ......................................................................................... 23 2.3.2 Contextualizing Key Products and Initiatives – A Brief Glossary ...................................... 27 2.4 Inductive Data Analysis – The Emergence of “Contrasting” .................................................... 28 2.5 Summary ................................................................................................................................. 31 Chapter Three – Problems That Resonate: Technological Narratives Across Organizational Scales ........................................................................................... 32 3.1 Chapter Overview .................................................................................................................... 32 3.2 The “Use Case” – An Opening Point of Departure .................................................................. 32 3.3 An Abstract and Ordinary Resonance – Arranging Believable “Broken” States ...................... 35 3.4 Crafting a Multi-Scalar Resonance – Aligning Micro with Meso Narratives ............................ 38 3.5 A ‘Cutting Edge’ Point of View – Having a Hand in Shaping Meso Narratives ........................ 41 3.5.1 Try, Try Again – The “Garbage Can” Quality of Technological Framing .......................... 42 3.6 Concluding Remarks – Technological Framing as Strategic, Yet Improvised ......................... 44 Chapter Four – Plotting Strategic Associations: Putting Together Narratives of Do-ability and Success .................................................................................... 47 4.1 Chapter Overview .................................................................................................................... 47 4.2 Introduction – Narrative Plotting as a “Mode of Association” .................................................. 48 4.3 Cause/Effect – Plotting to Problem-Solve ............................................................................... 49 4.4 Similarity – Plotting to Bring Together ..................................................................................... 54 4.4.1 Plotting to Anticipate – Using Consumer Designs as Sources of Inspiration .................... 54 4.4.2 Plotting to Share – The Case of “Dogfooding” .................................................................. 56 4.5 Distinction and Complexity – Plotting Difference ..................................................................... 58 4.5.1 Plotting to Valorize – Establishing “Our Brand” of Agile ................................................... 58 4.5.2 Plotting to Complicate – Highlighting the Demands of Enterprise Design ........................ 60 4.6 Concluding Remarks – Technological Framing as Dynamic and Diverse ............................... 62 iii Chapter Five – Goals That Unify: Narrative Vision And The Power of Imagined Endings ................................................................................................. 64 5.1 Chapter Overview .................................................................................................................... 64 5.2 Our Imagined Organizational Life – Opening Points of Departure .......................................... 66 5.3 Building a Unified Goal – The Goal of “Increased Productivity” .............................................. 68 5.4 One Goal Among Many – Moral Consistency and the Organizing Logic of Service ............... 78 5.5 What Are We Working Towards, Here? – Recognizing Multiplicity in Imagined Goals ........... 83 5.6 Concluding Remarks – Technological Framing as Morally Charged and Multiple .................. 85 Chapter Six – Inhabiting the Plot: Appreciating and Adjusting the Narrative .. 87 6.1 Chapter Overview .................................................................................................................... 87 6.2 Introduction – An Opening Point of Departure ........................................................................ 88 6.3 Signaling Expectations in Narratives of Organizational Change ............................................. 90 6.3.1 Expectations and Technology Use – Interface as Strategic Encounter ............................ 90 6.3.2 Expectations and Comportment – Agile and Cultivating an Attitude of Change ............... 92 6.4 Signaling Recognition of One’s Role – Taking Up Narratives of Change ............................... 94 6.5 “Somewhere in Between” – Flexibility, Friction, and the Adjusting of the Narrative ................ 97 6.5.1 “Somewhere in Between” as a Source of Flexibility ......................................................... 98 6.5.2 “Somewhere in Between” as a Source of Friction ............................................................ 99 6.6 Concluding Remarks – Technological Framing as “Somewhere in Between” ...................... 102 Chapter 7 – Discussion and Conclusions: Towards Technological Framing as “Narrative Assembly” .................................................................................... 104 7.1 Shorthand Heroics – Elliptical Stories and Assembling a Rally of Success .......................... 104 7.2 Recapitulation of the Dissertation’s Findings ........................................................................ 107 7.3 Articulating A Novel Lens for Technological Framing – Narrative Assembly ........................ 112 7.4 “Strategic, Yet Improvised” – An Expanded View of “Influence” in Technological Framing .. 113 7.5 What Are We Assembling? – Technological Framing and Broader Cultural Life .................. 116 7.6 Beyond Congruency and Consistency – Perceived Coherence in Technological Framing .. 118 7.7 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 121 Bibliography ......................................................................................................... 122 iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Thank you to my participants, for welcoming me into your world – your time and energy was a gift. Thank you also to my generous funders, including: Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Orange County Chapter; IBM PhD Fellowship Program; U.S. Department of Education; and UCI’s Department of Informatics. This work would not be possible without the guidance and care of many, above all my Dissertation Chair and Committee members. “Thank you” feels too small to capture it; they are short words that recognize so much. Thank you to my Chair,