Investigating Digital Human Configuration Work: The Transformation of Surgery in the US with the Introduction of Robotics
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Series
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SpeakersMary Beth Watson-Manheim (University of Illinois Chicago, United States)
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LocationVrije Universiteit Amsterdam, room HG-11A33
Amsterdam -
Date and time
June 06, 2023
12:00 - 13:00
Abstract
We explore the technology-induced transformation of work in the context of robotic surgery. We begin by examining the perspectives of individual surgeons and lecturers and the relational, organizational, and institutional settings in which they are embedded. We develop a theoretical lens to allow us to identify the dynamics of the transformation and patterns in configuration work over a 20 year period. We employ two conceptual frames, 1) configuration work (Suchman, 2012), specifically emergent configurations of digital-human work, and 2) orders of change (Bartunek & Moch, 1987), emphasizing the role and development of cognitive frameworks in making sense of organizational change. We thus combine multi-faceted and multi-leveled accounts of “figuring out”, i.e., how to make digital work feasible, with reflections on how the transformation of work ultimately affects the identities of individuals, organizations, and institutions. We propose that this transformation affects the ways in which individuals think about their work, their colleagues and employers, and the institutions that shape their work and conversely leads to reflexive multi-level structural changes.
We are happy to invite you to an ABRI lunch seminar by Prof. Mary Beth Watson-Manheim (University of Illinois Chicago) organized by ABRI and the KIN Center for Digital Innovation.
The seminar will take place on Tuesday, June 6, from 12:00 to 13:00 (HG-11A33). You can find more information here. This is a lunch seminar; please register your attendance by accepting/declining your invitation by Friday, June 2 at 17 PM, at the latest (for catering), or by sending an email to graduateschool.abri@vu.nl.