{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,19]],"date-time":"2025-06-19T04:22:47Z","timestamp":1750306967762,"version":"3.41.0"},"reference-count":64,"publisher":"Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2013,6,24]],"date-time":"2013-06-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1372032000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.acm.org\/publications\/policies\/copyright_policy#Background"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["dl.acm.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["SIGMIS Database"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2013,6,24]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Research grounded in a social science tradition tends to focus on people, while research grounded in an engineering tradition tends to focus on artifacts. However, as people and artifacts become increasingly intertwined in digitized processes and practices, these traditional disciplinary divisions sometimes seem a little outdated. So in this essay, I advocate an approach to research on information systems that focuses on actions, rather than people or artifacts. In particular, I examine the possibility of treating patterns of action as the object of inquiry. Grammatical models can be used to represent the space of possible action patterns in a given domain, and can be used to compare, and analyze the structural properties of action patterns. If so desired, these patterns can be tied back to traditional factors related to people (such as culture, habit, or learning?) or technology (such as features, constraints, or affordances?).<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1145\/2488968.2488970","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2013,5,28]],"date-time":"2013-05-28T16:35:32Z","timestamp":1369758932000},"page":"7-18","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1145\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Desperately seeking structures"],"prefix":"10.1145","volume":"44","author":[{"given":"Brian T.","family":"Pentland","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"320","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2013,6,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_1_1_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/orsc.1.4.375"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev.so.21.080195.000521"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0049124100029001001"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.5555\/2017189.2017191"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_5_1","first-page":"300","volume-title":"J. 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Leonardi , B. Nardi & J . Kallinikos (Eds.), Materiality and organizing. D'Adderio, L. (2012). \"Performing the Material Turn in Routine Theory.\" In P. Leonardi, B. Nardi & J. Kallinikos (Eds.), Materiality and organizing."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_15_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.17705\/1jais.00043"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_16_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s00779-005-0046-3"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_17_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2307\/3556620"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_18_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Galliers R. D. (2003). \"Change as Crisis or Growth\" Toward a Trans-disciplinary View of Information Systems as a Field of Study: A Response to Benbasat and Zmud's Call for Returning to the IT Artifact.\" Journal of the Association for Information Systems Vol. 4: pp. 337--351.  Galliers R. D. (2003). \"Change as Crisis or Growth\" Toward a Trans-disciplinary View of Information Systems as a Field of Study: A Response to Benbasat and Zmud's Call for Returning to the IT Artifact.\" Journal of the Association for Information Systems Vol. 4: pp. 337--351.","DOI":"10.17705\/1jais.00040"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_19_1","volume-title":"Canada.","author":"Gaskin J.","year":"2010","unstructured":"Gaskin , J. , Schutz , D. , Berente , N. , Lyytinen , K. , and Yoo , Y . ( 2010 ). \" The DNA of Design Work: Physical and Digital Materiality in Project-based Design Organizations.\" Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings. Montreal , Canada. Gaskin, J., Schutz, D., Berente, N., Lyytinen, K., and Yoo, Y. (2010). \"The DNA of Design Work: Physical and Digital Materiality in Project-based Design Organizations.\" Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings. 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(2009). \"Mill Owners and Wobblies: the Event Structure of the Everett Massacre of 1916.\" Social Science History, Vol. 33, No. 2: pp. 183--215.","journal-title":"Social Science History"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_51_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.17705\/1jais.00042"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_52_1","volume-title":"Theorizing information technology as a material artifact in information systems research.\" In P","author":"Robey D.","year":"2012","unstructured":"Robey , D. , Raymond , B. , and Anderson , C . ( 2012 ). \" Theorizing information technology as a material artifact in information systems research.\" In P . Leonardi, B. Nardi and J. Kallinikos (Eds.), Materiality and organizing. Robey, D., Raymond, B., and Anderson, C. (2012). \"Theorizing information technology as a material artifact in information systems research.\" In P. Leonardi, B. Nardi and J. 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L. and Lyytinen, K. (Eds) . Information Systems: State of the Field . Wiley and Sons : England , pp. 293 -- 299 . Weber, R. (2006). \"Like ships passing in the night: The Debate on the Core of the Information Systems Discipline,\" in King, J. L. and Lyytinen, K. (Eds) . Information Systems: State of the Field. Wiley and Sons: England, pp. 293--299."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_60_1","volume-title":"The Social Psychology of Organizing","author":"Weick K. E.","year":"1969","unstructured":"Weick , K. E. ( 1969 ). The Social Psychology of Organizing , Reading, MA : Addison-Wesley . Weick, K. E. (1969). The Social Psychology of Organizing, Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_61_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.accinf.2010.12.005"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_62_1","volume-title":"Digital Materiality and the Emergence of Evolutionary Sciences of Artificial.\" In P","author":"Yoo Y.","year":"2012","unstructured":"Yoo , Y. ( 2012 ). \" Digital Materiality and the Emergence of Evolutionary Sciences of Artificial.\" In P . Leonardi, B. Nardi and J. Kallinikos (Eds.), Materiality and organizing. Yoo, Y. (2012). \"Digital Materiality and the Emergence of Evolutionary Sciences of Artificial.\" In P. Leonardi, B. Nardi and J. Kallinikos (Eds.), Materiality and organizing."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_63_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/isre.1100.0322"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_64_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/orsc.1070.0307"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_65_1","volume-title":"the Age of the Smart Machine","author":"Zuboff S.","year":"1988","unstructured":"Zuboff , S. ( 1988 ). In the Age of the Smart Machine . New York : Basic Books . Zuboff, S. (1988). In the Age of the Smart Machine. 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