Barrett, M., Oborn, Eivor, Orlikowski, W. J. and Yates, J. (2012) Reconfiguring boundary relations : robotic innovations in pharmacy work. Organization Science, 23 (5). pp. 1448-1466. doi:10.1287/orsc.1100.0639

Research output not available from this repository, contact author.

Request Changes to record.

Abstract

Robotics is a rapidly expanding area of digital innovation with important implications for organizational practice in multioccupational settings. This paper explores the influence of robotic innovations on the boundary dynamics of three different occupational groups—pharmacists, technicians, and assistants—working in a hospital pharmacy. We extend Pickering's tuning approach [Pickering, A. 1995. The Mangle of Practice: Time, Agency, and Science. University of Chicago Press, Chicago] to examine the temporally emergent process that entangled the mechanical elements and digital inscriptions of a dispensing robot with the everyday practices of hospital pharmacy work. We found that engagement with the robot's hybrid and dynamic materiality over time reconfigured boundary relations among the three occupational groups, with important and contradictory consequences for the pharmacy workers' skills, jurisdictions, status, and visibility.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Divisions:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Warwick Business School
Journal or Publication Title:	Organization Science
Publisher:	Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (I N F O R M S)
ISSN:	1047-7039
Official Date:	September 2012
Dates:	Date Event September 2012 Published
Volume:	23
Number:	5
Page Range:	pp. 1448-1466
DOI:	10.1287/orsc.1100.0639
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access

Request changes or add full text files to a record

Repository staff actions (login required)

View Item