Yingqin Zheng

Inequality of what? Social exclusion in the e-society as capability deprivation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to engage with the debate on social exclusion in the e‐society from the human development perspective, which goes beyond inequality in distribution of technological goods and services to emphasise the options, choice and opportunities related to accessing and using information.Design/methodology/approach – This is an interpretivist study. It draws on Sens capability approach (CA) to conceptualise social exclusion in the e‐society as capability deprivation, both in well‐being and agency freedom. A framework of the core aspects of the CA is used to analyse two empirical studies in South Africa and China which serve to illustrate social exclusion manifested as capability deprivation in different “spaces”.Findings – The paper demonstrates the relational features of social exclusion and different types of capability deprivation in e‐society; highlights “unfavourable inclusion” which can be masked by technological diffusion.Research limitations/implications – This paper i...

Technology, capabilities and critical perspectives: what can critical theory contribute to Sen's capability approach?

This paper explores what insights can be drawn from critical theory to enrich and strengthen Sen’s capability approach in relation to technology and human development. The two theories share some important commonalities: both are concerned with the pursuit of “a good life”; both are normative theories rooted in ethics and meant to make a difference, and both are interested in democracy. The paper provides a brief overview of both schools of thought and their applications to technology and human development. Three areas are identified where critical theory can make a contribution to the capability approach: conceptually, by providing a critical account of individual agency and enriching the concept of technology beyond the simplistic notion of commodities; methodologically, by sensitising towards reification and hegemony of scientific tools, and, finally, by emphasising reflexivity of researchers.

Collective agility, paradox and organizational improvisation: the development of a particle physics grid

This paper examines systems development in a global collaborative community of high‐energy physics and offers insights and implications for agile systems development in other large scale and distributed settings. The paper studies the ongoing construction of the UKs computing grid for particle physics (GridPP), a grid that is itself part of the worlds largest grid, the Large Hadron Collider Computing Grid. We observe in this project a collective, agile and distributed performance through which the Grid is constructed. We express this through the concept of ‘collective agility’ which captures a large distributed performance rather than the more conventional sense of agility as small‐group and deliberate systems development practices. The collective agility of GridPP is analysed as a process of ‘enacted emergence’ expressed through the dynamics of six improvisation paradoxes.

From boundary spanning to creolization: A study of Chinese software and services outsourcing vendors

In achieving success in global sourcing arrangements, the role of a cultural liaison, boundary spanner or transnational intermediary is frequently highlighted as being critical. This paper critiques, builds upon and synthesizes relevant streams of ideas in relation to boundary-spanning and cross-cultural management across a number of disciplines, and constructs a multi-layered creolization framework, encompassing processes at the individual, intra- and inter-organizational and inter-national levels which, we argue, are entangled and interrelated. Viewed as a vital and innovative phenomenon, creolization embodies the interactive, contentious and creative processes of network expansion, mutual sensemaking, cultural hybridity and identity multiplicity. Qualitative empirical data from the software and services outsourcing industry in Northwest China is used to demonstrate the complexity of cross-cultural practices in offshore collaborations and illustrate creolization processes. Potentials for theoretical development are outlined and implications for cross-cultural practices are discussed.

Affordances of social media in collective action: the case of Free Lunch for Children in China

This paper studies the socialised affordances of social media in the processes of collective action, exploring the role of technology in the under‐researched area of civil society. We examine the case of Free Lunch for Children (FL4C), a charitable programme in China based on the microblogging platform, Weibo. Adopting the perspective of affordances‐for‐practice, we draw upon the collective action model to better understand the sociomaterial practices and social processes involving social media, and seek to address the ‘when’ and ‘how’ questions of affordances. The study generates theoretical and practical implications for understanding the role of social media in social transformation.

Innovation through collaborative partnerships: creating the MSN News for iPad app at VanceInfo Technologies

This teaching case focuses on a collaborative project between a major software and services outsourcing company in China (VanceInfo Technologies) and one of its major Western clients (Microsoft Inc.). VanceInfo and Microsoft had been engaged in a long-term client/vendor relationship since 1997 and the project had been the result of this long-term partnership arrangement. The project was deemed quite successful and innovative; hence it provided an opportunity to determine how collaborative innovation could work between two remote and culturally different supply chain partners and how the lessons from this project could be used to inform SSO providers of ways in which they could move up the value chain to more client-focused value added services. The case looks in-depth at the actual working practices that enabled the distributed Microsoft/VanceInfo team to produce a market-led innovative product. Agile methods were highly integral to the functioning of those work practices and are quite carefully scrutinised from the point of view of how they were adapted for use in a distributed, cross-cultural environment. Users of the case study will be asked to formulate answers to several questions geared towards providing general guidelines that SSO providers can follow to achieve similar successful outcomes.

Conceptualizing development in information and communication technology for development (ICT4D)

ABSTRACT ICT4D research is faced with the challenge of rapidly changing technologies and increasingly complex social dynamics and development processes. We argue that ICT4D research requires a more acute sense of where our research is situated within a broader picture of development, e.g. with a better understanding of development processes, their ideological nature, the power structures and driving forces, and the mechanisms through which ICTs may be embedded in and shape these processes. Such a reflexivity is crucial not least in justifying our claims of contribution, but also in understanding the implications and potential impact of our research and practice. This editorial seeks to explore key conceptual components in ICT4D and their relationships, including dimensions of development, perspectives of development, conceptions of artefacts, and theory of change. A tentative conceptual schema is presented that connects these conceptual components.

Evaluating Emerging ICTs: A Critical Capability Approach of Technology

The present chapter sets out to provide a theoretical basis for evaluating the social implications of emerging ICTs, whose uses and consequences are often ambiguous and contradictory. Drawing on two distinct but related bodies of theory, namely the capability approach and critical social theory in information systems, the chapter proposes the Critical Capability Approach of Technology (CCAT). This approach to evaluation will be useful for policy makers, technology designers and developers, and consumers who have to consider the social consequences of technologies. The CCAT is applied to explore the possible implications of three examples of emerging ICTs: affective computing, ambient intelligence, and neuro-electronics.

Cyberactivism and Collective Agency: Cases from China

It has been observed that global cyberactivism has challenged the limits of conventional social movement thinking which focuses on shared identity and strategic intention. The objective of this paper is to propose a conceptualisation of ‘collective agency,’ underlined by an ontology of ‘becoming,’ which seeks to expand the conceptual space that accounts for the heterogeneity and complexity of online practices in China that are increasingly mediated by the Internet. The conceptualisation of collection agency serves as a theoretical basis for the analysis of China’s cyberactivism, which has become increasingly significant in its impact on public life over the last two decades.

Tech hubs, innovation and development

ABSTRACT This paper critically discusses of the relationship between innovation and development by presenting a case of a Technology and Innovation Hub. It draws upon the capability approach by Amartya Sen to understand the implications of tech hubs in development. We argue that tech hubs, as collaborative spaces, may contribute to human-centered development processes in ways not directly linked to employment or market-based products. This advances a human-centered view of development which focuses on aspects of well-being and agency that people have reason to value. Conceptually, the paper proposes an understanding of innovation for development as (often unequal) social processes which might contribute to human development if and when the people involved perceive value in the processes, and these values include improving their own communities and society.