In Td, Technology Is Said To Exist Outside Of Society And Influences Social

In TD, technology is said to exist outside of society and influences social and organizational change but is not influenced in return. This view is countered by the discussions in all of the papers which argue in favour of the SST approach, stating that by its very nature information systems are socio-technical and should be considered in these terms.
The papers seem to draw on real life issues that demonstrate that social issues are at the core of information system design, development, implementation and acceptance. This in effect shapes how the technology is used and evolves over time. A good example of this would be the Internet, which is constantly evolving with new applications and uses. Online gambling is currently a massive growth area, and is a classic example of a user driven refinement of technology use. i.e. this was never an intended use for the technology but user driven demand for it has forced organizations to refine technology to provide it.
All the four papers reviewed present a social impact of technology, but from slightly different perspectives which are inseparably linked.
Paper1 argues that technological progress does not automatically mean that there is social progress as there can be a negative impact.
Paper 2 explains the reasons why BPR is essential in the today's organizations if they are to be competitive in the market place. The process oriented approach requires consideration of social factors rather than focusing purely on tasks although user interaction seems to be limited.
Paper 3 explains the traditional STS approaches to organisational change based on maximising social technical interaction. It considers both the technology and social effects of technology from primarily the user perspective and how information system changes affect user roles and the organizational hierarchy. STS advocates user empowerment.
Through presenting 3 levels of a change this paper also presents the view that although the introduction of IT leads to change, it does not always require a change to processes or organizational changes. This is endorsed by the Alpha level which is only a technology led change in the way of working, the task and organizational structure remains the same. However there is evidence of there being a higher number of Beta and Gamma level changes as a result of work process changes. This fits in with the BPR approach to reworking processes rather than tasks.
Paper 4 introduces the modern methodologies like, BPR and TQM and compares them to STS the approach. It argues that although both approaches share similarities, the modern methodologies do not consider user empowerment as STS does. This provides a case for STS thinking to be incorporated into BPR and TQM thinking to improve the change methodology process.