Title: Transformational Technologies and the Creation of New Work Practices:
1Transformational Technologies and the Creation of
New Work Practices
Making Implicit Knowledge Explicit in Task-Based
Offshoring
Paul M. Leonardi, Northwestern University Diane
E. Bailey, Stanford University
MIS Quarterly, Vol. 32, No. 2
presented by Esther Rosenow
2Overview
Transformational technologies may create problems
Problem
Question
What problems and how do workers respond?
Offshoring within International Automobile
Corporation (IAC)
Subject
Conclusion
Consider transformational technologies in research
3Knowledge-Transfer Technologies
Storage Technologies
Communication Technologies
DB
knowledge conduits
knowledge repositories
4Transformational Technologies
Output digital artifact
Input design (CAD)
F - mA0 2m? v' - m? r' - m? (? r') ma'
CAE
- Transform information
- Collaborate across time and space
CAD Computer-Aided Design CAE Computer-Aided
Engineering
5Explicit vs. Implicit Knowledge
Implicit Knowledge
Explicit Knowledge
design specifications
knowledge from experience
6Behind the Scenes at IAC
- Shared CAD database
- Separate CAE suite
- Design Engineers (DE), Performance Engineers (PE)
- Home sites offshore to India
7Differences in Offshoring Models
U.S. Model gatekeeping, funneled through
Coordinators
PE PE PE
PE PE PE
C
PE PE PE
PE PE PE
Mexico Model direct-interfacing, PE to PE
8Research Questions
- Workers response?
- Coordinators role?
- Workers perception?
9Data Collection
Phase Method Informant Analysis
1a Observations (Work practices) Coordinators, PEs Inductive, iterative coding
1b Interviews (Work practices) Coordinators, PEs, Managers Inductive, iterative coding
2 Written survey (Model comparison) Mexican U.S. PEs ANOVA, regression
3 Project-tracking logs (Model comparison) All tasks offshored over 2-year period ANOVA, regression
ANOVA Analysis of Variance
10Work Practices Common to Mexico U.S.
Performed by Mexican PEs U.S. Coordinators
- Defining Requirements
- Monitoring Progress
- Fixing Returns
11Defining Requirements Mexican PEs, U.S. Cs
- Gather information
- Describe tasks
- Implicit knowledge PowerPoint
12Monitoring Progress Mexican PEs, U.S. Cs
To Do
- Check in with India
- Check in with India
- Check in with India
13Fixing Returns Mexican PEs, U.S. Cs
Inspect work from India, fix if necessary
C
PE
PE
DE
PE
14Work Practices Unique to U.S. Coordinators
- Routing Tasks Strategically
- Filtering Quality
15Routing Tasks Strategically U.S Coordinators
Consider Indian PEs schedules
?
Thu
Fri
Wed
Tue
Mon
Wed
16Filtering Quality U.S. Coordinators
Return low-quality projects
PE
C
PE
17Analysis
- Combined data
- Compared workers perceptions
- Expected models to differ
18Perception Mexican and U.S. PEs
- Used work practices more
- Offshoring not a timesaver
- Less satisfied
- Indian performance high
- Satisfied
- Coordinators big help
19Perception Indian PEs
Preferred Mexicos model
- Coordinators risked inaccuracies
- Learned from PEs
- More challenging tasks
20Discussion New Knowledge-Transfer Problems
Operational knowledge use technology Diagnostic
knowledge interpret output
Syntactic boundary transfer knowledge Semantic
boundary translate Pragmatic boundary
transform
21Discussion Workers Response
- New work practices
- Make implicit knowledge explicit
- But! Using new practices can lead to frustration
22Future Research
- Cost differences
- Equal expertise
- Pragmatic boundaries?
- Beyond engineering