Journal Article

Unpacking a Timesheet: Formalisation and Representation

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Date

2001, 2001

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Source

Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW): Vol. 10, No. 3-4

Publisher

Springer

Abstract

While the use of formal systems has been animportant topic within CSCW, their use as representations has been relatively neglected.This paper, using ethnographic data from aBritish oil company, investigates howrepresentations are used. In the companystudied an electronic timesheet system wasimplemented to be used by staff to account fortheir work. Looking at this system in useprovides insights on what changes whenprocesses are computerised. In particular, thecomputerised system used inflexiblecomputerised rules to enforce a division oflabour between the accountants who ran thesystem, and those who filled in theirtimesheets. However, this rigidity was not apurely negative feature; it helped theaccountants who ran the system to do``representational work'', and establish theaccuracy of the timesheet system. Looking intothe politics of this system in use illustratesthe danger of generalising the relationshipbetween formalisation and power.

Description

Brown, Barry A.T. (2001): Unpacking a Timesheet: Formalisation and Representation. Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW): Vol. 10, No. 3-4. DOI: 10.1023/A:1012787304131. Springer. PISSN: 1573-7551. pp. 293-315

Keywords

ethnography, formalisation, organisational politics, representation, timesheets, work practices, workflows

Citation

DOI

10.1023/A:1012787304131

URI

URI

http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1012787304131
 https://dl.eusset.eu/handle/20.500.12015/3588

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JCSCW Vol. 10 (2001)

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Referenced By

Number of citations to item: 7

  • Barry Brown, Mark Perry (2002): Of maps and guidebooks, In: Proceedings of the 4th conference on Designing interactive systems: processes, practices, methods, and techniques, doi:10.1145/778712.778747
  • Eric Laurier, Chris Philo (2003): The Region in the Boot: Mobilising Lone Subjects and Multiple Objects, In: Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 1(21), doi:10.1068/d341
  • Geoffrey Yeo (2010): Representing the Act: Records and Speech Act Theory, In: Journal of the Society of Archivists 2(31), doi:10.1080/00379816.2010.506782
  • L. Stepulevage (2003): Computer-based office work: stories of gender, design, and use, In: IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 4(25), doi:10.1109/mahc.2003.1253892
  • Claus Bossen (2006): Representations at work, In: Proceedings of the 2006 20th anniversary conference on Computer supported cooperative work, doi:10.1145/1180875.1180887
  • Norman Makoto Su (2013): The Social Life of Tunes: Representing the Aesthetics of Reception, In: ECSCW 2013: Proceedings of the 13th European Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work, 21-25 September 2013, Paphos, Cyprus, doi:10.1007/978-1-4471-5346-7_11
  • Daniel Neyland (2006): The Accomplishment of Spatial Adequacy: Analysing CCTV Accounts of British Town Centres, In: Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 4(24), doi:10.1068/d384t
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