Lý thuyết hệ thống thông tin tổ chức - Nghiên cứu của Nguyễn Mạnh Tuấn tại Đại học Bách khoa TP.HCM

A SYSTEMS BASED THEORY OF ORGANIZATIONAL INFORMATION A Dissertation by NGUYEN MANH TUAN Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, VNUHCM in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY December 2010 Major Subject: Business Administration ii A SYSTEMS BASED THEORY OF ORGANIZATIONAL INFORMATION A Dissertation by NGUYEN MANH TUAN Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, VNUHCM in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Prof. Ho Duc Hung Assoc. Nguyen Dinh Tho (Chair of Committee) (Member) Dr. Phan Trieu Anh Assoc.

Do Phuc (Member) (Member) Assoc. Le Nguyen Hau Dr. Pham Thi Thanh Hong (Member) (Member) Dr. Nguyen Huu Lam (Member) December 2010 Major Subject: Business Administration iii STATEMENT OF AUTHENTICITY I confirm that this work is my original one.

This material, to my best of knowledge and belief, has not been seen in any previous academic publication yet. iv ABSTRACT A systems based theory of organizational information. (December, 2010) Nguyen Manh Tuan, HoChiMinh City University of Technology, VNU-HCMC This research was a theorizing endeavor for a systems based theory of organizational information. In essence, it is a conceptualization of the phenomena of organizational information in terms of the nature and the formulation process of information in organizations.

Standing on the critical postmodernism school, the study took the systems pragmatism approach that primarily relies on both the Peircean pragmatism semiotics and the Churchmanian systems thinking. Our research approach naturally gave support to the contextualism as the theory of method, which readily accommodates some salient points of social and organizational phenomena in general and of organizational information in particular, which are historical, contextual and processual. To be consistent methodologically, we employed a research design of embedded multiple cases and a grounded theory for our data collection and analysis. Two pilot studies and then four main organizational cases in consulting industries were conducted for field data to firmly ground the resultant emergent theory.

Next we did the test of our emergent model on four existing case studies outside consulting industries, to raise the theoretical level of the emerging grounded theories from the substantive to the formal one. The three research findings were affirmed: organizational information as system, organizational information formulation as habit production, and the theoretical distinction among three common information categories. By our systems based conception, organizational information would present itself as a unity that comprises nonexclusive six aspects: structure, function, process, context, time and epistemology. Each aspect in turn embodies a triad crossing the three v human worlds (i.

material, mental, social). Taking the relational perspective, organizational information would better manifest itself as a continuously dynamic triad, or equally, a Peircean semiosis that comprises three states of mind or ingredients (i. surprise/data, doubt/knowledge, and belief/information) and three respective relations, or human activities (i. experience, abduction, and inquiry).

In specific, we found that the ingredient of data is more of properties of thing, more objective, and more past oriented, the ingredient of knowledge is more of properties of human, more subjective, and more present-oriented, and finally the ingredient of information itself is more of properties of organization, more inter-subjective, and more future-oriented. Such a continuous evolutionary process would help organizational actors within their communities (e. organizational units) enact information that is inherently to be path dependent and interdependent. Our resultant grounded theory of organizational information may offer three major contributions.

One, it could accommodate at the same time, the entity view, the process view, and the locus view of organizational information, thus is able to capture mostly the information related phenomena in organizations. Two, it could maintain a dynamic triadic relation of organizational information, which takes a continuous transformation over time and in space. This helps to emphasize the emergence or mediation of information as habits, neither ideas nor activities. Three, it could present a comprehensive information taxonomy for distinction among three common categories of information, and thus, clearing up a long standing confusion around this.

We posit that our grounded systems model could propose a fundamentally theoretical framework about the nature and the process of information, which would be also a theory native to the information systems field. By this, our resultant middle range theory would be a distinctive contribution for making information systems as a reference discipline in its own right. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I am grateful to my main advisor, Dr. Vo Van Huy, for his thoughtful guidance and insightful comments throughout my study.

I am particularly appreciative of his inspiring me with the Churchmanian design of inquiring systems, which is the greatest mission of human beings in general and researchers in specific I have ever thought of. Next, I am deeply indebted to my second advisor, Dr. Nguyen Huu Lam, for his intellectual encouragement and strong support during this entire endeavor. He always helped me pursue my research interests and efforts, one of which is “naturalistic inquiry” that fundamentally declares that human inquiry is not and cannot be value free.

I particularly want to thank Dr. Hau, and Dr. Hung, for their valuable criticism and provocative comments in all stages of this work. And I would like to extend my thanks to Dr.

Tho for his thorough guidelines of the research methodologies and his open sharing for research ideas. I also owe many thanks to all of the faculty, staff, and colleagues at the School of Industrial Management, the Department of Management Information Systems, the Center of Business Research and Training, and the Office of Graduate Studies in HCMUT, VNUHCM for their timely support and encouragement during my project. I then would like to thank the local business firms, and especially my friend, Nguyen N. Nhan for their great assistance in my heavy field work.

Finally, I close this dissertation in memory of my father and dedicate it to the family, my mother, my sisters, my brothers, my wife, Ha, and my two pretty daughters, T. Khue, without whose love, sacrifice, and time, it would not have been possible. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS .vii LIST OF TABLES.

xii LIST OF FIGURES. Background to and research gap of the study. Research problems and questions. Rationale of the theory building research.

Justification for the research. Importance of the research. Contributions and Implications. 21 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE.

The phenomena of information. The relationships between information and knowledge. The primacy of information. Information in the field of information systems.

The need for a new conceptualization of organizational information. Pragmatism and systems thinking. A systems thinking approach to organizational information. Middle range theorizing.

The organization of theory-building research. Systems pragmatism as the research paradigm. Contextualism as the theory of methodology. Justification of the methodology.

For the qualitative approach. For the case study and the grounded theory. Why case study?. Why grounded theory?.

Which grounded theory?. Evaluation of the research. The assessment of the emergent theory and the research process. Assessment of the evidence grounding the theory.

Pilot case studies. Criteria for the case selection and the number of cases. Case study protocol. 112 ANALYSIS OF DATA AND RESEARCH FINDINGS.

Nature of organizational information and organizational information as system. Organizational information formulation process and organizational information formulation as habit production. Test of the emerging grounded substantive theory. Test case selection and theory testing.

195 DISCUSSION OF THE FINDINGS AND RESEARCH IMPLICATIONS. Research finding 1: Organizational information-as-system. Research finding 2: Organizational information formulation as habit production. Research finding 3: Distinction among three information categories.

Revisiting and extending the systems model of pragmatic information. Relation between information-as-system and information system. A systems theory of pragmatic information. A pragmatic paradigm of information.

An information view of organization theories and phenomena. A theoretical framework for management research quality. An information theory of organization. An information based theory of the firm.

A new taxonomy of knowledge production modes and beyond. A new framework of problem solving process. A basis of organizational decision making. A design of organizations.3 Project proposal: a virtual clinic for SME management consultancy.

Summary of research findings and implications. Organizational information as system. Organizational information formulation as habit production. Distinction among three information categories.

Contributions of the research. Limitations of the research. Directions for future research. RESEARCH FLOW AND TASKS.

ILLUSTRATIVE FITNESS BETWEEN EVIDENCE AND THEORETICAL CONSTRUCTS. 366 xii LIST OF TABLES Table Page Table 3. Theoretical categories emerged from pilot case studies. Properties and dimensions of the core categories.

Organizations, cases, and embedded units of analysis. HY-ICT’s business of ERP implementation – an overview. Code unitizing – an example at HY-ICT. Concept categorizing – an example at HY-ICT.

TP-DTF’s business of designing coastal ports – an overview. Code unitizing – an example at TP-DTF. Concept categorizing – an example at TP-DTF. Dimensioning conceptual properties.

Labelling dimensions of conceptual property ‘structure’ – an illustration at TP- DTF. Labelling dimensions of conceptual property ‘function’ – an illustration at TP- DTF. Labelling dimensions of conceptual property ‘process’ – an illustration at TP-DTF. Labelling dimensions of conceptual property ‘context’ – an illustration at TP-DTF.

Conceptual properties and dimensions. Three emerging fundamental patterns of organizational information. The emerged core category of organizational information. The refined central category of organizational information.

Structure property – an illustrative example of its dimensions in case evidence 139 Table 4. Function property – an illustrative example of its dimensions in case evidence. Process property – an illustrative example of its dimensions in case evidence. Context property – an illustrative example of its dimensions in case evidence.

A descriptive model of organizational information as system. Three basic patterns of organizational information. The distinction among three basic patterns of organizational information. A descriptive model of organizational information as system - fine tuned version.

A foundational distinction among three information categories. Situational actions in Habermas’ three worlds. A systems based theory of pragmatic information. Some meta-theoretical assumptions of information categories.

A pragmatic paradigm of information. An example of information view of organization theories. An example of information view of organizational phenomena. A literature review of research utilization.

Substantial problems of organizational decision making. 289 xiv LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page Figure 2. Pragmatism semiotics triangle. A tentative triadic relation in business case.

Structural aspect (SCE) of organizational information. Functional aspect (UED) of organizational information. Processual aspect (RDP) of organizational information. Contextual aspect (IAH) of organizational information.

Time aspect (PPF) of organizational information. Epistemic aspect (OSI) of organizational information. An explanatory model of organizational information as system (DKI model). An explanatory model of organizational information as system - fine tuned version (DKI model – fine tuned version).

A triadic model of organizational information formulation process (SDB model). A systems based model of organizational information (systems based DKI model). Formally structural aspect (SOC) of information-as-system. Formally functional aspect (DCC) of information-as-system.

Formally processual aspect (DWC) of information-as-system. Formally contextual aspect (PIS) of information-as-system. Formally time aspect (PPF) of information-as-system. Formally epistemic aspect (EPS) of information-as-system.

Proposal of management research quality (RRR). A new taxonomy of knowledge production modes and beyond. Business case in the virtual clinic case base. Process, function, and context of business case information-as-system.

Background to and research gap of the study For organization and management studies in general and knowledge management (KM) as well as information systems (IS) literature in particular, organizational knowledge or knowledge in organizations is more increasing interest among academics and managers (von Krogh, 2009; Tsoukas & Vladimirou, 2001; Orlikowski, 2002; Assudani, 2005; Jakubik, 2007). Nonaka, von Krogh and Voelpel’s (2006, p.