Instrumentation and instrumentalization of ICTs for the organization of collective work in global contexts, a case study

Abstract

This article aims to study the processes of instrumentationand instrumentalization information through theuse of ICT for the organization of collective work within anSME with only 20 workers as an adaptive response to a globalmarket context. We present a case study carried out in 2018in a small organization, with headquarters in Paris-France,specialized in mountmaking (soclage). We will focus on theuse of new communication and information technologies as atechnological infrastructure for the collective organization ofwork in order to meet a demand that may be local, regionalor global. The methods used in this study were specific to theergonomics of organizations, cognitive ergonomics and the digitalhumanities. From the clues of an organizational analysis, andwith the use of techniques of interviews, observation and dataanalysis, the activity of 20 workers was studied throughout theproductive mountmaking process, emphasizing the organizationof collective activity and arbitration processes that use digitaltools such as email, Google calendars and WhatsApp conversations.The results of the study show the preponderant role ofICTs as infrastructures for the dynamics of information typeartifacts that allow the organization of collective work whenit is dispersed in time and space, a recurrent aspect in theprovision of a service Worldwide. They also show how the use ofthese technologies generates virtual cooperation and negotiationspaces that facilitate arbitrations to face the demands of theactivity and facilitate the development of a collective of work. Byway of conclusion, we show how the cognitive technologies usedto study the use of digital tools, methods of natural languageprocessing, semantic analysis and classification of information,are a resource for the creation of adaptable and ergonomic toolsappropriate to the organization and its workers. This perspectivecan facilitate continuous improvement and human developmentwithin organizations.