Claudio Ciborra was one of the most innovative thinkers in the field of information systems. This book explains the intellectual contribution of Ciborra's work in a substantial introductory chapter, contains the most significant of his articles, and provides a sample of research that draws from his ideas.

Autorentext
CHRISANTHI AVGEROU is Professor of Information Systems at the London School of Economics and Political Science, UK. Her main interests concern the relationship of ICT to organizational change and the role of ICT in socio-economic development. She is chairperson of the IFIP Technical Committee 9 on Social Implications of Information Technology and she chaired the IFIP WG 9.4 group on computers in developing countries from 1996 till 2003. Among her recent publications are Information Systems and Global Diversity, and The Social Study of Information and Communication Technology: Innovation, Actors, and Contexts, both published by Oxford University Press.

GIOVAN FRANCESCO LANZARA is Professor of Organization Theory at the University of Bologna, Italy and Visiting Professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science (Information Systems and Innovation Group, Department of Management). His main research interests are in the areas of organizational learning and design, ICT-based innovation, and in the evolutionary dynamics of social and political institutions. More recently he did research on the relationships between knowing and organizing. He is the author of several articles published in major international journals and currently co-authoring and co-editing a book on 'ICT and Innovation in the Public Sector' for Palgrave MacMillan.

LESLIE P. WILLCOCKS is Professor of Technology Work and Globalization at the London School ofEconomics, UK and Political Science, head of the Information Systems and Innovation group and director of The Outsourcing Unit there. He is known for his work on global sourcing, information management, IT evaluation, e-business, organizational transformation as well as for his practitioner contributions to many corporations and government agencies. He holds visiting chairs at Erasmus, Melbourne and Sydney universities and is Associate Fellow at Templeton-Green College, University of Oxford. He has been for the last 18 years Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Information Technology, and is joint series editor, with Mary Lacity, of the Palgrave book series Technology Work and Globalization. He has co-authored 32 books, including most recently Major Currents in the IS Field (Sage, London 2008 6 volumes), and Global Sourcing of Business and IT Services (Palgrave, London, 2006) He has published over 180 refereed papers in journals such as Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review, MIS Quarterly, MISQ Executive, Journal of Management Studies, Communications Of The ACM, and Journal of Strategic Information Systems.

Inhalt
Introduction: Information Systems and the Quest for Meaning; G.F.Lanzara TRACING CIBORRA'S THOUGHT: FROM INSTITUTIONAL ECONOMICS TO PHENOMENOLOGY The Mind or the Heart? It Depends on (The Definition Of) the Situation; C.Ciborra Improvisation as Mood; C.Ciborra Imbrication of Representations: Risk and Digital Technologies; C.Ciborra Interpreting E-Government and Development: Efficiency, Transparency or Governance at a Distance? C.Ciborra From Tool to Gestell: Agendas for Managing the Information Infrastructure; C.Ciborra & O.Hanseth The Platform Organization: Recombining Strategies, Structures, and Surprises; C.Ciborra Formative Contexts and Information Technology: Understanding The Dynamics of Innovation in Organizations; C.Ciborra & G.F.Lanzara Organizational Learning and Core Capabilities Development: The Role of IT; C.Ciborra & R.Andreu From Thinking to Tinkering: The Grassroots of Strategic Information Systems; C.Ciborra Reframing the Role Of Computers in Organizations: The Transactions Costs Approach; C.Ciborra Markets, Bureaucracies and Groups in the Information Society: An Institutional Appraisal of the Impacts of Information Technology; C.Ciborra BUILDING ON HIS LEGACY Climbing the Learning Ladder to a 'Phenomenological' View; A.Resca Hospitality, Improvization and Gestell: A Phenomenology of Mobile Information; M.Brigham & L.D.Introna The Hospitality Metaphor as a Theoretical Lens to Understand the Process of ICT Adoption; A.Zanela Saccol The Validity of the Improvization Argument in the Implementation of Rigid Technology: The Case of ERP Systems; A.Elbanna Object Lessons and Invisible Technologies; E.A.Whitley & M.Darking Control Devolution as Information Infrastructure Design Strategy: A Case Study Of a Content Service Platform for Mobile Phones in Norway; P.Nielsen & M.Aanestad Transaction Costs and Information Systems: Does IT Add Up? A.Cordella Dispositioning IT All: A Theory for Thriving Without Models; I.Angell & F.Ilharco