The interplay of information technology and the social milieu

Reviews the influence of Giddens’ structuration theory on information technology and implementation studies, highlighting how the interaction between the technology and the wider social setting have often been neglected. Offers Giddens’ conception of plural structural rules and resources as a possible framework for analyzing this interaction. Uses the proposed framework to analyze the introduction of computers into an agro‐industrial organization in a less‐developed country. Shows that different social and organizational conditions influence the process of IT implementation, but at the same time this process reinforces or transforms the structural configurations over time. Thus, highlights the role that IT plays in social setting transformation.