Svensson, I and Gluch, P (2017) The role of objects for institutional work in energy efficient renovation. In: Chan, P W and Neilson, C J (eds.) Proceedings of 33rd Annual ARCOM Conference, 4-6 September 2017, Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, UK.
Abstract
In this paper, the role of non-human actors (material objects) for motivating and shaping institutional work in the process of creating and disrupting institutions in construction is discussed. In an effort to increase the understandings of the role of artefacts/objects for institutional work an institutional work lens is combined with a socio-materiality lens. The paper builds on the assumption that objects, on one hand, cannot operate alone to influence institutions, however on the other hand, their effects cannot be attributed to agency of humans alone either. This entails that institutional work is shared between human and material entities and just as humans' level of agency may vary depending on the context in which these individuals are embedded, the same material object may be involved in different types of institutional work. Thus, objects can be seen as complex assemblages of humans and material elements that perform institutional work when certain alignments are put in place. Traditionally, institutional work has foremost focused on human actors as agents for change, thus taken less consideration to the material part of the practice-based approach. Focusing on material objects, the aim of this paper is to increase the understanding of objects' agentic role for institutional work. This is done by conceptualizing the different kinds of institutional work and the different types of objects involved in the process of creating and disrupting institutions in processes of change and innovation. The paper is foremost theoretical and the discussion is based on data derived from previous empirical case studies encompassing research on organizational change and innovation for sustainable development in construction. A conceptual framework that take into account different types of material objects and relate them to different forms of institutional work will be presented, the framework will also relate to different forms of agency in institutional work.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | energy efficient building; renovation; objects; institutional work; sociomateriality; case study |
| Index terms: | sustainable development, institutional work, agency, non-human actor, sociomateriality, case study, agent, renovation, organizational change, energy-efficient building, conceptual framework, materiality, artefact |
| Subjects: | renovation and retrofit, sociology, practitioner, social theory, business, sustainable design, health safety and environment, data collection methods, theoretical framing |
| Topics: | Health and Safety, Research Practice, Sustainability, Engineering Principles, Business Strategy, Organizational Design, Roles and Professions |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here