PSY 6300 Module 5 Technology in Organizations Paper: The Duality of Technology, IT Complements and Telecommuting Example

The Software Was Not the Problem: Technology, People and Remote Work at a Food Bank

Student Name

Graduate Studies, Thomas Edison State University

PSY-6300: Organizational Theory

Mentor Name

Month Day, Year

The Software Was Not the Problem: Technology, People and Remote Work at a Food Bank

Introduction

Two years ago, our food bank bought inventory software to track donations from arrival to distribution. Six months later, warehouse staff were still keeping paper logs and entering data at the end of the week, so the system was always out of date. Meanwhile, office staff have asked for two remote days in each week, as many had during the pandemic. Both issues raise this module's question: how does technology change organizations, and how do organizations shape technology?

Technology and Organizations

Early organizational theory treated technology as a fixed force that determined structure: organizations using mass production needed different structures from those doing custom work. Later theories argued that the relationship runs both ways, with people interpreting, adapting and sometimes resisting technology in ways that shape its effects.

The Duality of Technology

Orlikowski (1992) proposed a structurational model of technology. Technology, she argued, is created by human action, designed by people with particular assumptions, and is then used by people who interpret it and adapt it to their work. Once in use, technology also becomes a structure that enables and constrains action, and over time, how people use it can reinforce or change both the technology and the organization. She called this the duality of technology. Her model emphasizes interpretive flexibility: the same technology can be used in very different ways depending on users' understanding, their interests and the organizational context.

Why IT Pays Off Unevenly

Brynjolfsson and Hitt (2000) reviewed evidence on the returns to information technology in business. They found that the largest productivity gains came not from computers alone but from complementary organizational investments: redesigning work processes, decentralizing decision-making, training workers and changing incentives. Firms that invested in IT without changing how they worked often saw little benefit, while firms that combined IT with organizational change saw substantial gains. These complementary investments took time and were often larger than the technology spending itself.

Telecommuting

Gajendran and Harrison (2007) meta-analyzed 46 studies of telecommuting involving more than 12,000 employees. The effects were small but favorable: telecommuters felt more autonomous, reported less conflict between work and family, were more satisfied, were rated as performing slightly better and were less inclined to leave or to feel stressed. Much of the benefit appeared to come through greater autonomy. Telecommuting did not generally harm relationships with supervisors, but employees who telecommuted for most of the workweek, beyond roughly two and a half days, reported weaker ties with coworkers.

Why the Inventory System Failed

Orlikowski's model explains what happened. The software assumed that staff would scan items at arrival, but our warehouse lacked scanners at the loading dock, volunteers rotated daily without training and the software's categories did not match how donations actually arrive in mixed boxes. Staff interpreted the system as an extra reporting burden and adapted by keeping paper records. Brynjolfsson and Hitt's evidence suggests the deeper problem: we bought technology without investing in the process changes and training that make it pay off.

Relaunching the System

I proposed a relaunch with complementary investments: scanners at the dock, a ten-minute training for every volunteer shift, revised categories designed with warehouse staff and a pilot on one receiving line before full rollout. Involving warehouse staff in redesigning the process gives them a role in shaping the technology rather than resisting it.

A Hybrid Work Policy

Gajendran and Harrison's findings support letting office staff take two remote days weekly, within the range where benefits appear without harming coworker relationships. To protect collaboration, all office staff would share two common in-office days for meetings, and remote days would include clear expectations for responsiveness. Warehouse and delivery roles, which require physical presence, would receive other forms of flexibility, such as predictable schedules, to address fairness concerns.

Interpretive Flexibility in the Warehouse

Orlikowski's idea of interpretive flexibility helps explain why two teams used the same system differently. Our evening volunteer crew, led by a retired logistics worker, treated the software as a useful record and entered most donations on time. The weekday crew, made up of rotating volunteers from companies and churches, saw it as office work that slowed them down. The software was identical; what differed was how each group understood its purpose and whether anyone had shown them why the data mattered for getting food to pantries.

Measuring the Relaunch

I proposed tracking the share of donations entered within one hour of arrival, the gap between counted and recorded inventory each month, the amount of food discarded because it expired unnoticed and volunteer feedback on the scanning process. These measures tie the technology to outcomes staff care about, such as less waste, rather than to compliance alone.

Fairness Across Roles

Remote work is available only to staff whose jobs can be done from a laptop. Warehouse workers and drivers may see a hybrid policy as a benefit for office staff alone. Gajendran and Harrison linked telecommuting's benefits largely to autonomy, which suggests that giving warehouse staff more control over schedules, such as choosing between early and late shifts, may offer a comparable benefit in a form their work allows.

Data and Clients

Technology also raises questions about client data. Any system that records who receives food must protect privacy, a concern for an organization serving vulnerable people.

Limits

Brynjolfsson and Hitt studied for-profit firms. Telecommuting research largely predates widespread remote work during the pandemic. The food bank is invented.

Conclusion

Orlikowski showed that technology is shaped by how people use it and in turn shapes their work, Brynjolfsson and Hitt showed that information technology pays off when organizations change their practices around it and Gajendran and Harrison showed that moderate telecommuting brings modest benefits. The inventory system failed because the food bank changed its software but not its work, and a relaunch built with the people who use it, along with a balanced hybrid policy, applies these lessons.

References

Brynjolfsson, E., & Hitt, L. M. (2000). Beyond computation: Information technology, organizational transformation and business performance. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 14(4), 23-48. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.14.4.23

Gajendran, R. S., & Harrison, D. A. (2007). The good, the bad, and the unknown about telecommuting: Meta-analysis of psychological mediators and individual consequences. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(6), 1524-1541. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.92.6.1524

Orlikowski, W. J. (1992). The duality of technology: Rethinking the concept of technology in organizations. Organization Science, 3(3), 398-427. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.3.3.398