A situated cultural approach for cross‐cultural studies in IS

Abstract

PurposeThis paper aims to provide a comprehensive framework of a situated culture approach to studying culture within the IS discipline.Design/methodology/approachThis is achieved via an articulation of structuration theory and the provision of an approach to study cross‐cultural phenomena within the IS discipline. The paper proposes two main components of a structuration theory based analysis model which is proposed as a way to study culture within IS discipline. First, the paper presents ideas behind the practice lens for studying the use of technology, as proposed by Orlikowski. Second, the paper presents a structurational analysis approach as detailed by Walsham. The paper argues that using a practice lens contributes to identifying the mediated shared structures between actors through understanding the actions of the actors within the phenomena. Then, using a structurational analysis approach contributes to identifying the cultural dimensions that are embedded in the identified mediated shared structures.FindingsThis paper contributes to cultural studies within the IS discipline and provides a framework for researchers aiming to investigate cultural influences for different phenomena within IS.Originality/valueCultural anthropology seeks to understand the similarities and differences among groups of people in the contemporary world. Although there are many different models of national culture, most IS research has tended to rely almost solely on Hofstede's cultural model. However, Hofstede's cultural model been criticised, and using structurational analysis will provide researchers within cultural studies in the IS discipline with a more broad perspective for the phenomena.