Reciprocal and Dynamic Affordances: Evidence from Social Technologies in the Medical Field

Affordances have been proposed as a novel lens in management studies of technologies that bridges several of the dualities that have divided the field (e.g. social vs human agency). While this has directed research, and provided new insights, the concept of affordances has been diversely defined and applied leading to some inconsistencies. Furthermore, focus has been on understanding affordances related to material technologies, neglecting more social ones. By observing medical rounds in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, this manuscript clarifies the relational nature of affordances and reveals how social technologies and the social elements composing them create reciprocal affordances, a type of affordances previously unreported with respect to material technologies. Furthermore, this research highlights the highly dynamic nature of affordances by showing how the characteristics of technologies change almost constantly and how they combine to enable or inhibit affordances. These new insights inform our und...