Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
without the possibility of setting up a proper 'service relationship' - as
this relationship had been deemed useless in the model.
The possibilities of choice that operators now have access to,
compared with the prior situation, were analyzed following the
comparative methodology proposed by Sen (2009). Two payroll ser-
vices were studied: one before its integration to the SSC, and the
other within the SSC itself (Arnoud and Falzon, 2012). Results show
that available options tend to be less numerous within the SSC.
Technological change has altered working practices, forcing opera-
tors to process the payroll on the computer screen only, using inflex-
ible tools. Furthermore, collaboration between the customer and the
service provider, as it is organized (dividing up tasks, prohibiting
phone calls), does not, on the one hand, allow operators to organize it,
and on the other hand, prevents the production of a quality payroll.
The model underlying the SSC artifact has led to a strong com-
partmentalization of the activity of payroll managers and to a dimin-
ishing level of flexible resources - thus, to negative conversion factors.
Stage 2: Identifying the processes of redesign in use
Stage 2 consists of identifying the attempts made by operators to 'suit the
organization to their needs' and to determine whether these attempts do or
do not contribute to a gradual redesign of the organization. The goal here is
to show, following the perspective proposed by Rabardel and Béguin (2005),
how and in what ways design continues throughout use. These attempts at
reorganizing are signs of the major problems experienced by the operators.
They indicate 'hindrance areas', which they aim, more or less secretly, to
bypass or cancel. Interviews and an ergonomic work analysis can support a
data collection process focused on attempts of redesign-in-use.
The set of regulations that we observed allowed us to show that the
SSC, which had been designed by other people, had been redesigned by
agents in the organization so as to facilitate its everyday use. The opera-
tors carried out an appropriation of the 'SSC artifact'. According to them, a
quality payroll can only be achieved with help from the customer, who is
considered a partner in this activity. This appropriation plays the part of a
conversion factor. Exchanges and negotiations with the customer, carried
out over the phone, allow operators to increase their ability to do better.
The customer is a resource, but had not necessarily been thought of in this
way during the design of the organization. Therefore, discrepancies can
be identified between the uses of the SSC as foreseen during design and
the appropriation of the artifact in work situations. Yet, although these
