So­cial Prac­tice in In­nov­a­tion and Ser­vices

Course content

This course introduces students to cultural and sociological perspectives, which examine services as part of everyday practice and explores interactions between providers and users in order to better understand the bilateral processes of “serving” and “being served”. In the context of this course, services are to be understood as more than the mere use of objects, technology and infrastructure; they are routines constructed at the confluence of multiple factors including, but are not limited to, material artefacts. Throughout the course, students will learn how by co-structuring the role of objects, technology and infrastructure we can analyse them without collapsing into technological determinism. In this context, the course will give particular attention and emphasis to the study of digital services and digitalization as a social phenomena. Furthermore, students are introduced - through intellectual exploration and reflection on personal experiences with services as ‘practice’ - to the role that perceptions and norms have in shaping the collaborative nature of service production. Equipped with a refined understandings of services as 'practice', students will draw implications for innovation and management in organizations.