The purpose of this dissertation is to explore social networking sites' structural affordances and their implications for identity creation, maintenance, performance, broadcast, and comprehension. Facebook is employed as a case study. By applying affordance theory, I argue that scholars should recognize Facebook as an ethic, or as a mediator, that employs moral choices when filtering input that is then displayed and aggregated through the site. By framing identity as narrative, I show that identities are on-going and are not only created via social expectations, but also work as reflexive tools used to write the self into being. Specifically, due to the large scope of this project, I explore the ways in which the structure and cultivated cultures of the site influence notions of, and expectations for, authenticity, agency, and anonymity. Breaking down Facebook into its constituent parts, I first completed a structural discourse analysis of the Sign Up Page, the About Page, Likes, Friends, Photographs, the Timeline, and Cookies. Next, I conducted focus group and one-on-one interviews with 45 emerging adults to learn how they recognize and work within Facebook's structure. Themes emerged that speak to the "cultures" that Facebook privileges and reifies through their granted affordances: Digitally Structured Culture, Visual Culture, Celebrity Culture, and Socially Divided Culture. I found that users generally adhere to Facebook's problematic conceptions of identification on the site, particularly through the ways in which they describe and perform authenticity, agency, and anonymity. Users have come to view the site as the official social space and thus feel pressured to perform a unitary, "accurate," and superficial self. The inherent trust placed in Facebook has led users to rely on the site's decisions regarding structural affordances and to not question the identity guidelines provided. This dissertation concludes with a call for a more rigorous understanding of social networking affordances and a wide-spread application of methods that recognize social media as non-neutral filters. I argue that the limited choices presented by Facebook compel users to build conceptions of identity that adhere to the cultural expectations privileged by the site. Although it is clear that my methods can be applied more generally to other social media and digital spaces, I also argue that Facebook is unique in that it is a "tentpole" of both interfaces and user content--the site offers a variety of identity performance tools and acts as the main place that users visit to "conduct research" on others. / Media & Communication

The last decade has seen a pronounced increase in feminist activism and sentiment in the public sphere, which scholars, activists, and journalists have dubbed the “fourth wave” of feminism. A key feature of the fourth wave is the use of digital technologies and the internet for feminist activism and discussion. This dissertation aims to broadly understand what is “new” about fourth wave feminism and specifically to understand how social media intersect with everyday feminist practices in the digital era. This project is made up of three case studies –Bumble the “feminist” dating app, private Facebook groups for women professionals, and the #MeToo movement on Twitter— and uses an affordance theory lens, examining the possibilities for (and constraints of) use embedded in the materiality of each digital platform. Through in-depth interviews and focus groups with users, alongside a structural discourse analysis of each platform, the findings show how social media are used strategically as tools for feminist purposes during mundane online activities such as dating and connecting with colleagues. Overall, this research highlights the feminist potential of everyday social media use, while considering the limits of digital technologies for everyday feminism. This work also reasserts the continued need for feminist activism in the fourth wave, by showing that the material realities of gender inequality persist, often obscured by an illusion of empowerment. / Media & Communication

The field of Human Resource Management (HRM) has experienced a significant transformation with the emergence of big data and algorithms. Major technology companies have introduced software and platforms for analyzing various HRM practices, such as hiring, compensation, employee engagement, and turnover management, utilizing algorithmic approaches. However, scholarly research has taken a cautious stance, questioning the strategic value and causal inference basis of these tools, while also raising concerns about bias, discrimination, and ethical issues in the applications of algorithms. Despite these concerns, algorithmic management has gained prominence in large organizations, shaping workforce management practices. This thesis aims to address the gap between the rapidly changing market of HRM algorithms and the lack of theoretical understanding. The thesis begins by conducting a comprehensive review of HRM algorithms in HRM practice and scholarship, clarifying their definition, exploring their unique features, and identifying specific topics and research questions in the field. It aims to bridge the gap between academia and practice to enhance the understanding and utilization of algorithms in HRM. I then explore the legal, causal, and moral issues associated with HR algorithms, comparing fairness criteria and advocating for the use of causal modeling to evaluate algorithmic fairness. The multifaceted nature of fairness is illustrated and practical strategies for enhancing justice perceptions and incorporating fairness into HR algorithms are proposed. Finally, the thesis adopts an artifact-centric approach to examine the ethical implications of HRM algorithms. It explores competing views on moral responsibility, introduces the concept of "ethical affordances," and analyzes the distribution of moral responsibility based on different types of ethical affordances. The paper provides a framework for analyzing and assigning moral responsibility to stakeholders involved in the design, use, and regulation of HRM algorithms. Together, these papers contribute to the understanding of algorithms in HRM by addressing the research-practice gap, exploring fairness and accountability issues, and investigating the ethical implications. They offer theoretical insights, practical recommendations, and future research directions for both researchers and practitioners. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This thesis explores the use of advanced algorithms in Human Resource Management (HRM) and how they affect decision-making in organizations. With the rise of big data and powerful algorithms, companies can analyze various HR practices like hiring, compensation, and employee engagement. However, there are concerns about biases and ethical issues in algorithmic decision-making. This research examines the benefits and challenges of HRM algorithms and suggests ways to ensure fairness and ethical considerations in their design and application. By bridging the gap between theory and practice, this thesis provides insights into the responsible use of algorithms in HRM. The findings of this research can help organizations make better decisions while maintaining fairness and upholding ethical standards in HR practices.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T20:18:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseNACFR.pdf: 2711571 bytes, checksum: 92270e5216edbb80d0322257785dcd41 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-03-10 / Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos / Many studies have shown that object properties can lead to adjustments in reaching, but few have investigated the specific influence of object size and rigidity on reaching movements in young infants, especially by using kinematic analysis. Objective: Investigate the effect of object size and rigidity in the qualitative and quantitative variables of reaching in 4-to-6- month-old infants, and verify how such variables change over age. Methods: Nine healthy infants were placed in a baby chair reclined at 50º from the horizontal The infants were shown four objects of different size and rigidity large rigid (RG), small rigid (RP), large soft (MG), and small soft (MP) for a period of 1 minute each. Reaching movements were recorded by three digital cameras and the images were analyzed by using the 3D movement reconstruction. A total of 378 reaches were analyzed in relation to the following variables: qualitative proximal and distal adjustments, hand preference, and grasping of objects ; and quantitative straightness index, mean velocity, movement units, and adjustment time index. Results: There were many different changes in reaching over age. The answers to stimulation and the grasping of objects increased. Proximal adjustments were shown to be variable. Hand preference changed from the left to the right. The hand was predominantly half-opened in both the beginning and the end of the reaches; however, hand opening angle increased in the end of the reaches from the fifth to the sixth month. In all the ages, hand orientation was predominantly oblique when touching the object, and vertical when grasping it. As regards the quantitative variables, the straightness index and the mean velocity increased, and the movement units decreased. No significant changes were observed in the adjustment time index. Infants performed bimanual movements for the large rigid object, and unimanual movements for the small ones. The adjustments were similar in relation to the large soft object. Right-hand preference was higher for the small objects. In the beginning of the reaches, the hand was predominantly half-opened for all the objects; while in the end of the reaches, the hand was predominantly opened for the object large rigid. Hand orientation was predominantly oblique when touching the object, and vertical when grasping it, especially for the object large rigid. The soft objects were more frequently grasped than the rigid ones. The straightness index was higher for the large soft object, while the adjustment time index and the number of movement units were lower for this same object. The number of movement units increased for the small objects. No significant changes were verified in the mean velocity. Conclusion: It is possible to suggest that reaching movements are improved over age, thus indicating an increase in the infants performance during the studied period of life. Once the infants perceive the object properties, they adjust the essential variables of their movements by using their available motor abilities, thus suggesting the existence of a complex perceptionaction coupling. / Vários estudos têm identificado que as propriedades dos objetos induzem ajustes no alcance; no entanto, poucos investigaram a influência específica do tamanho e rigidez dos objetos em lactentes jovens, principalmente empregando a análise cinemática. Objetivo: Verificar o efeito das propriedades de tamanho e rigidez dos objetos nas variáveis qualitativas e quantitativas do alcance de lactentes de 4 a 6 meses de idade, observando como essas variáveis mudam ao longo do tempo. Métodos: Nove lactentes saudáveis foram posicionados em uma cadeira infantil reclinada a 50o. Quatro objetos foram apresentados, um rígido grande (RG), um rígido pequeno (RP), um maleável grande (MG) e um maleável pequeno (MP), por um período de 1 minuto cada. Os movimentos de alcance foram filmados por três câmeras digitais e as imagens reconstruídas tridimensionalmente. Em um total de 378 alcances, foram analisadas as variáveis qualitativas ajustes proximais e distais, preferência manual e apreensão dos objetos e as variáveis quantitativas índice de retidão, velocidade média, unidades de movimento e índice de tempo de ajuste. Resultados: Constatou-se que, ao longo dos meses, houve aumento da resposta aos estímulos, apreensão dos objetos, variabilidade nos ajustes proximais e mudança na preferência manual da esquerda para a direita. A abertura da mão foi predominantemente a semi-aberta tanto no início quanto no final do alcance. Do quinto para o sexto mês, no entanto, observou-se aumento da mão aberta no final do movimento. A orientação oblíqua da mão no toque foi predominante em todos os meses e, na apreensão, a predominância foi a orientação vertical. Quanto às variáveis quantitativas, houve aumento no índice de retidão e na velocidade média, bem como diminuição das unidades de movimentos. Não foram observadas mudanças significativas no índice de ajustes do movimento. Constatouse ajuste bimanual para o objeto RG e unimanual para os objetos pequenos. Para o objeto MG, os ajustes foram semelhantes. A preferência manual à direita foi maior ao alcançar os objetos pequenos. No início do alcance, a mão semi-aberta foi predominante para todos os objetos e, no final do alcance, a mão aberta foi mais utilizada para o objeto RG. Constatou-se que a orientação da mão foi predominantemente oblíqua no toque dos objetos e, na apreensão, a predominância foi a vertical, principalmente para o objeto RG. Os objetos maleáveis foram mais apreendidos do que os rígidos. O índice de retidão foi maior para o objeto MG, enquanto o índice de tempo de ajuste e o número de unidades de movimentos foram menores. O número de unidades de movimento foi maior para os objetos pequenos. A velocidade média não foi modificada significativamente. Conclusão: Sugere-se que, ao longo dos meses, os movimentos de alcance são aprimorados, indicando ganho de performance no período de vida estudado. Os lactentes, ao perceberem as propriedades dos objetos, ajustam as variáveis essenciais do movimento a partir da capacidade motora que eles têm disponível nesse período de vida, sugerindo, assim, a existência de uma complexa interação percepção-ação.

På grund av corona-pandemin har många företag behövt omvandla sin dagliga verksamhet tillen mer digitaliserad verksamhet för att öka den sociala distanseringen. Som ett resultat av dettaspelar digitala verktyg en betydande roll för organisationer att säkerställa att arbetstagarnauppnår sina önskade produktivitetsnivåer. Det finns tidigare forskning om företag somuppmuntrar sina anställda att arbeta hemifrån, men metoderna och resultaten brister i vissaaspekter som exempelvis varför och på vilket sätt en arbetare upplever förändringar i sinproduktivitet. För att undersöka upplevd produktivitet och bakomliggande faktorer kommer detgenomföras intervjuer med medarbetare från olika företag som blivit tvingade att arbetahemifrån. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka arbetstagarens upplevda produktivitet isamband med påtvingat distansarbete som ett resultat av COVID-19 pandemin, samt huraffordances utnyttjas och förändras. Dessutom syftar studien till att hitta utveckling- ochforskningsmöjligheter inom området på grund av den nya innebörden av distansarbete isamband med COVID-19 pandemin. Datan från de intervjuade arbetstagarna kommeranalyseras utifrån Research model to measure productivity of telecommuters, affordances ochsociomaterialitet. Studiens resultat visar att den upplevda produktiviteten är högre bland deintervjuade vid distansarbete, affordances har en påverkan på produktivitet, att det på distansuppstår en ökad dikotomi mellan över- och underordnade och att det i den sociomateriellapraktiken uppstår förändringar i övergången till distansarbete. / Due to the corona pandemic, many companies have had to transform their daily operations intoa more digitized business in order to increase social distancing. As a result, digital tools play asignificant role for organizations in ensuring that employees achieve their desired levels ofproductivity. There is previous research on companies that encourage their employees to workfrom home, but the methods and results are lacking in certain aspects such as why and in whatway a worker experiences changes in his productivity. To investigate perceived productivityand underlying factors, interviews will be conducted with employees from different companieswho have been forced to work from home. The purpose of this study is to examine theemployee's perceived productivity in connection with forced telework as a result of theCOVID-19 pandemic, as well as how affordances are utilized and changed. In addition, thestudy aims to find development and research opportunities in the field due to the new meaningof teleworking in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic. The data from the interviewedemployees will be analyzed on the basis of the Research model to measure productivity oftelecommuters, affordances and socio-materiality. The study concludes that the perceivedproductivity is higher among those interviewed for teleworking, affordances have an impacton productivity, that at a distance there is an extended dichotomy between superiors andsubordinates and that in sociomaterial practice there are changes in the transition to telework.

Old media meets new media - a case study of public service and social media. More traditional media such as public service-radio have faced challenges when digitalization allowed audiences to change platforms and use new medias. The aim of this study is therefore to analyse the way that the public service-radio in Sweden, Sveriges Radio P1 and P3, use Instagram and Facebook to complete the gap of their core activity, and how these are used to take place in the new media landscape. Three questions were asked to answer the aim, how do they use social media to complete the gap, how do they use them to connect with the audience, and in what amount is it done. Aspects of digitalization (Appelgren and Leckner 2019) and affordances (Treem and Leonardi 2013) together with concepts of public service (Hjarvard 2018) were applied as the theoretical framework. The methods used were qualitative and quantitative content analysis. The themes that were found during the qualitative analysis created the foundation for a quantitative content analysis. The results show that there are both differences and similarities in the way that the two radio stations use social media, however the results show that most of the posts contained information or marketing towards their core activities, such as radio and podcasts. Results also show that little effort was done to try and get closer to the audience except for occasional attempts by P3. The frequency of how they operated their social media indicated that the channels did use social media for different purposes. / De traditionella medierna som public service-radio har mött utmaningar när digitaliseringen möjliggjort för publiken att byta plattformar och använda nya medier. Syftet med denna studie är därför att analysera hur public service-radio i Sverige, Sveriges Radio P1 och P3, använder sociala medierna Instagram och Facebook för att komplettera kärnverksamheten, och hur dessa används för att ta plats i det nya medielandskapet. Tre forskningsfrågor ställdes för att besvara syftet, hur använder de sociala medier för att komplettera kärnverksamheten, hur använder de sociala medier för att komma närmare lyssnarna, och i vilken utsträckning görs det. Aspekter av digitalisering av Appelgren och Leckner (2019) och affordances av Treem och Leonardi (2013) tillsammans med koncept om sociala medier av Hjarvard (2018) användes som teoretiskt ramverk. De använda metoderna var kvalitativ och kvantitativ innehållsanalys. De teman som funnits i den kvalitativa analysen skapade grunden för den kvantitativa analysen. Resultatet visar att det både finns skillnader och likheter i hur radiokanalerna P1 och P3 använder sociala medier, likväl visade resultatet att majoriteten av inläggen innehöll information om eller marknadsföring av kärnverksamheten som radio och podcasts. Resultatet visade även att det var lite som gjordes för att komma närmare lyssnarna utöver några enstaka försökt från P3. Resultatet av i vilken omfattning som radiokanalerna använde sociala medierna kunde styrka att de använder för olika ändamål.

There is considerable evidence to suggest that object affordances (see Gibson, 1966) can serve to moderate volitional responses by “priming” the visuomotor system toward certain actions (e.g., Tucker & Ellis, 1998). Typically, these studies assume that shorter voluntary reaction time latencies reflect more efficient movement planning. Questions remain however, as to whether object affordances offer the same motor priming benefits in situations where the temporal window to initiate motor action precludes volitional movements (e.g., during an unexpected balance perturbation). The efficiency of balance reactions to a perturbation is dependent upon the ability for the motor system to generate short latency actions at the onset of instability. Due to the rapid nature of these actions, they are suggested to be regulated by information received prior to the perturbation. In this study, participants sat in a custom-built chair that delivered posterior perturbations and, on each trial, were presented with two of three types of stimuli within their reach (two graspable poles that varied in orientation and a flat non-graspable control). They were instructed to reach and grasp one of the poles at the moment of perturbation so as to mitigate the tilt. To assess cortical activity that may be indicative of motor planning in response to the perception of object affordances, changes in oxyhemoglobin (oxy-Hb) in the right and left premotor cortices were measured using a continuous wave fNIRS system. Results revealed a significant increase (F= 4.62, p= .043) in oxy-Hb in the right and left hemisphere (M = .023 µM) in response to objects that afford an optimal form of grasping action (mitigating excessive supination or pronation of the hand), compared to when no grasping opportunity was present (M = -.051 µM). These results suggest that affordances may be used to prime the system in the event of a balance threat. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

This study showcases the perceived affordances of learning management systems (LMS)in the private sector and in the non-academic public sector. The qualitative study consisted of 9 interviews of industry professionals. The semi-structured interviews captured current practices of how LMS were utilized within their organization as well as the perceived benefits that their organization obtained by utilizing an LMS. The findings showcased that the affordance category with the highest overall frequency was Operations Management 3. The affordance type with the highest overall frequency was Operational Process OM3, and the code with the highest overall frequency was Professional Development OD1-OL.

L’objet principal de cette thèse concerne le Dossier Patient Informatisé (DPI) dans les hôpitaux, et plus particulièrement les difficultés d’usage après la phase d’implémentation. Notre démarche visait à concevoir, à partir des connaissances académiques en Système d’Information, une méthode permettant aux acteurs de terrain d’agir sur une problématique spécifique. Concrètement nous cherchions à savoir comment améliorer les situations de « misfit », c’est à dire les situations dans lesquelles les professionnels de santé considèrent l’usage du DPI comme inadapté à leur métier. Pour ce faire, nous avons cherché à comprendre le bilan mitigé du DPI dans la littérature en utilisant les travaux d’Adler & Borys (1996) sur le caractère dual de la formalisation du travail induite par la technologie (habilitante ou coercitive). Une technologie habilitante permet de positionner un utilisateur comme source de solutions, alors qu’une technologie coercitive tend à le considérer comme source de problèmes. Dans le premier manuscrit portant sur l’autonomie des professionnels de santé face au système d’information hospitalier, nous avons conclu sur la nécessité d’une formalisation de type habilitante pour améliorer l’usage du DPI. Dans le deuxième manuscrit, nous avons montré que dans les exemples d’expériences négatives du Dossier Patient Informatisé rapportés dans la littérature, il était possible de mettre en évidence les différents aspects d’une formalisation coercitive. Pour argumenter sur le caractère dual de la formalisation du travail induite par le DPI, nous avons rapporté dans le troisième manuscrit une étude empirique illustrative. Nos données montrent que pour un même DPI, dans un même hôpital, il peut exister des îlots de formalisation habilitante. En sortant du seul domaine d’application de la santé, nous avons approfondi les travaux sur la conceptualisation du misfit entre processus d’affaires et Système d’Entreprise (SE) de Strong & Volkoff de 2010, en utilisant les concepts d’affordance et d’actualisation d’affordance utilisés par les mêmes auteurs en 2013 et 2014. Le quatrième manuscrit présente donc un modèle original permettant d’analyser l’usage des technologies de l’information pour un processus d’affaires donné sous la forme d’une combinaison d’actualisations, de non-actualisation ou d’actualisations partielles de multiples affordances du système d’entreprise par de multiples acteurs. Dans une perspective réaliste critique, le misfit est alors la perception par un individu ou un groupe d’individus que cette combinaison ne répond pas à l’ensemble ou à une partie des objectifs du processus de façon satisfaisante. Nous rapportons ensuite comment, dans le cadre d’une recherche-action, nous avons utilisé ce modèle pour améliorer l’usage d’un DPI en post-implémentation dans un hôpital. L’analyse d’une situation de misfit selon notre méthode permet une recombinaison, en recherchant une suite cohérente d’ajustements techniques et organisationnels acceptables pour toutes les parties prenantes et dont l’agencement permet bien la disparition du misfit initial, mais aussi de l’ensemble des misfits révélés pendant l’analyse. Cette recombinaison aboutit alors à une formalisation du travail présentant toutes les caractéristiques d’une formalisation habilitante.La discussion de la thèse aborde les conditions du succès de la méthode, le choix des situations sur lesquelles l’appliquer et les perspectives de recherche qui en découlent. / The main focus of this thesis is the Electronic Patient Record (EPR) in hospitals, and more particularly the difficulties of use after the implementation phase. Our approach aimed to design, with the academic knowledge of Information Systems, a method allowing field actors to act on this specific issue. In concrete terms, we were looking for ways to improve "misfit" situations, i.e. situations in which health professionals consider the use of EPR to be unsuitable for their profession. To do this, we sought to understand the mixed record of EPR use reported in the professional literature, by using the dual nature (enabling or coercive) of technology-induced work formalization (Adler & Borys, 1996). Enabling technology allows a user to be positioned as a source of solutions, while coercive technology tends to consider them as a source of problems. In the first manuscript on the autonomy of health professionals in relation to the hospital information system, we concluded that an enabling formalization is needed to improve the use of EPR. In the second manuscript, we showed that in the examples of negative experiences of the EPR reported in the literature, it was possible to highlight the different aspects of coercive formalization. To argue on the dual nature of the formalization of work induced by EPR, we have reported in the third manuscript an illustrative empirical study. Our data show that for the same EPR, in the same hospital, there may be islets of enabling formalization.Moving beyond the health field of application alone, we have further developed Strong & Volkoff's 2010 conceptualization of the misfit between business process and Enterprise System (ES), using the concepts of affordance and affordance-actualization used by the same authors in 2013 and 2014.The fourth manuscript therefore presents an original model for analyzing the use of information technology for a given business process in the form of a combination of actualizations, non-actualizations or partial actualizations of multiple affordances of the enterprise system by multiple actors. From a critical realistic perspective, misfit is then the perception by an individual or group of individuals that this combination does not satisfactorily meet all or some of the objectives of the process.We then report on how we used this model to improve the use of EPR in post-implementation in an action research project. The analysis of a misfit situation according to our method allows a recombination, by seeking a coherent sequence of technical and organizational adjustments acceptable to all stakeholders and whose arrangement allows the disappearance of the initial misfit, but also of all the misfits revealed during the analysis. This recombination then leads to a formalization of the work that has all the characteristics of an enabling formalization.The discussion of the thesis addresses the conditions for the success of the method, the choice of situations on which to apply it and the resulting research perspectives.

La thèse propose un paradigme d’interaction avec la notation musicale complexe pour piano selon une perspective « incarnée » et «située » de l’interprète. Ce paradigme, que je nomme navigation incarnée, s’oppose au paradigme traditionnel d’interprétation textuelle. Le paradigme traditionnel considère un processus de lecture linéaire et hiérarchique, selon lequel la compréhension et l’internalisation du texte musical sont les conditions préalables pour l’application de la technique instrumentale, permettant par la suite une interprétation personnelle. À la place de ce paradigme, je propose de traiter la notation musicale comme un élément dynamique, non linéaire, et à la fois incarné et externalisé. Dans une deuxième phase, le paradigme proposé devient la base du développement d’outils adaptés au projet de la navigation incarnée et de diverses applications, incluant l’analyse de la performance, l’apprentissage incarné et interactif, la composition musicale et l’improvisation. / This thesis proposes a performer-specific paradigm of embodied interaction with complex piano notation. This paradigm, which I term embodied navigation, extends and even confronts the traditional paradigm of textual interpretation. The latter assumes a linear and hierarchical process, whereby internalized understanding of the musical text is considered a prerequisite of instrumental technique towards personal interpretation. In lieu of that, I advocate for a dynamic, non-linear, embodied and external processing of music notation. At a second stage, the proposed paradigm serves as the basis for the development of methodologies and customized tools for a range of applications, including: performance analysis, embodied interactive learning, contemporary composition, free improvisation and piano pedagogy.