1. Using Bricolage to Facilitate
Emergent Collectives in SMEs
Dr. ir Jan Devos
ECIME 2012 Conference Cork IE.
Jan Devos - 13/09/2012 pag. 1
Faculty of Engineering and Architecture – Campus West

2. Outline of the presentation
- Emergent Collectives
- Bricolage
- Research Question
- Research Methodology
- Findings
- Conclusion
Jan Devos - 13/09/2012 pag. 2
Faculty of Engineering and Architecture – Campus West

3. Emergent Collectives
Petrie (2010) introduced the concept of “Emergent Collectives”
- A network of information/function nodes that has minimal
central control, and that‟s largely controlled by a protocol
specification and not by a central entity.
- In which it‟s easy for people to add nodes to the network
- And where there are social incentives that motivate people
to act collectively.
www.emergent-collectives.be
Jan Devos - 13/09/2012 pag. 3
Faculty of Engineering and Architecture – Campus West

4. Emergent Collectives (examples)
• FLOSS (OpenERP, Magento, Pentaho)
• Twitter
• Cloud Computing
• On-line repositories (Wiki‟s)
• Social media?
• Drop Shipping Eco System
Jan Devos - 13/09/2012 pag. 4
Faculty of Engineering and Architecture – Campus West

5. Bricolage - French anthropologist Lévi-Strauss, „La pensée
sauvage‟ (1962)
“doing things with whatever is at hand”
Bricolage relates with (Duymedjian & Rüling, 2010)
organizational resilience
improvisation
sense making
entrepreneurship
utilization of technical systems and artefacts
the bricoleur versus the engineer
Jan Devos - 13/09/2012 pag. 5
Faculty of Engineering and Architecture – Campus West

6. Jan Devos - 13/09/2012 pag. 6
Faculty of Engineering and Architecture – Campus West

7. Bricoleur Engineer
Everything matters A priori hierarchical order
Complex, interconnected system Reduction/decomposition
Closed universe Openness, transcending boundaries
Cyclical time Linear time
Intimate knowledge, familiarity Distant knowledge, representation
Knowledge about relationships implying a low Knowledge about structural characteristic entities
functional fixedness bias
Versatility implying resilience Specialization
Collection through unplanned encounters Search for the adequate, project-oriented means
Unclear outcomes Projects and designs
Dialogue with elements in stock (resources) Respect of prior specifications
Assemblage, substitution, …‟it‟s working‟ Evaluation through expected level of performance and
quality
Creation and use cannot be dissociated Separation of creation and use
Outcomes look unlike anything else Outcomes respond to field norms
Jan Devos - 13/09/2012
Faculty of Engineering and Architecture – Campus West

8. Literature on Bricolage
- Seminal work in anthropology (Strauss-Levi 1962)
- Entrepreneurship (Baker et al. 2003; Garud et al. 2003; Phillips
et al. 2007)
- Innovation research (Banerjee et al. 2009; Essen 2009;
Fuglsang et al. 2011)
- Organization theory (Duymedjian et al. 2010; Weick 1998)
- Information Technology (Ciborra 2002; DesAutels 2011;
Ferneley et al. 2006; Johri 2011)
Jan Devos - 13/09/2012 pag. 8
Faculty of Engineering and Architecture – Campus West

9. Is Bricolage a theory?
• Levi-Strauss 1962
Bricolage is an analogy to shed light on the processes underlying
mythical thinking
• Constructs of Bricolage (Duymedjian & Rüling 2010)
Repertoire (stock)
= material and immaterial resources that are collected
independently of any particular project or utilization.
Dialogue
= the activity of assembling objects
Outcome
= refers both to the process and its results (circular dynamic)
Jan Devos - 13/09/2012 pag. 9
Faculty of Engineering and Architecture – Campus West

10. Is Bricolage a theory?
Seven oxymoron‟s as propositions (Ciborra, 2002)
• Value bricolage strategically (VBS)
• Design tinkering (DT)
• Establish systematic serendipity (ESS)
• Thrive on gradual breakthroughs (TGB)
• Unskilled Learning (UL)
• Strive for failure (SFF)
• Achieve collaborative inimitability (ACI)
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Faculty of Engineering and Architecture – Campus West

11. Research Question
How can the use of Bricolage facilitate
the adoption of Emergent Collectives in
an Entrepreneurial Setting?
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Faculty of Engineering and Architecture – Campus West

12. Research Methodology
- Action Research (Design Science)
- Case Endoxa (drop shipping)
- Interpretive epistemology (Walsham, 2004)
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Faculty of Engineering and Architecture – Campus West

13. Action Research (Design Science)
(Baskerville 1999, Baskerville et al 2004)
- Two cycles of five phases (baseline, implementation) (Street
et al. 2004)
- Axial coding (Corbin et al 2008)
- Pattern mapping (Yin, 2004)
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Faculty of Engineering and Architecture – Campus West

14. Client-System Infrastructure
Case Endoxa
E-business / Drop shipping / E-Supply chain
Minimal organization (Weick, 1993)
1) direct supervision,
2) strategy planned at the top,
3) little formalized behavior,
4) organic structure and
5) CEO tending to formulate plans intuitively (plans are an direct
extensions of his own personality)
Research team (PWO-project)
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Faculty of Engineering and Architecture – Campus West

15. Webshops Shippers
Sell the goods Deliver the
goods
Endoxa
Plans and arranges the
shipment
EDI
.
.
.
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Faculty of Engineering and Architecture – Campus West

16. Findings
• Bricolage repertoire does exist
• OpenERP, Magento, Pentaho
• Remark: no limits on repertoire (emergent collectives)
• Dialogue: action research / design science
• Outcome: serving customers (making money)
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Faculty of Engineering and Architecture – Campus West

17. Findings
• Value bricolage strategically (VBS)
CEO sees drop shipping as an E-Supply Ecosystem
mission statement of Endoxa
- “Alignment clicks with bricks & mortar”
- “Network Orchestrator of the complete cross e-supply chain”
• Establish systematic serendipity (ESS)
• IceCat
• Magento !!!
• e-Air Waybill (e-AWB)
• Keep on Tweeting !!!
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Faculty of Engineering and Architecture – Campus West

18. Findings
• Thrive on gradual breakthroughs (TGB)
Magento, Pentaho
• Unskilled Learning (UL)
Training modules with Lynda.com
• Strive for failure (SFF)
• Achieve collaborative inimitability (ACI)
The process of bricolage leads to an inimitable
outcome, although the model is open
Drop shipping ecosystem
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Faculty of Engineering and Architecture – Campus West

19. Conclusions
- RQ
- OpenERP & Magento is bricolage
- Twitter „faster than e-mail‟
- Cloud Computing: no real impact
- Wiki‟s: repertoire is not limited
- Bricolage as a theory is more developed
- The „alternative‟ way of thinking of IS in
organizations iso control thinking is gaining more
validity
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Faculty of Engineering and Architecture – Campus West

20. Questions?
Jan Devos - 13/09/2012 pag. 20
Faculty of Engineering and Architecture – Campus West