People, IT, and Structuration (PIS): An Integrative Theoretical Framework for Management Information Systems

2026-04-27

AI Summary

This study addresses the long-standing lack of an integrative theoretical framework in Management Information Systems (MIS) capable of coherently explaining the mutual constitution among individuals, information technology, and organizational structures. Drawing on Giddens’s structuration theory and synthesizing perspectives from sociotechnical systems, the Technology Acceptance Model, and Adaptive Structuration Theory, the authors propose a dynamic triadic framework—PIS—that models the reciprocal interplay among People (P), Information Technology (I), and Structure (S). Through theoretical integration and conceptual modeling, they develop a formal set of propositions that systematically unifies fragmented MIS theoretical traditions. The PIS framework reconciles enduring tensions between technological and social determinism, variable- versus process-oriented approaches, and micro-macro analytical divides, offering both retrospective explanatory power for disciplinary evolution and a unified theoretical lens for emerging contexts such as artificial intelligence and algorithmic management.

Abstract

The Management Information Systems (MIS) discipline has long grappled with how to theorize the complex, mutually constitutive relationships among people, information technology, and organizational structures. Decades of research have produced influential but fragmented theoretical streams from socio-technical systems theory to technology acceptance models, from adaptive structuration theory to sociomateriality, and each illuminating important facets while leaving integrative questions unresolved. This paper proposes the People - IT - Structuration (PIS) framework as a unifying theoretical lens that synthesizes these streams. Drawing on Giddens' structuration theory, we conceptualize People (P), Information Technology (I), and Structure (S) not as independent variables but as mutually constitutive elements engaged in ongoing structuration processes. We trace the intellectual history of MIS theorizing to demonstrate how PIS resolves persistent tensions in the field,e.g. between technological and social determinism, between variance and process approaches, and between micro-level interaction and macro-level institutional dynamics. We develop a set of formal propositions articulating the mechanisms through which P, I, and S co-evolve, and extend the framework to address contemporary phenomena including artificial intelligence, algorithmic management, and human-AI collaboration. The PIS framework offers both a retrospective lens for understanding the discipline's theoretical evolution and a prospective tool for guiding research in the AI era.

Problem

• Management Information Systems
• structuration theory
• socio-technical systems
• theoretical integration
• human-technology interaction

Innovation

• structuration theory
• MIS integration
• sociomateriality
• algorithmic management
• human-AI collaboration