Neil Pollock’s Home Page Has Moved to:

http://www.neilpollock.moonfruit.com

 

Neil teaches and researches on the sociology of information systems at the University of Edinburgh where he is a senior lecturer in the Management School and a member of the Institute for the Study of Science, Technology and Innovation (ISSTI). After taking a degree in Computing and a Masters in Science Policy he completed a PhD in Science and Technology Studies (STS) at the University of Lancaster. Prior to moving to Edinburgh he was a Senior Research Associate at the University of Newcastle investigating the development of ‘e-Government’. He has also conducted research on ‘virtual universities’ under the auspices of the Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC) Virtual Society? Programme and has written (with James Cornford) ‘Putting the University Online: Information, Technology, and Organisational Change’. Neil is currently leading an  ESRC project on the Biography and Evolution of Standardised Software Packages and is co-investigator on an ESRC E-Society project and a European 6th Framework project investigating standard setting in e-Commerce. Current research interests include the sociology of technology, actor network theory, the social shaping and ‘generification’ of information systems, and the ‘performativity’ of simple business tools. He has recently completed a second book (with Robin Williams) called ‘Software and Organisation: The Biography of the Enterprise-Wide System – Or, How SAP Conquered the World’ which will be published by Routledge in early 2008. Neil supervises a number of PhD students in the School of Management and the Research Centre for Social Sciences and is always interested in receiving applications from prospective students.

Latest News:

e-infrastructures

  • Article Wins Emerald Award for Excellence

ERP Systems and the University as a ‘Unique’ Organisation

  • Policy Report

Implications of Enterprise Resource Planning Systems for Universities: An analysis of Benefits and Risks (Observatory on Borderless Higher Education)

·         ESRC Project
The 'Biography' and Evolution of Standardised Software Packages

Articles (note - these are all pre-published drafts)

Post Local Forms of Repair: The Case of Virtualised Technical Support

The Sociology of a Market Analysis Tool: How Industry Analysts Sort Vendors and Organise Markets

Technology Choice and its Performance

Global Software and its Provenance

When is a Work-around?

ERP Systems and the University as an 'Unique' Organisation

Fitting Standard Software Packages to Non-Standard Organisations

The 'Self-Service' Student

The Theory and Practice of the Virtual University

The Virtual University as “Accurate and Timely Information”

Book Chapters (note - these are all pre-published drafts)

The University Campus as a Resourceful Constraint: Process and Practice in the Construction of the Virtual University in Lea, M., and Nicoll, K. (eds.), Distributed Learning: Social & Cultural Approaches to Practice, London: Routledge, pp170-181, 2002 (with Cornford)

The Informational View of the University in William H. Dutton and Brian D. Loader (eds), Digital Academe: New Media in Higher Education and Learning, Routledge, 2002

Working through the Work of Making Work Mobile in Robins K. and Webster F. (eds), The Virtual University?: Knowledge, Markets, and Management, Oxford University Press, 2002 (with Cornford)

Recent Conference Papers

University or Universality: Designing Software Packages and User Communities, Paper Presented to Social Studies of Science Conference, Atlanta, US, October 2003 (with Karadedos).

Shifting & Deferring Ambiguity in the Procurement of a Software Package, Paper Presented to the European Academy of Management, Universita di Boconi, Milan, March 20003

If not the Virtual University then what? Co-producing E-learning and Configuring its Users (with Hemmi & Schwarz), 8th European Conference on Media in Higher Education, (Best Overall Paper), GMW, University of Duisburg, 16-19 September 2003. Published in Kerres, M. & Voß, B (2003), Digital Campus. From media projects to a sustainable media implementation in higher education systems, Münster: Waxmann.

ERP Systems and the University as an 'Unique' Organisation, Paper Presented to Critical Management Conference, University of Manchester, 11-13 July, 2001, Manchester (with Cornford).  Available in Electronic Journal of Radical Organisation Theory

Fitting standard software to non-standard organisations, Proceedings of the 2002 ACM symposium on Applied computing, Madrid, Spain, 2002 (with Cornford)

Current Research Projects

The 'Biography' and Evolution of Standardised Software Packages, ESRC

The Network Enterprise: the Shaping of Institutions & Standards in E-Business, ESRC E-Society Programme

Previous Research on Virtual Universities

Theory and Practice of the Virtual University

International Symposium on the Future of Universities, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, September 28 and 29, 2000

Space, Place and the Virtual University, ESRC Virtual Society?, Research Project, See Findings (End of Award Report)

Students As Users: The Role of Information & Communication Technologies in the Reshaping of the Student/University Relationship, Funded by the ESRC, See Findings (End of Award Report)

Contact Details

School of Management
University of Edinburgh
Room 116, William Robertson Building
Telephone: +44 (0)131 651 1489
Fax: +44 (0)131 668 3053
Email: Neil.Pollock@ed.ac.uk