FRAMING THE IT ARTEFACT THROUGH PLATO'S ONTOLOGY: A RETURN TO THE USER'S PERSPECTIVE

摘要

Calls have been repeatedly made to characterize and theorize IT artefacts in IS studies. Based on ontological principles enunciated by Plato more than 2300 years ago, we propose to characterize the IT artefact with an approach that returns the user perspective to the forefront. As an illustration, performance measurement systems (PMS) are characterized from their users' perspective in terms of their specific attributes as systems dedicated to managing performance. The variety of contexts and configurations of these systems is of particular interest while looking for the principles that underlie their empirical manifestations. This study contributes to research by providing a framework of reference for the characterization, design and evaluation of IT artefacts.