Using Activity Theory in system development for entire organisations: the case of the Swedish Trade Union Confederation

Activity Theory has, in recent years, been criticised for not paying enough attention to the notion of individual versus collective subjects. It has also been pointed out that even though the Activity theoretical framework can beneficially be used in the development of information systems, actual attempts to apply it to concrete projects are only occasional. This study explores the use of Activity Theory in an organisational context where the subject is of marked collective nature, in an information systems development project for the Swedish National Trade Union Confederation (LO). Both implications of the study as regards the specific trade union application, and more general implications of applying Activity Theory to studies of entire organisations and for system development, are discussed