Leveraging Geographic Information in Organization Studies: Beginning the Conversation
Abstract
We propose geographic information systems (GIS) as a framework in organization studies, particularly for scholars who consider the nuances of space and geography in various organizational contexts. GIS are computer-based systems that manage, store, analyze, and distribute spatial data. While more and more scholars recognize the theoretical significance of organizational space, suggestions for conducting empirical research around organizational space using alternative frameworks – such as GIS – are seldom made. We present an introduction to GIS and various spatial analyses through a case study of organizations in the reproductive healthcare field and offer future directions related to the geographic implications of understanding organizations and organizing through GIS.
Downloads
References
Alcácer, J. & Delgado, M. (2016). Spatial organization of firms and location choices through the value chain. Management Science, 62(11), 3213–3234. doi: 10.1287/mnsc.2015.2308
Anselin, L. (1995). Local indicators of spatial association – LISA. Geographic Analysis, 27(2), 93–115. doi: 10.1111/j.1538-4632.1995.tb00338.x
Ashcraft, K. L., Kuhn, T. R. & Cooren, F. (2009). Constitutional amendments: ‘Materializing’ organizational communication. Academy of Management Annals, 3, 1–64. doi: 10.5465/19416520903047186
Bearak, J. M., Burke, K. L. & Jones, R. K. (2017). Disparities and change over time in distance women would need to travel to have an abortion in the USA: A spatial analysis. Lancet Public Health, 2, e493–e500. doi: 10.1016/S2468-2667(17)30158-5
Bencherki, N. (2021). Using video methods to uncover the relational, interactional and practical constitution of space. In S. Grosjean & F. Matte (Eds.), Organizational video-ethnography revisited (pp. 99–116). Palgrave Macmillan.
Best, K. & Hindmarsh, J. (2019). Embodied spatial practices and everyday organization: The work of tour guides and their audiences. Human Relations, 72(2), 248–271. doi: 10.1177/0018726718769712
Beyes, T. & Holt, R. (2020). The topographical imagination: Space and organization theory. Organization Theory, 1, 1–26. doi: 10.1177/2631787720913880
Beyes, T. & Steyaert, C. (2012). Spacing organization: Non-representational theory and performing organization space. Organization, 19, 45–61. doi: 10.1177/1350508411401946
Bodenhamer, D. J. (2008). Creating a landscape of memory: The potential of humanities GIS. International Journal of Humanities and Arts Computing, 1(2), 97–110. doi: 10.3366/E1753854808000207
Bolstad, P. (2016). GIS fundamentals: A first text on geographic information systems (5th ed.). XanEdu.
Bryant, A. G., Narasimhan, S., Bryant-Comstock, K. & Levi, E. E. (2014). Crisis pregnancy center websites: Information, misinformation and disinformation. Contraception, 90(6), 601–605. doi: 10.1016/j.contraception.2014.07.003
Bryant, A. G. & Swartz, J. J. (2018). Why crisis pregnancy centers are legal but unethical. American Medical Association Journal of Ethics, 20(3), 269–277. doi: 10.1001/journalofethics.2018.20.3.pfor1-1803
Carroll, G. R. (1984). Organizational ecology. Annual Review of Sociology, 10, 71–93. doi: 10.1146/annurev.so.10.080184.000443
Chakrabarti, A. & Mitchell, W. (2013). The persistent effect of geographic distance in acquisition target selection. Organization Science, 24(6), 1805–1826. doi: 10.1287/orsc.1120.0811
Chaturvedi, S., Ali, S., Randive, B., Sabde, Y. et al. (2015). Availability and distribution of safe abortion services in rural areas: A facility assessment in Madhya Pradesh, India. Global Health Action, 8, 1–7 doi: 10.3402/gha.v8.26346
Colman, S. & Joyce, T. (2011). Regulating abortion: Impact on patients and providers in Texas. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 30(4), 775–797. doi: 10.1002/pam.20603
Costantini, R. A. (2021). The constitution of reproductive health(care): Understanding the communicative tensions of organization, identity, and geography (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Texas A&M University.
Crampton, J. W. (2001). Maps as social constructions: Power, communication and visualization. Progress in Human Geography, 25(2), 235–252. doi: 10.1191/030913201678580494
Cromley, E. K. & McLafferty, S. L. (Eds.). (2011). GIS and public health. Guilford Press.
Dale, K. (2005). Building a social materiality: Spatial and embodied politics in organizational control. Organization, 12(5), 649–678. doi: 10.1177/1350508405055940
Davis, W. [@wendydavis] (2021, April 22). Friends, next week one of the most dangerous anti-abortion bills in the country will be voted on in the TX House. HB 1515 bans abortion at 6 wks (before most women even know they’re pregnant) and creates a private cause of action against ANYONE who helps someone get an abortion. [Tweet thread]. Twitter. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/wendydavis/status/1385329584514551808
DiBiase, D. (2018). The nature of geographic information. An open geospatial textbook. Retrieved from https://openlibrary-repo.ecampusontario.ca/jspui/bitstream/123456789/391/5/Nature-of-Geographic-Information.html
Doh, J. P. & Hahn, E. D. (2008). Using spatial methods in strategy research. Organizational Research Methods, 11(4), 659–681. doi: 10.1177/1094428107300340
Downey, L. (2006). Using geographic information systems to reconceptualize spatial relationships and ecological context. American Journal of Sociology, 112(2), 567–612. doi: 10.1086/506418
ESRI. (2008). Feature class basics. Retrieved from https://desktop.arcgis.com/en/arcmap/10.3/manage- data/geodatabases/feature-class-basics.htm
ESRI. (2019a). How cluster and outlier analysis (Anselin Local Moran’s I) works. Retrieved from https://desktop.arcgis.com/en/arcmap/10.6/tools/spatial-statistics-toolbox/h-how-cluster-and-outlier-analysis-anselin-local-m.htm
ESRI. (2019b). How hot spot analysis (Getis-Ord Gi*) works. Retrieved from https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/tool-reference/spatial-statistics/h-how-hot-spot-analysis-getis-ord-gi-spatial-stati.htm
Fairhurst, G. T. & Cooren, F. (2009). Leadership as the hybrid production of presence(s). Leadership, 5(4), 469–490. doi: 10.1177/1742715009343033
Fletcher-Lartey, S. M. & Caprarelli, G. (2016). Application of GIS technology in public health: Successes and challenges. Parasitology, 143(4), 401–415. doi: 10.1017/S0031182015001869
Gambardella, A. & Giarratana, M. S. (2010). Organizational attributes and the distribution of rewards in a region: Managerial firms vs. knowledge clusters. Organization Science, 21(2), 573–586. doi: 10.1287/orsc.1090.0449
Gawron, L., Pettey, W. B. P., Redd, A., Suo, Y., Turok, D. K., & Gundlapalli, A. V. (2018). The "Safety Net" of Community Care: Leveraging GIS to Identify Geographic Access Barriers to Texas Family Planning Clinics for Homeless Women Veterans. AMIA … Annual Symposium proceedings, 2017, 750–759. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5977597/.
Gerdts, C., Fuentes, L., Grossman, D., White, K. et al. (2016). Impact of clinic closures on women obtaining abortion services after implementation of a restrictive law in Texas. American Journal of Public Health, 106(5), 857–864. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2016.303134
Getis, A. & Ord, J. K. (1992). The analysis of spatial association by use of distance statistics. Geographic Analysis, 24(3), 189–206. doi: 10.1111/j.1538-4632.1992.tb00261.x
Grahovac, A. (2015). Abortion access in the U.S.: Is it a fading reality? A mixed-methods approach. [Master’s thesis]. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Greene, R. W. (2000). GIS in public policy: Using geographic information for more effective government. ESRI Press.
Grossman, D., White, K., Hopkins, K. & Potter, J. E. (2017). Change in distance to nearest facility and abortion in Texas, 2012 to 2014. The Journal of the American Medical Association, 317(4), 437–439. doi: 10.1001/jama.2016.17026
Guthey, G. T., Whiteman, G. & Elmes, M. (2014). Place and sense of place: Implications for organization studies of sustainability. Journal of Management Inquiry, 23(3), 254–265. doi: 10.1177/1056492613517511
Guttmacher Institute. (2020). State facts about abortion: Texas. Retrieved from https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/state-facts-about-abortion-texas
Haining, R. (2003). Spatial data analysis: Theory and practice. Cambridge University Press.
Haklay, M. & Zafiri, A. (2008). Usability engineering for GIS: Learning from a screenshot. Cartographic Journal, 45(2), 87–97. doi: 10.1179/174327708X305085
Harley, J. B. (1989). Deconstructing the map. Cartographica, 26(2), 1–20. doi: 10.3138/E635-7827-1757-9T53
Hasstedt, K. (2014). The state of sexual and reproductive health and rights in the state of Texas: A cautionary tale. Guttmacher Policy Review, 17(2), 14–21.
Hawthorne, T. L. & Kwan, M. P. (2012). Using GIS and perceived distance to understand the unequal geographies of healthcare in lower-income urban neighbourhoods. The Geographic Journal, 178, 18–30. doi: 10.1111/j.1475-4959.2011.00411.x
Hinds, P. J. & Mortensen, M. (2005). Understanding conflict in geographically distributed teams: The moderating effects of shared identity, shared context, and spontaneous communication. Organization Science, 16(3), 290–307. doi: 10.1287/orsc.1050.0122
Hirst, A. & Humphreys, M. (2013). Putting power in its place: The centrality of edgelands. Organization Studies, 34(10), 1505–1527. doi: 10.1177/0170840613495330
Jerman, J., Frohwirth, L. F., Kavanaugh, M. L. & Blades, N. (2017). Barriers to abortion care and their consequences for patients traveling for service: Qualitative findings from two states. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 49(2), 95–102. doi: 10.1363/psrh.12024
Jones, R. K. & Jerman, J. (2014). Abortion incidence and service availability in the United States, 2014. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 49, 17–27. doi: 10.1363/psrh.12015
Jung, J. K. & Elwood, S. (2010). Extending the qualitative capabilities of GIS: Computer-aided qualitative GIS. Transactions in GIS, 14, 63–87. doi: j.1467-9671.2009.01182.x
Keddem, S., Barg, F. K., Glanz, K., Jackson, T. et al. (2015). Mapping the urban asthma experience: Using qualitative GIS to understand contextual factors affecting asthma control. Social Science & Medicine, 140, 9–17. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.06.039
Krygier, J. B. (2002). A praxis of public participation GIS and visualization. In W. J. Craig, M. Harris & D. Weiner (Eds.), Community participation and geographic information systems (pp. 330–345). Taylor & Francis.
Kwan, M. P. (2002a). Feminist visualization: Re-envisioning GIS as a method in feminist geographic research. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 92(4), 645–661. doi: 10.1111/1467-8306.00309
Kwan, M. P. (2002b). Is GIS for women? Reflections on the critical discourse in the 1990s. Gender, Place & Culture, 9(3), 271–279. doi: 10.1080/0966369022000003888
Leonardi, P. M. & Barley, S. R. (2008). Materiality and change: Challenges to building better theory about technology and organizing. Information and Organization, 18(3), 159–176. doi: 10.1016/j.infoandorg.2008.03.001
Leszczynski, A. (2009a). Poststructuralism and GIS: Is there a ‘disconnect’?. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 27(4), 581–602. doi: 10.1068/d1607
Leszczynski, A. (2009b). Quantitative limits to qualitative engagements: GIS, its critics, and the philosophical divide. The Professional Geographer, 61(3), 350–365. doi: 10.1080/00330120902932026
Maliene, V., Grigonis, V., Palevičius, V. & Griffiths, S. (2011). Geographic information system: Old principles with new capabilities. URBAN DESIGN International, 16, 1–6. doi: 10.1057/udi.2010.25
Martin, L. & Secor, A. J. (2014). Towards a post-mathematical topology. Progress in Human Geography, 38(3), 420–438. doi: 10.1177/0309132513508209
McVeigh, R., Crubaugh, B. & Estep, K. (2017). Plausibility structures, status threats, and the establishment of anti-abortion pregnancy centers. American Journal of Sociology, 122(5), 1533–1571. doi: 10.1086/691127
Mengis, J., Nicolini, D. & Gorli, M. (2018). The video production of space: How different recording practices matter. Organizational Research Methods, 21(2), 288–315. doi: 10.1177/1094428116669819
Nash, E. & Cross, L. (2021, April). 2021 is on track to become the most devastating anti-abortion state legislative session in decades. Guttmacher Institute. Retrieved from https://www.guttmacher.org/article/2021/04/2021-track-become-most-devastating-antiabortion-state-legislative-session-decades
Nash, L. (2020). Performing place: A rhythmanalysis of the city of London. Organization Studies, 41(3), 301–321. doi: 10.1177/0170840618789161
O’Donnell, J., Goldberg, A., Betancourt, T. & Lieberman, E. (2018). Access to abortion in Central Appalachian states: Examining county of residence and county-level attributes. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 50(4), 165–172. doi: 10.1363/psrh.12079
Ord, J. K. & Getis, A. (1995). Local spatial autocorrelation statistics: Distributional issues and an application. Geographical Analysis, 27(4), 286–306. doi: 10.1111/j.1538-4632.1995.tb00912.x
Owen-Smith, J. & Powell, W. W. (2004). Knowledge networks as channels and conduits: The effects of spillovers in the Boston biotechnology community. Organization Science, 15, 5–21. doi: 10.1287/orsc.1030.0054
Padilla, S. G. (2013). Anthropology and GIS: Temporal and spatial distribution of the Philippine negrito groups. Human Biology, 85(1/3), 209–230. doi: 10.3378/027.085.0311
Parrott, R., Volkman, J. E., Lengerich, E., Ghetian, C. B. et al. (2010). Using geographic information systems to promote community involvement in comprehensive cancer control. Health Communication, 25, 276–285. doi: 10.1080/10410231003711755
Pavlovskaya, M. (2009). Non-quantitative GIS. In M. Cope & S. Elwood (Eds.), Qualitative GIS: A mixed methods approach (pp. 13-37). SAGE.
Pepper, G. L. (2008). The physical organization as equivocal message. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 36(3), 318–338. doi: 10.1080/00909880802104882
Pruitt, L. R. & Vanegas, M. R. (2015). Urbanormativity, spatial privilege, and judicial blind spots in abortion law. Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice, 30, 76.
Ratner, H. (2019). Topologies of organization: Space in continuous deformation. Organization Studies, 41(11), 1513–1530. doi: 10.1177/0170840619874464
Schuurman, N. (2006). Formalization matters: Critical GIS and ontology research. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 96(4), 726–739. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8306.2006.00513.x
Sethna, C. & Doull, M. (2013). Spatial disparities and travel to freestanding abortion clinics in Canada. Women’s Studies International Forum, 38, 52–62. doi: 10.1016/j.wsif.2013.02.001
Sewell, G. & Wilkinson, B. (1992). Someone to watch over me: Surveillance, discipline and the Just-In-Time labour process. Sociology, 26(2), 270–289. doi: 10.1177/0038038592026002009
Sieber, R. (2006). Public participation geographic information systems: A literature review and framework. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 96(3), 491–507. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8306.2006.00702.x
Spicer, A. (2006). Beyond the convergence–divergence debate: The role of spatial scales in transforming organizational logic. Organization Studies, 27(10), 1467–1483. doi: 10.1177/0170840606067515
Star, J. & Estes, J. (1990). GIS: An introduction. Prentice Hall.
Stephenson, K. A., Kuismin, A., Putnam, L. & Sivunen, A. (2020). Process studies of organizational space. Academy of Management Annals, 14(2), 797–827. doi: 10.5465/annals.2018.0146
Swienton, H., Thompson, C. M., Billman, M., Bowlick, F. et al. (2021). Direct injuries and fatalities of Texas tornado outbreaks from 1973 to 2007. The Professional Geographer, 73(2), 171–185. doi: 10.1080/00330124.2021.1871767
Texas Department of Transportation (2019). TxDOT roadway inventory OnSystem. Retrieved from https://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/division/transportation-planning/roadway-inventory.html
Tuma, M. (2021, April 30). Local legal leaders come out swinging against anti-abortion bills. The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved from https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2021-04-30/local-legal-leaders-come-out-swinging-against-anti-abortion-bills/
U.S. Census Bureau. (2020). TIGER/line with selected demographic and economic data (2018). Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/geographies/mapping-files/time-series/geo/tiger-data.html
Vásquez, C. & Cooren, F. (2013). Spacing practices: The communicative configuration of organizing through space-times. Communication Theory, 23, 25–47. doi: 10.1111/comt.12003
Vásquez, C. (2016). A spatial grammar of organising: Studying the communicative constitution of organisational spaces. Communication Research and Practice, 2(3), 351-377. doi: 10.1080/22041451.2016.1221686
Warf, B. & Arias, S. (2008). The spatial turn: Interdisciplinary perspectives. Routledge.
Wasserman, V. & Frenkel, M. (2011). Organizational aesthetics: Caught between identity regulation and culture jamming. Organization Science, 22(2), 503–521. doi: 10.1287/orsc.1100.0583
Weinfurtner, T. & Seidl, D. (2019). Towards a spatial perspective: An integrative review of research on organisational space. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 35, 1–30. doi: 10.1016/j.scaman.2018.02.003
Weitz, T. A. & Kimport, K. (2015). The discursive production of abortion stigma in the Texas ultrasound viewing law. Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice, 30, 6–21.
Whitesell, D. K. & Faria, C. V. (2020). Gowns, globalization, and ‘global intimate mapping’: Geovisualizing Uganda’s wedding industry. Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, 38(7–8), 1275–1290. doi: 10.1177/2399654418821133
Wilhoit Larson, E. (2020). Where is an organization? How workspaces are appropriated to become (partial and temporary) organization spaces. Management Communication Quarterly, 34(3), 299–327. doi: 10.1177/0893318920933590
Wilson, J. M., O’Leary, M. B., Metiu, A. & Jett, Q. R. (2008). Perceived proximity in virtual work: Explaining the paradox of far-but-close. Organization Studies, 29(7), 979–1002. doi: 10.1177/0170840607083105
World Health Organization. (2020). Reproductive health in the Western Pacific. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/westernpacific/health-topics/reproductive-health
Yeung, H. W. (1998). The social-spatial constitution of business organizations: A geographical perspective. Organization, 5, 101–128. doi: 10.1177/135050849851006
Copyright (c) 2023 Rebecca A. Costantini, Courtney Thompson
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Authors retain copyright of their work, with first publication rights granted to the AIMS.
Published by 