Abstract
This paper conceptualizes and analyzes the second-level, or indirect, social effects of the ISO 9000 standard. From the framework developed in this paper, it appears that indirect effects of technology are not limited to social practice as previous research has suggested, but include discourse and thought figures. This framework is applied to the contractor organisation that constructed the 7.8 kilometer öresund Bridge connecting Sweden and Denmark. From multiple sources of data, it was found that ISO 9000 affects the way that people communicate, think and work in a large, complex project. Additionally, the codification of procedures that ISO 9000 requires represents an expression of power as well as a change in knowledge bases: from knowledge practically anchored in the performance of work to theoretically based professional knowledge.