A Theory of Industry Level Activity for Understanding the Adoption of Interorganizational Systems

Increasingly we wish to ask and research questions about the adoption of interorganizational systems and electronic commerce at the industry level but are hampered by the lack of a theory of concerted purposeful action at this large level of analysis. In this paper we give the outlines of such a theory and indicate the uses to which it can be put. Particular attention is paid to how the routine day-to-day activities of the firms and support organizations that make up an industry group can be coordinated in such a way that we can speak of an industry as engaged in purposeful activity. We contend that only through a deep understanding of the possibilities and nature of routine coordinated activity at this level can issues concerning promotion, implementation and adoption of interorganizational systems by whole industries be properly framed

How can Australian businesses win in the information technology stakes?

Australia is one of the highest ranking countries in the world for use of information technology (IT), being third highest for IT investment among OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries, yet there are wide differences within Australia in IT use. Some Australian businesses are winning higher productivity gains from the use of IT than others. Why? How can other organisations do better? The lecture will show how above average gains have occurred in some leading firms and in industries such as the Wholesale Trade and Finance and Insurance. Case studies will show how some firms have reaped the benefits of IT investment. Environmental pre-conditions affecting the odds for success, including government policies and infrastructure will also be highlighted. The aim of the lecture is to show how all organisations can adapt the lessons learned in order to improve their own business's position in the competitive race

Cross-Organizational and Cross-Border IS/IT Collaboration: A Literature Review

The topic of collaboration in cross-organizational and cross-border settings is an emerging subfield of information systems research. This paper presents a compressive literature review of 52 research papers, published from 2000 to 2007, in four leading journals. The focus of the analysis are topics of investigation, sources of data, and the underlying theories. The results indicate that most of the research still focuses on a limited number of technical issues related to inter-organizational systems adoption. The identified research gaps which represent promising research opportunities are discussed

Toward a Process View in Adoption of Interorganizational Information Systems: A Literature Review

A better understanding of how interorganizational information systems (IOIS) are adopted is important since a successful implementation of information systems (IS) can be expected to raise long-term organizational efficiency. However, organizations often find IOIS adoption to be a bumpy ride, and despite the apparent reason to come to terms with IOIS, the utilization rate is still low. IOIS adoption is an interesting process to study, because of the high complexity in successful adoption of IOIS created by the increased number of organizations involved in the adoption process. This literature review found four different streams of research: 1) studies explaining why organizations adopt or reject IOIS by investigating factors determining adoption of or barriers to IOIS adoption; 2) studies explaining how to create the desired organizational effects from IOIS; 3) studies explaining how IOIS are affecting the buyer-supplier relationship they are introduced into; and 4) studies categorizing the structure of IOIS adopters in different configurations. Seemingly only limited effort has been made to study the actual adoption process. This apparent lack of studies of the adoption process calls for research opening the black box of IOIS adoption

Challenges in Explaining Structure and Evolution of Inter-organisational Information Systems: Lessons from an Empirical Research Journey

We have recently undertaken a five year international comparative study of Inter-organizational Information Systems (IOIS) in the pharmaceutical supply chain in four countries, with the initial aim of investigating the relationship between differences at the industry and national level and the structure of the IOIS in these countries. We found because of the large timescale (beyond individual projects) and the large scope of analysis (including firm, industry and national factors) that a new phenomenon of IOIS evolution came into our view. This paper presents the journey we have taken in re-evaluating appropriate theoretical underpinnings for studying and explaining IOIS phenomena at this large scale. We present our insights by relating the series of revisions we were forced by the phenomena to make to our research model, illustrated with two case vignettes

Politically Sensitive IT Practice: A case story of wireless network implementation

Drawing from social perspectives, we narrate a case story of wireless network implementation situated in a socially connected but politically segregated environment. We seek to understand how the interplay between radical IT implementation and organizational structure shapes and reshapes organisational members‟ perception of implementation success and how unintended consequences of popular mobile technology emerge in a politically sensitive workplace. Detailed narrative analysis reveals that many subtle conflicting issues intertwined among various stakeholder groups. Those issues not just reshape how organisational members perceive IT implementation success but also how future IT management take place. The insights gained from this case story thus suggest that a more socially and politically sensitive IT practice in general and wireless network management in particular might be essential in the contemporary service oriented IT environment