Client and IT Engagement in Software Development: A Disconnect of Mindsets

This work-in-progress paper reports on the findings of a pilot study investigating a disconnect of mindsets between IT and the business client within an in-house IT department of a large Australian financial institution. This paper contributes to research on social aspects of software engineering with a focus on IT-business client engagement and their relationships in the software development process. Our findings of disconnect include: communication and engagement process misalignment with the business client’s working practices. This paper builds a case and suggests priorities for further research on IT-business client engagement from a social perspective. This perspective is important in the light of recent research indicating that key factors in the IT industry’s transition towards next generation software development methods are based on the social interaction and communication

Combining the User as Social Actor Model, Institutional Theory and a Theory of Unobtrusive Power to Understand the Acquiescence of Software Developers

In this paper we argue that a combination of a social actor model, Institutional theory, and a model of unobtrusive power can constitute a theoretical framework for understanding how the business client is able to exercise control and subsequent subjugation of developers in the systems development process. Specifically, the paper develops a 3-level theoretical framework grounded in institutional theory that integrates elements of Lamb and Kling’s social actor model and Scott’s 3-pillars framework concentrating on the relationships among systems developers, the business client, the SDM, and the context surrounding its use. The framework is strengthened through the application of a third level – Hardy’s multi-dimensional model of power, offering explanations of political inactivity by developers. In this paper we discuss how all three theory can be combined in a framework for analyzing the power relations between developers and the business client. We apply this theoretical framework in a case study of the deployment of a mandated in-house developed systems development methodology in a large IT department of a major Australian bank Here we will show how, from the perspective of developers, the business client exercise both overt and unobtrusive power over the development process

A model for analyzing changes in systems development practices

This paper introduces an empirically grounded model for analyzing intended and unintended changes in the prevalence of information systems development practices. In the model, any development practice observable in a development organization can be analyzed according to two dimensions: the intended scope of defined practices versus the actual scope of enacted practices. Furthermore, the model identifies eight types of change paths in systems development practices based on the two dimensions: emergence, entropy, initiation, abandonment, formalization, informalization, implementation, and recalcitrance. The eight types of change paths provide an integrated theoretical model for understanding how systems development practices can change in organizations and projects and among individual developers in a given context. The paper concludes by discussing how the model complements and integrates concepts of the contemporary research on systems development practices and outlines its potential uses for future research

An Institutional Account of Systems Developers as Social Actors

This paper reports on research into how systems developers enact a systems development methodology (SDM) with a focus on describing how method enactment is bound up in everyday social and institutional structures. The case study develops the argument that institutional structures (such as authority, norms and routine ways of doing things) embedded within the methodology are active forces in the systems development process. We ground our argument on the findings from a study of an in-house developed SDM in a large IT department within a major financial institution in Australia. The findings show that despite the rhetoric of business client involvement working in unison with systems developers, the excerpts depict a conflict of interests with the client exercising nearly complete control over the development process and the in-house developers playing a submissive role. In terms of contribution to research, the study operationalises a theoretical framework integrating elements of a social actor model outside its original domain to provide a deeper understanding of the institutional forces at play in information systems development

ISDM tailoring on complex information systems projects

This thesis explores issues related to how methodologies for guiding the development of complex Information Systems (“Information Systems Development Methodologies” or “ISDMs”) are tailored in practice. A model of ISDM tailoring was proposed, refined and tested through case studies. The tailoring of an ISDM was observed in three large, commercial IS development projects undertaken by Sysco, a global provider of Information Technology (IT) hardware, software, and services. The model represents an ISDM as existing in three states: the Methodology-as-Documented, the Methodology-as-Anticipated, and the Methodology-in-Action. The model also proposes that transitions between pairs of states can occur in two fundamentally different ways: Contingent tailoring, which is a pro-active response to known or assumed project characteristics; and Improvised tailoring, which is a reactive response to emerging project conditions, drawing on the knowledge and experience of the tailoring practitioner. Exemplars of the three states, and of transitions of both types between these states, have been identified and documented. The implications for theory include: Identifying and defining the three states in which an ISDM can exist; Identifying and defining two types of transition between states; and Developing a model which represents the different states and the transitions between them observed in the course of this research. Implications for the practice of ISDM tailoring include: Identifying the need to incorporate into documentation and training materials associated with an ISDM, recognition of the third, intermediate state in which an ISDM can exist, the Methodology-as-Anticipated, and the identification of the two types of transitions between states. These findings are captured in a “Model of Methodology Tailoring”, developed and refined in the course of the thesis

Exploring the use of ICTs in non-profit sector organisations: supporting the third act

Life after retirement from full-time work is known as the third act of an individual. In New Zealand the third act has become longer, resulting in an ageing population. An implication of population ageing is the need for increased support and services for older people who live within the community. Non-profit sector organisations primarily cater to those that are either beyond the reach of state services or are unable to afford services offered by the commercial sector. This study is guided by the central research question: how can non-profit sector organisations use ICTs to support service provision for older people living within the community? Using Lamb and Kling’s social actor model, adapted to the context of non-profit sector, the research project explores how ICT use is influenced by factors that are investigated under four key dimensions: affiliations, environment, identities and technology. Employing a case research method, it studies ICT use in four human services non-profit sector organisations. The analysis of the case studies revealed how external influences are enacted within organisations. The study presents a framework which explains post-adoptive use in non-profit sector organisations incorporating external factors, the organisational view and social actor behaviours. The findings suggest that client and funder information requirements influence organisations to select one of four responses to external cues. Organisations adopt either a complementary perspective, a competing perspective, a compatible view or a negotiated view. These organisational information perspectives craft social actor behaviours within non-profit organisations. Further, this study found information challenges associated with maintaining complex client requirements. Mobility of the work force, deficiencies in data capture and limitations of existing client information systems constrain information flow in these organisations. As a result analysis of service utilisation data fails to communicate the actual value created within communities. This study has extended the understanding of ICT use in non-profit human services organisations in New Zealand and contributed to knowledge in the development of the social actor model within specific contexts. The original contribution of this study is the three-tier typology of social actor- information roles. The study presents social actor behaviour associated with a primary entity and an information role. Five main social actor- information roles were identified across three tiers and have been mapped against a spectrum of information behaviours associated with each role. When responding to external cues social actors engage in task related behaviours associated with their information roles. By contributing to ICT use practices, this research presents new perspectives on the components of value in organisational processes. Identifying value adding and value communicating information flows, information loss and informal ICT support roles this study presents a detailed analysis of the factors that enhance and constrain ICT use within human services non-profit sector organisations