CONSUMERIZATION OF IT – WHERE IS THE THEORY?

Consumerization of IT (CoIT) is a key trend affecting society at large, including organizations of all kinds. A consensus about the defining aspects of CoIT has not yet been reached. Some refer to CoIT as employees bringing their own devices and technologies to work, while others highlight different aspects. While the debate about the nature and consequences of CoIT is still ongoing, many definitions have already been proposed. In this paper, we review these definitions and what is known about CoIT thus far. To guide future empirical research in this emerging area, we also review several established theories that have not yet been applied to CoIT but in our opinion have the potential to shed a deeper understanding on CoIT and its consequences. We discuss which elements of the reviewed theories are particularly relevant for understanding CoIT and thereby provide targeted guidance for future empirical research employing these theories. Overall, our paper may provide a useful starting point for addressing the lack of theorization in the emerging CoIT literature stream and stimulate discussion about theorizing CoIT

Adapting (to) Agile Methods: Exploring the Interplay of Agile Methods and Organizational Features

It is a common understanding that agile methods are not implemented “one-to-one” from guidelines but are tailored to the specific conditions of organizations. This perspective, however, can be extended by taking into account that agile methods also have a considerable impact on organizational features of introducing firms. Against the backdrop of current application scenarios of agile methods in practice, this paper aims to capture and explain the interplay of agile methods and organizational features as well as their respective adaptations. By utilizing adaptive structuration theory as a theoretical research lens, I employ a qualitative-empirical research approach comprising four case studies. I find that the interplay of agile methods and organizational features represents a process of mutual adaptation that constitutes the organizational change in terms of agile methods’ implementation. I further conclude that agile methods represent a vehicle to foster desired organizational change

Appropriating Enterprise Resource Planning Systems in Colleges of Business: Extending Adaptive Stucturation Theory for Testability

Enterprise resource planning systems are a form of advanced information technology that is quickly becoming commonplace in colleges of business. The nature of software, industry involvement, and academe influences how enterprise resource planning systems are integrated into business education processes. The appropriation of these systems in an academic setting involves a great deal of change, which, if not carefully considered, could result in failure to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes for students, the academic institution and industry stakeholders. Adaptive structuration theory provides a conceptual change model that helps capture the longitudinal change process. In order to provide a better understanding of the periods of routine use at the center of adaptive structuration theory, we introduce theory from the concerns-based adoption model. We integrate aspects of these two theories in the academic setting to provide a theoretical framework that explains the enterprise resource planning systems appropriation process and provide a method for studying the utilization of advanced information technologies for educational purposes. This framework may also be used as a practical means of identifying and considering appropriation issues when planning and evaluating enterprise resource planning systems usage in the classroom

An improved model of structural changes resulting from use of e-commerce

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E-mail and Direct Participation in Decision Making: A Literature Review

This paper reviews the literature on the effects of the use of e-mail on direct participation in decision making (PDM) in organisations. After a brief review of the organisational literature on participation the paper distinguishes e-mail theories on direct participation in three different theoretical perspectives. Then the paper focuses the attention on the role of e-mail in affecting task type, vertical and horizontal communication and their consequences for PDM. Finally the paper presents indications and open questions for future research.email, e-mail, decision making, participation in decision making, literature review,

Appraising empirical applications of Structuration Theory in management and organization studies

There is an increasing interest in the application of Structuration Theory in the fields of management and organization studies. Based upon a thorough literature review, we have come up with a data-set to assess how Structuration Theory has been used in empirical research. We use three key concepts of this theory (duality of structure, knowledgeability, and time-space) as sensitizing concepts for our analysis. We conclude that the greatest potential of Structuration Theory for management and organization studies is to view it as a process theory that offers a distinct building block for explaining intra and interorganizational change, as exemplified through concepts such as routine, script, genre, practice, and discourse

Acceptance of smart devices in library from the library professionals’ point of view

Cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing and Internet of Things have injected new energy into the development of libraries. The smart device is the carrier of new technology, which makes abstract technology vivid to ordinary customers. The purchase of smart devices should help libraries to improve their service quality and work efficiency. Libraries have invested vast amounts of resources into the development and adoption of new technologies, but have not received prospective earnings. Many scholars in the library field have begun to pay attention to this issue, but the related research is still in a very early stage. According to the adaptive structuration theory, the factors that contribute to the success of information technology (IT) adoption fall into two broad categories: one is the degree to which the IT structure matches the current organiza-tional structure, and the other is how well organizations and individuals adapt learning behaviors to IT. This study is focused on the latter category. Some researchers have recognized the importance of customers in the adoption of library smart devices (LSD), whereas some ignore library professionals as another group using LSD. The upgrading of library services and optimization of management depend on collaborative work between library professionals and LSD. However, few studies have focused on the adoption of smart devices by library professionals. This study interviewed five library professionals and one library smart device supplier to determine the development status of LSD in China. Then, a model of factors influencing LSD adoption was proposed on the basis of unified theory of acceptance and use of technology, adaptive structuration theory, and interview results. The results of this empirical study are partially consistent with previous work. These results support eight of the ten hypotheses. The two main factors that influence the adoption behavior of LSD include use intention and facilitating condition. The critical factors influencing use intention are performance expectation, social influence, and IT literacy. Surprisingly, the hypothesis of effort expectation to use intention is not supported. Moreover, IT literacy has been proved to have a significantly positive impact on effort and performance expectations

Social Sciences theories and MIS : towards user-focused IS management

The concept of the IT sector user is not only limited but is also an object of fascination inInformation Systems Management (ISM). The present paper attempts to explore concepts regarding thisactor, considered as fickle and erratic by recent theoretical research such as the theory of human agency,through the lens of social science theories. Our approach, which does not claim to be exhaustive, focusesprimarily on research into ISM that has adopted social theories to develop its arguments. We explain thecontext of this research in order to shed new light on IS user activities. Our paper attempts firstly toprovide an overview of evolutions regarding the place of human beings in IS research, secondly, toidentify contributions made by certain IS studies that have harnessed social theories, and thirdly, toexplore potential future lines of research by pointing to a lack of interest in certain theories that webelieve could be useful in filling gaps in present IS research

Contextual Adaptation. Human Functioning as Dynamic Interaction: A Social Work Perspective

Despite the recent development of theories in the social sciences that define human development and functioning in an integrated, nuanced and complex manner, the social work concept of “person-in-environment” remains outdated and limited. This is in part due to the “person” and “environment”--the biological, psychological, and social environments--being defined in distinction from one another. In order to remain current and effective in arguing on behalf of a clear professional voice in the field, social workers must not only engender but also promote a fundamental practice perspective that addresses complexity. A reformulation of “person-in-environment” can help social workers more fully realize the desire to unite under the common professional mandates requiring that both a “person-in-environment” perspective and a full biopsychosocial picture be taken into clinical accounts. To meet this aim I develop the concept of contextual adaptation, a new definition of “person-in-environment” reliant on tenets of nonlinear dynamic systems theory, specifically chaos theory. Nonlinear dynamic systems theory offers a unique opportunity for social workers to retain the core potentiality and utility of “person-in-environment,” that which enables them to account for the importance of environment, but reformulate it so as to create a more viable concept. Contextual adaptation is defined as a biopsychosocial process allowing for an integrated focus on the influence and management of the overlapping contexts of self, interpersonal experience, and sociocultural demands. Human development and functioning are established as a spectrum of adaptive behavior based on the regulation of the needs and requirements of internal processes, relational experience, and external influence