Homogeneity and heterogeneity in information technology private standard settings - the institutional account

The IT (information technology) standardisation landscape is characterised by the increasing importance of private standard setting consortia, a greater convergence between the structural features of formal and private standard organisations, and greater diversity in standard organisations. Institutional theory has been applied to explain the convergence of standard setting bodies. This paper applies institutional theory to four studies of standards organisations, showing that there are indeed homogenising mimetic, coercive and normative forces in standard setting that lead to the convergence of emergent organisations with the institutional features, but that there are also forces promoting heterogeneity, in particular the multiplicity of institutional fields within which standards consortia operate, leading to a complex, and often conflicting, matrix of institutional norms to be accommodated

GOAL ASSESSMENT DECISION JUDGEMENTS IN IS/IT PROJECTS (3)

This development paper sets out proposals to examine how project management practitioners articulate their decision judgements (project goal assessment) of failure of information systems and information technology (IS/IT) projects. It is intended that to undertake the study, data from interviews with practitioners from seven countries will be employed. Data analysis will undertaken utilising NVivo (V10). The study is likely to find that while some project management practitioners perceive IS/IT project failures as measureable along a goal assessment continuum, others may consider failure categorically by explicitly conceptualising either its presence or absence

Applying Institutional Theoretical Frameworks in MIS Research

This article investigates how Information Systems researchers apply institutional theoretical frameworks. We include theoretical, methodological and empirical aspects to explore modalities of use. After an overview of institutional concepts, we carry out a thematic analysis of journal papers on IS and institutional theory indexed in EBSCO and ABI databases from 1999 to 2009. This consists of descriptive, thematic coding and cluster analysis of this textual database. On the basis of thematic coding and cluster analysis, our findings suggest three groups of publications which represent different methodological approaches and empirical foci: descriptive exploratory approaches, generalizing approaches, and sociological approaches. We suggest that these three groups represent possible patterns of the use of meta social theories in IS research, reflecting a search for disciplinary legitimacy. This helps us analyze papers according to how they use and apply theories. We identify the organizing vision and the regulatory approach as two institutionalist intermediary concepts developed by IS researchers. Furthermore, we find that institutional theoretical frameworks have been used in direct, intermediary or combined conceptualizations. As a conclusion, we make suggestions to blend different conceptualizations, methodologies and empirical foci to enrich the use of institutionalist theories in IS empirical research. A comparison with the use of, for instance, structuration theory in IS research would also further insights into how researchers apply meta theories and may help develop IS theorization further

Attributes and Dynamic Development Phases of Informal ICT Consortia

Theoretical and empirical analyses about informal consortia are not yet able to entirely illustrate the informal standard setting landscape. This paper tries to provide a broad and comprehensive picture of informal standards consortia and their dynamic development in the past ten years. Analyses show that consortia have distinct characteristics which help to position and explain their existence in the standard setting context. Furthermore the observation of consortia survival identifies relationships between the formation, termination and merger of consortia and market development. The paper is thus able to reveal unique consortia features such as flexibility in formation and speed of reaction to market needs. Formal standardization is in contrast an often protracted process of development and negotiation. Involvement in informal standard setting is in less bureaucratic and allows, in respect to the tiered membership structures, a strategic influence from participating firms. These main insights justify a distinct research on the role of informal standard setting in the ICT industry

Attributes and Dynamic Development Phases of Informal ICT Consortia

Theoretical and empirical analyses about informal consortia are not yet able to entirely illustrate the informal standard setting landscape. This paper tries to provide a broad and comprehensive picture of informal standards consortia and their dynamic development in the past ten years. Analyses show that consortia have distinct characteristics which help to position and explain their existence in the standard setting context. Furthermore the observation of consortia survival identifies relationships between the formation, termination and merger of consortia and market development. The paper is thus able to reveal unique consortia features such as flexibility in formation and speed of reaction to market needs. Formal standardization is in contrast an often protracted process of development and negotiation. Involvement in informal standard setting is in less bureaucratic and allows, in respect to the tiered membership structures, a strategic influence from participating firms. These main insights justify a distinct research on the role of informal standard setting in the ICT industry

Attributes and Dynamic Development Phases of ICT Standards Consortia

Standards consortia are private industry alliances that serve a certain purpose and gather likeminded companies that share the same interest to sponsor and develop technologies for standardization. Compared to formal standard setting, participation in consortia is less bureaucratic, more efficient in reacting to market needs and allows, in respect to the tiered membership structures, a strategic influence of standard setting outcomes. Formal standardization is in contrast an often protracted process of development and negotiation. This paper tries to provide a broad and comprehensive picture of standards consortia and their dynamic development in the past ten years. Analyses show that consortia have distinct characteristics which help to explain and justify their presence in the standard setting context. The observation of consortia existence over time identifies relationships between the formation, termination and merger of consortia with respect to market and technology development. Furthermore the paper seeks to measure consortia performance with respect to organizational structures and market position. Therefore we test the likelihood of consortia termination. Results of a survival analysis reveal that the probability of consortia success is especially connected to structures that determine coordination among members. Additionally the scope and focus on technology and markets also influences if consortia remain in business over time. influence from participating firms. These main insights justify a distinct research on the role of informal standard setting in the ICT industry

When innovation fails: An institutional perspective of the (non)adoption of boundary spanning IT innovation

We combine the concepts of legitimacy, institutional (mis)alignments, strategic responses and organizing visions to develop a conceptual framework to analyze the adoption of innovations that span organizational fields. We apply this framework to examine a telehealth innovation connecting a public sector hospital-based Eye Clinic with private sector optometry practices. We find that while compromise strategies were successful in encouraging adoption within each field, the innovation ultimately failed because the fields developed different organizing visions that could not be reconciled. The findings suggest that institutional misalignments within and between fields interact to amplify their overall effect on the adoption of hybrid innovations

Institutional complexity and sustainable supply chain management practices

Purpose The purpose of this study is to empirically investigate the impact of institutional pressures, institutional logics and institutional complexity on Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM) practices across mixed public and private sector supply chains. Design/methodology/approach Multi-case study data were collected from three tiers of food and catering supply chains: the customer/consumer tier; focal public sector UK Universities; and private sector suppliers/contractors. Findings The findings indicate that: normative and mimetic pressures are more prevalent in focal Universities, compared to suppliers; there is typically no single dominant logic across these supply chains; and the multiplicity of institutional logics (e.g. sustainability logic versus financial logic) increases institutional complexity. Therefore, in the typical case of homogeneity in terms of institutional pressures and logics, e.g. with a dominant sustainability logic throughout the supply chain, radical change in SSCM practices is facilitated. In contrast, in the more typical case when there is heterogeneity, with competing logics at different supply chain tiers, this limits SSCM to more incremental changes in practices. Research limitations/implications This study is limited to three tiers of the food and catering supply chains of UK Universities. Practical implications To aid in the successful implementation of SSCM, this study suggests a need for managers to develop an initial understanding of the prevailing institutional logics and pressures at different tiers of the supply chain. Social implications A number of the SSCM practices studied address social sustainability. Originality/value No previous studies have empirically investigated the impact of institutional complexity in the context of SSCM practices across supply chains, involving both mixed public and private sector organisations

An investigation into practices and determinants of the circular economy in the food by-product management using multiple case research design

Food waste is one of the biggest global challenges in our modern time due to its serious environmental, economic, social and ethical implications. There is a pressing concern to address this challenge globally, which prompts governments, industries and academia alike to rethink the food system and take actions to reduce and manage the waste issues effectively. A circular economy that drifts away from the linear take-make-dispose model is touted as a practical solution to not only enable dual goals of wealth generation and GHG mitigation but also radically transform the way we look at and manage food waste. However, little is known about how the circular economy can be properly translated and executed in food by- product valorisation. This is intensified by a lack of genuine interest from practitioners as a result of enormous and systemic changes required in the circular economy concept. The practitioners are still struggling to grasp a consistent understanding of the concept for onward implementation. Coupled with a response to calls to move the attention to food by-product management, this study was undertaken to understand the nature of the circular transition with the view to shed light on its implementations in the food by-product management and the associated determinants along the transition process in the UK context. For the explorative purpose, a multiple case study research method following an abductive qualitative research approach was adopted. The last decade has witnessed interesting dynamics in food by-product management in the UK. For example, anaerobic digestions continue to take off in volume and efficiency, yet other types of innovations continue to exhibit in the valorisation of the food by-products. Therefore, six cases of small and medium-sized food by-product processors were theoretically sampled to elucidate these innovative efforts. The cases have direct involvement in processing food by-products in the UK. This enabled the researcher to explore and gain insights into the phenomenon of circular innovations in the contemporary context of food waste management. Data were collected by semi-structured interviews, triangulated with evidence from other sources, including observations from site visits and exclusively accessed and publicly available documents.The findings yielded critical themes concerning three research questions. The circular practice specifies the types of innovation practices employed in each case that centre on the operations and technologies, by-product procurement, output products and their markets. A list of 11 drivers and 13 barriers is yielded and aggregated into six themes, regulatory, social, cognitive, economic, supply chain, and technological sources. Interestingly, the technological factor is not listed in the list of drivers. The nexus of circular practices, drivers and barriers is then elaborated on the theoretical anchor of an integrated institutional theory with an institutional logic add-on. Overall, the finding indicates that weak momentum for the circular engagement is due to deep uncertainty perceived in such engagement. Finally, theoretical, methodological and practical contributions are discerned while future research directions are suggested

IS standards in designing business-to-government collaborations.

IS STANDARDS IN DESIGNING BUSINESS-TO-GOVERNMENT COLLABORATIONS. Elaborating the impact of standards on inter-organizational collaborations, inter-organizational studies demonstrated a standard’s positive impact on the collaboration between governmental and business partners. How and under which conditions information systems (IS) standards contribute to the effectiveness of business-to-government (B2G) collaborations in customs management is the topic of this thesis. Chapter 2 provides the theoretical and methodological background of the thesis. It illustrates how standards research emerged under institutional conditions such as actor types, linkages and social structures. With the case study in Chapter 3, the thesis introduces a reference framework that gathers different aspects in three pre-selected international business-to-government collaborations. Describing the cases that are subject to the export from EU to non-EU countries a diagnosis of B2G collaborations and relevant elements for the design of the artifact is conducted. A diagnosis of related work in the field of B2G collaborations is provided in Chapter 4. The assessment of collaboration forms revealed necessary constructs of a procedure model and institutional steps necessary to form B2G collaboration as such. Chapter 5 distils related work of IS standards research. In Chapters 6 and 7 considerations from the previous chapters lead to the core part of the thesis, the design and build of a procedure model to institutionalize B2G collaborations, the B2G Procedure Model (B2GPM). The results from the first round of design, the building blocks for B2G collaborations, are subject to Chapter 6. They conclude in a set of design principles of the B2GPM that are being introduced in the chapter. Chapter 7 covers the second round of design by refining the elements of B2G collaboration and the design principles. It continues with the design of the B2GPM. The composition, description, and documentation of the procedure model are the core part of this chapter. Chapter 8 is dedicated to the question of required organizational adoption to deploy the B2GPM. The model is seen as a procedural innovation by which B2G collaboration in customs management can be further improved. The applicability of the B2GPM is based on a series of evaluation cycles and results in the provision of influencing factors of organizational adoption.