Justifying Shadow IT Usage

Employees and/or functional managers increasingly adopt and use IT systems and services that the IS management of the organization does neither provide nor approve. To effectively counteract such shadow IT in organizations, the understanding of employees’ motivations and drivers is necessary. However, the scant literature on this topic primarily focused on various governance approaches at firm level. With the objective to open the black box of shadow IT usage at the individual unit of analysis, we develop a research model and propose a laboratory experiment to examine users’ justifications for violating implicit and explicit IT usage restrictions based on neutralization theory. To be precise, in this research-in-progress, we posit positive associations between shadow IT usage and human tendencies to downplay such kind of rule-breaking behaviors due to necessity, no injury, and injustice. We expect a lower impact of these neutralization effects in the presence of behavioral IT guidelines that explicitly prohibit users to employ exactly those shadow IT systems

The Social Side of Shadow It and its Impacts: Investigating the Relationship with Social Influence and Social Presence

The use of shadow IT within organizations may offer an interesting context to analyze individual behavior in the contemporary society. Considering that social factors profoundly influence user behavior, we aim to investigate the relationship of perceived social influence and perceived social presence on shadow IT usage and its impacts based on the assumption that social factors influence individuals towards the use of shadow IT. We performed a survey among employees from different companies. The results show that shadow IT usage has a strong positive relationship with the social factors investigated here, which positively impacts employee’s work performance. Our findings suggest that shadow IT is a collective solution used and socially recognized by workgroups. In addition, we found that shadow IT can lead to optimized communication and collaboration among employees, teams or departments

Appearance of Dark Clouds? - An Empirical Analysis of Users\u27 Shadow Sourcing of Cloud Services

Encouraged by recent practical observations of employees\u27 usage of public cloud services for work tasks instead of mandatory internal support systems, this study investigates end users\u27 utilitarian and normative motivators based on the theory of reasoned action. Partial least squares analyses of survey data comprising 71 computer end users at work, employed across various companies and industries, show that perceived benefits for job performance, social influences of the entire work environment, and employees\u27 lack of identification with the organizational norms and values drive insiders to threaten the security of organizational IT assets

The mediating role of workaround behavior and the shadow IT usage in the relationship between job characteristics and individual performance

This research aimed to evaluate the effects of workaround behavior and the shadow IT usage as mediating variables in the relationship between job characteristics and individual performance. To achieve the objective, a survey was conducted with 415 IT users. Data analysis was performed using SPSS and SmartPLS softwares. The main results indicate that the effect of job characteristics on individual performance is explained by the mediating variables workaround behavior and the shadow IT usage. In addition, the relationship between job characteristics with the workaround behavior and the shadow IT usage were confirmed. Finally, it was confirmed that the workaround behavior and the shadow IT usage are positively related to individual performance. As theoretical contributions this study presents information about workaround behavior that has been little explored in Brazilian researches. In addition, there is a lack of researches that has assessed how the job characteristics influence alternative solutions in the organizations.Esta pesquisa teve por objetivo avaliar os efeitos do comportamento workaround e do uso da shadow IT como variáveis mediadoras da relação entre as características do trabalho e o desempenho individual. Para atingir o objetivo foi realizada uma survey com 415 usuários de TI. A análise de dados foi realizada nos softwares SPSS e SmartPLS e os principais resultados indicam que o efeito das características do trabalho no desempenho individual é explicado pelas variáveis mediadoras comportamento workaround e uso da shadow IT. Ademais foi comprovado que a variável independente características do trabalho impacta no comportamento workaround e no uso da shadow IT. Com relação a análise do desempenho individual, tanto o comportamento workaround quanto o uso da shadow IT apresentam-se positivamente relacionados com o desempenho individual. Como contribuições teóricas este estudo apresenta informações acerca do comportamento workaround que vem sendo pouco explorado nas pesquisas brasileiras. Além disso, identifica-se a ausência de pesquisas que tenham avaliado como as características do trabalho influenciam as práticas alternativas de trabalho

Shadow IT and computer-mediated collaboration : developing a framework based on social presence theory

The use of unauthorized technologies in the workplace, called shadow IT (SIT), is increasing within organizations. Previous research identified that Shadow technologies are often collaborative systems used by employees to communicate and share content with colleagues, clients, or external partners. Therefore, we aim to develop a framework for the influence of shadow IT usage on computer-mediated collaboration based on Social Presence Theory. We conducted a literature review that resulted in a framework and the development of research propositions. The literature suggests that there is a positive influence of shadow IT usage on employee collaboration and communications. This paper presents theoretical and practical contributions. Analyzing shadow IT and collaboration through a theoretical lens makes progress on the discussion about the consequences of these unauthorized technologies for individuals and organizations. It is important for organizations to comprehend these impacts, such as on collaboration, which, in turn, can facilitate improvements in employee productivity.A utilização de tecnologias não autorizadas no local de trabalho, chamadas de Shadow IT (SIT), está aumentando nas organizações. Pesquisas anteriores identificam que tecnologias Shadow são frequentemente sistemas colaborativos utilizados pelos funcionários para se comunicar e compartilhar conteúdo com colegas de trabalho, clientes ou parceiros externos. O objetivo deste trabalho é desenvolver um framework, à luz da Teoria da Presença Social, de como o uso de shadow IT pode influenciar a colaboração mediada pela tecnologia. Para tanto, foi realizada uma revisão de literatura, culminando no desenvolvimento de um framework e em proposições de pesquisa. A literatura sugere que há uma influência positiva do uso de shadow IT na colaboração dos funcionários. Este trabalho traz contribuições teóricas e práticas. A análise da relação Shadow IT e colaboração a partir de uma lente teórica corrobora para a discussão dos impactos destas tecnologias não autorizadas. Para as organizações, é importante conhecer estes impactos, como por exemplo na colaboração, o que, por sua vez, pode viabilizar melhorias na produtividade dos funcionários

A model to understand digital capabilities, shadow IT and individual performance in the context of remote work

In recent years, remote work has grown enormously, as has the adoption of digital technologies and shadow IT. There has never been a situation where workers could choose to use their own devices and cloud-based applications. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, large numbers of workers suddenly found themselves at home. Understanding how this shift to remote working has impacted digital resources, the use of shadow IT and individual performance is of great importance to academics and professionals. This study seeks to analyze the relationship between digital capabilities and shadow IT usage on the one hand and individual performance on the other in the context of remote working. To do so, a survey was carried out among a sample of 188 IT and non-IT executives from Brazil working remotely. The resulting data were analyzed using IBM-SPSS 24 exploratory analysis and PLS-SEM software to test the measurement and structural model. In the study we identified that shadow IT usage is positively related both to digital capabilities and individual performance. The main findings reveal that to understand the behavior of employees and how these systems are being used is essential for the individual performance of company employees to be maintained or even improved

Toward an Ontology of Workarounds: A Literature Review on Existing Concepts

While workarounds are studied frequently in information systems research, a coherent and interrelated structure to organize the knowledge of the field is still missing. In this study, we provide a first step towards an ontology of workarounds in order to enable researchers to study the relationships among the core concepts. By identifying existing literature, we discover three gaps in workaround research: (1) lack of conceptual consensus, (2) fragmentation and (3) static perspective. To advance theory, we provide an overview of different types of workarounds that are frequently used in literature. Based on these findings we derive core concepts of workarounds that are used in literature and provide an ontology of workarounds

Knowledge Management without Management -- Shadow IT in Knowledge-intensive Manufacturing Practices

The voluntary use of private device by employees without formal approval of the IT department, commonly termed Shadow IT, is an increasingly widespread phenomenon. In this paper, we study the role of private smartphones (and related applications like WhatsApp) in knowledge-intensive practices in the manufacturing domain. With an in-depth case study based on data gained from observations and interviews, we are able to empirically illustrate why workers use their private smartphones (contrary to company guidelines) and how they find significant gains of productivity by using the ‘forbidden’ applications. Our study contributes to knowledge management research by showing how private IT use can change existing knowledge management practices. At the same time, we are able to give rich insights into the rise of Shadow IT in a manufacturing context which takes place in a self-organised way without knowledge of the management. This enables us to take a step towards a knowledge management strategy perspective on Shadow IT

Shadow Systems, Risk, and Shifting Power Relations in Organizations

Drawing on notions of power and the social construction of risk, we build new theory to understand the persistence of shadow systems in organizations. From a single case study in a mid-sized savings bank, we derive two feedback cycles that concern shifting power relations between business units and central IT associated with shadow systems. A distant business-IT relationship and changing business needs can create repeated cost and time pressures that make business units draw on shadow systems. The perception of risk can trigger an opposing power shift back through the decommissioning and recentralization of shadow systems. However, empirical findings suggest that the weakening tendency of formal risk-management programs may not be sufficient to stop the shadow systems cycle spinning if they fail to address the underlying causes for the emergence of shadow systems. These findings highlight long-term dynamics associated with shadow systems and pose “risk” as a power-shifting construct

Causing factors, outcomes, and governance of Shadow IT and business-managed IT: a systematic literature review

Shadow IT and Business-managed IT describe the autonomous deployment/procurement or management of Information Technology (IT) instances, i.e., software, hardware, or IT services, by business entities. For Shadow IT, this happens covertly, i.e., without alignment with the IT organization; for Business-managed IT this happens overtly, i.e., in alignment with the IT organization or in a split responsibility model. We conduct a systematic literature review and structure the identified research themes in a framework of causing factors, outcomes, and governance. As causing factors, we identify enablers, motivators, and missing barriers. Outcomes can be benefits as well as risks/shortcomings of Shadow IT and Business-managed IT. Concerning governance, we distinguish two subcategories: general governance for Shadow IT and Business-managed IT and instance governance for overt Business-managed IT. Thus, a specific set of governance approaches exists for Business-managed IT that cannot be applied to Shadow IT due to its covert nature. Hence, we extend the existing conceptual understanding and allocate research themes to Shadow IT, Business-managed IT, or both concepts and particularly distinguish the governance of the two concepts. Besides, we find that governance themes have been the primary research focus since 2016, whereas older publications (until 2015) focused on causing factors