Web Services and Emergent Organizations: Opportunites and Challenges for IS Development

We are living in exciting times, in which technological innovation and new forms of organization are advancing at a very fast pace. On the organizational side, the lack of stability of the so-called emergent organizations, those that are in continuous evolution and transformation, represents a big challenge for Information Systems Development practices and technologies: in a fast changing organization, there may be no optimal set of specifications for an Information System and even the traditional concept of the Information System life cycle may need to be replaced by one involving the idea of continuous development. On the technological side, the diffusion of Internet-based platforms and, in particular, the recent introduction of the so-called Web Services technological standard for dynamic component-based software development may represent a potentially interesting opportunity to build continuously changing Information Systems. In this contribution we start exploring this territory, focusing on the concepts of emergent systems and continuous development, explaining the major characteristics of Web services technology and the potential uses of it

The Quad-Core Model of Information Systems Innovation: Identifying and Confirming the Role of Novel Technological Frames as a Supra-Innovation Core--The Case of Internet Induced IT Innovation

The paper extends Swansonís three core model of IT innovation in order to account for observed radical changes in systems development and IS service due to Internet induced innovations. A new supra-core called the base IT innovation core is suggested that accounts for IS innovations in the new world of development which cannot be categorized in the existing tri-core model. The impact and role of this core is supported by findings from a field study, which examined eight leading edge software firms and changes in their development practices. Concurrently, the study confirms the 20 propositions put forward in Lyytinen et al. (1998) that predicted the Internet and its associated tools would represent a new technological frame that would radically change systems development and services

An IS Theory of Reciprocal Change

This paper proposes an IS theory of reciprocal change. The research problem addressed in the paper is the absence of an IS theory that explains the reciprocity of change within IS. The questions that the paper answers is, what composition of constructs and their interrelationships are paramount for an IS theory of reciprocal change? And, what are possible conceptual contributions of an IS theory of reciprocal change with reference to past research? This paper is appropriately conceptual in nature and based on the academic literature. For practitioners, the proposed IS theory of reciprocal change is simple enough to be understandable yet comprehensive enough to benefit the analysis, application, and design of many IS. For researchers, the proposed IS theory of reciprocal change provides an initial basis for explaining and predicting the reciprocity of change within IS. In addition, the paper presents a process, based on the literature, for informing theory development and clarifying constructs.School of Computin

Images of Reality - Interacton space analysis and large-scale design in open office landscape environments

This chapter explores communication patterns and media choices among employees, as well as their connection with the ongoing changes in workplace design. It presents a multiple case study of communication and co-ordination in open landscape office environments. The study was carried out in three different organisations; an advertising firm, a manufacturing business, and an IT development office. In the organisations the work practice was to some degree dependent on possibilities to communicate from various locations among co-workers, both within and outside the office. This paper suggests that utilising more personalised and effective communication media could provide necessary means for more efficient support of co-operative work. The issues of interaction space analysis and large-scale design, i.e. integration with the existing installed base of services and infrastructures, both technical and social, were here put into focus as influencing factors. To Trevino et al’s (1990) three factors I have added a forth factor, namely company culture that I believe has a great influence on employee’s media choices. The conclusions were that the organisational culture had deep impact on how the technology features were accepted and incorporated in the work practice for communication purposes

Security Requirements Engineering-The Reluctant Oxymoron

Security is a focus in many systems that are developed today, yet this aspect of systems development is often relegated when the shipping date for a software product looms. This leads to problems post-implementation in terms of patches required to fix security defects or vulnerabilities. A simplistic answer is that if the code was correct in the first instance, then vulnerabilities would not exist. The reality of a complex software artefact is however, driven by other concerns. Rather than probing programs for coding errors that lead to vulnerabilities, it is perhaps more beneficial to look at the root causes of how and why vulnerabilities come to exist in software. This paper explores the reasons why this might be so, uses two simple case studies to illustrate the effects of failing to specify requirements correctly and suggests that software development methods that build in security concerns at the beginning of a project might be the way forward

Enhanced Mobility - Augmented Possibility? Developments in Co-operative Work

This paper enlightens enhanced mobility and the ongoing changes in collaboration forms. It reports on studies of communication and co-ordination in a work setting, including discussing the implications of the observations for enhancing mobility in co-operational work. In the analysis this paper use a framework developed by Lyytinen and Yoo (2001), in order to analyse a heterogeneous interconnected technological and organisational environment, which enables both physical and social mobility of computing and communication services between and across organisational actors. In response to earlier ignoration, the issues of large-scale design and integration to the existing installed base of services and infrastructures, both technical and social, are here put into focus. The framework consists at the fundamental level of three technological trends that drive the developments in mobile technology: mobility, convergence and mass scale. These factors influence in turn the developments in infrastructure and services, which encompass both technical and social elements. The empirical study took place in an IT-organisation, in one of the world’s leading Internet consulting companies. In the networked organisation the work practice is dependent on the co-workers ability to co-operate from various, constantly shifting, locations. This paper suggests that utilise Web-based Information Systems as communication media could initially provide necessary means to support mobility in their co-operational work. Our conclusions are that mobility is a fast-growing phenomenon, which will considerably change the terms and developments in co-operative work. Further, that the organisational culture will have deep impact on how the technology features are accepted and incorporated in the work practice. There is diversity in the use of the concept mobility, in relation to research. To meet this, the authors suggest a general Framework of Interaction Patterns model. The overall organisation of the framework is build around a dichotomy of variables, and it can be used normative in a design context or for descriptive purposes

Design-task Linkages in Digital Innovation: Software Platforms at Globalcarcorp

The adoption of software platforms in product design can be challenging for manufacturing firms. In particular, embedded linkages between the organization design (task) and product design (design) may counteract attempts to induce more agile and flexible innovation processes. Yet, little research has investigated the influence of software platforms on design-task linkages in digital innovation. This paper addresses this research problem by examining the use of software platforms for instrument cluster design at a global automaker. Drawing on innovation theory, we identify and explicate two types of tensions emerging when digitizing physical products. Related to temporality and design hierarchy, these tensions form the basis for a set of implications for the literatures on platforms and digital innovation

Activity Based Generation of Requirements for Web-Based Information Systems: The SSM/ICDT Approach

Web site development method is at an early stage in its evolution. Most existing methods are concerned with technical software issues and are poorly adapted to help developers think about fundamental changes to existing business models that Web-based environments make possible. In addition, traditional methods of requirements elicitation dependent on users are often impractical. The approach described in this paper combines the well-tested ability of Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) to deliver useful models of business process (human activity systems), with recent thinking about mature Internet business strategies from INSEAD. Mapping the four virtual spaces of the ICDT model (information, communication, distribution and transaction) onto business activity models via a simple matrix ensures a reasonably sophisticated view of Web site potential, and ties it firmly to fundamental business processes. The approach, which is simple to learn and a small overhead in terms of development effort, is illustrated with a case study

The Next Wave of Nomadic Computing: A Research Agenda for Information Systems Research

A nomadic information environment is a heterogeneous assemblage of interconnected technological and organizational elements, which enables physical and social mobility of computing and communication services between organizational actors both within and across organizational borders. We analyze such environments based on their prevalent features of mobility, digital convergence, and mass scale. We describe essential features of each in more detail and characterize their mutual interdependencies. We build a framework, which identifies research issues in nomadic information environments at the individual, the team, the organizational, and inter-organizational levels, comprising both service and infrastructure development. We assess the opportunities and challenges for research into each area at the level of design, use and adoption, and impacts. We conclude by discussing challenges posed by nomadic information environments for information systems field to our research skills and methods. These deal with the need to invent novel research methods and shift research focus, the necessity to question the divide between the technical and the social, and the need to better integrate developmental and behavioral (empirical) research modes