Shedding Light on Shadow IT: Definition, Related Concepts, and Consequences

The use of Information Technology (IT) without the approval and support of the IT department, called shadow IT, has challenged organizations to rethink ways to manage IT resources to cope with the use of unauthorized technologies within organizations. We review the literature on shadow IT to shed light on this phenomenon, discussing the conceptual definition and types, the related concepts, and its consequences. This study, then, is an effort to better understand the phenomenon based on the extant literature. We provide contributions by enhancing the emerging body of knowledge on shadow IT, as well as by suggesting research gaps to be addressed in future research in order to advance on the topic

Accommodating practices during episodes of disillusionment with mobile IT

This study investigates how tablet users react when technology falls short of their expectations. We deploy a data/frame model to study this process and investigate resistance-related reactions and the deployment of accommodating practices at the individual level. Analyzing user blogs that provide narratives on user interaction with tablets, we identify triggers of episodes of disillusionment and illustrate five sensemaking paths that users follow, eventually leading to one of three practices: 1) users choose to defer tasks until the situation changes, or they abandon the platform altogether; 2) they develop workarounds at different levels of proficiency; or 3) they proceed by reframing their expectations of the platform. By revealing user decision-making process during episodes of disillusionment, the findings contribute to information systems post-adoption research. At a practical level, the findings inform IT artifact and application design by offering insights on how users process discrepancies between their expectations and actual use experience

Productive resistance within the public sector: exploring organisational culture

The article examines how South Korean civil servants responded to the introduction of pay for performance. Drawing upon 31 in-depth interviews with career civil servants, it identifies what became known as 1/n, a form of ‘discreet resistance’ that emerged and evolved. The analytical framework allows productive resistance to be seen as ebbing and flowing during organisational change that sees institutionalisation, deinstitutionalisation and re-institutionalisation. In understanding the cultural context of organisational resistance the contribution is three-fold. First, a nuanced definition and understanding of productive resistance. Second, it argues that productive resistance must be seen as part of a process that does not simply reflect ‘offer and counter-offer’ within the change management process. Thirdly, it identifies differences within groups and sub-cultures concerning commitment towards resistance and how these fissures contribute towards change as new interpretive schemes and justifications are presented in light of policy reformulations

A qualitative exploration of workarounds related to the implementation of national electronic health records in early adopter mental health hospitals

AIMS: To investigate the perceptions and reported practices of mental health hospital staff using national hospital electronic health records (EHRs) in order to inform future implementations, particularly in acute mental health settings. METHODS: Thematic analysis of interviews with a wide range of clinical, information technology (IT), managerial and other staff at two early adopter mental health National Health Service (NHS) hospitals in London, UK, implementing national EHRs. RESULTS: We analysed 33 interviews. We first sought out examples of workarounds, such as delayed data entry, entering data in wrong places and individuals using the EHR while logged in as a colleague, then identified possible reasons for the reported workarounds. Our analysis identified four main categories of factors contributing to workarounds (i.e., operational, cultural, organisational and technical). Operational factors included poor system integration with existing workflows and the system not meeting users' perceived needs. Cultural factors involved users' competence with IT and resistance to change. Organisational factors referred to insufficient organisational resources and training, while technical factors included inadequate local technical infrastructure. Many of these factors, such as integrating the EHR system with day-to-day operational processes, staff training and adequate local IT infrastructure, were likely to apply to system implementations in various settings, but we also identified factors that related particularly to implementing EHRs in mental health hospitals, for example: EHR system incompatibility with IT systems used by mental health-related sectors, notably social services; the EHR system lacking specific, mental health functionalities and options; and clinicians feeling unable to use computers while attending to distressed psychiatric patients. CONCLUSIONS: A better conceptual model of reasons for workarounds should help with designing, and supporting the implementation and adoption of, EHRs for use in hospital mental health settings

The potential of workarounds for improving processes

\u3cp\u3eSeveral studies have hinted how the study of workarounds can help organizations to improve business processes. Through a systematic literature review of 70 articles that discuss workarounds by information systems users, we aim to unlock this potential. Based on a synthesis of recommendations mentioned in the reviewed studies, we describe five key activities that help organizations to deal with workarounds. We contribute to the IS literature by (1) providing an overview of concrete recommendations for managing workarounds and (2) offering a background for positioning new research activities on the subject. Organizations can apply these tools directly to turn their knowledge on workarounds into organizational improvement.\u3c/p\u3

Sharing Knowledge in a Shared Services Center Context: An Explanatory Case Study of the Dialectics of Formal and Informal Practices

International audienceThis study focuses on how knowledge sharing across boundaries of merging entities during an information system (IS) implementation project in a shared services center (SSC) context affects the resulting system functionality. Although the literature stresses the growing adoption of the SSC as an outsourcing model, there is a lack of studies that examine shared services as a dynamic process of knowledge sharing across the organizational boundaries. We draw on a sociomaterial practice perspective and on the theory of workarounds to analyze an IS implementation project in a healthcare organization resulting from a merger of previously independent hospitals. The results suggest that new technology can be enacted in different ways as it links up with practices of different communities of users. We propose a multilevel process model that indicates at the end of the project a resulting mix of formal and informal (workarounds) practices that emerged from a dialectic process of resistance to, and negotiation of, the IS configuration during its implementation