Revealing knowledge networks from computer mediated communication in organizations

Managers continually invest in new information technology (IT) but the question of organizational value still seems vague. One explanation is poor evaluation. In practice the Business Case including Return on Investment (ROI) still dominate. Information System research has noted for a long time that the Economic Approach is not sufficient and instead the Interpretative IT Evaluation Approach has been put forward. However, the approach has reached limited acceptance in practice and it has been noted that what to evaluate is a far more complex process than might first appear. The aim of this study is to articulate factors and criteria that are important to consider when assessing the organizational value of IT investments. This study is part of a Collaborative Practice Research project that took place 2005-2008 at three public organizations. The findings indicate that it is time to take a step from a Business Case to a Value Case. The Value Case is a pluralistic, a formative and a formalized approach that includes factors and criteria that have its base in prior research and have been further discussed and analyzed by the respondents. The Value Case also put management’s attention to effectiveness and efficiency, the task of management

Using grounded theory for studying business process management phenomena

To actually gain organizational value from investments in Information technology (IT) is a widely known problem that many businesses today struggle with. This paper presents an interpretative case study of three public fire rescue service organizations in Sweden. The aim of the study is to investigate what problematic issues that could be raised in achieving organizational value of IT in public organizations. The study indicates that the absence of strategies and IT evaluation methods create fragmented, uncoordinated IT-investment activities, which in turn creates a frustration at all levels of the organization. The public sector invests heavy in IT, seemingly with poor management control. The consequences will be misuse of resources and unnecessary high IT costs. We argue that the use of formal evaluation methods would help the situation, but that economic methods are not enough as the sole solution. A combination of the economic and the Interpretative IT Evaluation approach seems more promising in order to capture both efficiency and effectiveness aspects

The Effect of Stakeholder Consideration in IT Investment Evaluation on Business Value: Evidence from Sweden

Investments in Information Technology affect key stakeholders, such as employees, owners, customers, and suppliers. According to prior studies, many of the Information Technology investments fail to deliver the expected results because stakeholders’ interests and motivations were not adequately addressed. Based on data collected from 70 companies in Sweden, we examine how consideration of key stakeholders in the pre-investment phase may influence the business value obtained from investments in Information Technology. Our findings indicate that a stakeholder view influences the choice of methods and also, at least indirectly, the chances of achieving business value. Nevertheless, a strong key stakeholder consideration does not automatically guarantee successful IT investments, if not backed by proper evaluation methods. Therefore future research may explore the issue of how a portfolio of methods could be assembled considering a company’s unique stakeholders’ characteristics and interests

Accounting Information Systems Implementation and Management Accounting Change

Background: There is an on-going discussion within management accounting research regarding how to work with performance measures. In the process of developing new forms of performance measurement the task of choosing business metrics is central. This process is closely connected to the implementation of IT solutions. Objectives: In order to understand how new performance measurement solutions are implemented and used, it becomes crucial to understand how measures are selected and how new accounting information systems (AIS) are developed and implemented. Methods/approach: The paper builds on the case of an on-going AIS project at a large, public university in Sweden. The empirical material was collected using a semi-action research approach over a two-year period. The majority of the material comes from written documentation and minutes. Results: Even though the implementation of a new AIS triggers a change in the management accounting practice, this study shows that this is done in more than one perspective. Conclusions: As the project develops, new priorities and objectives evolve, which in the end shape what management accounting change becomes

IT investment evaluation: why hasn ’t it become an organization routine?

In this study we attempt to understand why formal evaluations of IT investment projects have not yet become an organizational routine. Using survey data gathered from business and IT managers in Sweden, we tested the research hypotheses about the factors influencing the attitudes and behaviour of managers towards using formal evaluation methods based on the theory of planned behaviour. We found that the intent to use formal evaluation methods in an organization is determined by the attitudes of the managers towards the formal methods, the common beliefs of the organization about the formal methods, and the perceived ability to perform formal evaluations. Interestingly, we found that the attitudes toward formal methods are determined mostly by the perceived usefulness of the methods and not by the perceived ease of use of these methods, suggesting that the decision to use formal methods is most likely based on rational analyses rather than individual preferences. We also found that awareness and selfefficacy contribute to the use of formal methods via influences on organizational beliefs and perceived ability to perform evaluation tasks. These findings provide some interesting managerial implications for advocating the use of formal methods in organizations

Management av strategisk utveckling - En studie av begrepp och kritiska faktorer i litteratur och i praktisk IS/IT utveckling.

Förord Jag vill börja med att tacka Anne-Charlotte Karlsson och Fredrik Wadström på Sigma AB för den tid och det engagemang de har ägnat mig vid genomförandet av min magisteruppsats. Vidare vill jag tacka samtliga intervjuade personer på fallstudieföretagen, AstraZeneca AB samt Ericsson Microwave Systems AB. För att jag har fått möjlighet att göra empiriska studier hos företagen samt att de låtit mig ta del av deras gedigna erfarenheter. Slutligen vill jag också tacka Håkan Enqvist och Thanos Magoulas. Thanos för att han har delgivit mig mycket djupa och intressanta diskussioner utifrån teorins värld och Håkan för att han har delgivit mig mycket djupa och intressanta diskussioner utifrån verkligheten. Ni har båda bidragit med mycket värdefull kunskap som varit väsentlig för denna uppsats. Ett stort tack till er alla!!

Evaluating as designing. Towards a Balanced IT investements Approach

The evaluation of information technology (IT) investments continues to present challenges to many organizations. While the emergence of new technologies complicates this activity, business value from IT typically resides with both tangible and intangible aspects. Managers today rely still on economic and financial methods when evaluating IT investments. In doing so, they tend to fail to understand how new IT systems affect the organization and its different stakeholders in ways that can have indirect yet significant impact on business performance. IS literature suggests therefore that interpretative evaluation approaches have to be enacted as to complement the traditional economic and financial ones. Such approaches view value as pluralistic and multifaceted, and evaluation is seen as a collaborative endeavor that involves multiple stakeholders. However, despite calls for integrative IS evaluation approaches, scant attention has been paid to innovative ways to combine the economic and interpretative perspectives. Addressing this knowledge gap, this thesis proposes ‘Evaluating as Designing’ (EaD) as a Meta IS evaluation approach. At the heart of EaD is the idea that by adopting a design attitude managers are able to balance these different perspectives. It suggests that managers must balance decision-making and sense-making to be able to tailor the evaluation activity to the specifics of the organizational context. To assess its effectiveness, EaD was applied through a collaborative practice research effort involving three public organizations. Building on the findings from this study, the thesis theorizes on the nature and role of IS evaluation in contemporary organizations. It also concludes with implications for research and practice

“One have a toolkit to work with” : A study of children's librarians' approach to the multimodal world, digital tools and media related to reading motivation in the work of reading promotion

The aim of this thesis was to gain insight into how children's librarians, at public libraries, work to promote reading towards children between the ages of 6 and 16. The two main purposes were to study the view of reading and investigate how they   approach the multimodal world where digital media and tools make a complement to traditional media and how the work with  them can be related to reading motivation.  The methods used in this study were semi structured interviews and qualitative content analysis. Five children's librarians were interviewed. To analyze the responses from the interviews, we used a motivational theory to study how motivational factors are used in reading promotion. We also used a theory which includes different views of reading. Our results show that the view of reading reflects how the librarians perform their reading promotion. The respondents are mostly positive to both traditional and digital media and tools. They appreciate various media and tools and tend to use several formats. One of the respondents describes her work, with different media to promote reading, in terms of “having a toolkit to work with” and that different media inspire the use of another. The study also shows that motivation is an important factor to be considered in the work of reading promotion. Motivation can, for example, be reached within the children’s and young adults´ own interests and the media formats that they prefer.