Antecedents for Successful Collaboration in Requirements Engineering

The main focus of the requirements engineering (RE) literature has been on the technical aspects related to the RE projects. Furthermore, research has mainly focused on the specific methods for collecting the requirements for an information system. To fill this gap, this paper studies the contribution of social factors, such as social ties, knowledge sharing and flexibility, to successful collaboration in RE teams. Data were collected from a successful RE and development project in a public sector company in Finland. The results suggest that human-related issues, such as flexibility and transactive memory, were important for collaborative work in the RE team studied. The paper concludes by discussing the implications for theory and suggesting practical guidelines to enhance collaborative work in RE teams

Understanding the Mobile Gaming Context and Player Behaviour: A Review and a Research Agenda

The technological developments in mobile network and mobile computing underpin the dominance of mobile games in the global games market. Extant literature has enriched our understanding on the antecedents of playing mobile games, yet we still lack a comprehensive portrait of this unique gaming context that is distinguished from the context of traditional computer or console gaming. In response, we conduct a literature review to review research gaps on extant mobile gaming literature. Through a review of 181 works, we propose a framework based on the environmental psychology theory to guide future research to investigate the mobile gaming context. Drawing on this framework, we elaborate a research agenda that proposes potential research questions for future research to study the impacts of 1) mobile game design features and mobile application usability, 2) the use context more broadly, and 3) subjective individual differences, on mobile game player’s gaming experience, continued playing intention and in-game purchasing

A New Dualistic CIO Toolbox: Towards Ambidexterity in the Digital Business Transformation

By transferring organizational learning concepts into the IT context, this paper provides a new behavior oriented foundation for managing IT organizations in the digital business transformation. As a practical contribution, the paper introduces a new management toolbox which supports Chief Information Officers (CIOs) to lead their Information Technology (IT) organizations towards ambidexterity in the digital business transformation. The organizational ambidexterity is required for the digital business transformation in order to contribute innovativeness while simultaneously assuring effective operational IT environment. The toolbox is constructed using the systematic concept analysis and the concept derivation methods to convert the organizational learning concepts into the dualistic CIO toolbox. The toolbox includes a set of traditional Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to assure operational effectiveness and a set of leadership principles to enable an innovative and experimental organizational behaviour. The application of the new dualistic CIO toolbox is illustrated through hypothetical cases

ROLE OF MIDDLE MANAGERS IN MODULAR DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION: THE CASE OF SERVU

In the information systems (IS) literature, there is a gap in understanding the role of middle managers (MMs) in the digital transformation in organizations. IS research has focused on understanding top management and user roles in IT-related transformational change but the role of MMs has rarely been examined. To fill this gap, this paper reports on an open-ended exploration of the influence and contribution of the MMs in the digital transformation of a large Finnish public sector meal production company. Data were collected from a ten-year digital transformation effort in the company. The analysis suggests that MMs play an active role in influencing both top management and end users and importantly shows that the role MMs play differs from one stage to another of the digital transformation of the organisation. The study identifies a three-stage model of modular digital transformation, where MMs acted as implementers and negotiators in the initial core digitalisation stage of digital transformation, as champions in the digital expansion stage, and as shakers and strategists in the shake down and complementary stage. The paper concludes by discussing the implications for theory and highlighting the practical consequences of our results

Customer Agility Capabilities at EuroBank: The Role of ICT and Organizational Routines

Knowledge management (KM) plays a prominent role in IT and software development companies. It is often introduced as part of larger organizational change processes that aim at improving their software development processes. Process improvement in the IT sector has led to the establishment of the software process improvement (SPI) discipline. We present the conceptual basis for investigating how software companies can ground their improvement activities on knowledge management through a study of the KM and SPI literature. We identify two archetypes of knowledge organizations which we label exemplary and situational and two approaches to process improvement, which we call normative and reflective. Our analysis of the relationship between KM and SPI leads to a proposal for a balanced theory of KM in SPI and provides valuable insights into how meaningful KM can be conducted for process improvements in IT and software organizations

Planning and Decision-Making Process of a Strategic IT Investment: A Case of a Web Content Management System in a Financial Organization

A modern business organization is increasingly dependent on smooth and reliable flows of data and information, both laterally and vertically, and both within and across its boundaries. Therefore, managing data should be viewed as an element of a fundamental corporate process. Information systems investments aim at enabling and supporting these processes. Investment decisions, again, originate from organizational strategies that need to be aligned with IT strategies, for systems to enable and support business processes. The topic of our enquiry is the planning and decision-making of those systems that qualify as strategic. We have created an extended framework to cover strategic, tactical and operational levels of planning and decision-making, also focusing on related control, communication, benefits management, and follow-up activities. Our research approach is a single case study method using a multinational financial services company. The investment is a Web Content Management (WCM) system that the company wishes to deploy in a unified, centralized manner throughout the business and geographical areas with the intention of reaping synergy effects. In the paper we enumerate our observations on the strategic planning process, decision-making, control and communication

ENTERPRISE SYSTEMS AS COORDINATING TOOL IN LARGE SCALE DISTRIBUTED DEVELOPMENT

In this paper, we explore the role of Enterprise systems in coordinating knowledge-intensive work. Drawing on an in-depth case study conducted in a global high-tech, knowledge-intensive project organization, this paper offers insights into different coordinative capabilities of enterprise systems and the relationship with the project context. By employing the concepts of boundary object and boundary spanning this paper suggests that the enterprise systems and related IT components can only partially support information sharing between organizational groups. The organizational actors in different roles drew on enterprise systems components and IT tools as boundary objects to a varying degree. These boundary objects were more significant to some actors than others. The paper argues that different kinds of boundary objects and communication were needed depending on the project context. The findings also suggest that staffing for high value strategic projects could be effectively handled through the informal organization whereas routine staffing could be handled with the help of the enterprise systems

Emerging Role of Enterprise System in Radical Organizational Change

In this paper we analyze the role of Enterprise Systems (ES) in shaping a company’s transformation process by conducting an in-depth case study in a large European high-tech company. Although there are previous studies concerning organizational transformation and ES implementation process, the role of ES as an instrument for de-institutionalization is not well understood. By drawing on the framework of neo-institutional theory we seek to understand how ES facilitates discarding of the old ways of doing things and the simultaneous forming of the new institutional arrangements. This paper seeks to provide valuable insights into the de-institutionalization process and the role of ES in a company’s re-organization. The findings show how ES in use serves as an agent and a platform for de-institutionalization and later as a powerful force in forming the new institutional arrangement

Becoming an analytics-based organisation : strategic agency in the change process in a retail organisation

The paper examines how the upward and downward strategic influences of the head of the BI unit in the case organization have evolved over time and the BI perspective became legitimate in the organization. The analysis covers a decade long period of time. We engaged in an Action Research (AR) inquiry where the change process was explored through the first-hand experiences of one of the co-authors. The model of the strategic agency of middle managers was applied in the analysis. We analyse the evolution as well as the enablers and constraints of the strategic agency of the head of the BI unit in the case organisation and identify the type of strategic agency exhibited in the case.<br /