Constraints and Flexibility in Enterprise Systems: A Dialectic of System and Job

In this paper, we describe a key finding from a case study of an SAP R/3 implementation – a pattern of organizational change involving a dialectical interplay between the characteristics of the information system and those of the jobs of the users of the system. Analysis of the case study data revealed a shift in constraints and flexibility between the information system and individual jobs as a result of the enterprise-wide system implementation

Supporting Shared Information Systems: Boundary Objects, Communities, and Brokering

Organizations increasingly rely upon integrated and shared information systems and databasessuch as ERP systems and data warehouses. Such shared systems pose new and unique support challenges for systems professionals. A review of the literature reveals that comprehensive models to study the support of shared information systems do not yet exist. Based on the theory of communities of practice, and on the concepts of convergence and divergence of systems and practice, the boundary object brokering model of shared information systems is developed. This model is applied to an interpretive case study of a large company, illustrating how shared systems can be seen as boundary objects that connect disparate communities of practice. The model and case study show how the traditional role of systems professionals has been augmented to include brokering tasks, providing new issues and implications for theory and practice

Consuming Bits: An Exploratory Study of User Goals for Virtual Consumption

Virtual consumption, or consumption of virtual goods and property, has become a major economic activity in social virtual worlds such as Second Life. Given that virtual consumption has become an important part of everyday virtual life in social virtual worlds, understanding virtual consumption can be an essential aspect to understanding user behavior in those worlds. Despite its significance, little research has explicitly examined virtual consumption. Unsurprisingly, then, we know very little concerning the fundamental question of why users consume virtual property. The research study described in this paper is an initial examination of that question. For the study, we employed the laddering interview technique and means-end chain analysis, which produces users’ goal structure in reference to a hierarchical system of interrelated goals. 93 participants were interviewed in Second Life for the study. The results show that virtual consumption widely penetrates into virtual life and make virtual experience much richer

Enterprise Resource Planning and Organizational Knowledge: Patterns of Convergence and Divergence

This paper describes a qualitative research project involving a case study that was analyzed using grounded theory and cognitive mapping. It contributes to a theory that describes the impact of enterprise resource planning (ERP) on organizational knowledge. ERP systems produce effects that make business knowledge become more focused or “convergent” from the perspective of the organization and more wide-ranging or “divergent” from the perspective of the individual. Other important effects include changes to the organization’s core competencies and changes in the risk profile regarding the loss of organizational knowledge

Mapping Perceptions of Burnout in the Information Technology Profession: A Study Using Social Representations Theory

Job-related burnout in information technology professionals is seen as a serious issue for organizations and individuals. While the substantial body of research on job stress and burnout can provide valuable insights into the prevention of burnout in IT as well as interventions, we argue that drawing upon this work should be done with caution. In particular, generalizability of the learnings beyond the occupations studied (predominantly people-oriented and/or caregiving roles) cannot be assumed. As a first step toward assessing the applicability of existing burnout research to IT, the purpose of the study described in this paper is to understand how IT professionals make sense of and assign meaning to burnout in the profession. The study uses an approach based on social representations theory, which was first formulated by French social psychologist Serge Moscovici. Social representations are defined as the shared images and concepts through which we organize our world. Transcripts from in-depth interviews of 20 IT professionals were content- analyzed and 22 key topics (concepts) identified. Quantitative methods (including analysis of similarity and analyses to determine the relational structure of the concepts) were used to create a social representations map of these professionals’ understandings of burnout. The map provides preliminary evidence of elements that are central/peripheral to those understandings, pointing to implications for the applicability of existing theory on burnout as well as priorities for future research

Conducting Social Cognition Research in IS: A Methodology for Eliciting and Analyzing Social Representations

This paper presents a methodology for socio-cognitive research based on the theory of social representations. Elements of the methodology include:1) data elicitation through free word association; 2) content analysis/coding to identify key concepts in the social representation; 3) analysis of the structure of the representation using analysis of similarity and core/periphery analysis; 4) correspondence analysis to place the concepts on a perceptual space; and 5) interpretation of the social representation. The methodology is demonstrated in use through a study examining early sense-making about electronic health records (EHRs). Analysis of qualitative survey data from 190 students identified 22 concepts forming the social representation. Merits of the methodology are discussed, including its potential value for investigations based on technology frames of reference (TFR), the social construction of technology (SCOT) and organizing visions for IT innovations

Knowledge-Related Barriers to Communication and Coordination in Disaster Response: Adelphi Study

Multi-organizational ad hoc knowledge networks have the potential to improve the effectiveness of disaster response and recovery by helping organizations share information, coordinate their activities and leverage participants\u27 expertise. This paper reports an exploratory study to identify the major barriers to effectiveness in ad hoc knowledge networks in disaster response. The research methodology is a multi-panel Delphi survey, with each panel comprised of experienced emergency response professionals from different types of response organizations (e.g., fire fighters, EOC (emergency operations center) directors, law enforcement professionals). The study is currently in progress, and results from the first two panels are reported

Building Legitimacy for IT Innovations: The Case of Computerized Physician Order Entry Systems

Research on IT innovations has largely relied on economic-rationalistic models and focused on individuals or organizations as the unit of analysis. The intent of this paper is to advance an alternative research agenda that explores the institutional underpinnings of IT innovation diffusion at the inter-organizational level. Through a multi-stage research study, we examine the legitimation function of organizing visions for IT innovations and develop a taxonomy of legitimation strategies employed by the proponents of an IT innovation. We first built a preliminary theoretical framework that synthesizes key arguments on legitimacy drawn from the organization theory and IS literatures. Next, we conducted an exploratory case study of institutional entrepreneurship surrounding computerized physician order entry (CPOE) systems. We examined the discursive actions of CPOE vendors by content analyzing 165 press releases issued between 1998 and 2006. We then combined the findings of the literature analysis and the case study to create a taxonomy of discursive strategies for building IT innovation legitimacy. A post-hoc analysis of the case study data reveals a number of interesting patterns in the CPOE vendors’ use of the legitimation strategies and helps us formulate a set of research questions to guide future investigations. The work reported in this paper lays a foundation for a deeper understanding of the role of legitimacy and legitimation in shaping diffusion of IT innovations. It also contributes to the conceptual and methodological elaboration of the organizing vision framework