Showing papers in "European Journal of Information Systems in 2006"
TL;DR: The nature of interpretive IS case studies and methods for doing such research are addressed, with a widened scope of all interpretive research in IS, and through further material on carrying out fieldwork, using theory and analysing data.
Abstract: Interpretive research in information systems (IS) is now a well-established part of the field. However, there is a need for more material on how to carry out such work from inception to publication. I published a paper a decade ago (Walsham, 1995) which addressed the nature of interpretive IS case studies and methods for doing such research. The current paper extends this earlier contribution, with a widened scope of all interpretive research in IS, and through further material on carrying out fieldwork, using theory and analysing data. In addition, new topics are discussed on constructing and justifying a research contribution, and on ethical issues and tensions in the conduct of interpretive work. The primary target audience for the paper is less-experienced IS researchers, but I hope that the paper will also stimulate reflection for the more-experienced IS researcher and be of relevance to interpretive researchers in other social science fields.
2,209 citations
TL;DR: The concept of enterprise agility is defined and deconstruct, the underlying capabilities that support enterprise agility are explored, the enabling role of information technology (IT) and digital options are explained, and a method for measuring enterprise Agility is proposed.
Abstract: In turbulent environments, enterprise agility, that is, the ability of firms to sense environmental change and respond readily, is an important determinant of firm success. We define and deconstruct enterprise agility, delineate enterprise agility from similar concepts in the business research literature, explore the underlying capabilities that support enterprise agility, explicate the enabling role of information technology (IT) and digital options, and propose a method for measuring enterprise agility. The concepts in this paper are offered as foundational building blocks for the overall research program on enterprise agility and the enabling role of IT.
879 citations
TL;DR: An integrative model to study the determinants of post-adoption stages of innovation diffusion using enterprise digital transformation as an example of technology-enabled innovations indicates that innovation diffusion can be better understood by including both innovation characteristics and contextual factors, whereas earlier literature has traditionally treated the two separately.
Abstract: Grounded in the diffusion of innovation theory and the technology–organization–environment framework, we develop an integrative model to study the determinants of post-adoption stages of innovation diffusion, using enterprise digital transformation as an example of technology-enabled innovations. We specify four innovation characteristics (relative advantage, compatibility, costs and security concern) and four contextual factors (technology competence, organization size, competitive pressure and partner readiness) as determinants of post-adoption usage, and postulate usage as an intermediate link to impact on firm performance. We test the proposed model using a dataset of 1415 companies from six European countries. We find that the innovation needs to be used extensively in value-chain activities before its impact can be realized. Among the innovation characteristics, we find that compatibility is the strongest driver, and security concern outweighs cost as a usage inhibitor. Among the contextual variables, technology competence, partner readiness and competitive pressure significantly drive e-business usage, and the structural inertia of large firms tends to slow down its penetration. Collectively, these results indicate that innovation diffusion can be better understood by including both innovation characteristics and contextual factors, whereas earlier literature has traditionally treated the two separately. Finally, we evaluate an international dimension among European countries and tease out important boundary conditions that would not have been evident in a single-country dataset. Our results show that careful attention must be paid to the economic and regulatory factors that may result in uneven innovation diffusion even among developed European countries.
624 citations
TL;DR: The study refutes the suggestion that agile methods are not divisible or individually selectable but achieve their benefits through the synergistic combination of individual agile practices and shows that an a la carte selection and tailoring of practices can work very well.
Abstract: Tailoring of methods is commonplace in the vast majority of software development projects and organisations. However, there is not much known about the tailoring and engineering of agile methods, or about how these methods can be used to complement each other. This study investigated tailoring of the agile methods, eXtreme programming (XP) and Scrum, at Intel Shannon, and involved experienced software engineers who continuously monitored and reflected on these methods over a 3-year period. The study shows that agile methods may individually be incomplete in supporting the overall development process, but XP and Scrum complement each other well, with XP providing support for technical aspects and Scrum providing support for project planning and tracking. The principles of XP and Scrum were carefully selected (only six of the 12 XP key practices were implemented, for example) and tailored to suit the needs of the development environment at Intel Shannon. Thus, the study refutes the suggestion that agile methods are not divisible or individually selectable but achieve their benefits through the synergistic combination of individual agile practices; rather, this study shows that an a la carte selection and tailoring of practices can work very well. In the case of Scrum, some local tailoring has led to a very committed usage by developers, in contrast to many development methods whose usage is limited despite being decreed mandatory by management. The agile practices that were applied did lead to significant benefits, including reductions in code defect density by a factor of 7. Projects of 6-month and 1-year duration have been delivered ahead of schedule, which bodes well for future ability to accurately plan development projects.
422 citations
TL;DR: The quality framework in relation to active process models is discussed and a revised framework based on this is suggested.
Abstract: A semiotic framework for evaluating the quality of conceptual models was proposed by (Lindland OI, Sindre G and Solvberg A (1994) Understanding Quality in Conceptual Modelling, IEEE Software 11(2), 41-49) and has later been extended in several works. While the extensions have fixed some of the limitations of the initial framework, other limitations remain. In particular, the framework is too static in its view upon semantic quality, mainly considering models, not modelling activities, and comparing these models to a static domain rather than seeing the model as a facilitator for changing the domain. Also, the framework's definition of pragmatic quality is quite narrow, focusing on understanding, in line with the semiotics of Morris, while newer research in linguistics and semiotics has focused beyond mere understanding, on how the model is used and impact its interpreters. The need for a more dynamic view in the semiotic quality framework is particularly evident when considering process models, which themselves often prescribe or even enact actions in the problem domain, hence a change to the model may also change the problem domain directly. This paper discusses the quality framework in relation to active process models and suggests a revised framework based on this.
372 citations
TL;DR: A cross-industry analysis of change factors requiring agility and assesses agility gaps that companies are facing in four industry sectors in the Netherlands reveals that today's businesses perceive to lack the agility required to quickly respond to changes, whose speed and requirements are difficult to predict.
Abstract: The current highly dynamic business environment requires businesses to be agile. Business agility is the ability to swiftly and easily change businesses and business processes beyond the normal level of flexibility to effectively manage unpredictable external and internal changes. This study reports on a cross-industry analysis of change factors requiring agility and assesses agility gaps that companies are facing in four industry sectors in the Netherlands. A framework was constructed to measure the perceived gaps between the current level of business agility and the required level of business agility. The questionnaire and in-depth interviews held reveal that today's businesses perceive to lack the agility required to quickly respond to changes, whose speed and requirements are difficult to predict. The paper presents rankings of generic and sector-specific agility gaps. These show that although some generic change factors requiring agility exist, the change factors requiring agility that cause agility gaps differ across industry sectors. Among the factors that enable or hinder business agility, the existence of inflexible legacy systems is perceived to be a very important disabler in achieving more business agility. A number of basic principles and directions are discussed to transform Information Technology from barrier into key enabler for increased agility in organizations and business networks.
369 citations
TL;DR: The results revealed that the Italian society exhibited lower propensity to trust, institutional trust, privacy concerns, and higher perceived risk, which validates an important model of e-commerce use across two cultures and shows the moderating effects of culture.
Abstract: This study examines cross-cultural differences beliefs related to e-commerce use for Italy and the United States. We argue that for both cultures, the user's decision to make an online purchase is simultaneously influenced by a set of contrary factors. These include decision facilitators such as propensity to trust and institutional trust, and decision inhibitors such as perceived risk and privacy concerns. We argue that substantial cultural differences exist that affect the above factors and the relationships among them. We use Hofstede's cultural theory and Fukuyama's theory of trust and social capital, along with emic factors important for the Italian society, to develop the study's propositions. The hypotheses were empirically tested using LISREL structural equation modeling and multigroup analysis. The results revealed that the Italian society exhibited lower propensity to trust, institutional trust, privacy concerns, and higher perceived risk. The relationships between institutional trust and e-commerce use, privacy concerns and e-commerce use, and perceived risk and institutional trust are all weaker for Italy. The relationship between perceived risk and privacy concerns is stronger for Italy. The paper's major contribution is in validating an important model of e-commerce use across two cultures and showing the moderating effects of culture.
337 citations
TL;DR: A composite model of resistance/workaround derived from two case study sites is developed, finding four key antecedent conditions derived from both positive and negative resistance rationales and identifying associations and links to various resultant workaround behaviours.
Abstract: This paper provides a summary of studies of user resistance to information technology and identifies workaround activity as an understudied and distinct, but related, phenomenon. Previous categorisations of resistance have largely failed to address the relationships between the motivations for divergences from procedure and the associated workaround activity. This paper develops a composite model of resistance/workaround derived from two case study sites. We find four key antecedent conditions derived from both positive and negative resistance rationales and identify associations and links to various resultant workaround behaviours, providing supporting chains of evidence from the two case studies.
314 citations
TL;DR: The case is made that their understanding of organizational knowledge, learning, and capabilities is limited to the extent that the authors disregard or downplay the critical role of material forms, artifacts, spaces, and infrastructures in everyday knowledgeable practice.
Abstract: In this paper, I want to argue for the importance of considering materiality in our studies of knowledge in organizations. In particular, I want to make the case that our understanding of organizat...
274 citations
TL;DR: It is argued that it is important to understand and explore the dysfunctional perspective of mobile email adoption, and challenges organisations to reflect critically on their assumptions about mobile email usage.
Abstract: This paper offers a study of contradiction in the usage of mobile email. Using qualitative data, the paper identifies mobile email usage patterns that are dangerous, distracting, anti-social and that infringe on work-life boundaries. Mobile email users were forthcoming in describing these dysfunctional usage patterns, but they made a convincing argument that their mobile devices are highly functional and allow them to be efficient, to multitask without disruption to others, and to respond immediately to messages, as well as offering them the freedom to work from anywhere. These dual perspectives on mobile email (dys)functionality are explored through a metaphorical lens, showing how organisational cultures can reinforce the functional perspective while simultaneously suppressing the dysfunctional view. It is argued that it is important to understand and explore the dysfunctional perspective of mobile email adoption. The paper concludes with a series of questions that challenge organisations to reflect critically on their assumptions about mobile email usage.
247 citations
TL;DR: It is indicated that cognitive absorption and user playfulness significantly impact beliefs and that the hedonic or utilitarian orientation of the technology has implications for maximizing use.
Abstract: Intrinsic motivators of technology beliefs have received scant attention in the technology acceptance literature despite indications of their efficacy. This study uses the framework of TAM to explore the effect of intrinsic variables on technology beliefs and user behavior. Specifically, we examine the effect of cognitive absorption and playfulness on user beliefs including perceived enjoyment and perceived usefulness within the context of mobile devices. Moreover, we manipulate the hedonic and utilitarian purpose of the mobile device to determine how the nature of the device influences user beliefs. Findings indicate that cognitive absorption and user playfulness significantly impact beliefs and that the hedonic or utilitarian orientation of the technology has implications for maximizing use.
TL;DR: The results indicate that collaborative norms positively impact individuals' knowledge seeking behavior through EKRs, both directly and through reducing the negative effect of future obligation on seeking.
Abstract: Knowledge sharing, which is critical for the strategic utilization of knowledge resources for the benefit of an organization, can only take place when both knowledge contribution and knowledge seeking exist. However, most previous research has focused on only one side of this process – knowledge contribution motivations. This is despite the fact that various barriers to knowledge seeking and reuse exist, such as the effort required to seek relevant knowledge and the cost of future obligation. In overcoming such barriers, norms related to collaboration are considered to be important. However, little is known of how these norms operate in conjunction with other antecedents to influence individuals' knowledge seeking behavior. Addressing the knowledge gap, this study explores how collaborative norms in an organization impact knowledge seeking with regard to a common knowledge management system type – the electronic knowledge repository (EKR). For this purpose, we have developed a model and tested it through a survey of EKR users in knowledge-intensive organizations. Our results indicate that collaborative norms positively impact individuals' knowledge seeking behavior through EKRs, both directly and through reducing the negative effect of future obligation on seeking. However, collaborative norms could also undermine the positive impact of perceived usefulness on knowledge seeking behavior. We identify other antecedents of knowledge seeking such as knowledge growth, resource-facilitating conditions, and self-efficacy. Implications for research and knowledge sharing practice are discussed.
TL;DR: The relationships between consumer perceptions of risk and trust and the attitude towards purchasing at a consumer-to-consumer electronic marketplace (EM) and the results reveal significant, direct effects of seller trust and seller risk.
Abstract: Understanding consumer behaviour is of vital importance to consumer-oriented e-business models today. In this paper, we study the relationships between consumer perceptions of risk and trust and the attitude towards purchasing at a consumer-to-consumer electronic marketplace (EM). Typical for EM settings is that consumer behaviour is subject to perceptions of the selling party as well as of the institutional structures of the intermediary that is operating the EM. Building upon the well-established literature of trust, we consider the concepts of intermediary trust and seller trust. We extend this categorisation by introducing the concepts of intermediary risk and seller risk. We developed measurement instruments for intermediary risk and seller risk. All measurement scales have acceptable alphas and are unidimensional. An empirical study is conducted to explore the relationships between the risk and trust types and consumer purchase attitude. The results reveal significant, direct effects of sell...
TL;DR: A theory ofISD agility is outlined that draws upon a model of IT innovation and organizational learning that adopts March's concepts of exploration and exploitation to investigate agility in the context of ISD organizations.
Abstract: Information System Development (ISD) agility is concerned with why and how ISD organizations sense and respond swiftly as they develop and maintain Information System applications. We outline a theory of ISD agility that draws upon a model of IT innovation and organizational learning. The theory adopts March's concepts of exploration and exploitation to investigate agility in the context of ISD organizations. Depending on their learning focus, ISD organizations make choices as to what sensing and responding swiftly means. This is reflected in how they value speed in relation to other ISD process goals, including quality, cost, risk and innovative content. The paper examines two specific Research Propositions: (1) ISD organizations locate themselves into different innovation regimes with respect to their need for exploration and exploitation, and (2) their perceptions of agility differ in those regimes as reflected in their process goal priorities. We validate these propositions through an empirical investigation of changes in ISD organizations' process goals and innovation practices over a period of over 4 years (1999-2003), during which time they shied away from exploration to exploitation while innovating with Internet computing. These ISD organizations viewed agility differently during the studied time periods as reflected in how they traded innovative content or speed vis-a-vis the other process goals of cost, risk, and product quality. In conclusion, this paper discusses implications for future research on agility in ISD organizations.
TL;DR: This research utilizes a survey method to examine the perceptions of ERP users and provides evidence that System Quality, Utilization, and Ease of Use are the most important factors bearing on individual performance in ERP environments.
Abstract: This study explores the factors that can impact individual performance when using enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Starting from the proposition that organizational performance depends o ...
TL;DR: The purpose of this special issue is to create a strong foundation for continued studies of the relationship between business agility and the diffusion of IT into organizational contexts as organizations rebalance their IT infrastructure and portfolio of IT innovations in preparation for the future.
Abstract: While agility has recently attracted considerable attention in studies of systems development and management of information technology (IT), there is limited recognition within the information syst...
TL;DR: Based on the study's results, pre-purchase services that support search and evaluation of products replete in e-commerce systems have limited effect on customer loyalty, and post-p purchase services consisting of support of order tracking, on-time delivery, and customer support positively influence customer loyalty.
Abstract: E-business success is tied to the ability to foster customer loyalty. Businesses that deliver superior value derived from excellent services and quality products are likely to win customer loyalty. This paper examines Web-based services and the effects of three sets of factors: pre-purchase, transaction-related, and post-purchase services on customer loyalty (measured as repeat purchase intention from a given Web-based store) in a business-to-consumer environment. Based on the study's results, pre-purchase services that support search and evaluation of products replete in e-commerce systems have limited effect on customer loyalty. Among transaction-related services, transparency of the billing mechanism positively impacts customer loyalty. Customers shun any hidden costs associated with product acquisition. Post-purchase services consisting of support of order tracking, on-time delivery, and customer support positively influence customer loyalty. These findings imply that Web-based stores need to pay more attention to post-purchase services in their strategy to retain customers. This is what will keep customers satisfied and willing to continue the relationship with a company over the long term.
TL;DR: The study illustrates how forms of knowledge, particularly when transmitted via social interactions, can act as a source of dynamic capabilities, and concludes with suggestions about further research on the social and political interactions between the two.
Abstract: Two concepts, dynamic capabilities and knowledge management, are widely assumed to be linked to sustained competitive advantage, although researchers have found it hard to substantiate these assumptions. It has also been suggested that the interplay between the two is important, and that it needs to be better understood. In this paper, we therefore look at the nature of, and interaction between, organizational knowledge and dynamic capabilities in some detail. We do this first through a literature review, and second, through a case study of the evolution of a new international business. The study illustrates how forms of knowledge, particularly when transmitted via social interactions, can act as a source of dynamic capabilities, and we conclude with suggestions about further research on the social and political interactions between the two.
TL;DR: This model helps explain how the initial interpretations of stakeholders are significantly influenced by the scope and adaptability of the system's functionality, to allow divergent interpretations to be realized and sustained.
Abstract: Interpretive flexibility – the capacity of a specific technology to sustain divergent opinions – has long been recognized as playing an important role in explaining how technical artefacts are socially constructed. What is less clear is how a system's technical characteristics might limit its ability to be interpreted flexibly. This gap in the literature has largely arisen because recent contributions to this debate have tended to be rather one-sided, focussing almost solely upon the role of the human agent in shaping the technical artefact, and in so doing either downplaying or ignoring the artefact's shaping potential. The broad aim of this study was to reappraise the nature and role of interpretive flexibility but giving as much consideration to how an information system's technical characteristics might limit its ability to be interpreted flexibly, as we do to its potential for social construction. In this paper, we use the results of two in-depth case studies, in order to propose a re-conceptualization of the role of interpretive flexibility. In short, this model helps explain how the initial interpretations of stakeholders are significantly influenced by the scope and adaptability of the system's functionality. Stakeholder interpretations will then, in turn, influence how the system's functionality is appropriated and exploited by users, to allow divergent interpretations to be realized and sustained.
TL;DR: It is found that mobile phone users are becoming more vulnerable to organizational claims and that as a result ‘the office’ is always present as professionals, because of the use of mobile phones, become available ‘anytime’.
Abstract: This paper examines how the use of mobile phones influences the temporal boundaries that people enact in order to regulate and coordinate their work and non-work activities. We investigate both the structural and interpretive aspects of socio-temporal order, so as to gain a fuller appreciation of the changes induced by the use of mobile phones. With specific reference to professionals working in traditional, physically based and hierarchically structured organizations, we found that mobile phone users are becoming more vulnerable to organizational claims and that as a result ‘the office’ is always present as professionals, because of the use of mobile phones, become available ‘anytime’. This is enabled by the characteristics of the technology itself but also by users’ own behaviour. In the paper, we discuss the properties of the emerging socio-temporal order and show how mobile phones may render the management of the social spheres in which professionals participate more challenging.
TL;DR: Statistical analysis supports significant associations between mobile users' service usage, service bundling and their switching behavior and the influence of age and gender on mobile user switching.
Abstract: Mobile user switching has become a critical issue facing mobile service providers. This study examines the switching behavior of mobile users who are not under any contractual obligations to stay with a provider. Drawing upon the literature on relationship marketing and switching costs, we examine if the relational investments made by mobile users in a user-provider relationship and demographics influence their switching behavior. Based on data on over 30,590 mobile users, we examine our research questions. Statistical analysis supports significant associations between mobile users' service usage, service bundling and their switching behavior. Support was also found for the influence of age and gender on mobile user switching.
TL;DR: This editorial argues that ECM provides an important and complex subfield of Information Systems and provides a framework to stimulate and guide future research, and outlines research issues specific to the field of ECM.
Abstract: Innovations in network technologies in the 1990's have provided new ways to store and organize information to be shared by people and various information systems. The term Enterprise Conten...
TL;DR: The findings from this longitudinal study suggest that future studies of mobile IT in organizations should accommodate such extra-organizational contextual influences that affect user satisfaction with mobile systems.
Abstract: Mobile information technologies (IT) are transforming individual work practices and organizations. These devices are extending not only the boundaries of the ‘office’ in space and time, but also the social context within which use occurs. In this paper, we investigate how extra-organizational influences can impact user satisfaction with mobile systems. The findings from our longitudinal study highlight the interrelatedness of different use contexts and their importance in perceptions of user satisfaction. The data indicate that varying social contexts of individual use (individual as employee, as professional, as private user, and as member of society) result in different social influences that affect the individual’s perceptions of user satisfaction with the mobile technology. While existing theories explain user satisfaction with IT within the organizational context, our findings suggest that future studies of mobile IT in organizations should accommodate such extra-organizational contextual influences.
TL;DR: This study examines a strategic development and implementation process of enterprise content management in a large oil company and represents a revelatory case of a hybrid development approach to ECM that involves the teleological, life-cycle, and dialectical motors of development.
Abstract: This study examines a strategic development and implementation process of enterprise content management (ECM) in a large oil company In view of the framework of four motors of development and change in organizations, this study represents a revelatory case of a hybrid development approach to ECM that involves the teleological, life-cycle, and dialectical motors of development This is in contrast to the evolutionary development motor, which has prevailed in the hitherto reported content management research The case study also complements process-based research on enterprise system implementations in general We suggest that research and practice on large-scale ECM implementations should acknowledge all the four motors of change
TL;DR: This study provides much needed rich insights into the complexities of systems definition and negotiation, explaining the situated rationalities underlying IS design as the co-design of business and IT systems.
Abstract: This paper presents the design of a business-aligned information system (IS) from an actor-network perspective, viewing non-human intermediaries jointly as inscriptions and boundary objects. This field study presents a situated view of IS design over time. The design process is assessed through analyzing the intersected activities of a team of seven organizational managers who were defining changes to business processes, information technology, and organizational roles and responsibilities. This view of design presents a very different view to the rational, analytical process that is usually encountered in the IS literature. Instead of an orderly progression, we see a trajectory of design definition, as the team responds to the contingencies and instrumentalities that prevail during the course of a design inquiry. These managers enacted a new reality through their interactions with external stakeholders, senior managers, specifications, procedures, business documents, and IT systems. This study provides much needed rich insights into the complexities of systems definition and negotiation, explaining the situated rationalities underlying IS design as the co-design of business and IT systems. A fifth form of boundary object is suggested by this analysis, which is based on the need to align interests across a network of actors.
TL;DR: A model known as the ‘Crime-Specific Opportunity Structure’, focusing on the opportunities for computer crime, is advanced and may help inform managers about local threats and, by so doing, enhance safeguard implementation.
Abstract: Systems risk refers to the likelihood that an Information System (IS) is inadequately protected against certain types of damage or loss. While risks are posed by acts of God, hackers and viruses, consideration should also be given to the ‘insider’ threat of dishonest employees, intent on undertaking some form of computer crime. Against this backdrop, a number of researchers have addressed the extent to which security managers are cognizant of the very nature of systems risk. In particular, they note how security practitioners' knowledge of local threats, which form part of such risk, is often fragmented. This shortcoming contributes to situations where risk reducing efforts are often less than effective. Security efforts are further complicated given that the task of managing systems risk requires input from a number of departments including, for example, HR, compliance, IS/IT and physical security. To complement existing research, and also to offer a fresh perspective, this paper addresses systems risk from the offender's perspective. If systems risk entails the likelihood that an IS is inadequately protected, this text considers those conditions, within the organisational context, which offer a criminal opportunity for the offender. To achieve this goal a model known as the ‘Crime-Specific Opportunity Structure’ is advanced. Focusing on the opportunities for computer crime, the model addresses the nature of such opportunities with regards to the organisational context and the threats posed by rogue employees. Drawing on a number of criminological theories, it is believed the model may help inform managers about local threats and, by so doing, enhance safeguard implementation.
TL;DR: A model of agile adoption practices is proposed and implications for the development of theory about network organization characteristics and capabilities to adopt IT-based innovations are discussed.
Abstract: As distributed organizations increasingly rely on technological innovations to enhance organizational efficiency and competitiveness, interest in agile practices that enable adoption of information technology (IT) based innovations has grown. This study examines the influence of a network organization environment on the ability to develop agile adoption practices. An exploratory case study design was used to investigate the interactions between network structure, social information processing, organizational similarity (homophily), and absorptive capacity during the adoption of a large-scale IT system in two network organization environments within New York State. The data suggest that network organization characteristics and communication processes that reinforced social influence and supported knowledge transfer positively influenced adoption agility. We propose a model of agile adoption practices and discuss implications for the development of theory about network organization characteristics and capabilities to adopt IT-based innovations.
TL;DR: The use of ICTs to build Business Customer Communities (BCCs) is examined to help an organization foster knowledge exchanges between its professional and institutional customers to help firms overcome challenges associated with the enabling of BCC formation.
Abstract: Businesses in knowledge intensive industries must appropriately engage with their customers in order to produce goods and services that are desired and valued in the marketplace. Engagement with customers calls for exchanging information and knowledge with customers and fostering exchanges between customers. Recent developments in the area of information and communication technologies (ICTs) have radically increased the variety of opportunities for improving customer engagement. In this paper, we will examine the use of ICTs to build Business Customer Communities (BCCs) to help an organization foster knowledge exchanges between its professional and institutional customers. We define BCCs as groups of business customers, which are deliberately enabled by a firm and share a long-term need to exchange work related knowledge through online and offline interaction. The objectives of this study are (1) to describe BCCs and outline their attributes and features, and (2) to contribute to the understanding of challenges associated with the enabling of BCC formation and how firms can overcome these challenges. As such, a contribution is made to the discussion of knowing in practice in customer communities, which rely in large part on ICT.
TL;DR: The core hypothesis is that, if technical skill and masculinity are fundamentally related, then women working in IT jobs who are, in effect, challenging masculine skills by gaining them themselves, must develop a number of strategies to cope with the challenge that they feel is being made to their own gender identities and those of the men with whom they work.
Abstract: This paper reflects on aspects of gender and IT work. The core hypothesis is that, if technical skill and masculinity are fundamentally related, then women working in IT jobs who are, in effect, challenging masculine skills by gaining them themselves, must develop a number of strategies to cope with the challenge that they feel is being made to their own gender identities and those of the men with whom they work. One strategy is for women to distance themselves from IT work; a second strategy is for women to distance themselves from their identities as women. Our results are drawn from a set of semi-structured interviews. We adopt the approach of critical research that seeks to expose asymmetric power relations in the organization and to let silenced voices be heard. This is related to the literature on silence in organizations. Within the critical approach, we chose a feminist methodology that looks towards identifying practices that are problematic for women and that acknowledges our biases and interests as researchers. Additionally, we draw upon the theoretical constructs of the gender and technology literature to theorize the relationship between gender and technical skill and how this impacts conceptions of gender identity.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine a business and IS/IT initiative at Volvo that involves managing the development and implementation of an agile aftermarket supply chain, and illustrate agility as achieved by working continuously with scenario development and keeping implementation projects to a comprehendible size in order to nurture learning.
Abstract: This paper examines a business and IS/IT initiative at Volvo that involves managing the development and implementation of an agile aftermarket supply chain. The case is based on Volvo's global initiative to create a platform, Web services, and a Web portal for selling spare parts over the Internet. Creating and integrating a new platform is difficult, and establishing new relations in global aftermarket logistics is even more challenging. Agility relates to an organisation's ability to sense and respond rapidly to unpredictable events in order to satisfy changing customer demands. Volvo's effort illustrates agility as achieved by working continuously with scenario development and keeping implementation projects to a comprehendible size in order to nurture learning. The effort involved direct actions to manage both the technology and the relations among supply chain actors. As this case shows, continuous implementation projects can deliver innovation in new relations and through new channels - particularly if projects address agility from the start.