Exploring users' appropriation and post-implementation managerial intervention in the context of industry IOIS

Abstract

Although the literature has repeatedly shown that inter-organizational information systems (IOIS) are prone to abandonment and low levels of adoption, a great deal of research examining such unsatisfactory outcomes has focused on phenomena occurring in the early stages of the implementation, thus, leaving the post-implementation period under-explored. This paper presents a conceptual lens through which we study two interrelated post-implementation phenomena: managerial intervention and users' appropriation. Specifically, we develop a structurational model to examine IOIS management intervention to boost IOIS assimilation, the situated and emergent appropriations of the IOIS that followed and the ongoing adaptations by those intervening in these processes. Actors shape the context for others' actions by offering modalities of structuring -i.e. new meanings, new procedures, new software applications -which are then taken up in practice by adopters, giving rise to both intended and unintended outcomes. The paper contributes with a multi-level process-based study that (1) conceives IOIS assimilation as an episodic process in which there are dialectical tensions between users and IOIS management; and (2) identifies two forms of managerial intervention targeting diverse aspects of the institutional context that lead to assimilation.

Developing new categories of knowledge acquisition, translation and dissemination by technological gatekeepers

“…A reason for this was that the interviewer realised that codes identified in later interviews were applicable to earlier interviews though their presence had not been clear at the time. Analysis involved multiple interpretive readings of field notes, interview transcripts and documentation (Orlikowski, 2002;Schultz & Orlikowski, 2004) through which a number of themes emerged (Orlikowski, 2002;Rodon, Sese, & Christiaanse, 2011). The key codes developed around work practices centred on: searching for knowledge, divergence from formal procedures, allocation of work, mentoring, help-giving and receiving and working with solutions.…”

Network Relations and Boundary Spanning: Understanding the Evolution of E-Ordering in the Chinese Drug Distribution Industry

“…The literature on IOIS also calls for more attention to the long-term development and evolution of related practices (Hanseth and Lyytinen, 2010;Rodon et al, 2011) because the studies in this area so far have largely focused on the shortterm moves of single organisations with trading partners mainly as environmental elements (Robey et al, 2008), whereas on-going adaptations at the industry level have not yet been subject to in-depth investigations. Therefore, we believe that it is promising to focus on the evolution of practice with regard to e-ordering systems in the Chinese drug distribution supply chain over a relatively long time period.…”

“…It remains an open question whether and how information technologies can help break through these predicaments and shape a healthier industry. Moreover, previous studies on IOIS in pharmaceutical distribution have mostly focused on short-term projects (Robey et al, 2008) or the early stages of implementation, which leaves the long-term understanding of the practices under-explored (Reimers et al, 2013b;Rodon et al, 2011). In this sense, it is academically and practically promising to explore the trajectories along which these systems have evolved in response to environmental changes.…”

Using Cognitive Mapping to Represent and Share Users’ Interpretations of Technology

“…As the focus of our study is on users' early interpretations of technology-in-use, the findings contribute to studies of appropriation and implementation by providing a method for how these interpretations can be made explicit. Our study thereby serves as input to the appropriation process where managerial issues (see, e.g., Rodon, Sese, and Christiaanse, 2011), institutional arrangements (see, e.g., Orlikowski and Barley, 2001;Jones and Karsten, 2008), as well as system interventions [Åkesson, Kautz and Eriksson, 2010], are in focus.…”