Reviewing the Role of Culture in Strategic Information Systems Research: A Call for Prescriptive Theorizing on Culture Management

Abstract

Abstract:Culture is an important topic in strategic information systems (IS) research, particularly because information technology (IT) projects are often accompanied by cultural challenges. While culture has been widely analyzed in this discipline, there is a lack of research that systematically examines the role of culture in strategic IS research. With a structured literature review, we investigate the relation patterns between culture, strategy, and IS-related concepts in terms of dependent, moderating, and independent variables and the research approach in terms of descriptive, normative, and prescriptive. Four different patterns emerge, each one closely related to specific forms of theorizing and corresponding research designs. Research streams focusing on descriptive explanations of culture's role are rather exhausted. IS research that builds on a normative understanding of culture exists in selected areas, while theorizing on the prescriptive management of culture has been largely neglected despite the relevance of cultural challenges in IS projects. We derive areas for future research and present two themes that emerged in our study to demonstrate how descriptive and normative approaches can provide a foundation for research on the prescriptive management of culture in strategic IS projects: the management of cultural clashes and the management of cultural identity.

Technology-induced anxiety: Manifestations, cultural influences, and its effect on the adoption of sensor-based technology in German and Australian hospitals

“…As Section 3.3 states, this effort is in line with the body of research that regards culture as a direct influence on anxiety, not a moderator (Kummer & Schmiedel, 2016). We now discuss the relationships between three cultural dimensions and the technology anxiety related to sensor-based systems in hospitals, focusing on the national cultural dimensions of collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, and humane orientation.…”

“…Cultural research contains a variety of streams that interpret and examine culture differently (Kummer & Schmiedel, 2016). The research design should match the understanding of culture and the research objectives.…”

“…National cross-cultural research measures national culture using index scores based on the cultural dimensions as dependent, moderating and independent variables (Kummer & Schmiedel, 2016). This study follows the latter approach focusing on direct effects of national culture.…”

“…Instead of comparing two cultures, we explore national culture's direct influences on technology-induced anxiety in relation to sensor-based systems. The examination of direct cultural influences is a relatively new research approach to national cultural effects, as it measures culture on an individual level in order to derive general relationships that can explain cross-country differences in general (Kummer & Schmiedel, 2016). Reinecke and Bernstein (2013), for instance, identify a direct effect of cultural values on website-design preferences.…”

The relation between BPM culture, BPM methods, and process performance: Evidence from quantitative field studies

“…By contrast, few studies consider culture as a dependent variable and study management practices as their determinant (Canato, Ravasi, & Phillips, 2013;Giorgi et al, 2015;Howard-Grenville, Golden-Biddle, Irwin, & Mao, 2011;Smets, Morris, & Greenwood, 2012). A recent review of culture in IS research also shows a similar neglect of culture as a dependent variable (Kummer & Schmiedel, 2016).…”