A heterogeneous research partnership (HRP) is one in which industry, academia and government collaborate to conduct research, typically of national importance. Whilst most HRPs complete their planned duration and deliver their agreed tasks, it is not uncommon for participants to be left feeling somewhat dissatisfied, suggesting that the requirements which are being met are incomplete. There is an opportunity to improve the success of HRPs by establishing principles and practices for the application of systems engineering in their development. The thesis reviews literature drawn from a broad body of work covering three main areas: the context of HRPs themselves, systems engineering and related disciplines, and research methodology. The research adopts an interpretive approach, initially applying Soft Systems Methodology in a pilot case study and subsequently conducting a qualitative analysis of sixteen HRP case studies in order to develop and refine generic models which are relevant to HRPs. Drawing from the commentary of interviewees, published sources and other evidence, major themes across the case studies are integrated in order to develop ten principles and ten practices for the application of systems engineering to HRPs. The importance of consistency between the research context, systems approach and research methodology is emphasised, and the thesis highlights a significant philosophical challenge facing system of systems research as the discipline seeks to use a range of hard and soft systems approaches which are fundamentally rooted in different paradigms.

In the literature of information technology acceptance, much empirical evidence exists that is inconsistent with Technology Acceptance (TA) Models. The purpose of this study is to find out why the extant TA models fail to predict in reality as they purport to in theory. This research argues that the extant literature has not been able to explain how individuals actually form their perceptions about using an information technology. Since past research attempting to do this has been unsuccessful or empirically refuted, this research uses an interpretive case study to investigate the experiences of professionals’ adoption and use of an information technology. In particular, this study focuses on the adoption of an Electronic Medical Records System in a healthcare setting. The results of this interpretive investigation show that the interpretive understanding by the traditional TA models researchers is based on the faulty presumption that the people in the organizations are “monolithic users” or “rational decision makers”. This research provides a new interpretive understanding on the adoption and use of an information technology. The adoption and use of an information technology is an emergent phenomenon resulting from the interaction between the technology and the social actors’ different roles. Based on the interpretive understanding, a new positivist understanding is suggested.

Computer-based information systems (IS) play an increasingly pervasive and important role in contemporary organisations. Despite decades of continuing research and the development of an extensive prescriptive literature, IS development projects continue to be problematic, with many failing or being seriously challenged. In addition, the IS development environment has changed significantly in recent years, with rapid advances or shifts in technology, increasing devolution of IS responsibility and expenditure to user groups, high levels of packaged software acquisition and customisation, greater outsourcing of IS development, and an increasing emphasis on enterprise-wide and inter-organisational IS. In many cases these changes are interrelated and involve more flexible, ad hoc or non-traditional development approaches. Combined with the fact that at the same time IS have become increasingly sophisticated and integrated, the potential for unpredictable or unintended consequences has also increased. Together, the continued problematic nature of many IS projects and the changing IS development environment, suggest that there is an ongoing need for a fuller understanding of IS development processes and practices. Given the limitations of factor-based, prescriptive studies, an understanding of how contemporary IS development is enacted needs to be grounded in and built upon the cumulative body of research that attempts to understand the complexity and dynamic nature of IS development. Accordingly, this study uses a conceptualisation of IS development as a process in which an IS emerges from a dynamic and interactive relationship between the technology, its social and organisational context, and the negotiated actions of various individuals and groups. The thesis presents the results of an extensive empirical investigation into contemporary ARE development practices based on data collected from New Zealand. The study uses a range of research methods and ultimately develops a sociotechnical process model of IS development as situated action. Following Walsham’s (1993) emphasis on the content, context and process of IS-related organisational change, the methods used in this study are three-fold. First, an extensive literature review is undertaken to provide a comprehensive synthesis of contemporary empirical knowledge about the content of IS development. Second, a survey is used to collect contextual data about IS development and acquisition practices in New Zealand. Finally, these both support an in-depth longitudinal case study of the IS development process in an organisational setting. The literature review synthesises the results of recent empirical studies of the various influences that shape IS development, using a classificatory framework based around actors, project content, IS development processes, and context. The review shows that, while a number of traditional factors influencing IS development continue to be relevant, other factors have emerged as important as a result of changes to the IS development environment and to IS development practice. In particular, increasing recognition within the IS literature has been given to the relative importance of people and process and of the organisational and environmental context in which IS development takes place. The results of the literature review inform the design of a survey instrument intended to provide an updated assessment of IS development and acquisition practices in New Zealand organisations. A Web-based survey was administered to a sample of senior IS managers in 460 public and private sector organisations with 200 or more FTEs. Based on the 106 usable responses, the results of the survey confirm the ongoing relevance of a number of traditional factors identified in the IS literature as facilitating or inhibiting IS development. However, a number of factors were identified as emerging or increasing in relevance in light of changes in the IS development environment. While the survey provides a useful description of contemporary IS development and acquisition practice in New Zealand, it does not enable a detailed understanding of IS development in action. To address this, an IS project in a large New Zealand organisation was followed in action for over two years. The project involved the development of a sophisticated financial database model using a purchased commercial software package and external consultants. As such, it provides a useful exemplar of development in a contemporary IS environment. The case study illustrates how a seemingly small, well-defined project experienced delays and difficulties as might be expected in larger, more complex projects. It offers insights into the significance of external actors, the importance of full stakeholder participation, the influence of initial characterisations of the nature of the project, and the observance of project management processes. Consideration of the project outcome reveals its multi-dimensional, subjective and temporal nature. A process approach (Markus & Robey, 1988) is employed to structure the analysis of the case study. A combination of temporal bracketing, narrative analysis and visual representation is used to analyse the sequence of social action and organisational processes involved in the project and to develop a process explanation of how and why the particular project outcome in this case study developed over time. Underpinning and informing this analysis is the construction and utilisation of a model of IS development as a situated, sociotechnical process. Drawing on theoretical concepts from structuration theory and the sociology of technology, the model considers the situated actions and practices of various individuals and groups involved in IS development, the ways in which these are enacted within different contextual elements, and the role of existing and new technological artefacts in this process. IS development is characterised as iterative and emergent, with change occurring dynamically from a trajectory of situated interactions (in which meanings and actions are negotiated) and intended and unintended consequences. As a whole, this PhD highlights the changing nature of the IS development environment and the way a complex ensemble of ‘factors’ interact to influence IS project outcomes. Common themes emerge around the importance of people and process, and the context in which IS development takes place, while at the same time explicitly including a consideration of technology in the analysis.

A Contextualist Approach to Telehealth Innovations By Sunyoung Cho Abstract Healthcare is considered one of the most important social issues in the U.S. as well as in other societies with ever-increasing costs of medical service provision. The information-intensive nature of the healthcare industry and the perception of information technology (IT) as a way to ease up healthcare costs and improve quality have lead to increased use of and experiments with IT-based innovations. These activities present interesting research opportunities for IS researchers and they have led to an increasing body of knowledge on healthcare information systems. This research aims at contributing to this line of research by adopting a contextualist approach to examine the adoption, use, and further diffusion of telehealth innovations. A contextualist approach provides a particularly interesting and relevant perspective to study adoption and diffusion processes of healthcare innovations. The adopted contextualist approach is process-oriented, it applies multiple levels of analysis, and it accommodates different theoretical lenses to make sense of the two telehealth innovations under investigation. A key assumption is that innovations should be understood as ongoing processes of change, not just technologies, or isolated change events with clear boundaries. Healthcare innovations have in this view much broader connotations, including development of IT-based applications, their adoption and diffusion over time, and the interactions between many stakeholders and organizations that shape the innovation in a specific context. The contextualist approach suggested by Pettigrew is adopted as an overarching framework for multiple studies based on empirical investigation of two telehealth innovations; the main focus is on a telestroke innovation in the U.S. while a radiology innovation in Sweden serves as a complementary case. Each study is documented as an independent research publication with its own theoretical perspective and contributions. The overall contextualist approach and the related findings are then summarized across the individual studies. Telehealth innovations are particularly interesting examples of healthcare information systems. They leverage contemporary network infrastructures and interaction devices to allow provision of healthcare services, clinical information, and education over distance, thereby reducing the costs and improving the availability of medical services. The two telehealth innovations are investigated through in-depth case studies. This theses summary presents the theoretical background for the studies; it motivates and details how the qualitative case studies based on critical realist assumptions were designed and conducted; it outlines the resulting research publications; and it discusses the contributions of investigating telehealth innovations from a contextualist approach.

La tesi si focalizza sull'implementazione di un sistema ERP in una organizzazione multinazionale con headquarters in Massachusetts, USA. Il metodo e' case study e l'approccio e' di tipo interpretativo. Sono studiati i processi di apprendimento (learning) di utenti e management che hanno permesso lo sviluppo di absorptive capacity. I risultati sottolineano l'importanza di processi di apprendimento di tipo "double loop". E' proposta una riconcettualizzazione del costrutto "absorptive capacity" ispirato all'originario framework di Cohen e Levinthal (1990)che rappresenta un modello di sintesi. / The dissertation concentrates on ERP implementation in a worldwide organization with headquarters in Massachusetts, USA. The method used is the case study and the approach is interpretive. The research points to learning processes which underpin the development of absorptive capacity. The findings highlight that double-loop learning is necessary to develop absorptive capacity. A reconceptualized model of absorptive capacity is provided based on the original construct of Cohen and Levinthal (1990).

Computer-based information systems (IS) play an increasingly pervasive and important role in contemporary organisations. Despite decades of continuing research and the development of an extensive prescriptive literature, IS development projects continue to be problematic, with many failing or being seriously challenged. In addition, the IS development environment has changed significantly in recent years, with rapid advances or shifts in technology, increasing devolution of IS responsibility and expenditure to user groups, high levels of packaged software acquisition and customisation, greater outsourcing of IS development, and an increasing emphasis on enterprise-wide and inter-organisational IS. In many cases these changes are interrelated and involve more flexible, ad hoc or non-traditional development approaches. Combined with the fact that at the same time IS have become increasingly sophisticated and integrated, the potential for unpredictable or unintended consequences has also increased. Together, the continued problematic nature of many IS projects and the changing IS development environment, suggest that there is an ongoing need for a fuller understanding of IS development processes and practices. Given the limitations of factor-based, prescriptive studies, an understanding of how contemporary IS development is enacted needs to be grounded in and built upon the cumulative body of research that attempts to understand the complexity and dynamic nature of IS development. Accordingly, this study uses a conceptualisation of IS development as a process in which an IS emerges from a dynamic and interactive relationship between the technology, its social and organisational context, and the negotiated actions of various individuals and groups. The thesis presents the results of an extensive empirical investigation into contemporary ARE development practices based on data collected from New Zealand. The study uses a range of research methods and ultimately develops a sociotechnical process model of IS development as situated action. Following Walsham’s (1993) emphasis on the content, context and process of IS-related organisational change, the methods used in this study are three-fold. First, an extensive literature review is undertaken to provide a comprehensive synthesis of contemporary empirical knowledge about the content of IS development. Second, a survey is used to collect contextual data about IS development and acquisition practices in New Zealand. Finally, these both support an in-depth longitudinal case study of the IS development process in an organisational setting. The literature review synthesises the results of recent empirical studies of the various influences that shape IS development, using a classificatory framework based around actors, project content, IS development processes, and context. The review shows that, while a number of traditional factors influencing IS development continue to be relevant, other factors have emerged as important as a result of changes to the IS development environment and to IS development practice. In particular, increasing recognition within the IS literature has been given to the relative importance of people and process and of the organisational and environmental context in which IS development takes place. The results of the literature review inform the design of a survey instrument intended to provide an updated assessment of IS development and acquisition practices in New Zealand organisations. A Web-based survey was administered to a sample of senior IS managers in 460 public and private sector organisations with 200 or more FTEs. Based on the 106 usable responses, the results of the survey confirm the ongoing relevance of a number of traditional factors identified in the IS literature as facilitating or inhibiting IS development. However, a number of factors were identified as emerging or increasing in relevance in light of changes in the IS development environment. While the survey provides a useful description of contemporary IS development and acquisition practice in New Zealand, it does not enable a detailed understanding of IS development in action. To address this, an IS project in a large New Zealand organisation was followed in action for over two years. The project involved the development of a sophisticated financial database model using a purchased commercial software package and external consultants. As such, it provides a useful exemplar of development in a contemporary IS environment. The case study illustrates how a seemingly small, well-defined project experienced delays and difficulties as might be expected in larger, more complex projects. It offers insights into the significance of external actors, the importance of full stakeholder participation, the influence of initial characterisations of the nature of the project, and the observance of project management processes. Consideration of the project outcome reveals its multi-dimensional, subjective and temporal nature. A process approach (Markus & Robey, 1988) is employed to structure the analysis of the case study. A combination of temporal bracketing, narrative analysis and visual representation is used to analyse the sequence of social action and organisational processes involved in the project and to develop a process explanation of how and why the particular project outcome in this case study developed over time. Underpinning and informing this analysis is the construction and utilisation of a model of IS development as a situated, sociotechnical process. Drawing on theoretical concepts from structuration theory and the sociology of technology, the model considers the situated actions and practices of various individuals and groups involved in IS development, the ways in which these are enacted within different contextual elements, and the role of existing and new technological artefacts in this process. IS development is characterised as iterative and emergent, with change occurring dynamically from a trajectory of situated interactions (in which meanings and actions are negotiated) and intended and unintended consequences. As a whole, this PhD highlights the changing nature of the IS development environment and the way a complex ensemble of ‘factors’ interact to influence IS project outcomes. Common themes emerge around the importance of people and process, and the context in which IS development takes place, while at the same time explicitly including a consideration of technology in the analysis.

This study aims to provide strategies for blended learning situations which combine supervised on-line courses with traditional classroom lectures in order to take into account the different learning styles of particular groups of students. Most studies, to date, on learning styles have focused on the individual level. This research proposed that commonly preferred learning styles and leanings towards certain media presentations can be identified in whole groups that share some common group characteristics. An interpretive case study was chosen as the methodology to reach the research goal because it collectively combines the benefits of a case study and multiple data collections from students who studied on a required on-line course in the same learning context. The students, who participated in this study, were majoring in either Science, Social Science, or Management. Various data collection techniques included a survey of 576 students who studied IT courses, personal interviews of 34 students, participatory and on-line observations, and reference to institutional documents. Qualitative analysis of the data employed a concept synthesis coupled with a template analysis to compare and contextualise all the facets of reality depicted by the data (King, 2004). This approach was necessary due to the extensive theoretical background required to generate the initial template and the need to completely comprehend the group learning phenomenon. The research discerned that students in specific major academic fields have common preferences for on-line media and activities that assist the learning process because they process and perceive information differently. A model is proposed to identify the interactions between the learner, the media and activity content, and the context of learning. The design of on-line course materials should take into account group learning styles to propose a holistic picture for effective learning. This is a valuable resource for the teachers and designers of compulsory on-line courses and for those who determine educational policy and strategy.

Strategic information systems security initiatives have seldom been successful. The increasing complexity of the business environment in which organizational security must be operationalized presents challenges. There has also been a problem with understanding the patterns of interactions among stakeholders that lead to instituting such an initiative. The overall aim of this research is to enhance understanding of the issues and concerns in shaping strategic information systems security initiative. To be successful, a proper undertaking of the content, context and process of the formulation and institutionalization of a security initiative is essential. It is also important to align the interconnections between these three key components. In conducting the argument, this dissertation analyzes information systems security initiatives in two large government organizations – Information Technology Agency and Department of Transportation. The research methodology adopts an interpretive approach of inquiry. Findings from the case studies show that the strategic security initiative should be harmonious with the cultural continuity of an organization rather than significantly changing the existing opportunity and constraint structures. The development of security cultural resources like security policy may be used as a tool for propagating a secure view of the social world. For secure organizational transformation, one must consider the organizational security structure, knowledgeability of agents in perceiving secure organizational posture, and global security catalysts (such as establishing trust relations and security related institutional reflexivity). The inquiry indicates that strategic security change would be successful in an organization if developed and implemented in a brief yet quantum leap adopting an emergent security strategy in congruence with organizational security values.

Noting how organizations today are increasingly dependent on IT for a broad range of organizational activities, the thesis starts from the observation that many IT-related endeavors nevertheless fail. In tracing part of the problem to the inability of many organizations to cope with changes in the surrounding material and social context, the emphasis is put on the processes by which IT-artifacts are adapted and re-adapted, after they have been put into daily use. Assuming human sensemaking as a good basis for coping with the changes, qualitative data from two organizations — a Swedish social services department and a software firm — provides an empirical context for assessing how sensemaking processes affect IT-adaptation. Conceptually, the thesis draws on Karl Weick's thinking, introducing the "double interact" and the "response repertoire" as sensitizing concepts with which to understand the mechanisms generating adaptation of IT-artifacts. Methodologically, the interpretive case study is employed, using the "hermeneutic circle" as the guiding principle for the research process. The thesis draws some specific implications concerning how IT-adaptation can be understood in organizations. The generic IT-adaptation process can be divided into two elementar}- phases, exploration and exploitation. During the exploration phase, several individual interpretations of a particular IT-artifact co-exist, occasioning ambiguity about its meaning in organizational daily activity. During the exploitation phase, the IT-artifact itself is in the background of matters of attention, providing organizational actors, who pursue individual goals and desires, the opportunity to exploit the shared and taken-for-granted meaning they see in the artifact. While the exploitation phase is important for organizational efficacy, there is nevertheless a risk that the meaning exploited becomes outdated by surrounding socio-material changes over time. Among other proposals, the thesis therefore suggests that triggering sensemaking processes can be important for meaningful IT-adaptation. In addition, it suggests the activity of searching for the interlacing areas of professional identity of actor groups, as a means to make IT-artifacts meaningful in organizing endeavors. / <p>[8] s., s. 1-64: sammanfattning, s. 65-168: 6 uppsatser</p> / digitalisering@umu

Information systems (IS) are widely acknowledged to be central for contemporary organizations. Along with the increasing importance of new IS in organizations, a school of thought has developed over the last few years that claims that IS and organizations mutually shape each other. While new IS shape organizational structure and behavior, the actual role and importance of IS in organizations is largely dependent on the organizational setting. However, questions of how IS and organizations mutually shape each other have remained largely unexplored.    The purpose of this thesis is to create better understanding of the design and use of IS in an organizational context. Actor-network theory (ANT) is used as a theoretical perspective to gain an understanding of how IS and organization influence each other. An interpretive case study approach was used for data collection. The case study was conducted in the municipal organization of Umeå, Sweden, over a period 36 months that covered the design process and use of a new IS. Semi-structured interviews, participant observations and document analysis were used as data collection techniques.    The findings indicate that the municipal organization became intertwined with technology by mobilizing a significant amount of allies in the IS adaption process. It was also found that the character of the IS in the organization was multi-faceted, and there were different versions of the application available for different actors. A new organizational behavior was established as a result of the design and use of the IS. While the new IS contributed to making more available the complicated financial aspects of the municipality, it also contributed in reinforcing a certain view on decision-making that was focused on organizational resources rather than on organizational objectives. The organizational changes that took place were of a constant nature, and there was no closure of the change processes as new issues continuously surfaced that needed attention.    The concept of evolving multi-purpose networks is coined to describe and analyze the character of the technology dependent organization. The concept of negotiation loop is coined to describe and analyze the processes of IS adaption, where the role and meaning of the IS changes as new actors are enrolled to the network. An evolving multipurpose network is changeful as negotiation loops continue after the IS is established in the organization. The notation of evolving multipurpose networks is meant to stimulate reflection both for researchers and practitioners, underscoring the negotiated character of IS in organizations. It is meant to allow a better understanding for how the design and use of IS in an organizational context is a process of mutual influence between the IS and organization. / digitalisering@umu