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Networked Information Technologies

:	Jan Damsgaard, Helle Zinner Henriksen (Eds.)
:	Networked Information Technologies
:	Kluwer Academic Publishers
:	9781402078620
:	1
:	CHF 111.00
:

:	Datenkommunikation, Netzwerke
:	English

:	231
:	DRM
:	PC/MAC/eReader/Tablet
:	PDF

Software systems that used to be relatively autonomous entities such as e.g. accounting systems, order-entry systems etc. are now interlinked in large networks comprising extensive information infrastructures. What earlier used to be stand-alone proprietary systems are now for the most part replaced by more or less standardized interdependent systems that form large networks of production and use. Organizations have to make decisions about what office suite to purchase? The easiest option is to continuously upgrade the existing office suite to the latest version, but the battle between WordPerfect and Microsoft Word demonstrated that the choice is not obvious.

What instant messenger network to join for global communication? Preferably the one most colleagues and friends use; AOL Instant Messenger, Microsoft Messenger, and ICQ represent three satisfactory, but disjunctive alternatives. Similarly organizations abandon their portfolio of homegrown IT systems and replace them with a single Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. Several ERP alternatives exist on the market, but which is the right one for you? The argumentation and rationale behind these considerations are obviously related to the technological and social networks we are embedded in, but it is not always easy to specify how.

Networked Information Technologies: Diffusion and Adoption offers contributions from academics and practitioners who study networked information systems from a diffusion and adoption point of view. Themes related to the conceptualisation of diffusion and adoption of networked information systems are discussed along with studies of the diffusion of networked information systems in public sector institutions and private businesses.

This volume contains the edited proceedings of the IFIP Conference on The Diffusion and Adoption of Networked Information Technologies, which was sponsored by the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) Working Group 8.6 and held in Copenhagen, Denmark in October 2003.

Chapter 5 Translations in Network Configurations (p.90-91)

7. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUDING REMARKS

Our research contributes to the literature on ICT implementation in organizational contexts. Previous research has pointed out that it is difficult to transfer technology from one context and culture to another and that there is a need for small steps and translations in such processes (Akrich, 1992). Our case study shows that this also applies to contexts that are not far apart, i.e. within the same hospital.

The case confirms the necessity for the involved actors to exercise a great amount of care to incorporate the new system into their daily work life, as argued by Ciborra (1996). However, our study points to difficulties involved in making this happen due to differences amongst stakeholder. The care expressed by the physicians, the nurses and the secretaries to incorporate the new system into their daily life appeared as a series of negotiations as the new system met work practices. Similarly, there were negotiations and translations going on between the different management levels of the hospital, the project, and the orthopaedic clinic. The sense making perspective (Henfridsson, 1999) also applies to this case, but the way in which different actors made sense of the new system varied depending on their interests, the negotiations with other stakeholders, as well as the underlying formative context of the implementation process (Ciborra& Lanzara, 1994). The case shows how routines are shaped and reshaped as the involved actors develop specific meanings of the emerging network configuration.

The considered literature (Ciborra, 1996; Henfridsson, 1999; Ciborra& Lanzara, 1994; Rogers, 1995; Orlikowski, 1996) points out the complexity and dynamics of network implementation processes. It emphasizes in particular the need for actors to be actively engaged in the transformation of current work practices. Our study confirms this with a particular emphasis on the intricacy of reactions and interactions between different stakeholders during system implementation.

The analysis of the case shows how the processes of configuring and reconfiguring a socio-technical network can be studied and understood well by focusing on the negotiations and translations between different key actors and stakeholders. This issue needs to be further elaborated in future research to provide a deeper understanding of the challenges involved in the implementation of network technologies.

Our research also contributes to improving the use of ICT within healthcare. Healthcare plays an increasingly important role in contemporary society. The gab between espoused beliefs in the benefits of using ICT and the difficulties faced in many particular situations suggests, however, that we need to know more about information and change management in this particular context. Our study suggests that managers in hospitals need to pay particular attention to the complex relationships between stakeholders when networked technologies are introduced.

Healthcare managers are advised to proactively design implementation initiatives that allow for the necessary negotiations and translations to take place. Future studies could involve action research and experiments to explore more specifically how the notions of negotiation and translation could support tactics and strategies for successful implementation of ICT based networks within healthcare.

	Contents	5
	Editors’ preface	7
	Chapter 1 The Socio-political Construction of CareSys	13
	1. INTRODUCTION	13
	2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND	14
	3. RESEARCH METHOD	15
	4. CARESYS – A SYSTEM FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF ELDERLY CARE	16
	5. AN ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK FOR ACTOR SENSITIVE EVALUATION	17
	5.1 From Idea to IT system	17
	5.2 Intended and Experienced Effects	18
	5.3 ‘The Due Process Model’	19
	6. HOW TO CARRY OUT AN ACTOR SENSITIVE EVALUATION	21
	7. ANALYSIS OF THE COMPUTERIZATION PROCESS OF CARESYS	21
	7.1 The Politicians	22
	7.1.1 Realized Effects	24
	7.1.2 Unrealized Effects	24
	7.1.3 Experienced Side Effects	24
	7.2 The Home-Help Assistants	24
	7.2.1 Realized Effects	25
	7.2.2 Unrealized Effects	25
	7.2.3 Side Effects	25
	7.3 The Establishment of CareSys as Negotiation	25
	8. SUMMARY	27
	9. CONCLUSION	27
	ACKNOWLEDGMENTS	28
	REFERENCES	28
	Chapter 2 Information and Communication Technologies Diffusion in Industrial Districts	31
	INTRODUCTION 1.	32
	THE INTERPRETIVE PROCESS APPROACH TO INNOVATION DIFFUSION 2.	33
	THE SOCIAL PROCESS OF THE INNOVATION 3.	34
	THE SOCIAL CONTEXT OF THE INNOVATION 4.	37
	THE CONTENT OF THE INNOVATION 5.	39
	DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION 6.	42
	REFERENCES	47
	Chapter 3 Where is the Innovation?	51
	1. INTRODUCTION	51
	2. RESEARCH SETTING AND METHODOLOGY	53
	2.1 Data Collection and Analysis	54
	3. THE ADOPTION OF QUICKPLACE IN SUMMA	55
	3.1 The Successful Diffusion	56
	3.2 The Not so Successful Adoption	58
	4.DISCUSSION	59
	4.1 A Strategy for the Diffusion of Virtual Workspaces	61
	5. CONCLUDING REMARKS	62
	ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS	63
	REFERENCES	63
	Chapter 4 Co-ordination of E-government	65
	1. INTRODUCTION	65
	2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND	66
	3. LOSS OF CONTROL	70
	4. WHAT IS E-GOVERNMENT?	73
	5. MANAGING E-GOVERNMENT	75
	5.1 Managing Risk	75
	5.2 Nature of Management Involvement	76
	5.3 E- government as Infrastructure	78
	6. CO-ORDINATING E-GOVERNMENT	78
	6.1 Setting Ambitions Right	78
	6.2 Dimensions of IT Co- ordination	80
	6.3 Practical Mechanisms for Co- ordination	82
	6.4 Discussion	84
	7. CONCLUSIONS	86
	ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS	87
	REFERENCES	87
	Chapter 5 Translations in Network Configurations	91
	1. INTRODUCTION	91
	2. METHOD	93
	3. THE CASE	94
	4. THEORY	94
	5. THE IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS	96
	5.1 Pilot Implementation	97
	5.2 Integrating into existing infrastructure	98
	5.3 Management of the change process	99
	6. UNFOLDING CONFIGURATIONS	100
	6.1 The Partial Network	100
	6.2 The Extended Network	101
	7. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUDING REMARKS	102
	ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS	104
	REFERENCES	104
	Chapter 6 MIS and the Dynamics of Legitimacy in Health Care	107
	1. INTRODUCTION	107
	2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK	108
	3. RESEARCH METHOD – COLLECTION OF DATA	111
	4. THE FIELD STUDY	111
	5. THE EXPLORATIVE PHASE (1987-1992)	112
	6. THE TIGHT SPOT PHASE (1992-1997)	116
	7. THE CONSOLIDATION PHASE	119
	8. DISCUSSION: THE DYNAMICS OF LEGITIMACY	120
	8.1 Ongoing Failure as an Acting Legitimate Force	120
	8.2 The Ambiguity of Participation	122
	9. CONCLUDING REMARK	123
	REFERENCES	125
	Chapter 7 Role Model for the Organisational IT Diffusion Process	127
	1. INTRODUCTION	127
	2. ACTION RESEARCH PROCESS IN SCANDI	128