Systems Development in the Wild: User-Led Exploration and Transformation of Organizing Visions

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Abstract:

This paper addresses an increasingly significant category of IT use: that of user-led deployment of generic technologies in organizational settings. Three case studies of such deployment are presented: a Web-based collaboration application developed in-house and deployed in distributed work of a multinational pharmaceutical company, a commercial groupware application deployed in the merger of a Northern European financial company, and a communication infrastructure for multimedia telemedicine in a Norwegian hospital. The activities studied were not fully organized in formal development projects, but were to a large extent initiatives “in the wild” where users influenced directions and outcomes of the process. In all three cases, we found a slow transformation of the initial organizing visions and intentions, a successive addition and adjustment of various technological components, and gradual alterations in work practice. In this paper, we classify this work as development in order to emphasize the importance of such redesigns, tailoring, and adaptations of the technologies that take place in use settings. In closing, the paper discusses the implications for the position and contribution of the IS professional in informing this process.

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