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Packaged software applications such as enterprise systems are designed to support generic rather than specific requirements, and hence are likely to be an imperfect fit in any particular instance. Using critical realism as our philosophical perspective, we conducted a three-year qualitative study of misfits that arose from an enterprise system (ES) implementation. A detailed analysis of the observed misfits resulted in a richer understanding of the concept of fit and of the ES artifact itself. Specifically, we found six misfit domains (functionality, data, usability, role, control and organizational culture) and within each, two types of misfit (deficiencies and impositions). These misfit types correspond to two newly defined types of fit: fit as coverage and fit as enablement. Our analysis of fit also revealed a new conceptualization of the ES artifact, with implications for IT artifacts in general.

This study presents a unified model of information technology (IT) continuance, by drawing upon three alternative influences that are presumed to shape continuance behavior: reasoned action, experiential response, and habitual response. Using a longitudinal survey of workplace IT continuance among insurance agents at a large insurance company in Taiwan, we demonstrate that the above influences are interdependent, complementary, and have crossover effects. This study advances IT continuance research by theorizing and validating a unifying model that extends prior perspectives and by explaining interrelationships between these perspectives.

While various theories have been proposed to explain how technology leads to organizational change, in general they have focused either on the technology and ignored the influence of human agency, or on social interaction and ignored the technology. In this paper, we propose a new theory of technology-mediated organizational change that bridges these two extremes. Using grounded theory methodology, we conducted a three-year study of an enterprise system implementation. From the data collected, we identified embeddedness as central to the process of change. When embedded in technology, organizational elements such as routines and roles acquire a material aspect, in addition to the ostensive and performative aspects identified by Feldman and Pentland (2003). Our new theory employs the lens of critical realism because in our view, common constructivist perspectives such as structuration theory or actor network theory have limited our understanding of technology as a mediator of organizational change. Using a critical realist perspective, our theory explains the process of change as a three-stage cycle in which the ostensive, performative, and material aspects of organizational elements interact differently in each stage.

Top management support has been identified as one of the most important factors in the success of enterprise systems (ES). However, few studies have addressed the issue of what type of leadership is most effective in which phase of the ES life-cycle. Given the different challenges to leadership in the different phases of an ES, a 'one-style-fits-all' approach is clearly inadequate. In this study, we analyze the contingent fit between the recognized leadership styles and the phases in the ES life-cycle. The evidence from a multi-case study provides support for our contingency propositions that transformational leadership fits best with the adoption phase, transactional leadership fits best with the implementation phase, and two variations of combined transformational and transactional leadership styles are most effective in the assimilation and extension phases. This study breaks new theoretical ground in information systems literature by highlighting the contingencies of leadership effectiveness in the success of ES at different phases. It also provides prescriptive insights for top executives in terms of who to put in charge and what type of leadership style to look for when considering adopting and implementing new ES, assimilating the implemented systems, or contemplating integrations with business partners.

Advances in communications, combined with lifestyle trends, point to a future workforce that is more productive and more capable than ever before. Employees are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with workplace capabilities as communications and productivity technology advances. Employees feel that their workplace is not smart enough and they are ready for a workplace that can accommodate their changing lifestyles. The past few years have seen an explosion in the use of smart workplace technologies. Interest in exploiting digital workplaces and smart offices is increasing, and deployments are gaining momentum. Yet the adoption rate is slow, and organizations are only beginning to scratch the surface in regard to the potential applications of smart workplace technologies. Implemented properly, the business benefits of digital workplaces can be substantial. This article explores the changing dimensions of the workplace. It highlights the importance of smart workplace technologies, identifies determinants of implementation success, and covers some of the potential benefits. Finally, this study reviews the successful implementation of smart workplace technologies in a small service industry.

The aim of this article was to provide evidence pertaining to cloud computing (CC) adoption in education, namely higher education institutions (HEIs) or Universities. A systematic literature review (SLR) of empirical studies exploring the current CC adoption levels in HEIs and the benefits and challenges for using CC in HEIs was performed. A total of 20 papers were included in the SLR. It was discovered that a number of universities have a keen interest in using CC in their institution, and the evidence indicates a high level of successful CC adoption in the HEIs reviewed in the SLR. In conclusion, the SLR identified a clear literature gap in this research area: there exists limited empirical studies focusing on CC utilisation in HEIs.

Academics and practitioners have made various claims regarding the benefits that Enterprise Architecture (EA) delivers for both individual projects and the organization as a whole. At the same time, there is a lack of explanatory theory regarding how EA delivers these benefits. Moreover, EA practices and benefits have not been extensively investigated by empirical research, with especially quantitative studies on the topic being few and far between. This paper therefore presents the statistical findings of a theory-building survey study ( n  = 293). The resulting PLS model is a synthesis of current implicit and fragmented theory, and shows how EA practices and intermediate benefits jointly work to help the organization reap benefits for both the organization and its projects. The model shows that EA and EA practices do not deliver benefits directly, but operate through intermediate results, most notably compliance with EA and architectural insight. Furthermore, the research identifies the EA practices that have a major impact on these results, the most important being compliance assessments, management propagation of EA, and different types of knowledge exchange. The results also demonstrate that projects play an important role in obtaining benefits from EA, but that they generally benefit less than the organization as a whole.

Several studies explore information security awareness focusing on individual and/or organisational aspects. This paper argues that security awareness processes are associated with interrelated changes that occur at the organisational, the technological and the individual level. We introduce an integrated analytical framework that has been developed through action research in a public sector organisation, comprising actor-network theory (ANT), structuration theory and contextualism. We develop and use this framework to analyse and manage changes introduced by the implementation of a security awareness programme in the research setting. The paper illustrates the limitations of each theory (ANT, structuration theory and contextualism) to study multi-level changes when used individually, demonstrates the synergies of the three theories, and proposes how they can be used to study and manage awareness-related changes at the individual, organisational and technological level.

The purpose of this study is to perform a synthesis of API research. The study took stock of literature from academic journals on APIs with their associated themes, frameworks, methodologies, publication outlets and level of analysis. The authors draw on a total of 104 articles from academic journals and conferences published from 2010 to 2018. A systematic literature review was conducted on the selected articles. The findings suggest that API research is primarily atheoretical and largely focuses on the technological dimensions such as design and usage; thus, neglecting most of the social issues such as the business and managerial applications of APIs, which are equally important. Future research directions are provided concerning the gaps identified.

This research is driven by the assumption made in several user resistance studies that employees are generally resistant to change. It investigates the extent to which employees' resistance to IT-induced change is caused by individuals' predisposition to resist change. We develop a model of user resistance that assumes the influence of dispositional resistance to change on perceptual resistance to change, perceived ease of use, and usefulness, which in turn influence user resistance behavior. Using an empirical study of 106 HR employees forced to use a new human resources information system, the analysis reveals that 17.0–22.1 percent of the variance in perceived ease of use, usefulness, and perceptual resistance to change can be explained by the dispositional inclination to change initiatives. The four dimensions of dispositional resistance to change – routine seeking, emotional reaction, short-term focus and cognitive rigidity – have an even stronger effect than other common individual variables, such as age, gender, or working experiences. We conclude that dispositional resistance to change is an example of an individual difference that is instrumental in explaining a large proportion of the variance in beliefs about and user resistance to mandatory IS in organizations, which has implications for theory, practice, and future research.