Feliciano Sesé

Unravelling the dynamics of IOIS implementation: an actor-network study of an IOIS in the seaport of Barcelona

Although inter-organizational information systems (IOIS) implementation has been widely studied, mainstream literature has not focused on understanding how implementation unfolds and how the existing components of the installed base shape the process. This paper addresses this gap by conducting a socio-technical, process-oriented, and multi-level study. Based on a longitudinal in-depth case study of the implementation of an industry IOIS, we develop an explication of IOIS implementation that considers the role of the installed base. Using the lens of actor-network theory (ANT), we counter the mainstream IOIS literature by showing that IOIS implementation cannot only be explained by a fixed set of independent factors; instead, the dynamic mutual shaping of socio-technical actors throughout implementation complements existing factor-based models in explaining the evolution and the outcome (success or failure). The study also shows the importance of complying with the technical and non-technical components of the installed base for an IOIS to be successfully initiated.

Analysing IOIS adoption through structural contradictions

Despite extensive research and practitioner literature on inter-organizational information systems (IOIS), our understanding of non-adoption still has some under-explored issues. This paper offers an explanation of non-adoption that focuses on the potential structural changes that IOIS adoption entails; in particular, we contend that the contradictions between the initial social structure and the structure enacted in the use of an IOIS can be a cause of non-adoption. This paper analyses adoption from a logic of opposition where non-adoption occurs because forces of transformation are offset by forces of persistence. Relying on the concepts of social structure, duality of structure, and structural contradiction from Structuration theory, we develop a framework that categorizes the underlying social structure where an IOIS is to be adopted, and formulate some theoretical propositions. From a practitioner perspective, this paper contends that the fact that IOIS management uncovers the contradictions in the social structure that result from IOIS adoption can help avoid dead ends. Accordingly, this framework, which can be used as a coarse-grained picture for anticipating adoption problems, can inform managers when devising an IOIS implementation strategy.

The Dynamics of an IOIS in the Seaport of Barcelona

A b s t r d C t On the basis of a longitudinal interpretive case study, this paper explores the dynamics in the implementation of an industry interorganizational information system (lOIS). The paper covers 11 years (1994-2005) of the implementation process. We use the lens of actor network theory (ANT) to analyze the process of emergence, development, and progressive stabilization of a socio-technical network, that of the lOIS. We focus on the negotiations and translation of interests that occur during the implementation of the lOIS. By using ANT we develop a different reading of the implementation process, which we believe provides a holistic view of the implementation, andean be adapted and applied to similar implementation projects. ANT is suitable as it helps us trace the course of the implementation, and because of the nature of the lOISandofthe implementation process, which involves political negotiations.