Marco Marabelli

A reflection on information systems strategizing: the role of power and everyday practices

We review the IS strategizing literature and highlight its main strengths and weaknesses. Strengths include an account given to the relevance of tensions between planned and executed strategy, and associated tradeoffs such as rigidity and flexibility, formal and informal strategizing and the exploitation of static resources vis à vis the exploration of novel capabilities. Weaknesses relate to a predominant focus on an organizational level of analysis and a lack of power considerations. In this paper we aim to build on these strengths and to ameliorate these weaknesses by proposing a comprehensive IS strategizing framework that uses extant IS strategizing research as a foundation, rejuvenated by insights from the emerging strategy‐as‐practice literature. The paper extends our understanding of IS strategizing in light of the practice perspective by providing a multilevel account and incorporating power considerations.

Dominant Cognitive Frames and the Innovative Power of Social Networks

In this paper, we illustrate the link between social network structures, dominant cognitive frames on network purpose and the innovative power of a network, through a mixed-method comparative analysis of two knowledge translation networks (KTNs) in the English National Health Service (NHS). Our findings illustrate several challenges for networked forms of organization linked to different manifestations of social networks (centralized/decentralized) and dominant cognitive frames (polarizing/loosely clustered). Our paper contributes a better understanding of how dominant frames on network purpose emerge alongside the development of network structure itself, and explores how this interplay between dominant frames and social networks impacts upon the collaborative work that supports the network’s innovative power.

Ambidexterity in Service Organizations: Reference Models from the Banking Industry

This paper reviews the literature on ambidexterity in service organizations with a specific focus on the banking industry. We identify three key, cross-unit bank processes: governance (bank headquarters), sales (branch processes) and operations (ICT and facilities to support local (branch) and inter-unit (headquarters-to-branch) tasks). We suggest a framework that incorporates three main “reference models”, from an organizational design perspective. Model 1 (exploitative model) applies when the banks headquarters work to formalize branch sales processes supported by operations processes. Model 2 (exploratory model) applies when the banks headquarters allows flexibility in branch sales processes and uses operations processes to decentralize tasks. Model 3 (ambidextrous model) applies when a branch incorporates the characteristics of Models 1 and 2 simultaneously. We ground our claims using fieldwork conducted in 2004–2005 that involved a number of major Italian banks. We show that while large organizations, such as banks, base their ambidextrous innovation on organizational design, contextual elements such as trust and commitment, and management styles and leadership play a role in dealing with efficiency-oriented vs. flexibility-oriented tasks within the same bank branch.

Knowledge sharing and health-care coordination: the role of creation and use brokers

This paper arises from research that examined a health-care coordination improvement initiative that was focused on increasing knowledge sharing among a network of health-care workers involved in the care of children with complex medical needs. Part of this initiative involved a summary medical note (the Single Point of Care (SPOC)) that was paper-based and carried by parents between the specialists involved in their child’s care. The SPOC’s effectiveness is discussed through a knowledge-as-practice perspective, which focuses on the role of mediators (both material and human). Our analysis demonstrates that the SPOC’s effectiveness can be understood by looking at the combined roles of boundary objects and human brokers. We identify two distinct broker roles: creation brokers and use brokers. In discussing our case, we extend our analysis to suggest how these broker roles may also be useful in thinking about how to improve the effectiveness of (electronic) health record systems more generally – for researchers as well as for practitioners.

Managing knowledge in large-scale virtual projects: a community-based approach

In this paper we focus on the development of virtual communities of practice (V-CoP) in large-scale projects. We identify a literature gap in the lack of research on V-CoP in the project management literature and we conduct a study of a large-scale ES (Enterprise System) implementation to explore how V-CoP emerge in a globally distributed environment. We found that management can encourage the formation of V-CoP if, along with the creation of virtual project teams they promote informal interaction between the team members, encourage commitment, and put together “the right mix of people.�? We conclude suggesting avenues for further research on knowledge-intensive projects that consist of multiple (virtual) communities of practice

The Light and Dark Side of the Black Box: Sensor-based Technology in the Automotive Industry

Sensor-based technologies are increasingly integrated into diverse aspects of our everyday lives. Despite the importance of understanding how these technologies are adopted and exploited by businesses and consumers, the information systems (IS) community has thus far devoted relatively little attention to the topic. Accordingly, our objective in this paper is to foster an exploration of the issue amongst IS scholars by focusing on the emergent use of sensor-based technologies in the automotive insurance industry. Insurance providers are increasingly turning to such technologies to gain competitive advantage around risk assessment and behavior-based pricing. To investigate this phenomenon, we consider the experiences of two organizations operating distinct national contexts – Progressive Insurance (US) and Generali (Italy). These two insurance providers have been first movers in the adoption of sensorbased technologies for risk assessment and policy pricing. First, we highlight the key similarities and differences between the cases with regard to the technologies adopted, business models pursued, and anticipated benefits and pitfalls for the companies and their consumers. Second, in a more holistic way we discuss the implications and unintended consequences of sensor-based technologies in the automotive insurance industry. We formulate several research questions that will provide opportunities and encourage more research in this emerging area of study.

IT Capabilities and Organizational Change: Digging Deeper into the Banking Industry

The importance for organizational performance of aligning IT and organizational change is well recognized in the empirical literature [1], [2], [3] and there are many theoretical approaches that focus on this subject. In this study we use an emergent perspective [3], [4], [5] to show how IT capabilities can help management in strategic planning involving organizational change. The organizational change is studied according to process-level research [6] and the findings describe how IT capabilities can drive this change. The context for our study is the Italian financial industry in its bid to be compliant with the MiFID directive. The method combines quantitative (questionnaire) and qualitative (focus groups) analysis to achieve reliable evidence and results. The sample is composed of 37 Italian financial institutions and the study focuses on theoretical and empirical work.

Changes in Social Media Behavior as A Result of Transitioning Social Needs and Traits

Social media researchers recognize that using student samples may not be generalizable to a broader population. However, little guidance exists on how and to what extent they can and cannot be used...

Have your cake and eat it too? Simultaneously pursuing the knowledge-sharing benefits of agile and traditional development approaches

Abstract This research examines how organizations manage knowledge-sharing processes in systems development projects that employ both agile and traditional development techniques. Using a longitudinal case study, we draw on one company’s experience with a system implementation that employed a traditional approach during its first phase and then a hybrid, agile-traditional approach in its second phase. By applying an ambidexterity theory lens, we find that the adoption of a hybrid approach allowed the project to continue to exploit the traditional techniques that were working well, abandon techniques that were underperforming, and explore the use of agile techniques in selected areas.

Pilot-testing a pediatric complex care coordination service

This case, based on data collected in a longitudinal field study, presents Dr. Nathalie Major-Cook, a Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) pediatrician, who in January 2012 was considering what to do about a 2-year grant-funded pilot project, which had provided an innovative patient care coordination service to 23 families of children described as technology-dependent, medically complex and fragile. Convinced that the Complex Care Coordination service is worthwhile, Dr. Major-Cook wants to move it beyond the pilot test phase to a funded, ongoing service. The case situation is a ‘cliff hanger,’ in that in January 2012, Dr. Major-Cook has not yet learned whether a proposal to fund this as an ongoing service will be approved. If it does not receive approval, she will face the unpleasant task of explaining to parents that this valuable service will end in a few short months. If it does receive approval, several decisions need to be made and actions taken in order to scale the service up, so that it can support about 100 families of technology-dependent, medically complex and fragile children in the region. Dr. Major-Cook also wonders if there is anything else she can do to tip the scales in favor of this decision. The case context is unique and captivating; the young patients under Dr. Major-Cook’s care suffer from multiple, and sometimes rare life-threatening diseases. The new Complex Care Coordination model, entailing several new roles and a new way to exchange important information among care providers, was designed to improve the quality of healthcare service delivery, increase parental satisfaction and reduce care costs. Although the project plan specified that an electronic health record would be developed to support coordination among care team members, a fully integrated electronic health record had not yet been implemented. Instead, a ‘SPOC’ (Single Point of Care) document was made available to every specialist clinician and social service provider who treated the child. The case describes the steps leading to approval of the pilot-test project, the project itself, and its preliminary evaluation.