Antecedents and Consequences of Green Mindfulness: A Conceptual Model

While many companies take the environmental environment as a fundamental part of their business strategies, managers are facing the challenges to explore the integration of environmental concepts and business operations. Although there are an amount of studies about environmental management in the literature, only a few of them applied the concept of mindfulness to environmental management. Mindfulness is regarded as a way of operation marked by the willingness to consider alternative perspectives, focus on the present, attention to operational detail, and interest in exploring and understanding failures. This study suggests that companies require keeping mindfulness in environmental management implementation. Therefore, this paper aims to explore the application of mindfulness theory to environmental management, and propose a conceptual model of antecedents and consequences of green mindfulness. The proposed multilevel model describes the influences of organizational and individual antecedents on green mindfulness, and the organizational and individual consequences of green mindfulness.

Local Adaptation Without Work Intensification: Experimentalist Governance of Digital Technology for Mutually Beneficial Role Reconfiguration in Organizations

This 1.5-year ethnographic study of a U.S. medical center shows that avoiding loss of autonomy and work intensification for less powerful actors during digital technology introduction and integration presents a multisited collective action challenge. I found that technology-related participation problems, threshold problems, and free rider problems may arise during digital technology introduction and integration that enable loss of autonomy and work intensification for less powerful actors. However, the emergence of new triangles of power allows for novel coalitions between less powerful actors and newly powerful third-party actors that can help mitigate this problem. I extend the political science perspective of experimentalist governance to examine how a digital technology-focused, iterative collective action process of local experimentation followed by central revision can facilitate mutually beneficial role reconfiguration during digital technology introduction and integration. In experimentalist governance of digital technology, local units are given discretion to adapt digital technologies to their specific contexts. A central unit composed of diverse actors then reviews progress across local units integrating similar digital technology to negotiate a new shared understanding of mutually beneficial technology-related tasks for each group of actors. The central unit modifies both local routines and the technology itself in response to problems and possibilities revealed by the central revision process, and the cycle repeats. Here, accomplishing mutually beneficial role reconfiguration occurs through an experimentalist, collective action process rather than through a labor-management bargaining process or a professional-led tuning process.

A Theoretical Framework for IT-Enabled and IT-Enforced Corporate Governance Compliance Utilizing BPMSs

Corporate governance has been severely condemned, as a result of company failures around the world. Regulatory and legislative measure have been introduced in response to these failures. However, arguments by sceptics advocate that it is time consuming and costly to comply these legislative measures that cause overregulation. These measures further do not always add value to business initiatives and adherence to these measures cannot be enforced or guaranteed. This paper argues for the use of business process management systems (BPMSs) to improve corporate governance. The “dynamics capabilities theory model of IT-enabled organisational performance” [1] is applied in this study as theoretical underpinning. A theoretical framework is proposed for IT-enabled and IT-enforced corporate governance compliance using a BPMS, after collecting data from seven BPMS user companies and a BPMS vendor company in South Africa.

Share or send and receive? The impact of team knowledge outflow/inflow with IT support on performance

Purpose

An organization can be understood as a knowledge network in which teams send and receive knowledge. Many studies have explored knowledge sharing across teams but did not consider the direction of knowledge flows (KF), specifically how the knowledge inflow (KIF) and knowledge outflow (KOF) can be induced and influence team activities differently. To fill this gap, this paper distinguishes between KIF and KOF, examines their antecedents and consequences and considers how KIF and KOF within a team moderate the relationship between antecedents and KF of a team.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used structural equation model analysis of a sample of 341 individuals within 73 teams from four companies.

Findings

The results suggest that IT support is essential because it influences both KIF and KOF. However, only KOF has a significant effect on team performance suggesting that ambidexterity is not always necessary. In promoting KOF, increasing task interdependency is also effective. The effect of IT support varies with the level of KIF diversity.

Originality/value

The findings emphasize the importance of distinguishing KOF from KIF in a team’s knowledge network under the theoretical lens of ambidexterity. Identifying how IT support influences KF and how these flows separately affect team performance can provide useful insights into managing and facilitating KF in an organization.

Spatiality as Care: A Heideggerian Perspective on Sociomaterial Practices

The relationship between technological artefacts and the social settings of their design, production and use has received considerable attention in recent years, particularly through the emergence of the sociomateriality literature. This paper reviews extant conceptualizations and discusses the contribution of a Heideggerian perspective to the study of sociomaterial practices. Drawing on insights from Heidegger’s ‘existential spatiality’, an alternative view of spatiality is presented, namely, spatiality as care rather than physical extendedness. Then, the sensitizing concepts of ‘theoretical significance’ and ‘practical significance’ of technological artefacts are introduced grounded in these insights. Finally, implications of spatiality as care for the emergence and change of sociomaterial practices are discussed.

Setting a knowledge boundary across teams: knowledge protection regulation for inter-team coordination and team performance

Purpose

As teams are built around specialized and different knowledge, they need to regulate their knowledge boundaries to exchange their specialized knowledge with other teams and to protect the value of such specialized knowledge. However, prior studies focus primarily on boundary spanning and imply that boundaries are obstacles to sharing knowledge. To fill this research gap, this study aims to indicate the importance of knowledge protection regulation, an activity that sets an adequate boundary for protecting knowledge, and investigate the factors that facilitate knowledge protection regulation and its consequences.

Design/methodology/approach

This study collected empirical data from 196 teams in seven organizations. Through a validation of the measurement model, data from 138 teams are used for further analysis. The hypotheses effects are assessed using a structural equation model.

Findings

The analysis results indicate that both task uncertainty and task interdependency enhance knowledge protection regulation in teams, and that information technology support moderates the relationship between task uncertainty and knowledge protection regulation. The results also indicate that knowledge protection regulation improves inter-team coordination and team performance.

Originality/value

This study focuses on knowledge protection regulation by adopting communication privacy management theory at the team level. The findings imply that boundary management is the process of communication and depends on the role the teams play in accomplishing their tasks. The findings also provide a new way to understand knowledge flow of the teams as well as the entire organization.

Editorial

Sociomateriality is gaining acceptance in the IS field as a way of taking technology more seriously, but not without its share of criticism. Technology itself is defined in many different ways. Coupled with the broader debates surrounding the complex issues and controversies around the relationship between the social and the material, discussions on how technology is tied to work and organizations will continue to develop. The goal of this special issue is to contribute towards clarifying what the tenets of sociomateriality mean for IS research. Beginning with this editorial that elaborates on material agency in IT, the articles in the special issue discuss post-humanism and notion of separability and inseparability, compare the tenets of sociomateriality with critical realism, propose a method for researching sociomateriality, and elaborate on how a view of ontological fusion provides a more holistic view of a digitally-infused society.

Returning to the Philosophical Roots of Sociomateriality

Sociomateriality is a growing research stream in the field of IS. In response to an increasingly complex and interconnected world, sociomateriality researchers have proposed a view of relational ontological fusion. This view transcends the conventional framework of assuming a clear distinction between the social and the material. In this paper, we argue that the fundamental difference between sociomateriality and the conventional view lies on the ontological level, not on the epistemological or methodological levels. But without a return to its philosophical roots, sociomateriality remains obscure and confusing. To better inform researchers, we return to the original works of two Western philosophers, Heidegger and McLuhan, who both share the view of ontological fusion in proposing their arguments on how the entanglement of technology and the human agent precludes access to a primordial truth. In this paper, we reflect on these philosophical works, providing a solid foundation for this new approach. We argue that the sociomateriality approach can open the black box of the epistemological bias that stems from habitual systemic thinking. This study contributes to the less-researched area of unintentional consequences of technology. The paper also provides practical, alternative methods that can help in furthering this approach in future studies.

ICT and Organizational Change

In this introduction to the special issue, the authors explore a number of connections between recent thinking about change in the organization studies (OS) literature and debates about information and communication technology (ICT) and change in the information systems (IS) literature. The authors examine these debates and highlight their potential significance for understanding ICT and organizational change. They argue that what is needed are studies such as those in this special issue that draw on and combine the insights provided by both the OS and the IS literatures to advance the study and practice of ICT-related change.

Collaborative Relationships — The Role of Information Technology

Drawn from structuration theory, this research investigates the role interfirm relationship (IR) agents play in appropriating technology features and utilizing everyday interactions to formulate and manage IRs. We examine how structurational conditions (i.e. routinization and reflexivity), information technology (IT) embeddedness, IT enactment (i.e. task coordination and relationship management) and sense-making together impact relationship quality. Findings support the central contention that agents’ cognitive efforts were necessary mediating conditions to realize the benefits of IT embeddedness and structurational conditions in relationship quality enhancement. Also interesting is while IT enactment and sense-making both positively contribute to a trusting, committed and stable relationship, greater ability in making sense of everyday interactions appears to mitigate the effect of IT enactment on relationship quality.

Designing interorganizational information systems for supply chain integration: a framework

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to increase understanding on the essential managerial and technical decisions in the design of IOIS for supply chain integration (SCI). Toward this end, the authors elaborate on IOIS constructs in the SCI context, and propose a framework on the design of IOIS for SCI based on the current literature.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper draws from prior literature on interorganizational information systems (IOISs) and supply chain management (SCM), and builds a conceptual framework that is illustrated by empirical examples from three case studies of a ten-year research program that focussed on e-business in SCM.

Findings

– Based on prior literature from several domains, the authors propose a framework, which combines the managerial viewpoints and the technical viewpoints for designing IOIS for SCI. The authors argue that these decisions form the basis for constructing three main elements of the IOIS for SCI design theory, namely, purpose and scope, design principles, and technical framework. Furthermore, the authors suggest that the real thread binding the decisions on all levels – purpose and scope; design principles; technical framework – is the flexible differentiation over use contexts, primarily over partners and focal interorganizational processes.

Research limitations/implications

– The key limitation of this work is the propositional nature of the advanced framework. However, the framework is strongly grounded in prior literature and is illustrated by examples from three empirical studies.

Practical implications

– The proposed framework provides a systematic tool for both the design and evaluation of the practical implementation of IOISs in SCI context. Furthermore, the results point explicitly to the implications of the benefits received from unilateral and bilateral modes of IOIS design.

Originality/value

– The synthesized framework and the observation of the requisite differentiation over use context complement prior work from multiple domains by discussing both managerial and technical questions of IOIS deployment within a single conceptualization.

More than meets the eye: working around technology in cross-boundary work contexts

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to explore how organizational actors interpret and enact technology in cross-boundary work contexts during e-government implementation in a public organization in East Malaysia.

Design/methodology/approach

– Case study methodology involving semi-structured interviews, unobtrusive observations, and archival records was utilized in the study. Interview subjects include management staff, general employees, and information technology (IT) specialists to provide rich descriptions of their work practice.

Findings

– Three distinct contexts contribute to cross-boundary work practice in relation to IT use and non-use, namely, standardization (complete IT use), hybridization (partial IT use), and conventionalization (zero IT use). Technology enactment strategies such as acceptance, avoidance, adaptation, and configuration are employed depending on actors’ interpretation of technology complexity and task interdependency.

Practical implications

– Early interventions could involve examining how and why employees accept or avoid technology as part of their work practice and how they switch between enactment strategies. Organizations could ensure better team support to capitalize on the robust social interaction in cross-boundary work contexts to develop greater synergy in technology improvisations.

Originality/value

– The study extends the technology enactment perspective as it offers new meanings to structures of action by understanding the temporal agentic orientations and how these are constructed by cross-boundary work contexts. It also offers insight into how enactment strategies are developed according to the productive tensions that arise from the interplay of cognitive orientations.

Antecedents of Boundary Spanning E-Collaboration

Spanning boundaries has emerged as a key topic in the scholarship on distributed organizing. Nonetheless, most of the works are motivated by boundaries designated by static demarcations of time and/or place, while only recently there is some evidence emphasizing the dynamic aspects of boundaries and boundary spanning. Following the latter tradition, the present research attempts to examine the antecedents of boundary spanning in the context of e-collaboration. This is approached using a cross case assessment of two interpretive case studies. The results suggest that cross-organizational e-collaboration can be analyzed in relation to five constructs: (a) representations through which collaborative engagements are attained; (b) the affordances of the (social) medium for reconfiguring agency, both human and non-human; (c) boundary negotiating artifacts; (d) source of togetherness and sense of community; and (e) type of enacted cyber-structures. It turns out that these five constructs can be used to anchor and qualify a range of boundary spanning e-collaboration regimes.

Eco-innovation practices

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine eco-innovation practices within project networks. Eco-innovation practices involve systematic series of actions that integrate resources to create value.

Design/methodology/approach

– Using case research, the authors conducted an intensive study of innovation practices within project networks, using multiple sources of evidence to provide information to scholars and practitioners (Halinen and Tornroos, 2005). Analyzing practices facilitated an empirical investigation of how contextual elements shaped the social construction of eco-innovation.

Findings

– An empirical analysis of eight project networks identifies three eco-innovation practices: cleaning up the landscape, connecting life and work, and boosting the efficiency of inbound and outbound processes. A methodological framework based on this practice approach is used to discuss the main elements of the practices in question, including actors, actions, resources, and value.

Practical implications

– The practice-based approach (PBA) may help companies to make information and communication technology (ICT) more sustainable. By developing forms of eco-innovation that support project networks, companies can focus on holistic corporate performance, efficiency, and business value. Eco-innovation thus becomes a collective achievement that allows practitioners to appraise and critique the performance of their environmental practices, and that thereby allows them to constantly refine those practices.

Social implications

– The development and use of Green ICT solutions enable actors’ sense-making and sense-giving within ongoing social practices wherein macro-level phenomena, such as sustainability and environmental issues, are created and recreated through the micro-level actions of project network actors.

Originality/value

– This research extends beyond the more traditional issues of ecologically sound company operations and sustainable ICT use to address sustainable ways of doing business.

Collaborative planning and its antecedents: An assessment in supply chain relationships

The purpose of this study is to investigate the interactive effects of individual work autonomy and interdependence on collaborative planning, building on the distinction of task and outcome interdependence. Using a questionnaire study, we assess collaborative planning and its antecedents in supply chain relationships, incorporating the forestry and timber industry. While no interactive effects hold for task interdependence, outcome interdependence only facilitates collaborative planning for individuals with low work autonomy. Individuals with high autonomy always invest in collaborative planning. This study provides a picture of supply chain reality more complete than that sketched in studies that have assessed interdependence as a one-dimensional construct and alludes to the importance, often overlooked, of work autonomy in supply chain relationships.

Collaborative planning and its antecedents: An assessment in supply chain relationships

The purpose of this study is to investigate the interactive effects of individual work autonomy and interdependence on collaborative planning, building on the distinction of task and outcome interdependence. Using a questionnaire study, we assess collaborative planning and its antecedents in supply chain relationships, incorporating the forestry and timber industry. While no interactive effects hold for task interdependence, outcome interdependence only facilitates collaborative planning for individuals with low work autonomy. Individuals with high autonomy always invest in collaborative planning. This study provides a picture of supply chain reality more complete than that sketched in studies that have assessed interdependence as a one-dimensional construct and alludes to the importance, often overlooked, of work autonomy in supply chain relationships.

An evaluation of the practice based approach to understanding the adoption and use of information systems

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the value and limitations of a practice-based approach (PBA) to studying the adoption and use of information systems, through a summary of the theory and exploration of empirical data about the use of collaborative software.

Design/methodology/approach

– A selection of theoretical resources from the practice-based approach, namely, its view of routine and change, socio-materiality, relational thinking and knowing are introduced. They are employed to analyse the adoption of a collaborative technology in a corporate setting. The empirical data is 30 interviews with human resource (HR) professionals involved in a project in a large Mexican University.

Findings

– The adoption and use of the collaborative technology is shaped by collective, historical, social and contextual factors that permeate the HR practices being supported by the information system. Among the factors that shaped participation are the interconnection of HR practices to other practices of the University; the existence of habits and the sense of routinisation reflected in HR practitioners’ patterns of interaction and media use; the concern of practitioners that participation in the community did not fit the way HR practices are performed; and the political manoeuvring taking place between actors to persuade potential users to participate in the community.

Research limitations/implications

– The strength of the analysis using key tenets from a PBA is to deepen our understanding of context as shaped by collective and historical conditions. The sociology of translation can be used to further increase understanding of the political process around the adoption of the collaborative technology. Remaining issues point to a major issue with the theoretical resources from the PBA used in this study, namely the adequacy of its treatment of structural power.

Originality/value

– The paper reports research of significance to those interested in information systems by providing an alternative perspective that sheds light on contextual, social and historical factors affecting the adoption and use of information technologies. The paper is also valuable in suggesting how the PBA can benefit from Actor-Network Theory (ANT). This will be relevant to the field of praxeological studies.

Network Relations and Boundary Spanning: Understanding the Evolution of E-Ordering in the Chinese Drug Distribution Industry

The application of e-ordering systems has brought significant changes to the drug distribution industry in China, but the effects of these changes have remained unclear. Adopting a practice perspective and based on longitudinal data collection using multiple methods, we reveal that the Chinese drug distribution practice has passed through the following three stages: the stage before e-ordering, the transitional stage in which the government attempted to impose a centralised platform, and the current fragmented systems stage. We draw upon the theoretical foundations of the network relations model and the boundary spanning theory developed by Schultze and Orlikowski and Levina and Vaast, respectively, to formulate a taxonomic framework for understanding inter-firm network practices. Applying the framework to explain long-term changes in drug distribution in China, we discover that the practice in the field has evolved from traditional, socially embedded relations to information systems-based, socially embedded relations, while the centralised platform deployed by the government was unable to establish a practice with arm's length relations. Our theoretical work contributes an integrated framework for studying inter-firm practices that explicitly incorporates the presence of inter-organisational information systems. Our empirical findings offer helpful practical insights for facilitating collective efforts toward the innovative use of novel IT in the drug distribution industry in China and in other contexts that are similar.

FACTORS INFLUENCING VICARIOUS LEARNING MECHANISM EFFECTIVENESS WITHIN ORGANIZATIONS

As organizations become larger it becomes increasingly difficult to share lessons-learned across their disconnected units allowing individuals to learn vicariously from each other's experiences. This lesson-learned information is often unsolicited by the recipient group or individual and required an individual or group to react to the information to yield benefits for the organization. Data was collected using 39 interviews and 582 survey responses that proved the effects of information usefulness, related human intermediary activities, and an individual's perceived discretion have on the review and subsequent adoption of unsolicited lessons-learned information.

Structuring Information Systems-in-Use

It has become commonplace for companies operating in a global marketplace to relocate, extend, or establish new production facilities overseas. In this global context it is also normal for organizations to replicate the implementation and use of an established information system in a new location. Such replication is not trivial however and if not properly managed can lead to IS obsolescence. Drawing on a practice lens approach the paper presents a case study of the attempted replication of an e-procurement system within a global notebook manufacturer. The study argues that effective replication needs to take into account not only the technical aspects of the system but also the interpretive schemes of its users and their awareness of organizational routines that take together amount to a technology-in-use. The paper concludes with a discussion of the issues arising from the study and their implications for global information systems management.