"An organisation gets the intranet it deserves": Institutionalisation as a process of interplay between technology and its organisational context of use.

Baptista, Joao M. N. de M (2008) "An organisation gets the intranet it deserves": Institutionalisation as a process of interplay between technology and its organisational context of use. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

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Abstract

This study contributes to the IS literature with a distinctive explanation of the process of institutionalisation of technology in organizations. The research analyses the role of micro level processes of interplay in embedding an intranet in the formal functioning of an organisation and in the habits and routines of its employees. Findings identify two types of processes of interplay underpinning this process of institutionalisation. The first operates at the level of constitutive expectations and refers to mutual changes to the governance, policy and control mechanisms which foster the perception that the intranet is part of the expected formal functioning of the organisation. The second operates at the level of background expectations and refers to mutual changes that make the intranet look more familiar, functional and easier to use, fostering its embedding in the routines and habits of the employees. The study unravels processes of mutual transformation to an intranet and its hosting organisation, a bank in the UK, by following their evolution over a period of five years. It uses the single longitudinal case study research strategy and is informed by Markus (1983) to support the longitudinal reconstruction of the intranet in the bank. Institutional-based trust theory (Zucker 1986) is used to inform the interpretation of data. This theory is enhanced by the work of Schutz (1962) in developing the concept of background expectations and Garfinkel (1967) in developing the concept of constitutive expectations. The study aims to motivate more research on institutionalisation as a micro level process of ongoing interplay and gradual development of institutionalised behaviour.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Operations Research, Information Technology
Sets:	Collections > ProQuest Etheses Departments > Management
URI:	http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/2748

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