【Topic】Explaining persistence and resilience of inter-organizational information systems: theoretical and methodological considerations

【Speaker】Kai Reimers

【Time】2008-4-23 10:30-12:00

【Venue】Room 453, Weilun Building

【Language】English

【Organizer】Department of Management Science and Engineering

【Background Information】

Abstract

The study of diffusion, adoption and implementation of inter-organisational information systems (IOIS) so far relies on theories which do not address the question of why systems continue to be used once adopted and implemented. We call such theories inertia theories because they imply that continued used can be taken for granted once the adoption decision has been made and the systems are implemented if decision parameters do not change. We identify two distinct aspects of ongoing use, namely persistence and resilience which are in need of theoretical explanation. In order to fill this gap, we aim to build a theoretical framework which specifically asks how systems are reproduced in their day-to-day routine operation. For this purpose, we offer a new conceptualization of IOIS by combining core ideas from Structuration and Practice Theory. Based on this framework, we define the twin problems of persistence and resilience. We find that these issues can be related to two core processes in our theoretical model and thus offer the conceptual tools for their theoretical explanation. We discuss the methodological implications of this framework and suggest possible directions for future research.

Bio

Trained in economics and business administration in Germany, Kai Reimers works at the interface between information systems and organization theory. He received a doctorate in economics and business administrationfrom the University of Wuppertal (Germany) with a thesis on the economic analysis of standardization processes and earned a post-doctorate degree ("venia legendi") at the University of Bremen with a thesis on IT Management. From September 1998 to August 2003, Dr. Reimers worked as a Visiting Professor at the School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University, Beijing, sponsored by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). Since September 2003 he works as a Full Professor of Information Systems at RWTH Aachen University in the Faculty of Business and Economics where he heads the Research Group on Electronic Business. His fields of interest cover inter-organizational information systems (electronic data interchange, electronic markets), enterprise systems implementation, and issues of information systems standardization.