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Transforming Work Through Information Technology: A Comparative Case Study of Geographic Information Systems in County Government

Author

Listed:
  • Daniel Robey

    (Georgia State University, College of Business Administration, Atlanta, Georgia 30330)

  • Sundeep Sahay

    (Information Technology Institute, University of Salford, Salford, Manchester M5 4WT, England)

Abstract

A comparative case study was designed to assess the consequences of implementing a particular geographic information system (GIS) in two neighboring county government organizations. Respondents reported radically different experiences with, and consequences of, the GIS technology. In North County, participants considered GIS to be responsible for transforming the way that work was accomplished and for changing patterns of communication among departments. In South County, the same GIS technology was implemented with little social consequence. These divergent outcomes are associated with differences in four specific processes related to the implementation of the GIS in the two organizations: initiation, transition, deployment, and spread of knowledge. In North County, implementation was initiated by an influential group of users (geographers) who positioned the technology as a shared resource that built upon existing competencies. A distributed configuration was deployed in North County, and conceptual knowledge about GIS was disseminated widely. By contrast, in South County GIS was initiated by a centralized data processing department as one of many revenue-producing services. Transition to GIS in South County required a departure from existing competencies, and it was deployed as a centralized system with limited procedural knowledge spread among the potential user community. Taken together, these findings suggest that implementation processes that advance users’ learning about potentially transformational technologies are likely to result in perceived transformation. The theoretical perspective of organizational learning is, therefore, suggested as a guide for future research on the role of information technology in organizational transformation.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel Robey & Sundeep Sahay, 1996. "Transforming Work Through Information Technology: A Comparative Case Study of Geographic Information Systems in County Government," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 7(1), pages 93-110, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orisre:v:7:y:1996:i:1:p:93-110
    DOI: 10.1287/isre.7.1.93
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    Cited by:

    1. Matt Beane & Wanda J. Orlikowski, 2015. "What Difference Does a Robot Make? The Material Enactment of Distributed Coordination," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(6), pages 1553-1573, December.
    2. Marie-Claude Boudreau & Daniel Robey, 2005. "Enacting Integrated Information Technology: A Human Agency Perspective," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(1), pages 3-18, February.
    3. Jingwen Xia, 2022. "A Systematic Review: How Does Organisational Learning Enable ESG Performance (from 2001 to 2021)?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-22, December.
    4. Denolf, Janne.M. & Wognum, Nel P.M. & Trienekens, Jacques H. & van der Vorst, Jack G.A.J. & Omta, S.W.F. (Onno), 2012. "Towards a Supply-Chain Instrument to Monitor an Information Technology Implementation," 2012 International European Forum, February 13-17, 2012, Innsbruck-Igls, Austria 144968, International European Forum on System Dynamics and Innovation in Food Networks.
    5. Alain Pinsonneault & Kenneth L. Kraemer, 2002. "Exploring the Role of Information Technology in Organizational Downsizing: A Tale of Two American Cities," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 13(2), pages 191-208, April.
    6. Wanda J. Orlikowski & C. Suzanne Iacono, 2001. "Research Commentary: Desperately Seeking the “IT” in IT Research—A Call to Theorizing the IT Artifact," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 12(2), pages 121-134, June.
    7. Maryam Alavi & Dorothy E. Leidner, 2001. "Research Commentary: Technology-Mediated Learning—A Call for Greater Depth and Breadth of Research," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 12(1), pages 1-10, March.
    8. Barry A. Cumbie & Chetan S. Sankar, 2012. "Choice of governance mechanisms to promote information sharing via boundary objects in the disaster recovery process," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 14(5), pages 1079-1094, December.
    9. Cuellar, Michael J. & Gallivan, Michael J., 2006. "A framework for ex ante project risk assessment based on absorptive capacity," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 173(3), pages 1123-1138, September.
    10. Mabert, Vincent A. & Soni, Ashok & Venkataramanan, M. A., 2003. "Enterprise resource planning: Managing the implementation process," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 146(2), pages 302-314, April.
    11. Ari Goelman, 2005. "Technology in Context: Mediating Factors in the Utilization of Planning Technologies," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 37(5), pages 895-907, May.
    12. Ribeiro, Barbara & Meckin, Robert & Balmer, Andrew & Shapira, Philip, 2023. "The digitalisation paradox of everyday scientific labour: How mundane knowledge work is amplified and diversified in the biosciences," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(1).
    13. Hunter, Starling David, 2003. "Same Technology, Different Outcome? Lessons on Dummy Variables & Dependent Variable Transformations," Working papers 4308-03, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management.
    14. Paul M. Leonardi, 2007. "Activating the Informational Capabilities of Information Technology for Organizational Change," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(5), pages 813-831, October.
    15. Margunn Aanestad & Bob Jolliffe & Arunima Mukherjee & Sundeep Sahay, 2014. "Infrastructuring Work: Building a State-Wide Hospital Information Infrastructure in India," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 25(4), pages 834-845, December.

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