Reflections of identity: How information systems mirror the organization as a social actor.

摘要

Through this research I pursue answers to two research questions. One, what is the role of an organization's identity---that which is central, enduring, and unique about an organization---in shaping the ways organizations design and arrange information technologies? Two, what properties do organizational information technologies exhibit as facilitators of cross-boundary communication? I am motivated to pursue these questions because information technologies are central to modern organizational life, yet effective design and implementation remains a significant organizational challenge. The centrality of information technology to organizational life is particularly evident in the public safety domain where public safety agencies are struggling to overcome a high degree of institutionalized segregation of information systems. In order to more effectively design, build, and implement organizational information systems, it is critical that we develop a better understanding of how organizational life shapes, and is shaped by, the organization's technologies.This research makes use of multiple qualitative methods. Case studies of the Automated Regional Justice Information System and the Pennsylvania Justice Network provide micro-level detail. Secondary data situates the case studies in a broader institutional context. Analytic induction was used to test hypotheses across the cases. Two findings emerged from the analysis. One, the features and configurations of organizational ICT reflect the identities of the organizations that build and implement them. Two, the specific boundary-spanning properties organizational information technologies exhibit are linked to the nature of the boundaries spanned.Three implications emerge from the findings presented in this dissertation. One, the influence of organizational identity on organizational information technologies means that attempts to integrate various IJIS on a large scale (e.g., national or global) will prove very difficult. Two, the degree to which an information technology is successfully implemented in an organization is in part determined by the degree to which the design aligns with the organization's identity. Three, design of organizational information technologies requires attention to the nature of the boundaries the systems will span.