practice. To redress this situation, we draw on recent advances in multilevel theory to present system usage as a multilevel construct and provide an illustration for what it takes for researchers to study it as such. The multilevel perspective advanced in this article offers rich opportunities for theoretical and empirical insights and suggests a new foundation for in-depth research on the nature of system usage, its emergence and change, and its antecedents and consequences.

Abstract not found

Empirical results clearly indicate that managers spend a great amount of their working time on communication (Mintzberg 1971, Mintzberg 1973). One task of management is to design the communication within the organization in an effective way. Therefore, we argue that the adequate design of information channels within organizations is a crucial prerequisite for the long-term effectiveness of any organization. Based on an action research study carried out at one of arvato’s sites, we sketch how organizations can be analyzed and redesigned in a structured way by combining cybernetics with conceptual modelling. We show how informational and organizational problems have been identified and solved for an organization that has been acquired by arvato.