IOIS Usage d’une méthode de codage des données explicitement théorique pour tester une théorie abstraite en matière de SI inter-organisationnels

Healthcare networks driven by technology, such as e-prescribing, play an increasing role in care coordination. These networks are a mix of public and private entities whose governance and performance have only recently been studied. Given the critical role these networks play, their structure and governance need to be better understood to achieve expected network performance. The inter-organizational information system literature has begun shifting its focus beyond enterprises to inter-organizational transactions (e.g., supply chain). At the same time, the public administration literature has grasped upon the governance of whole networks but has not embraced the implications of technology. This study seeks to describe the ambulatory e-prescribing network in the United States by drawing upon both literatures. One of the key challenges identified is the necessity of multi-level analysis and performance measures.

We analyse an empirical case study of an inter-organizational information system (IOIS) in the Australian pharmaceutical distribution industry, using a theoretical data coding approach, to provide a concise grounded account of changes in the material, normative and ideational structures within the participating practices over a 25 year period as the IOIS evolved from a proprietary closed system to a quasi-open shared ordering platform. We find evidence that the resilience of the IOIS over this long time period is explained by a layered accumulation of new structures at the level of individual practices, while the punctuated evolutionary change accompanied the appearance of a new practice, historically connected to the incumbent practices. These findings are in substantial agreement with systems evolution mechanisms proposed by Porra (1999). Understanding IOIS evolution will be important for the provision of key enabling

Emerging forms of structurally complex information systems, such as Ambient Intelligence (AmI), requires the integration of a range of technologies. To enable such systems ’ development there is a reliance on interoperability standards. However, due to their inherent characteristics, the adoption of open or closed standards by technology vendors can have impacts the later stages of the adoption and diffusion of systems. This paper reports on research-in-progress which explores the adoption of open and closed standards by technology vendors engaged in AmI development. Existing models of innovation adoption and diffusion fail to adequately account for adoption in more complex technological contexts. In order to address such deficiencies, current perspectives on standards are discussed, before a conceptual framework for structuring the research is proposed which integrates both existing adoption theory and standards-oriented research. The use of the European Consumer Electronics sector as a unit of analysis is discussed, before concluding with an overview of how the study will progress.

Although much efforts have been devoted to understanding IS change processes that take place in a single organization, there is very little understanding about the change processes that affect IS decisions and developments across organizations. In this paper we provide a conceptual framework to analyze and explain complex multi-level IS change. To demonstrate the use of the framework we apply it to analyze changes in the domain of eCustoms, as in this domain we find rich examples of multi-level IS changes. The framework combines the work on “motors of change ” by Van de Ven and Poole with Pettigrew’s notions of “vertical ” and “horizontal ” levels of analysis. Based on our case analysis we conclude that the conceptual framework proves to be a useful lens through which to analyze complex multi-level IS change. We propose extensions of the framework by identifying different interaction types between the changes and we outline directions for further research. In this respect, this paper can be seen as a contribution to the existing IOS research on change.

We argue that certain theoretical commitments that underpin much existing Inter-organisational Information Systems (IOIS) research at small scales become untenable when IOIS are studied at the scale of whole industries and over time periods greater than individual implementation projects. We make this argument by a detailed analysis of the problems we encountered when applying conventional research design methods in the early stages of a five year international comparative study of IOIS in pharmaceutical supply chains in four countries. We found that the large scale of our unit required a move away from the construction of discrete variables (dependent and independent) as well as from input-output process logic, to an alternate modelling approach derived from Structuration theory and Practice theory. We illustrate the revelatory power of this new lens by applying it to two cases. The paper will be of interest to IOIS researchers because we have systematically worked out the reasons for difficulties that limit IOIS research to unit and time scales smaller that the actual phenomenon. Because we refused to limit our own research object in this way, we ventured further into these problematic areas than others.

We have recently undertaken a five year international comparative study of Inter-organizational Information Systems (IOIS) in the pharmaceutical supply chain in four countries, with the initial aim of investigating the relationship between differences at the industry and national level and the structure of the IOIS in these countries. We found because of the large timescale (beyond individual projects) and the large scope of analysis (including firm, industry and national factors) that a new phenomenon of IOIS evolution came into our view. This paper presents the journey we have taken in re-evaluating appropriate theoretical underpinnings for studying and explaining IOIS phenomena at this large scale. We present our insights by relating the series of revisions we were forced by the phenomena to make to our research model, illustrated with two case vignettes.

Inter-organizational Information Systems (IOIS) are computer-based systems shared by, or connecting, several organizations. The on-going use and evolution on long timescales of these large scale socio-technical systems so far cannot be satisfactorily explained on the basis of existing theories of IS adoption, implementation and use. In this paper, we present a theory of IOIS in which the on-going use and evolution of these large-scale systems is treated as a practical and socio-material accomplishment of communities through boundary practices and structures. We draw on the structure/action reproduction paradigm of Structuration Theory to account for the persistence of these systems and thus explain their structure, while using the embodiment of action from Practice Theory to treat the material nature of these systems. We distinguish three dimensions of structure-- material, normative and ideational-- and we also distinguish patterns of actions (along these three dimensions)from constraining and enabling structures. However, we attempt to treat these three structural dimensions and their reproduction processes symmetrically throughout. This symmetrical treatment leads us to propose that these action/structure dimensions are not reproduced in isolation but rather undergo an intimate mixing, or mangling, in the process, which in turn suggests a new kind of two-way causal accommodation between the various aspects of structure that we term "resonance."