Open Source Software Adoption

2009 ◽  
pp. 1675-1698 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Fitzgerald
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Open Source ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Longitudinal Case Study ◽  
Software Adoption ◽  
Public Sector Organization ◽  
Desktop Application ◽  
Depth Study ◽  
Over Time

Current estimates suggest widespread adoption of open source software (OSS) in organizations worldwide. However, the problematic nature of OSS adoption is readily evidenced in the fairly frequent reports of problems, unforeseen hold-ups, and outright abandonment of OSS implementation over time. Hibernia Hospital, an Irish public sector organization, have embarked on the adoption of a range of OSS applications over several years, some of which have been successfully deployed and remain in live use within the organisation, whereas others, despite achieving high levels of assimilation over a number of years, have not been ultimately retained in live use in the organization. Using a longitudinal case study, we discuss in depth the deployment process for two OSS applications – the desktop application suite whose deployment was unsuccessful ultimately, and the email application which was successfully deployed. To our knowledge, this is the first such in-depth study into successful and unsuccessful OSS implementation.

Open Source Software Adoption

2011 ◽  
pp. 1-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Fitzgerald
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Open Source ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Longitudinal Case Study ◽  
Software Adoption ◽  
Public Sector Organization ◽  
Desktop Application ◽  
Depth Study ◽  
Over Time

Current estimates suggest widespread adoption of open source software (OSS) in organizations worldwide. However, the problematic nature of OSS adoption is readily evidenced in the fairly frequent reports of problems, unforeseen hold-ups, and outright abandonment of OSS implementation over time. Hibernia Hospital, an Irish public sector organization, have embarked on the adoption of a range of OSS applications over several years, some of which have been successfully deployed and remain in live use within the organisation, whereas others, despite achieving high levels of assimilation over a number of years, have not been ultimately retained in live use in the organization. Using a longitudinal case study, we discuss in depth the deployment process for two OSS applications – the desktop application suite whose deployment was unsuccessful ultimately, and the email application which was successfully deployed. To our knowledge, this is the first such in-depth study into successful and unsuccessful OSS implementation.

Six ways to leave a lover: how sensemaking of the purpose of internal social media changes over time in a public sector organization

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vibeke Thøis Madsen ◽  
Line Schmeltz
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Department Heads ◽  
Longitudinal Case Study ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Public Sector Organization ◽  
Internal Social Media ◽  
Changes Over Time ◽  
Over Time

PurposeInternal social media (ISM) make it possible for all employees to participate in knowledge sharing and decision-making and to voice their opinions. However, several studies have found that organizations are far from unlocking the full potential of ISM. This paper seeks to explore and explain this gap further by adopting a sensemaking lens to managers' understanding of a social intranet in a public sector organization.Design/methodology/approachA longitudinal case study of the process of introducing ISM was conducted in a Danish municipality. Before, during and after the launch of the intranet, interviews with department heads and communication managers in the six different municipal departments were carried out to explore how they made sense of the purpose of ISM.FindingsFindings indicate that during the process of introducing and implementing ISM, department heads' and managers' narratives about the purpose of the intranet changed from being a matter of involving, engaging and hearing the voices of the employees to being an effective administrative tool and a channel for management to reach all employees.Originality/valueRather than the traditional focus on whether ISM fail or succeed, the paper offers new understandings of how managers' sensemaking of ISM changes over time, leading to changes in the actual usage of and communication on ISM.

scholarly journals Success or failure? Making sense of outcomes in a public sector change project

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Grete Hagebakken ◽  
Trude Høgvold Olsen ◽  
Elsa Solstad
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Common Method ◽  
Longitudinal Case Study ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
Complex Processes ◽  
Project Phases ◽  
Change Projects ◽  
Over Time

Abstract The most common method of assessing outcomes of change projects is to compare the final outcomes with predefined goals and conclude that the project has been a success, or more commonly, a failure. We question whether such simple conclusions pay due respect to complex processes. In this paper, we apply a sensemaking perspective to explore how and when outcomes of change projects are assessed. We report from a longitudinal case study of a project in the Norwegian public sector that was initiated to suggest and implement changes in response to major challenges in the health sector. We found outcome narratives in all project phases, including those not based on change objectives. The study contributes to the literature by suggesting that outcome narratives are continuously constructed throughout change projects and that competing outcome narratives can co-exist, be reinforced or be merged over time.

scholarly journals Risk Perception, Accounting, and Resilience in Public Sector Organizations: A Case Study Analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 4
Author(s):  
Mouhcine Tallaki ◽  
Enrico Bracci
Keyword(s):  
Risk Perception ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Budget Cuts ◽  
Case Study Analysis ◽  
Public Sector Organization ◽  
Building Resilience ◽  
Public Sector Organizations ◽  
The Face ◽  
Infrastructure Maintenance

There are various factors that can affect an organization’s ability to overcome a crisis and the uncertainties that arise thereafter. Little is known about the process of organizational resilience and the factors that can help or prevent it. In this paper, we analyzed how public sector organizations build resilience/traits of risks awareness, and in doing that, we derived some elements that could affect the process of resilience. In particular, drawing on the conceptual framework proposed by Mallak we analyzed an in-depth case study in a public sector organization (PSO) identifying some contextual dimensions implicated in the process of building resilience. In our analysis, we identified two main elements that affect resilience: Risk perception and the use of accounting. Results shown how risk perception is perceived as a trigger, while accounting is considered as an enforcer in the process of building resilience capacity. The results also show the way accounting is implicated in the management of austerity programs and supporting the creation of a resilient public sector organization. In our case, the risk has become an opportunity for change. In the face of these budget cuts, management began refocusing the company’s mission from infrastructure maintenance to providing services with a market-based logic.

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