The Impact of Network of Actors on the Information Technology

Organisations’ reliance on Information Technology (IT) is rapidly increasing. IT strategy is developed and implemented for particular purposes by different organizations. We should therefore expect that there will be network of actors within the computing environment, and that such network of actors will be the key to understanding many otherwise unexpected situations during the development and implementation of IT strategy. This network of actors has aligned interests. Many organizations are developing and implementing their IT strategy, while little is known about the network of actors and their impacts, which this paper reveals. This paper describes how Actor-Network Theory (ANT) was employed to investigate the impact of network of actors on the development and implementation of IT strategy in an organisation. ANT was used as it can provide a useful perspective on the importance of relationships between both human and non-human actors. Another example: design and implementation of a B-B web portal, is offered for comparison.

Managing Multi-Organizational Interaction Issues

In Malaysia, major information technology transfers in public sector agencies are usually due to policy implementation. This policy-led technology transfer involves central government directives to the implementation agencies. The technology transfer process usually not only involves multi-organizations that consist of many public agencies and private sector organizations but also involved many phases. Each organization plays certain roles and contributes to the achievement of the technology transfer objectives. Each phase serves a different purpose and each role during each phase has different requirements. Coordinating and encouraging the multiple organization participation in each phase is complex and a challenge that may at least result in project delays or technological decision-making that based on non-technical considerations. In such a case, understanding and managing interactions between stakeholders are important in designing activities and strategies for effective technology transfer process suitable to local environment. This is especially true for technology that requires further development to adapt with local environment. This paper explores this issue in a case study of XYZ technology transfer in a Malaysian public agency. We make use an approach based on actor-network theory and the concepts of technology transfer stages. We found that ignoring issues emerged from interactions between stakeholders will not only delay the transfer process but will also render the project’s original objectives as not fully achieved.

Using I-D maps to Represent the Adoption of Internet Applications by Local Cricket Clubs

This chapter describes the development of a visual aid to depict the manner in which Internet applications are being diffused through local sporting associations. Rogers’ (2003) Innovation-Decision process stages, specifically the knowledge, persuasion, adoption and confirmation stages, are used as the theoretical basis for the aid. The chapter discusses the Innovation-Decision process as an important component of Rogers’ (2003) Innovation Diffusion approach. It then outlines the particular problem at hand, determining how best to represent different sporting (cricket) associations and their adoption and use of Internet applications across the innovation-decision process stages. Different data visualisation approaches to representing the data (such as line graphs and bar charts) are discussed, with the introduction of an aid (labelled I-D maps) used to represent the adoption of different Internet applications by cricket associations in New Zealand, Australia and the UK. The Internet applications considered are email, club websites, association and/or third party websites and the use of the Internet to record online statistics. The use of I-D maps provides instant interpretation of the different levels of adoption of Internet applications by different cricket associations.

Service Innovation Using Actor Network Theory

Our economy is becoming more and more service-oriented, with distinctions between services and non-services making less and less sense. In today’s society, innovations are no longer luxury items. Instead, they are necessities and a means of economic development and competitiveness. The introduction of innovative new services is a priority for most companies. Innovation now holds the key to service performance. Currently there is a lack of understanding of the science underlying the design and operation of service systems. New conceptual understanding and theoretical underpinnings are required to systematically describe the nature and behaviour of service systems. We believe that Actor Network Theory (ANT) can be used as a theoretical lens to study the development and adoption of service innovation. ANT is a heterogeneous amalgamation of conceptual, textual and social actors. It is well suited to explain and help with the design of service systems. The development and adoption of service innovation requires the integration of multiple elements including people, technologies and networks across organisations. Technologies and interests of actors need to be aligned and coordinated for successful service innovation. In this paper we show how ANT is adopted as a theoretical framework for understanding the relationships among the actors and show how these actors have their needs shaped by the network formation during the development and adoption of service innovation for a university.

The Need for Rich Theory to Realize the Vision of Healthcare Network Centric Operations

In a dynamic and complex global environment traditional approaches to healthcare delivery are becoming more and more inadequate. To address this von Lubitz and Wickramasinghe (2006e) proffered the need for a networkcentric approach that allows free and rapid sharing of information and effective knowledge building required for the development of coherent objectives and their rapid attainment. However, to realize this vision it is essential to have rich theory and robust approaches to analyse the levels of complexity of modern healthcare delivery. This paper discusses how this might be done by drawing upon the strong rich analysis tools and techniques of Social Network Analysis combined with Actor Network Theory.

A Potential Application of Actor Network Theory in Organizational Studies

In this chapter, an attempt will be made to discuss the place of Actor Network Theory in organizational studies. To narrow the scope of the research, attention will be focused solely on companies. The concept of ANT researched within the corporate setting has been one of the author’s interests for some years. Consequently, in this work the author will try to show some aspects related to Actor Network Theory in contemporary organizations. Since not every concept related to ANT within the corporate environment can be investigated in greater detail, two issues, namely ecosystem and power, have been selected to discuss the possible application of ANT in the studies on corporations.

Reassembling the Problem of the Under-Representation of Girls in IT Courses

The percentages of girls in developing countries undertaking information technology subjects in the post-compulsory years of education has remained persistently low: often under 25%. This is despite the fact that this particular phenomenon has been the subject of sustained international enquiry for at least three decades. This article investigates data collected during an Australian Research Council Linkage Grant project (2005-2007) that aimed to identify some of the contemporary reasons for this under-representation in Australian schools. The original phases of data collection proceeded from the belief that there was a clear and agreed understanding that the low numbers of girls was a problem worthy of analysis. As the project evolved, however, significant differences between the researchers’ perception of the underrepresentation and the participants’ views about the same issue. In this paper we make use of actor-network theory to ask key questions about the extent to which the enrolment of girls in IT is indeed ‘a problem’.

Innovation Translation, Innovation Diffusion and the Technology Acceptance Model

The process of innovation involves getting new ideas accepted and new technologies adopted and used. There are a number of different approaches to theorising technological innovation and this chapter will compare and contrast what I suggest are the most important three: Innovation Diffusion, the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Innovation Translation, giving examples of how each of these approaches is used in different situations. While there are many advantages to the use of an Innovation Translation approach, it should not be said that Translation offers a better approach than the others in all circumstances and that the others have nothing at all to offer; that would be rather too simplistic a view given the widespread use of Innovation Diffusion and TAM. This chapter proposes that perhaps it should not be a case of always using either one approach or the other but rather the use of whichever is most appropriate to a particular investigation.

Using S’ANT for Facilitating Superior Understanding of Key Factors in the Design of a Chronic Disease Self-Management Model

The S’ANT approach (Wickramasinghe and Bali, 2009) - namely the incorporation of Actor-network Theory and Social Network Analysis as proposed by Wickramasinghe and Bali 2009 in order to support a network centric healthcare solutions is proffered in the following as an appropriately rich lens of analysis in the context of the development of a chronic disease self-management model.

The Critical Role of Market Segmentation

The aim of this research is the investigate the role played by market segmentation, in general, and by the choice of initial market segment, in particular, in the ability of a product to cross the chasm. To do so, a theoretical framework, enabling to explain the ability of some firms to cross this chasm, while many others remain unsuccessful is developed. The key result of this research is that the choice of initial market segment has crucial importance as adoption in this segment can lead to a cascade of adoption in the other segments. To illustrate this proposition, three cases studies of an historical leader (Sony), a first mover (Archos) and a newcomer (Apple) in the market for digital audio players are presented.