Social Science Computer Review
Enterprise agility and the enabling role of information technology
European Journal of Information Systems - Including a special section on business agility and diffusion of information technology
Coordinating for Flexibility in e-Business Supply Chains
Journal of Management Information Systems
Can information technology enable profitable diversification? An empirical examination
Journal of Engineering and Technology Management
Exploring Perceptions of Organizational Ownership of Information and Expertise
Journal of Management Information Systems
SDG '09 Proceedings of the 2009 ICSE Workshop on Software Development Governance
Turn to the material: Remote diagnostics systems and new forms of boundary-spanning
Information and Organization
Entrepreneurial Optimism in the Market for Technological Inventions
Organization Science
Sources of errors in distributed development projects: implications for collaborative tools
Proceedings of the 2010 ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work
Lost in translation?!: the need for a boundary spanner between business and it
Proceedings of the 2010 Special Interest Group on Management Information System's 48th annual conference on Computer personnel research on Computer personnel research
Marketing and ICT integration as product innovation key factors
International Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning
The process of embedding new information technology artifacts into innovative design practices
Information and Organization
Improving the use of interorganisational ICT in a project-based environment
International Journal of Information Systems and Change Management
Dormant Ties: The Value Of Reconnecting
Organization Science
The role of content management systems in publishing firms
International Journal of Information Management: The Journal for Information Professionals
Knowledge, Communication, and Organizational Capabilities
Organization Science
Sustainable enterprise interoperability from the Activity Domain Theory perspective
Computers in Industry
Extending the Information-Processing View of Coordination in Public Sector Crisis Response
International Journal of Electronic Government Research
Beyond the computer: Changing medium from digital to physical
Information and Organization
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This paper explores the economic processes through which information technology can facilitate coordination within and between firms. The paper presents and analyzes a case study of the B-2 "Stealth" bomber, an aircraft that was designed by four firms almost entirely by computer. The key information systems used in the project were (1) a common-access database to manage part designs and (2) an advanced system to perform structural analysis. These systems played a crucial role in enabling the four firms to coordinate their design and development activities precisely enough to meet the demanding engineering requirements imposed by the aircraft's unique mission. The paper analyses the case study using transaction cost, agency, and information processing theories. The analysis leads to several conclusions about the mechanisms through which the variables emphasized in these theories operated to improve coordination. First, the information systems aided coordination directly by making information processing less costly. Second, this enhanced information processing made the governance of the project more efficient. In particular, by establishing a "technical grammar" for communication, the systems helped to create social conventions around which firms could coordinate their activities, thus limiting the need for a hierarchical authority to promote coordination. This technical grammar also reduced governance costs by reducing asset-specificity, thereby reducing risks associated with contractual holdup. These interactions between communication and governance effects have not been elucidated in the IT/coordination literature. They are important in part because they help explain why the vertically disintegrated organization of the project proved viable. Finally, the systems facilitated decentralized decision-making by reducing agency (measurement) costs. This combination of effects may generalize to other settings in which information technology is used to promote coordination, especially in "virtual" or "disaggregated" corporations.