A set of principles for conducting and evaluating interpretive field studies in information systems
MIS Quarterly - Special issue on intensive research in information systems
Understanding GDSS in symbolic context: shifting the focus from technology to interaction
MIS Quarterly - Special issue on Intensive research in information systems: using qualitative, interpretive, and case methods to study information technology—third installment
Sorting things out: classification and its consequences
Sorting things out: classification and its consequences
Information Management: The Organizational Dimension
Information Management: The Organizational Dimension
Managing stakeholders around inter-organizational systems: A diagnostic approach
The Journal of Strategic Information Systems
EGOV '09 Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Electronic Government
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This paper reports upon I.T. initiatives in the U.K. public sector where choices were made, decisions taken, major investment authorised, and new I.T. introduced. The research investigation followed practice over several years in three Police Forces as new information technologies were introduced. We focus on these I.T. trajectories, and in particular the actions, interactions and events within and across groups of people. We argue that practices surrounding I.T. choice are socially shaped. Indeed, the choices and subsequent acquisition can be viewed as part of a process of ongoing configuration. We argue that Social Worlds Theory has much to offer in understanding what happens as I.T. trajectories evolve in organisations. The empirical part of the paper reports upon the findings from a longitudinal, cross-case analysis within the three Police Forces - institutions that are often characterised as bureaucratic in form, and culture. In each case, the I.T. trajectories were followed utilising a variety of qualitative techniques. Drawing upon social worlds theory, and boundary objects, we consider the influence of certain 'objects' upon I.T. outcomes, and the way in which other boundary objects become a focus for the construction of apparent facades of formality.