Information Systems for Multinational Enterprises Some Factors at Work in their Design and Implement

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Information Systems for Multinational Enterprises
- Some Factors at Work in their Design and
Implementation

• Hans Lehmann
• Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
• Brent Gallupe
• Queens University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada

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IIS are

• Distributed information systems that are
  implemented at various sites within one
  enterprise to support similar business activities
  in highly diverse environments, commonly found
  across country boundaries.

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IIS are

• Distributed information systems that are
  implemented at various sites within one
  enterprise to support similar business activities
  in highly diverse environments, commonly found
  across country boundaries.

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IIS area minority interest

• ABI Inform Search Information Systems as
  keyword
• 34,919 papers between 1985 and 2002
• ABI Inform Search with keyword International
  Information Systems
• 234 papers in same timeframe and
• between 1/3 and 1/2 other country studies
• Little theory or frameworks to guide practice
  research

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Research Method

• Describing how are IIS different?
• Understanding what are their dynamics?
• Explaining how do they work?
• Theory building is needed
• Grounded Theory Method
• adapted for organisational cases and technology

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The Research Project

• Based on three case studies
• The CO-OP, an agribusiness marketing
  co-operative (Australasia)
• SHIPPER, a Danish shipping firm and
• FREIGHTER, a Switzerland-based international
  freight forwarder

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CO-OP

• Large global presence
• Tried to implement an global-standard IIS
• Rejection from Users
• Attempt to force it
• Destructive political dialectic
• Project terminated after 6 years with no complete
  implementations

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SHIPPER

• Well integrated IIS
• Austerity
• Smaller than CO-OP
• Not as widely dispersed

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FREIGHTER

• Large firm (CO-OP)
• Wide global presence (260 offices, 85 countries)
• IIS and Business in Strategic Unity
• Sophisticated project organisation

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Distribution of Interviews for each Case by
Organisational Location
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influences
determines
Synchronicity
Theory Overview
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Central
Global Business and Technology Force Field
Territorial Forces
Functional Forces
Business People
Functional Force Field
Potential Territorial Force Field
IT People
Territorial Force Field
Local
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Generic IIS Architecture
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Synchronicity of Key Transactions in SHIPPERs
Business Operations

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How to apply Synchronicity?
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Response Cycles
Force Field
Response Cycles
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Cause-Effect-Loopsafter Weick (1979)
Change in the same direction, i.e. the more of
B, the more of A or the less of B, the less of A
Change in the opposite direction, i.e. the more
of A, the less of B or the less of A, the more
of B
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The Response Dynamics Acceptance
Acceptance Cycle
FunctionalQuality
?


?
Acceptance

Business/ITIntegration
?
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The Response Dynamics Rejection
Acceptance Cycle
Rejection Cycles
-
?
FunctionalQuality
Rejection
?



-

?
Acceptance
Win/LoosePolitics
?


Business/ITIntegration
IT in Isolation
?
?
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The Response Dynamics Conflict Resolution
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GTs effectiveness
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What next?

• Academic
• Synchronicity in extended substantive area
• Response Cycle integration with other IS research
• Practitioner
• Architecture framework
• Synchronicity analysis
• Conflict-bypass project organisation