LEARNING FROM NOTES:Organizational Issues in Groupware Implementation

Wanda J. Orlikowski

Sloan School of Management, M.I.T.

Presentation by Swapnil Sinvhal

CPSC 671: Spring 2004

1992

Introduction

Introduction of groupware into an organization

Results affected by People’s mental models Organization’s structure Organization’s culture

On it’s own, groupware unlikely to lead to group work

Case study – Lotus Notes

Goal of the study

To investigate whether and how the use of a collaborative tool changes the nature of work

Does it relate to social interactions in the office?

Intended / Unintended consequences

Research Site and Methods

Large Services Firm (Alpha Corporation)

Studied 1 office over 5 months, 90+ interviews

Hierarchical (4 levels)

Matrix form – client work - local offices, decentralized management centralized at head quarters office

Phase where Lotus Notes has just been introduced to “leverage the expertise of our firm”

Principals

Managers

Sr. Consultants

Staff Consultant

Research results

Background

Cognitive Elements

Structural Elements

How did it start ?

A new CIO

… “playing with Notes”

… realized it was “a breakthrough technology”

… with the potential to create “a revolution”

Cognitive Elements

Communication about Notes

Top-down approach; user pull

Rapid installation It’s a database housed

somewhere in the center of the universe.

It’s big email.

I’ve heard that it’s hard copy of email ... but I am not very clear about what it is exactly.

I know absolutely nothing about Notes. I don’ t know what it is supposed to do.

The Management speaks …

Our strategy was to blast Notes through our organization as quickly as possible, with no prototypes, no pilots, no lengthy technical evaluation. We want to transform the way we deliver service to clients.

We made a conscious decision between whether we should throw it [Notes] to the users versus spending a lot of time training. We decided on the former.

Training on Notes

Self-study (Video tape, workbook)

Classroom training (4 hours, hands on exercises by computer support personnel)

Did not emphasize collaborative nature or possible business value

Training resembled that of personal productivity tools

Perceptions I think it will reduce the time of gathering information.I think it will cut down on frustration in transferring information.

But it is not a radical change.

I see Notes as a personal communication tool…

Source of image: http://www.jainworld.com/literature/story25i1.gif

Structural Elements (1 of 3)

Reward Systems Senior Consultants and Managers Stress on “billable hours” Skeptic – so unwilling to spend personal time Time spent on Notes “less legitimate” Use of Notes seen as potentially disrupting

Principals Less pre-occupied with time constraints Less concerned about “billable hours” Willing to take a longer-term, firm-wide perspective on Notes

Structural Elements (2 of 3)

Policies and Procedures

No explicit procedures and

policies around Notes

Security concerns

Anxiety over personal liability, embarrassment

Ambiguity – especially in local offices

May have inhibited wider application of Notes

I would definitely want to know who was looking at it.

I would not want to be cited by someone who hasn'ttalked to me first,

Structural Elements (3 of 3)

Firm culture and Work norms

Principals Tenured – “fraternal culture” More focused on interests of the firm

Levels below principal Competitive environment Little precedent, incentive for cooperation Less acceptance of collaborative features

Technologists Share technical expertise

People aren’t backstabbing consciously, it’s just thatthe environment makes people maximize opportunitiesfor themselves.

Summary of the findings

Effective Utilization of groupware affected by: People’s cognitions and mental models about their technology

and work Structural properties of the organization –

Policies, norms, reward systems

If people do not understand the technology, they will interpret it in terms of something they do understand

Success of groupware depends on the degree of collaboration, effort, cooperation … it depends on the group !!

Discussion

Early phase – participants expected to get accustomed to Notes … different from the concept of taking requirements from users

Learning groupware collectively

How do you devise a game plan if you have never played the game before?

Prof. W. J. Orlikowski

1999- , Professor of Information Technologies and Organization Studies at MIT's Sloan School of Mgmt

Ph.D., Stern School of Business at New York UniversityEaton-Peabody Chair of Communication Sciences at MITSenior editor for Organization ScienceResearch Interests: Information technologies and organizing structures Groupware technologies, electronic media in organizations Working virtually Social and economic implications of Internet technology use in

organizations (5 year project - NSF)

Prof. W. J. Orlikowski

By the same author "The Duality of Technology: Rethinking the Concept of Technology

in Organizations," Organization Science, 3, 3, 1992: 398-427. "Windows of Opportunity: Temporal Patterns of Technological Adaptation in Organizations," [with Marcie J. Tyre], Organization Science, 5, 1, 1994: 98-118. "Technological Frames: Making Sense of Information Technology in Organizations," [with Debra C. Gash], ACM Transactions on Information Systems, 2, 2, 1994: 174-207. "Genre Repertoire: The Structuring of Communicative Practices in Organizations," [with JoAnne Yates], Administrative Science Quarterly, 39, 4, 1994: 541-574. "Improvising Organizational Transformation over Time: A Situated Change Perspective," Information Systems Research, 7, 1, 1996: 63-92. "Explicit and Implicit Structuring of Genres: Electronic Communication in a Japanese R&D Organization," [with JoAnne Yates and Kazuo Okamura]. Organization Science, 10, 1, 1999: 83-103. "Using Technology and Constituting Structures: A Practice Lens for Studying Technology in Organizations," Organization Science, 11, 4, 2000: 404-428.