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International Journal of Information Management

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A techno-cultural emergence perspective on the management of techno-change

Stephen Jackson a,∗ , George Philip b
a
Information Systems, Business School, University of Bedfordshire, Luton campus, Vicarage Street, Luton, Bedfordshire LU1 3JU, United Kingdom
b
Management and Information Systems, School of Management, Queen’s University of Belfast, United Kingdom

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Using Cultural Theory derived from Anthropology as a theoretical lens, this paper investigates the role of
Received 18 November 2009 culture in the management of techno-change (short for technological change). More specifically, using
Accepted 26 January 2010 this lens, the relative effectiveness of three approaches in the management of techno-change, namely,
Available online xxx
technological determinism, cultural determinism and techno-cultural emergence perspective, is exam-
ined. Using findings from three in-depth interpretative case studies, the central thrust is that neither
Keywords:
technological determinism, nor cultural determinism, will be successful in the management of techno-
Organisational culture
change and that what is required is a techno-cultural emergence perspective in the enabling forms of
Technological change management
Techno-change
hierarchism, individualism/market, and egalitarianism for successful management of techno-change.
Anthropology Managers should avoid a top-down technocratic or culture-driven approach to implementing and man-
Cultural Theory aging techno-change. Instead an incremental/evolutionary approach with ad-hoc improvisation made to
Emergence perspective culture and technology over time and space makes for an effective techno-change solution.
© 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction The techno-cultural emergence perspective is recommended

In today’s competitive global business environment, the effec-
tive management of techno-change is becoming critical for all
organisations. Despite this, questions regarding how techno-
change occurs and how it can be successfully managed remain
unclear (Macredie & Sandom, 1999). Unfortunately, this has
exacerbated rather than resolved the complexity and confu-
sion surrounding its study. This paper briefly examines existing
research on organisation culture in the context of managing
techno-change, and reviews three major perspectives – techno-
logical determinism, cultural determinism and techno-cultural
emergence – for understanding the relationship between the two
concepts.
The central tenet of this paper is that neither technological
determinism, nor cultural determinism, will be successful in the
management of techno-change and that what is required is a
techno-cultural emergence perspective in the enabling forms of
hierarchism, individualism/market, and egalitarianism to foster
an environment conducive to techno-change. Technological deter-
minism, because of its lack of attention to organisational culture
will be unsuccessful in the management of techno-change. Cultural
determinism, because of its lack of attention to technology will also
be unsuccessful in the management of techno-change.
as the most effective way to bring about techno-change. Techno-
change should not be regarded as an episodic event which can
be planned and managed within a definite time frame. Instead, it
requires significant attention to both emerging cultural and tech-
nological issues arising over a lengthy IT implementation lifecycle.
Against this background, the broad aim of this paper is to
investigate the role and influence of organisational culture in the
management of techno-change using Cultural Theory borrowed
from Anthropology as a theoretical lens. After presenting three
perspectives for understanding the management of techno-change
– technological determinism, cultural determinism and techno-
cultural emergence – their relative effectiveness is scrutinised
using the above lens (Cultural Theory). In Section 2, different
perspectives which have been utilised for investigating the man-
agement of techno-change and implications for organisational
culture are reviewed. In Section 3, the Cultural Theory framework
is introduced, and is followed by a discussion of how it can used
as an innovative lens for understanding techno-change, and its
management. An overview of the research method used in this
investigation is provided in Section 4, and this is followed by empir-
ical findings/discussion in Section 5. Finally, Section 6 discusses the
main conclusions.
2. Techno-change management and organisational
culture—a brief review

∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +44 01582 743714. In this section, three different perspectives for understand-
E-mail address: stephen.jackson@beds.ac.uk (S. Jackson). ing the relationship between techno-change management and

0268-4012/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2010.01.008

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Table 1
Three major perspectives for understanding techno-change.

Technological determinism Cultural determinism Techno-cultural emergence

View of techno-change Emphasis is on technology
Relationship between organisational Naïve assumption that
culture and techno-change technology will drive cultural
change and ensure
techno-change success
Direction Unilateral
Change focus Planned
Change approach Radical
Criticism Neglect of organisational
culture and emergence
perspective
Emphasis is on cultural issues
Naïve assumption that culture will
drive technological change and
ensure techno-change success
Unilateral
Planned
Radical
Neglect of technology and
emergence perspective
Emphasis on both technology and culture
Employs the concept of subtle improvisation
Ongoing improvements made to culture and
technology over time
Bilateral
Emergent
Incremental
Currently little understanding of emergence
perspective in managing techno-change

organisational culture are reviewed, and the implications of each
perspective are discussed. A detailed description of these three
perspectives is given below and a summary of their main char-
acteristics are captured in Table 1.
2.1. Technological determinism
Technological determinism takes the view that technology is
the key determinant for driving cultural change and bringing about
techno-change success and that change can be planned and imple-
mented in a top-down fashion by senior management. Information
technology (IT) is perceived as a device by senior managers for cul-
tivating a new organisational landscape (Robey & Boudreau, 1999).
In this perspective, resistance to change is predominantly the result
of technical issues with existing IT systems, for example, frequent
systems downtime, poor IT functionality or IT incompatibility. The
view taken is that if existing IT problems can be improved through
the introduction of new IT systems then resistance is likely to fade
away and cultural transformation will simultaneously follow.
However, using IT as a tool to drive techno-change or transform
the organisational culture rarely works. A major shortcoming of
technological determinism is the neglect of cultural issues which is
also cited as one of the main reasons why IT implementation fails
(Heracleous, 2001; Markus, 2004). For example, Huang, Newell,
Galliers, and Pan (2003) found that organisational culture greatly
hindered information sharing and collaboration in implement-
ing component-based development (CBD). Similarly, Von-Meier
(1999) concluded that organisational culture can act as a source
of conflict and resistance in achieving technological process inno-
vation.
Unfortunately an investigation of the role and influence of
organisational culture in the management of techno-change has
largely been overlooked or considered a marginal issue by prac-
titioners and IS researchers so far (Martinsons & Davison, 2003).
McDonagh (2001, p. 12), for example, notes “it is disappointing to
find that most IT/IS change initiatives are dominated by economic
and technical considerations to the relative exclusion of human and
organisational considerations”. Too many IT-related organisational
change initiatives fail due to the disproportionate attention given
to the potential of technology at the expense of cultural issues or
the failure of senior management to build and foster culture which
supports techno-change (Clegg et al., 1997; Davison & Martinsons,
2003; Ruppel & Harrington, 2001). Nowhere is this point more
clearly demonstrated than in the many reported failures of Business
Process Reengineering (BPR) initiatives. A specific example is the
much widely reported failure of the IT system developed by the FBI
(Holmes, 2005). This system was designed and implemented with-
out taking into account the traditional culture of this organisation
of not trusting its own members and apparent lack of co-operation
in the sharing of information.
2.2. Cultural determinism
In sharp contrast to technology driven approach, cultural deter-
minism takes the view that neglect of human and cultural factors
are the main cause of techno-change failure. From this perspec-
tive, the major causes of resistance are factors inherent in people
and groups. The solution to successful IT implementation relies
on improving or transforming the organisational culture prior to
introducing the new IT solution. Tactics to instigate cultural trans-
formation might include: gaining top-down support from senior
management, getting users involved with systems design, encour-
aging teamwork by breaking down departmental barriers, employ
methods to improve staff motivation or enhance managerial deci-
sion making processes.
Cultural determinism involves a top-down planned approach
instigated by senior management. The main assumption taken
is that radically changing the culture prior to IT implementation
will drive techno-change and lead to success. In this perspective,
organisational culture is viewed in fairly simplistic terms—as some-
thing which is collectively shared and susceptible to managerial
manipulation and control. The essence for improving organisa-
tional efficiency is for organisations to develop a strong unified
culture. Therefore, the greater the shared values of an organisation,
the organisational culture will be in a greater or stronger position
to facilitate techno-change (Cabrera, Cabrera, & Barajas, 2001).
Take, for example, the literature on New Public Management
[NPM, UK] (Metcalfe & Richards, 1992; Perry & Kraemer, 1983) or
Reinventing Government [USA] (Osborne & Gaebler, 1993)—many
public sector organisations have responded to techno-change, by
radically introducing cultural change programs (e.g. TQM, Out-
sourcing, reduced bureaucracy, measurement of performance) like
private sector organisations in the expectation that it will automat-
ically facilitate the implementation of new technological systems.
However, even after the deployment of such cultural change ini-
tiatives many organisations are failing in the introduction of new
IT systems. This is often attributed to insufficient attention being
paid to technological issues such as poor requirements capture,
problems of data import, inadequate testing of software, poor train-
ing, systems complexity or weak project management (Goldfinch,
2007). Markus (1983) for example, in her study of a financial infor-
mation system (FIS) illustrated that technical factors can inhibit
FIS acceptance and should not be neglected. Lack of compatibility
between the old system and new systems, inadequate considera-
tion given to storage requirements, problems with data entry and
report generation greatly hampered techno-change and acted as
major causes of failure.
2.3. Techno-cultural emergence perspective
One area of concern with a deterministic logic is conceptual-
ising change solely as a planned activity by senior management,

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and assuming that the outcome of change is stability. This view
is outdated and change should be regarded as an ongoing activ-
ity (Ciborra, 2000). Tsoukas and Chia (2002, p. 568), for example,
highlight that change should be treated as a normal part of organ-
isational life rather than an episodic event. They argue “one must
take into account the possibility of organisational change having rami-
fications and implications beyond those initially imagined or planned”.
Techno-change consists of an element of flux, paradox and surprise,
and not all cultural and technological events can be planned or con-
sidered a priori by senior management from the beginning to the
end of IT implementation.
The techno-cultural emergence perspective takes the view that
neither changing the culture (through manipulation or coercion),
nor changing the technological attributes of the system (by intro-
ducing a new IT system), in isolation, prior to IT implementation
will lead to techno-change success. Instead, what is required is
ongoing attention given to unanticipated cultural and technolog-
ical issues arising over time and space. From this perspective, both
culture and technology are refined and improved upon on a contin-
uous basis. The role of managers is to respond to techno-change in
an ad-hoc/incremental fashion. Markus (2004), for example, high-
lighted that an emergent/ad-hoc approach can be a better strategy
in implementing and managing techno-change. Similarly, Gardner
and Ash (2003) argued that the failure of IT-change interventions
and poor management practices is often the result of senior man-
agers’ disregarding the emergent/continuous nature of change.
They further argue that an understanding of the ongoing dynamic
interaction between people and technology is essential for success-
ful techno-change.
In the light of the above three perspectives on the management
of techno-change, the following three propositions are put forward
for empirical testing:
Proposition 1. Technological determinism, because of its lack of
attention to culture and lack of an emergence perspective, will be
unsuccessful in the management of techno-change.
Proposition 2. Cultural determinism, because of its lack of atten-
tion to technology and lack of an emergence perspective, will be
unsuccessful in the management of techno-change.
Proposition 3. A techno-cultural emergence perspective because
of its ongoing attention given to culture and technology can foster
an environment conducive to techno-change.
3. Introduction to Cultural Theory
Cultural Theory is an anthropological approach developed by the
world renowned British anthropologist Douglas (1970). Her main
focus was on devising a classification framework to understand the
different types of social relations which exist in society and how
individuals structure their perceptions. Douglas was particularly
interested in observing different belief systems which individu-
als enacted toward religious practices, symbolism, witchcraft and
drinking habits. Cultural Theory argues that one’s social position
can be defined by two basic dimensions grid and group, subse-
quently producing four ways of life, each with a corresponding
bias.
Grid refers to the extent to which an individual’s life is governed
by rules and regulations. An example of high grid would be the
British Monarchy with its distinguishable roles and ranks in society.
An individual’s position in society is not obtained through merit
but instead through birth right. In low grid, individuals will be less
governed by fixing factors—rules and positions in society are not
predetermined or fixed. Instead, they are subject to arbitration.
Group refers to the extent to which an individual’s freedom is
controlled by the group in which they live or work. Douglas (1970)
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3
Fig. 1. Cultural Theory and the four ways of life.
recognises that belonging to group can place constraints on how
people behave. In a high group setting, members will be compelled
to act in accordance with the collective interests of the group. In
low group environments, members will be less compelled to act
in the interests of the group, and are free to associate and interact
with whom they please. In the group dimension, individuals have
a choice as to whether they want to belong to a group. An example
of a low group environment would be a golf club compared to a
religious cult (high group).
The application of the two dimensions – grid and group – leads to
four ways of life with contrasting cultural cosmologies (see Fig. 1).
Cosmology refers to the values and beliefs which are appropriate to
a way of life (Douglas, 1970). These include: fatalism, hierarchism,
individualism/Market and egalitarianism.
Fatalism is characterised by strong grid and weak group. Indi-
viduals exemplifying this way of life display values of apathy and
fear.
Hierarchism is characterised by strong grid and strong group.
There will be a strong emphasis on order, discipline and coordina-
tion of tasks to ensure that events stay on course.
Individualism/market is characterised by both weak grid and
weak group. In this cosmology there will be ample opportunity for
creativity and innovation.
Egalitarianism is characterised by weak grid and strong group.
Group concerns take priority over individual interests. Members
will stress the importance of group-ethos, teamwork and trust.
Regardless of Douglas’s contribution to providing a means of
classifying cultures, Douglas’s work has been criticised (Thompson,
Ellis, & Wildavsky, 1990) for holding each cultural type stable. Being
concerned with the stability of each cultural type and determinis-
tic notions, numerous researchers (Schwarz & Thompson, 1990;
Thompson et al., 1990) have put forward a more dynamic theory to
account for change, dynamism and emergence.
Cultural Theory distinguishes three important interrelated con-
cepts with regards to understanding culture: social relations,
cultural bias and way of life. Social relations are defined as patterns of
social associations, cultural bias refers to values and beliefs enacted
by a pattern of social relations, and finally a viable combination of
social relations and cultural bias refers to a way of life. Belonging
to a particular set of social relations generates a particular world-
view. Therefore social relations and cultural biases do not associate
in any random way. As Thompson et al. (1990, p. 2) acknowledges
“shared values and beliefs are thus not free to come together in any
which way; they are always closely related to the social relations they
help legitimate”.
The theory acknowledges that culture is always in a state of
constant disequilibrium. It explores the different cognitive modes
through which people interpret, act out or understand their social
world. While it assumes that culture consists of various ways of
life, it also introduces the notion of pluralism between ways of life.
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Schwarz and Thompson (1990) believe that each of the cultural

biases has a restricted view on the world, and therefore having sev-
eral cultural biases gives a society a broader perspective. Hendriks
(1999) in presenting a cultural approach to policy orientated learn-
ing emphasised the importance of cultural pluralism and cross
fertilisation. The theory argues that each type of cultural bias is
inevitably connected to a certain type of cultural blindness.

3.1. Cultural Theory and the management of techno-change

Having introduced Cultural Theory, the obvious question(s) one

has to ask is: how does Cultural Theory provide new insights into
our understanding of techno-change and its management?
Cultural Theory is put forward as an effective framework for
offering new insights into our understanding of techno-change,
by moving away from technological and cultural deterministic
views of change, towards understanding the effectiveness of the Fig. 2. Enabling characteristics.

emergence approach. Schwarz and Thompson (1990), in their

application of Cultural Theory to study politics, technology and
own advantage, leading to non-collaborative behaviour (Tsohou,
social choice criticised the technologically deterministic view as
Karyda, Kokolakis, & Kiountouzis, 2006).
unsophisticated, because of its excessive focus on technology to
In its enabling form, egalitarianism fosters knowledge shar-
the exclusion of human and cultural issues. They argued that the
ing, teamwork and trust to exist between organisational members
introduction of technology can raise awkward side effects (Schwarz
(Adler, 2001). Most of the recent technological innovations such
& Thompson, 1990), and they should not be considered in iso-
as ERP systems, Groupware applications and intranet/extranet can
lation from issues of culture. The authors also stress the naivety
only be effective if individuals are willing to work as part of a
of cultural determinism for assuming the solution as entirely cul-
team/group. In its constraining form, egalitarianism due to its lack
tural rather than technological. Deterministic/planned approaches
of a clearly defined leadership, can lead to breach of trust, disagree-
totally ignore how technology and culture are socially constructed.
ments and internal rivalry. As mentioned earlier, Holmes (2005),
They are also associated with a highly dominant hierarchical cosmol-
in studying cultural issues at the FBI, found that lack of trust
ogy where, as defined in Cultural Theory (high grid/high group), a
between agents had a strong negative impact on techno-change.
top-down approach is taken in bringing about techno-change.
An overview of the enabling and constraining effects of each way
Each way of life can have both enabling and/or constraining
of life is outlined in Figs. 2 and 3.
characteristics. Although organisational members socially con-
Obviously one has to raise the question: which perspec-
struct values, they do not associate and socially construct meaning
tive/cosmology(ies) is/are appropriate for the successful manage-
freely, but do so within structured perceptions of thought. These
ment of techno-change? It is proposed that neither technological
structures can place constraints on how individuals will behave
determinism nor cultural determinism, will be successful in the man-
and the actions they undertake, and it can generate both enabling
agement of techno-change, and what is required is a techno-cultural
and/or constraining effects. Enabling cultural values can facili-
emergence perspective in the enabling forms of individual-
tate and promote an environment conducive to techno-change. In
ism/market, hierarchism and egalitarianism. Managers should strive
contrast, constraining cultural values can lead to members inter-
continuously to reduce the constraining cultural characteristics and
acting in dysfunctional ways, which can hinder the management of
create a facilitative socio-technical environment by promoting the
techno-change. Take, for example, the work of Robey and Boudreau
enabling cultural cosmologies. As Fig. 4 illustrates, organisations
(1999) who used the “logic of opposition” to study the organisa-
require the creativity, drive and innovation of individualism/market;
tional consequences of information technology. In contrast to the
the visionary leadership, resources and coordination of hierarchism,
logic of determination, the logic of opposition explains organisa-
and the teamwork, trust and knowledge sharing of egalitarianism.
tional change by identifying forces both enabling (“promoting”) and
This view is supported by other researchers who have recog-
constraining (“impeding”) change. The important point to grasp is
nised that there are distinct advantages in fostering the three
that these enabling/constraining values cannot be planned from the
outset, but may manifest and change over time and space.
Fatalism, due to its outlook privileging apathy and fear, may
form an impeding environment to surface in times of change
(Kaarst-Brown & Robey, 1999). Due to its social orientation favour-
ing apathy and fear, fatalism possesses no enabling characteristics.
In its enabling form hierarchism can provide visionary leader-
ship and coordination. Indeed, the inspiring leadership and vision
of managers in a hierarchical set up is critical in the effective
management of techno-change (Hendry, 1999). Too much control
and power can smother vision, foster dissatisfaction, leading to an
impassive cultural orientation (Tolsby, 1998).
In its enabling form, individualism/market can facilitate an ori-
entation of IT creativity and the bubbling up of innovative ideas
(Kanungo, Sadavarti, & Srinivas, 2001). An enabling individualistic
environment is essential for problem solving and responding to IT
challenges and breakdowns. In its constraining form, individual-
ism due to its idiosyncratic qualities promoting individual freedom
can create a culture where individuals seize opportunities to their Fig. 3. Constraining characteristics.

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Fig. 4. A techno-cultural emergence perspective and the enabling cosmologies.
enabling cultural cosmologies of hierarchism, individualism/market
and egalitarianism. Ruppel and Harrington (2001), for example, con-
cluded that intranet implementation is best supported by a cultural
orientation which encourages “policies, procedures and informa-
tion management” (hierarchism); also “flexibility and innovation”
(individualism/market); and “trust and concern for people” (egali-
tarianism). A similar view is expressed by Hendriks (1999, p. 431),
who also emphasised the need for the elimination of fatalism, as
it can act as a hindrance for social change. He highlights “the con-
tainment of fatalism is surely crucial to the development of a reflective
public domain”. Similarly, Adler (2001) highlighted the importance
of enabling “hierarchy”, “market” and “community/trust” in the
context of knowledge management for inter-firm relations.
However, membership of a cosmology is not fixed or perma-
nent; in fact it is dynamic in the sense that a person could be
a member of multiple cosmologies at the same time or migrate
between them. Thus a senior executive could be part of the hier-
archy, while at the same time he could a member of a group
(egalitarian) and be creative and innovative (individualist/market).
In a dynamic and changing technological environment, movement
within and between different ways of life should be the norm. In
other words, change should not always be regarded as planned,
change is continuous and emergent and, to account for this, migra-
tion and constant interaction between cosmologies is essential as
illustrated by the dotted lines and bold arrows in Fig. 4. The input
and commitment from all three cosmologies are critical in taking a
techno-cultural emergence perspective in the successful manage-
ment of techno-change.
This leads us to:
Proposition 4. A techno-cultural emergence perspective in the
enabling forms of hierarchism, egalitarianism and individualism/
market can foster an environment conducive to techno-change.
3.2. Recap of propositions
Proposition 1. Technological determinism, because of its lack of
attention to culture and lack of an emergence perspective, will be
unsuccessful in the management of techno-change.
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Proposition 2. Cultural determinism, because of its lack of atten-
tion to technology and lack of an emergence perspective, will be
unsuccessful in the management of techno-change.
Proposition 3. A techno-cultural emergence perspective because
of its ongoing attention given to culture and technology can foster
an environment conducive to techno-change.
Proposition 4. A techno-cultural emergence perspective in
the enabling forms of hierarchism, egalitarianism and indi-
vidualism/market can foster an environment conducive to
techno-change.
4. Sampling of cases
Three case studies were considered appropriate for this inves-
tigation, to allow for a deep consideration of cultural processes in
each organisation. Initially, approximately 15 organisations were
contacted. Although these efforts to gain access generated interest,
and many organisations expressed a desire to help, there were a
number of obstacles to this. Problems of accessibility and partici-
pation were experienced. Some organisations were not willing to
permit the level of access and interviews to allow deep insight into
the cultural environment. Some organisations had only recently
embarked on a major IT/IS implementation and the expanding time
frame was not deemed long enough to understand how the project
evolved over time.
Given the in-depth nature of the investigation, i.e. organisa-
tional culture and techno-change, a different strategy was chosen
for gaining entry into organisations. This included the use of a “gate
keeper”, i.e. knowing a person who works in an organisation in order
to gain entry (Brewer, 2000). This permitted the access required for
an in-depth study of cultural issues, and also allowed the oppor-
tunity to move from simple to more complex situations whilst in
the organisations. Furthermore, the research was fully approved
and endorsed by senior management. This strategy created greater
trust and willingness for employees to participate in the research
study.
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Table 2
Summary of the background and demographics of the three companies.

Case study A Case study B Case study C

Nature of business Further education college University administration Business/technology solution

Sector
Established
History/background
IT Maturity (prior to IS/IT implementation)
Number of employees
Number of staff affected by change
Turnover/revenue
Type of IS/IT system implemented
Customisable/locally adaptive
Planned outcomes of IS/IT system introduced
Composition of the groups/individuals
involved in IS/IT implementation
Off the shelf/custom developed
Holistic/cross departments
IT/IS implementation duration
Dates of data collection
Number of interviews
Public
Prior to 1910
Highly fatalistic/hierarchical
Low (reactive/rigid) (standalone
systems, limited cross-functional
integration, history of IS/IT failure)
220
220
– –
Virtual learning environment
(e-learning system)
Yes
To facilitate an e-learning environment
To improve administrative procedures
by reducing manual processes
Provide standardised internal
communication through email
Allow managers to evaluate course
performance, quality control,
budgeting and resource allocation
Steering group (consisted of director,
assistant directors and IT managers)
Project team members (managers from
different schools)
User champions (three members of
staff selected internally)
Off-the shelf package
Yes
2003–2005
August–October 2005
24
Public
Prior to 1900
Hierarchical
Low (reactive/rigid) (Islands of
automation, functional silos, static
business businesses, limited
cross-functional integration,
history of IS/IT failure)
3500+ 100+ (Admin building
studied)
100+
Integrated web-based workflow
system
Yes
To implement a fully integrated
payroll and personnel system
To facilitate workflow and
management reporting
Reduce duplicate entry and
optimise processes
Improve interdepartmental
communication
Steering group (directors and
deputy directors from human
resources, finance, information
technology)
Project team members (project
manager, managers from payroll
and HR, two managers from
information services and one
supervisor each from payroll and
HR)
User champions (several user
champions selected from within
payroll, finance and HR)
Software vendor (consisted of
project coordinator and
consultants)
Custom developed package
Yes
2001–2006 (ongoing at time of
study)
February–April 2006
12
provider
Private
1986
Individualistic/team-based
High (adaptive/optimal) (IT and
process integration across
departments, commitment to
continuous improvement, no
history of IS/IT failure)
190
190
Excess of 10 million (2005)
Groupware application (MS
SharePoint)
Yes
Allowing for better document
optimisation throughout the
project life cycle
Rationalising various stores and
providing a centralised web
browser to key knowledge areas
Provide key access from anywhere
and allow mobile access
Steering group (consisted of senior
management and project manager)
Project team managers (had
representation from departmental
managers, IS department and
project manager)
User selected from within each
department
Off-the shelf package
Yes
2004–2006 (ongoing at time of
study)
June–August 2006
10

Both private and public sector organisations were selected for
this investigation. Although the IT/IS implementation differed in
each organisation, the type of IT/IS introduced had to meet the
following criteria:
1. The aim of the techno-change in each organisation had to be
transformational, with the aim to improve organisational effi-
ciency.
2. The techno-change had to cut across various departments and
levels, and have strategic significance on overall business poten-
tial and performance.
3. Each organisation had to have made significant progress, i.e. be
in the latter stages of implementation, in order to permit the
depth required to understand how events emerged.
4.1. Research method
The main research strategy employed for this research is case
studies and multiple methods (in-depth interviews, documentary
analysis and observations). The use of case study research as a strat-
egy is a consistent with previous research carried out in the field
of IS-culture (Dube & Robey, 1999). The type of interview adopted
was unstructured/semi-structured, to allow for openness and the
uncovering of concealed views about the nature of the experience.
In total, 46 respondents were interviewed. Each interview lasted for
approximately one to one and a half hours. For this study, a number
of documents were used including, minutes of project meetings,
company blueprints, progress reports, internal documents, com-
pany literature, committee recommendation reports and project
plans. Observation was used to study the first-hand experiences
and feelings of the subjects in each particular setting. This consisted
of observing work arrangements, organisation layout, technology
used and organisational activities. The adopted position for this
research was that of “observer-as-participant” (Gold, 1969). This
was considered appropriate as it allows for an impartial perspec-
tive to be maintained at all times. It was decided to research both
private and public sector organisations, as IT/IS now affects all
organisational types. A small pilot study, i.e. series of several inter-
views, documentary analysis and observation were conducted in
each organisation to determine the approach followed in the man-
agement of techno-change (i.e. technological determinism, cultural
determinism or techno-cultural emergence), before commencing

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in-depth study. Two to three months were spent in each organisa-
tion, mostly during normal working hours. In order to appreciate
the context of each organisation, a brief background of each organ-
isation is outlined. A table summarising the background and the
demographics of the three companies is provided in Table 2.
4.2. Sampling procedures
Maximum variation sampling (Patton, 2002), namely, purpose-
fully picking a range of cases to explore variation on different
subjective viewpoints, was employed for this study. This involved
interviewing those members directly involved or affected by the
IT/IS implementation and included:
• Steering group members, i.e. senior management, directors, assis-
tant directors, project managers.
• Project team members, i.e. departmental and middle managers
from across departments.
• IT/user champions.
• System users.
Opportunistic sampling, that is, following new leads during field
work to take advantage of unexpected insights was also used in this
study. This occurred when interviewees recommended others who
they believed would potentially agree to participate in the study.
4.3. Data analysis
The research findings accumulated a large dataset, from in-
depth interviews, observational notes, documentary analysis, and
personal notes and reflections. In analysing the dataset it was
important that all sources of evidence were carefully documented
and analysed—this proved a strenuous and at times frustrating pro-
cess. HyperRESEARCH 2.6 (a qualitative analysis software to code,
analyse and retrieve data) was used to manage, analyse and retrieve
data. HyperRESEARCH proved useful for organising and managing
the data, mostly because of the large data set. This allowed for
increased comprehensiveness, which would have been both slow
and laborious using manual procedures. In analysing the data for
each organisation, two cases were created, including “approach to
techno-change” (planned versus emergence) and “implications of
techno-change approach” (consideration/treatment of culture and
technology). A finer-grained coding was performed on the data
using the Cultural Theory framework set out in Section 3.1. This
consisted of identifying constraining and/or enabling cultural cos-
mologies, the actions taken by managers to enabling/constraining
events, and at what stage in the implementation lifecycle the event
occurred.
5. Empirical findings
5.1. Case study A
In order to support and enhance student learning, this college
decided to implement a Virtual Learning environment (VLE). A VLE
is a software system which facilitates lecturers in the manage-
ment of online educational courses for their students and promotes
online learning. Historically, this organisation was not welcoming
of techno-change. Prior to implementation of the VLE the organi-
sation relied on a number of standalone systems and the cultural
disposition was fatalism (fear and apathy) and stifling hierarchism.
IT/IS is introduced in a piecemeal fashion and IS/IT failure was a
persistent feature of the past.
During project initiation in early 2003, excessive trust was
placed in the steering group to introduce techno-change, and lacked
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7
discussion from members outside the management circle. The
steering group took an obsessively top-down/think-big IT solu-
tion, assuming that the VLE system could drive cultural change and
ensure techno-change success. A review of project documentation
revealed a planned approach/model to change management. Fur-
thermore no attention was given to issues of organisational culture.
One assistant director highlighted: “when we introduced the tech-
nology we thought we had cracked it. . .we didn’t get to the cultural
issues!”. No attempt was made to take account of the unforeseen
incidents and consequently managers were not prepared for it.
Problems and complexities in converting to the new system were
not anticipated in advance.
Later that year, a meeting was organised by the steering group
with users to ensure organisational backing for implementation
of the VLE system. Ideas from organisational members to improve
IT creativity and efficiency, were not welcomed by managers in
this organisation and were often discouraged and “shot down”.
Users were distrustful of the motives for the change and felt
that management had an “ulterior motive” for incorporating the
new system. Both the steering group and project team managers
fostered an excessive command and control environment (con-
straining hierarchism). From the perspective of one head of school:
“they [management] hindered it advertently because of the cynicism
which they allowed to be created!”.
User champions took a reactive rather than a proactive role and
did little to inspire and motivate fellow users of the new system.
Values of self-interest (constraining individualism) emerged and
were enacted from the user champions. According to one IT man-
ager/project manager: “they [user champions] were looking out for
their own jobs. . .they were not proactive!” The response of the user
champions had various effects on the VLE implementation. Firstly,
the champions did not bolster up user support for the change;
secondly, they distanced themselves from taking part in change
and did not effectively share information to users; thirdly, the
ineffectiveness of the champions led to increased values of dis-
appointment among users. As one user highlighted: “they [user
champions] didn’t go out and spread the message. . .they should have
been out there!”.
As the VLE became deployed into the organisation, there was
increasing hostility towards it. The IT manager shared how the
uptake was “abysmal”. Indeed, a highly fearful and apathetic ori-
entation (fatalism) surfaced throughout the organisation, which
greatly restricted acceptance of the VLE. Users found the new sys-
tem as a burdensome chore, and still preferred traditional methods,
i.e. “chalk and talk” over using the new system. Furthermore, the
shift from oral/written communication to electronic communica-
tion (a planned component of the VLE) reinforced a constraining
egalitarian environment. Departments did not embrace the VLE
system like a team and changes in communication brought with
it rituals of “naming” and “shaming”, fostering a low trust envi-
ronment. Email messages were often misinterpreted from their
original meaning, resulting in hostility and deadlock emerging
between departments.
Project implementation meetings gradually became less fre-
quent and eventually fizzled out. There was little enthusiasm
for sustaining user acceptance in the project as it progressed. At
the time of the study, no organisational effectiveness had been
obtained through use of the VLE system and none of the origi-
nal planned outcomes of the change were achieved. The system
was not accepted and reliance on traditional/manual processes
continued to be the norm. If we refer to Table 1, the perspec-
tive followed was overwhelmingly technological determinism. The
steering group took a top-down planned technocratic approach
to change assuming that technology alone would drive cultural
change and promote techno-change success. Markus (2004, p. 6),
warns “IT is not a magic bullet, and using IT to drive organisational
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Table 3 firmed that a planned approach was followed. Goals and objectives
Key themes from the analysis of case study A.
were set prior to IT implementation to promote the change mis-
Techno-change event Effects/outcomes sion and vision. As part of a wider change program a number of
Top-down technocratic approach Management made the mistake immediate tasks were identified. These included breaking down
taken by steering group during that IT alone would achieve radical interdepartmental barriers and promoting teamwork, increased
initiation stage (early 2003) organisational change and cultural autonomy given to departmental managers to eradicate the highly
issues were neglected hierarchical mentality, review of existing work systems, and the
Excessive power and control The steering group fostered
introduction of performance-based compensation and reward pro-
(constraining hierarchism) frustration and pessimism
enacted by steering group in grams. To eradicate the old adversarial orientation a new project
attempting to obtain management structure was set up in 2003 and a new external
organisational backing for the IT project manager was appointed in 2004 to infuse cultural account-
application (late 2003)
ability and transparency into the organisation. The mistake the
Self-interest and lack of Short-term interests of user
co-operation (constraining champions fostered lack of organisation made, as one steering group commented, was viewing
individualism) by user knowledge sharing and increased cultural change as a one-off-event, and that “radically changing”
champions during systems sense of disappointment the culture prior to implementation would drive techno-change
adaptation (2004–2005) and ensure change success. One assistant director shared: “var-
Apathy and fear (fatalism) enacted Users took a very inactive role and
ious procedures were put in place to change the culture [prior to
from system users (2004–2005) made no attempt to migrate or
change their ways implementation]. . .we set up a project management structure, we
Lack of teamwork and trust Lack of leadership and provided a new project manager, we brought dedicated resources on
between departments authoritative values led to breach board. . .we expected that to be enough!”
(2004–2005) of trust and deadlocks
Although the workflow system was introduced after planned
Overriding problem Neglect of attention given to issues
of culture and emergence
cultural change and considerable attention was given to cultural
Learning outcomes IT alone does not make for an issues prior to implementation, insufficient attention was paid
effective techno-change solution to issues associated with introducing the technology itself and
other unanticipated issues arising throughout implementation.
One project manager highlighted how radical cultural change prior
to implementation was insufficient and a major problem in techno-
change is a strategy that can drive organisations straight into fail- change was neglect of technological issues.
ure”. During data conversion in early 2004 the role of the software
There was no evidence of cultural determinism; indeed, issues of vendor was to set up the screens and fields of the workflow system.
culture received no attention at all. The techno-cultural emergence An underlying reason for this was to provide a central repository
perspective was not followed in this case. Techno-change manage- to allow users to track the progress of information to be populated,
ment was not viewed as ad-hoc and evolving, and the organisation track required systems information and record any additional notes
was not reactive to emergent change events. Instead, the compo- perceived as important by users. Tracking information was vital as
nent parts of the college – steering group, user champions, project information on the progress of the project was changeable through-
team managers and system users – acted like the fractured pieces out systems implementation. However, the software vendor did not
of an ice flow sometimes clashing and, more often, drifting apart supply this facility. Lack of attention was given by the project team
resulting in a very static/inactive environment—exactly the oppo- and steering group in managing the vendor relationship. Important
site of what is required in the management of techno-change. information was not effectively tracked and could not be docu-
There is no sign of any mobility/socio-cultural dynamism within mented electronically by members of the project team. This acted
and between the three enabling cosmologies (individualism, hier- as a major obstacle to techno-change. One steering group member
archism, and egalitarianism) as outlined in Fig. 4. Instead, a highly shared: “data conversion and tracking all happening simultaneously,
constraining cultural orientation (fatalism, and constraining indi- leading to bottlenecks occurring”.
vidualism/market, egalitarianism and hierarchism) prevailed as Testing occurred in late 2004 and problems were encountered in
summarised in Fig. 3. The evidence provides considerable support the live payroll runs. Knowledge gaps occurred during testing, lead-
for Proposition 1 technological determinism, because of its lack of ing to misunderstanding of requirements. This greatly hindered the
attention to culture and lack of an emergence perspective, will be project in terms of validating new work processes and maintain-
unsuccessful in the management of techno-change. A summary of ing user participation in the project. Project document confirmed
the key themes from the analysis of case study A can be viewed in that “more formality” should have been given to data testing. Fur-
Table 3. thermore, the payroll manager was unable to fully perform her role
and did not become fully involved in testing. As a result, a decision
5.2. Case study B was taken by the steering group to pass some of the responsibility
from the payroll manager to the payroll supervisor, who was to be
Project initiation for an integrated web-based workflow system released to work full time on the project. However, given increased
began in 2001. Managers were concerned that the existing 10-year- freedom, the supervisor attempted to seize this opportunity to his
old system was becoming highly inefficient. A workflow system is own advantage (constraining individualism) and the manager did
a fully integrated web-based system to integrate information flows not want to relinquish her internal power structure of hierarchy
between departments. The rationale for introducing the new sys- (constraining hierarchism). Neglect of attention to testing resulted
tem included: concerns that the existing 10-year-old system was in the breakdown of communication between the payroll supervi-
becoming highly inefficient, lack of system and process integration sor and manager. One assistant director commented: “information
and duplicate entry. is power, and people feel that their role (position) could be threatened
Prior to systems implementation the prevailing cultural ori- by these things (new IT systems)!”
entation was not receptive to techno-change. Realising that the Historical conversions were more complex than first envisaged
organisational culture played a major part in managing techno- and unexpectedly brought about significant data integrity issues.
change, senior management made an initial effort to transform Data clean-up was required and this was time consuming and
the cultural values of the organisation. Project documentation con- became a further unwanted distraction to the project. When the

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system went live in 2005, major problems were encountered which Table 4
Key themes from the analysis of case study B.
would have been easily highlighted and eliminated if data entry
from testing would have been accurate; however, this was not the Techno-change event Effects/outcomes
case. This acted as a major problem and some reports had to be Top-down culture driven approach Management made the mistake
revised or reworked to amend this. was taken by steering group that radically changing the culture
At the time of study, feuds and deadlocks (constraining egali- during initiation stage (2001) prior to IT implementation would
tarianism) were common across departments. End-users felt they achieve techno-change success.
Cultural change was perceived as a
needed to be given more ownership and access to explore the
one-off event rather than journey
depths of the system and lack of attention was given to training Lack of attention given to data Inadequate attention was given to
issues. Due to the absence of training, user champions could not conversion and development managing the software vendor and
perform their role effectively in helping fellow users to use the new (early 2004) subsequent data conversion and
tracking issues
system. This resulted in a strong sense of inertia, fear and apathy
Lack of consideration given to Data discrepancies occurred
(fatalism) to surface among users. testing (late 2004) between users. Lack of
The technical difficulties experienced in reporting and data consideration given to testing
integrity problems resulted in the organisation reverting back to acted as a major hindrance to
using the old system in 2005, and the old system was still in use techno-change
Problems encountered during Neglect of attention during the
at the time of study. Management highlighted that techno-change
“go-live” (2004–2005) testing phase, resulted in reporting
was unsuccessful in that no organisational efficiencies had been errors
gained from introducing the workflow system. Technological problems caused the Change apathy and fear (fatalism)
If we refer to Table 1, it is clear that the perspective taken was reappearance of a constraining from system users, individualistic
cultural orientation tendencies of the payroll
cultural determinism. It was assumed that radically changing the
(2004–2005) supervisor, constraining
culture prior to implementation would drive techno-change and hierarchical orientation of payroll
bring about change success. This does not seem to be the case. The manager and constraining forms of
mistake they made was to think that cultural change is a “one- egalitarianism between
off” event rather than an ongoing process. Consequently, a highly departments
Overriding problem Neglect of technological issues and
constraining cultural environment (constraining forms of individ-
emergence
ualism, hierarchism, egalitarianism and fatalism) reappeared as the Learning outcomes Regarding cultural change as a
new workflow system was rolled out. “one-off-event” and neglect of
More crucially, there was considerable neglect of a number of technology does not make for an
effective techno-change solution
technological issues. These included the incompetence of the exter-
nal software vendor, flawed requirements capture, insufficient user
participation, and problems surrounding testing and training. There
is also no evidence of taking a techno-cultural emergence perspec- not led by the top it would have just been one of those initiatives that
tive. Indeed, there appears to be insufficient mobility/socio-cultural lasts for a bit and then users forget about it”.
dynamism within and between the three enabling cosmologies. In this organisation, IT problems, errors and breakdowns were
The evidence supports Proposition 2 cultural determinism because not neglected; instead they became opportunities for learning and
of its lack of attention to technology and lack of an emergence continuous improvement. Departments and organisational mem-
perspective, will be unsuccessful in the management of techno- bers were committed to spotting flaws and mistakes before they
change. A summary of the learning outcomes from analysing the arose. One HR officer highlighted:
case findings of case study B can be found in Table 4.
“Everybody gives their opinions, and actually suggesting, this
isn’t going to work, or there is a better way to do this, maybe a
5.3. Case study C
quicker way to do that”.
Project initiation began in early 2004 and was due to growing Organisational members were encouraged to identify creative
inefficiencies faced with its existing groupware system. Users often ways of implementing and improving change processes to enhance
complained that there were too many places to look for informa- IT/IS efficiency. Ideas were encouraged through the use of organi-
tion. The search facility with the existing system was poor in terms sational brainstorming sessions. For example, one issue which was
of searching the content of past documents and departments. Dif- unanticipated throughout training was difficulty in users finding
ferent teams were blogging using different platforms, and project free time to attend training sessions. In response, one creative idea
information not being effectively shared across different teams. put forward was to upload a training module using the new system.
Project implementation began in late 2004. The new system intro- As a result, users could access the training program when they had
duced was Microsoft SharePoint. Sharepoint is a portal based off free time and from any location. This enabled them to stay up-
the shelf package which facilitates sharing and management of to-date and refresh on any aspect of the system without having
documents. to wait for a course to be offered and allowed managers to main-
While there was the need for effective planning, the goals of tain a record of courses taken by users. This minimised training
the implementation were not set in stone. The strategy followed costs and eliminated many of the time-draining manual methods
was an iterative/open design approach that allowed for progressive of dissemination of training manuals.
improvements in technology and culture over time. According to The new system went live in the beginning of 2005. While going
one project manager: “we approached it in a subtly different way, but live one major unanticipated cultural issue which surfaced was the
not in a radically different way”. constraining individualistic tendencies of the sales team. Histor-
Users highlighted how top-down support (enabling hierar- ically, in this organisation there has been unwillingness for sales
chism) from the steering group was an “imperative” in mobilising members to co-operate with other in relation to sharing informa-
support, reinforcing the change vision and ensuring adequate tion. From the eyes of a sales member knowledge was power and
resources were provided. There was no evidence of a command the more they knew the more valuable they were to the com-
and control (constraining hierarchism) environment among man- pany. One user recalled: “the people in sales were not cohesively
agers in this organisation. According to one system user: “if it was together with the rest. . .the sales team did not want to give away

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any information. . .not wanting to share information. They were quite Table 5
Key themes from the analysis of case study C.
alone and individualistic”.
There was the risk that members of the sales team would not Techno-change event Effects/outcomes
accept the new system. Realising that significant change in organi- Techno-cultural emergent Ongoing attention given to emergent
sational culture of the sales team was required; intervention from approach taken by steering (unanticipated) cultural and
steering group members and the project manager played a vital role group during initiation stage technological issues during
in ensuring that sales members accepted the new system. Firstly, (early 2004) techno-change
Potential issues with delivering Problems became opportunities for IT
the project manager fostered support emphasising that the system
training (mid 2004) improvement and enhancement
could be used to help members of sales to get their numbers and Constraining individualistic There was the potential risk that sales
bonuses quicker. Secondly, coordination was maintained through tendencies of the sales team members would not accept the IT
the establishment of certain ground rules. For example, if members (early 2005) application. This constraint was
addressed and corrected by senior
did not put information into the new system and closed it, then it
management
did not get resourced. Thirdly, coaching and mentoring played an Ongoing/incremental Improved tracking and management of
important role in persuading members that the system would not improvements made to the IT customer information associated with
work in isolation. application (2005–2006) sales calls and better informed decision
As the new system became routinised within the organisation, making
Facilitation of an enabling cultural Clear lines of leadership, vision and
it reinforced a strong group-ethos and became a highly valued
environment throughout coordination (enabling hierarchism), IT
medium for sharing information (enabling egalitarianism). End- techno-change (2004–2006) creativity and innovation (enabling
users began to not only share important information within project individualism), and teamwork and
teams through blogging, but also began to share important project trust (enabling egalitarianism)
Learning outcomes Ongoing attention should be given to
information including lessons learnt and post-project informa-
emerging cultural and technological
tion. As users continued to use the new system for blogging and issues throughout techno-change
communication, information summaries became rich in value. The
project manager responded by improving the system’s functional-
ity. Project blogs were linked and listed to the central search facility Indeed, case study C has promoted a socio-technical environ-
of the new system and additional functionality was added to the ment in the enabling forms of individualism/market, hierarchism
system allowing users to sort project information by theme, cat- and egalitarianism and this made the management of techno-
egory, section and reviewer. Users continued to modify previous change successful and effective. If we refer back to Fig. 4, enabling
project summaries and improve on them. Also, managers began to individualism/market through creativity and innovation, coming
consider threads in the team sites, looking for subjects of common from both inside and outside the management circle was essential
interest within teams. for identifying IT opportunities and resolving emergent IT prob-
Further improvements were made to the groupware applica- lems and challenges. Many of the IT improvements which emerged
tion including the addition of a customer relationship management throughout IT implementation were due to organisational bright
package to consolidate key data. As a result, sales and marketing sparks, user champions and managers finding ways to continuously
managers benefited through enhanced collection and evaluation improve IT and organisational processes. Enabling hierarchism
of customer information. This allowed potential sale leads to be from the managers was vital to provide ongoing visionary leader-
better managed and now gives the organisation better “visibility” ship, resources and coordination. Improvisation was facilitated by
of any potential sales contacts. The project manager responded managers taking an enabling role rather than a coercive approach
by introducing an “opportunity register”, this included a folder of and the provision of dedicated resources. Enabling egalitarianism in
potential sales opportunities which the company might look at, the form of teamwork, trust and knowledge sharing was essential
and concentrate more effort. This enabled the organisation to find so that all groups moved simultaneously to support technology as a
and analyse relevant information from throughout the organisa- team. Clearly the evidence from case study C validates Proposition
tion and make better informed decisions more swiftly. In addition, 4—a techno-cultural emergence perspective in the enabling forms
managers began to use the system to post agendas and important of hierarchism, egalitarianism and individualism/market can fos-
documents prior to meetings. ter an environment conducive to techno-change. A summary of the
If we refer to Table 1, it is evident that the techno-cultural outcomes from analysing the findings of case study C can be found
emergence perspective was followed in case study C. Managers in Table 5.
highlighted how adopting a techno-cultural emergence perspec-
tive allowed techno-change to be very successful, all the planned 5.4. Cross-case analysis/discussion
outcomes of the change were achieved and the organisation
is experiencing greater enhanced organisational efficiency. Case In case study A management took the naïve assumption that
study C illustrated that a planned approach to change was overly technology would drive techno-change and bring about techno-
simplistic, and highlighted how an incremental rather than rad- change success. No attention was given to the cultural values and
ical approach with ongoing improvements made to culture and emergent issues surrounding the VLE implementation. Instead,
technology over time made techno-change effective. An ongoing a number of unforeseen cultural issues surfaced and acted as a
recursive relationship, by which the culture shaped the technology major reason for non-acceptance of the new system—the organ-
and the technology shaped the culture, emerged. The groupware isation reverted back to using traditional/manual processes. This
system emerged through continuous improvement and enhance- included the fatalistic values (fear and apathy) enacted by sys-
ment over a period of time. Although its introduction reinforced tem users, the constraining hierarchical approach (command and
a highly constraining individualistic environment to exist among control) enacted by management, the constraining individualist
the sales team, it also created a sense of urgency and importance (self-interest) tendencies of the user champions; and the constrain-
to reduce this orientation and promote an enabling cultural ori- ing egalitarian environment which emerged between groups. In
entation of acceptance. Thus, this case study provides support case study B, prior to introducing the workflow system manage-
for Proposition 3 namely a techno-cultural emergence perspective ment designed a program for cultural change. Managers took the
because of its ongoing attention given to culture and technology assumption that cultural change could drive techno-change. How-
can foster an environment conducive to techno-change. ever, neglect of attention was given to technological issues, which

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Table 6
A cross-comparison of cases.

Case study A Case study B Case study C

Perspective followed Technological determinism Cultural determinism Techno-cultural emergence

Assumption followed Naïve assumption that technology
could drive cultural change and
ensure techno-change success
Effect Neglect of organisational culture
and techno-cultural emergence
perspective
Change outcome Unsuccessful implementation
Anticipated change achieved Not achieved
Unanticipated Improvisation made to technology No
Unanticipated cultural issues addressed No
Naïve assumption that culture could
drive technological change and
ensure techno-change success
Neglect of technology and
techno-cultural emergence
perspective
Unsuccessful implementation
Not achieved
No
No
Ongoing (incremental)
improvements made to both
organisation culture and
technology over time
Attention given to culture and
technology on an ongoing basis
Successful implementation
Achieved
Yes
Yes

prevented use of the workflow system. These included problems
during data conversion and development, poor project manage-
ment, inadequate testing of software, lack of training and issues
arising during testing and reporting. Case study A and B should have
taken an incremental rather than the radical top down approach to
handling change issues. In case study C, techno-change was not
viewed as a linear process which could be planned within a given
time period by senior management; instead ongoing improve-
ments were made to both culture and technology throughout
techno-change. A cross-comparison of cases is presented in Table 6.
This study can obviously raise a number of deep, difficult and
awkward questions. For example:
What specific configurations can provide an acceptable balance of
the three cultural types so that they are likely to lead to positive
outcomes (i.e., foster environments that are conducive to techno-
change)?
Are there particular contexts in which configurations are likely
to adapt/change differently, e.g., some contexts where configura-
tions are more stable or where dynamics are more predictable than
others?
With regard to specific configurations of the enabling cultural
cosmologies, it is impossible to be prescriptive. It cannot be argued
that it should be 33% of each type. Indeed, Thompson et al. (1990)
makes the argument that societies will not combine these cultural
cosmologies in equal measures; instead they will be manifested
in different proportions. It cannot be claimed that such cultural
orientations in each organisation studied will continue to increase
or decrease along univocal lines, instead may strengthen/weaken
over time.
With regards to the second question (Are there particular
contexts in which configurations are likely to adapt/change dif-
ferently?), it is logical to argue that the dynamics of the cultural
cosmologies will vary in different contexts. This is because the chal-
lenges, main concerns and requirements of each organisation are
different. For instance, the needs of a public sector organisation
which is there to provide a service are quite different from that
of private companies. Organisations or businesses operating in a
static environment are often slow to respond to techno-change
than those operating in a deregulated/dynamic competitive envi-
ronment. Very often in the private sector, technology can be a major
driver of competitiveness and this may act as a major incentive for
fostering a dynamic and changing cultural environment for timely
and effective management of techno-change.
A note of caution, however; we do not claim to have definitive
answers to all of the dynamics and multiplicities implied in the
above questions. This is because organisational reality is painfully
complex when it comes to studying culture and change. For exam-
ple, it is difficult to be knowledgeable or even aware of one’s own
culture, even when one is acting out that culture. What we have
tried to do is to use three case studies to empirically test a number
of our own suggestions and ideas to address some of these com-
plex issues with a view to encourage further research, debate and
discussion among academics and researchers in this contentious
area.
A number of key learning points can be taken from this
paper. Managers should avoid a top-down technocratic or culture-
driven approach to implementing and managing techno-change.
Instead, an incremental/evolutionary approach with ongoing
improvements made to culture and technology makes for an effec-
tive techno-change solution. Managers and practitioners should
be aware that change consists of contentious and inescapable
technology-related issues as well as cultural issues. Adequate
attention should be given to managing the ongoing relationship
with the software vendor and the software contract. Effective train-
ing must be provided to ensure that users are competent in using
IT/IS systems and user participation is encouraged in the develop-
ment of IT/IS. Given the difficult and far-reaching nature of system
implementation projects, adequate attention needs to be given
to data conversion, interface development, systems testing and
reporting. Also, cultural issues should not be neglected through-
out techno-change. Adequate attention must be given by managers
to minimise the impact of the constraining cultural cosmologies
and continuously promote a techno-cultural environment in the
enabling cosmologies.
Cultural Theory can be useful for taking an emergence per-
spective in the management of techno-change. Cultural Theory
is both rich and dynamic. The theory is well suited for study-
ing culture as ongoing, socially constructed, which can generate
both enabling and/or constraining characteristics. The dimensions
(grid and group) are continuous and do not represent a static posi-
tion. Indeed, in all three cases studied, culture was not a static
phenomenon, and was formed and reformed in social relations
throughout IT implementation. The theory can serve as a very
effective framework which can be used by managers in manag-
ing techno-change, particularly in relation to addressing cultural
issues. Using this framework, practitioners and managers should be
able to identify both the enabling and constraining characteristics
of culture in order to take the appropriate actions. The framework
can also be used by managers for assessing where they have gone
wrong and what could be done to correct the situation.
Limitations of this study must also be recognised. For this
research study, an initial examination of how cultural events sur-
faced in each case was studied. Perhaps a better strategy would
have been to take a stage approach using a longitudinal method
or ethnographic method. For instance, conducting a number of
interviews at the start, during the middle and the latter parts
of each IT/IS implementation, would have perhaps allowed for a
more penetrating account of the cultural values which unfolded.
A limitation of the approach adopted for this study is that past
cultural events and at what stage they emerged can be difficult

Please cite this article in press as: Jackson, S., & Philip, G. A techno-cultural emergence perspective on the management of techno-change.
International Journal of Information Management (2010), doi:10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2010.01.008
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
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JJIM-956; No. of Pages 12
12 S. Jackson, G. Philip / International Journal of Information Management xxx (2010) xxx–xxx
for interviewees to call to mind. However, the use of a range of
interviewees from all project and organisational levels, i.e. steering
group, project team, user champions and users from across depart-
ments, coupled with documentary analysis of project information
allowed for a thorough interpretation and account of change events.
Given the fact that IT/IS implementations in each case spanned
for several years, it would have been impracticable and unwork-
able to conduct a staged and a longitudinal approach across all the
studies.
The Cultural Theory framework has been applied to three organ-
isations, results and findings are based solely on the case studies
in question. Although this study was conducted in three organi-
sations, the theoretical framework (Cultural Theory) and findings
are equally applicable to any other organisations. However, it is
worthwhile to subject the Cultural Theory framework to further
testing for replicability within other settings. Additional longer
term studies could also have been conducted to examine if the
specific configuration of the cultural cosmologies change over
time.
6. Conclusions
This study makes a significant contribution to our understand-
ing of the theory and practice in the management of techno-change,
particularly from the perspective of organisational culture. Based
on the evidence from three case studies it can be argued that nei-
ther technological determinism nor cultural determinism will be
successful in the management of techno-change and that what
is required is a techno-cultural emergence perspective in the
enabling forms of individualism/market, hierarchism and egalitar-
ianism to foster an environment conducive to techno-change. Case
study A and B should have taken an incremental rather than rad-
ical/planned approach to handling change issues. In case study C,
techno-change was not viewed as a linear process which can be
planned within a given time period by senior management; instead
ongoing improvements were made to both culture and technol-
ogy throughout techno-change. Change was improved upon as
organisational members responded to opportunities, problems
and challenges as they occurred throughout IT/IS implementation.
Indeed, a common theme which emerged from case study (A) and
(B) was the need to take an emergent approach to handling change
issues.
A major theoretical contribution of this study is the use of an
anthropological framework (Cultural Theory) to evaluate differ-
ent perspectives for techno-change management. Cultural Theory
assumes that culture and technology is a vibrant and intricate
concept that is continuously being created and recreated by the
dynamic interaction between organisational members, which can
generate both enabling and/or constraining effects throughout
techno-change. The same individual may be part of multiple ways
of life at the same time or migrate between them.
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Stephen Jackson is a lecturer in Information Systems at the University of Bed-
fordshire. He received his Ph.D. in MIS from the Queen’s University of Belfast. His
current research interests include: electronic business, organisational culture and
techno-change management.
George Philip has been a professor of Management and Information Systems in the
School of Management, the Queen’s University of Belfast since 1996. His research
interests are: Management of technological change, IT and risk management, strate-
gic information systems, strategic planning, e-business and e-government. He has
published over 100 papers in international journals and conference proceedings. He
has served as a visiting Professor at the Australian National University; University
of Canterbury (NZ) and Ryukoku University, Kyoto, Japan.