Abstract
In this conference, we come together to examine the diffusion of software innovations. We consider both software products and processes. For many years, I have had a particular interest in business application software and its design, implementation, use, and maintenance. Most recently, my research has focused on this software in an innovation context. Specifically, I have become interested in software associated with certain grand ideas for innovation, termed “organizing visions,” defined as focal community ideas for the application of IT in organizations (Swanson and Ramiller, 1997). Examples of organizing visions would include data warehousing and mining, enterprise resource planning (ERP), and customer relationship management (CRM). I have become curious about the “innovation stories” associated with these visions, and, in particular, about how the innovation arises and takes a certain “career path” in which it achieves ascendancy for a time, but then eventually fades away, often displaced in the community’s attention by still another vision. I believe that if we are to understand these innovations, we must tell the stories of their often inter-twined careers.
The original version of this chapter was revised: The copyright line was incorrect. This has been corrected. The Erratum to this chapter is available at DOI: 10.1007/978-0-387-35404-0_19
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© 2001 IFIP International Federation for Information Processing
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Swanson, E.B. (2001). Telling an Innovation Story. In: Ardis, M.A., Marcolin, B.L. (eds) Diffusing Software Product and Process Innovations. TDIT 2001. IFIP — The International Federation for Information Processing, vol 59. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-35404-0_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-35404-0_1
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