Skip to main content

A Change and Constancy Management Approach for Managing the Unintended Negative Consequences of Organizational and IT Change

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Information Systems (EMCIS 2020)

Abstract

The study focuses on large-scale planned organizational and IT changes because of their typical high costs and risks to organizations. The research gap was insufficient research relating to change management based on the ontological view that change and constancy exist in cohesion. The study contended that a change and constancy management approach would be worthwhile for addressing unintended negative consequences of changes. Thus, the aim was to empirically investigate these changes and determine whether actively managing change and constancy together could mitigate unintended negative consequences of changes and increase change success. A predominantly qualitative questionnaire survey was administered, and the resulting data were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. The data provided evidence of both change and constancy in these contexts, the failure rates reported in the literature, unintended negative consequences and their potential severity and the approach being worthwhile to mitigate any costly chasm between change conceptualization and actualization.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Malopinsky, L.V., Osman, G.: Dimensions of organizational change. In: Pershing, J.A. (ed.) Handbook of Human Performance Technology: Principles, Practices, and Potential, pp. 262–286. Pfeiffer, San Francisco (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Besson, P., Rowe, F.: Strategizing information systems-enabled organizational transformation: a transdisciplinary review and new directions. J. Strateg. Inf. Syst. 21, 103–124 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsis.2012.05.001

  3. Sligo, J., Gauld, R., Roberts, V., Villa, L.: A literature review for large-scale health information system project planning, implementation and evaluation. Int. J. Med. Inform. 97, 86–97 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Decker, P., Durand, R., Mayfield, C.O., McCormack, C., Skinner, D., Perdue, G.: Predicting implementation failure in organization change. J. Organ. Cult. Commun. Confl. 16, 29–49 (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Jansson, N.: Organizational change as practice: a critical analysis. J. Organ. Chang. Manag. 26, 1003–1019 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1108/JOCM-09-2012-0152

  6. Heeks, R.: Information systems and developing countries: failure, success, and local improvisations. Inf. Soc. 18, 101–112 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Cecez-Kecmanovic, D., Kautz, K., Abrahall, R.: Reframing success and failure of information systems: a performative perspective. MIS Q. 38, 561–588 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. The Standish Group: The CHAOS Report 2015 (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Ebad, S.A.: An exploratory study of ICT projects failure in emerging markets. J. Glob. Inf. Technol. Manag. 21, 139–160 (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Dwivedi, Y.K., et al.: Research on information systems failures and successes: status update and future directions. Inf. Syst. Front. 17, 143–157 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-014-9500-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Dwivedi, Y.K., et al.: IS/IT project failures: a review of the extant literature for deriving a taxonomy of failure factors. In: Dwivedi, Y.K., Henriksen, H.Z., Wastell, D., De’, R. (eds.) TDIT 2013. IAICT, vol. 402, pp. 73–88. Springer, Heidelberg (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-38862-0_5

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  12. Janssen, M., van der Voort, H., van Veenstra, A.F.: Failure of large transformation projects from the viewpoint of complex adaptive systems: management principles for dealing with project dynamics. Inf. Syst. Front. 17, 15–29 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-014-9511-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Al-Ahmad, W., Al-Fagih, K., Khanfar, K., Alsamara, K., Abuleil, S., Abu-Salem, H.: A taxonomy of an IT project failure: root causes. Int. Manag. Rev. 5, 93–104 (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Jian, G.: Unpacking unintended consequences in planned organizational change: a process model. Manag. Commun. Q. 21, 5–28 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1177/0893318907301986

  15. Harrison, M.I., Koppel, R., Bar-Lev, S.: Unintended consequences of information technologies in health care-an interactive sociotechnical analysis. J. Am. Med. Inform. Assoc. 14, 542–549 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1197/jamia.M2384

  16. Al-Haddad, S., Kotnour, T.: Integrating the organizational change literature: a model for successful change. J. Organ. Change Manag. 28, 234–262 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1108/JOCM-11-2013-0215

  17. Howard, G.R.: A Change and constancy research and management framework for IT-related organisational change. In: 4th African Conference on Information Systems & Technology (ACIST), pp. 24–33. Department of Information Systems, University of Cape Town (UCT), Cape Town, South Africa (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Talavera, I.: The fallacy of misplaced temporality in Western Philosophy, natural science, and Theistic religion. Forum Public Policy: J. Oxf. Round Table (2014). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A497796641/AONE?u=usa_itw&sid=AONE&xid=df5c9b24. GALE|A497796641

  19. Loubser, A.: An ontological exploration of change and constancy. Koers – Bull. Christ. Scholarsh. 78, 1–8 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Nasim, S., Sushil: Revisiting organizational change: exploring the paradox of managing continuity and change. J. Change Manag. 11, 185–206 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1080/14697017.2010.538854

  21. Howard, G.R.: Ontological solution for IT-organisational change problems: a change and constancy management approach. In: 15th European Conference on Management Leadership and Governance, ECMLG 2019, pp. 169–176. Academic Conferences and Publishing International Limited (ACPI), Porto, Portugal (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Norton, B.: Change, constancy, and creativity: the new ecology and some old problems. First Ann. Cummings Colloq. Environ. Law Beyond Balanc. Nat. Environ. Law Faces New Ecol. 7, 49–70 (1996)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Josefy, M.A., Harrison, J.S., Sirmon, D.G., Carnes, C.: Living and dying: synthesizing the literature on firm survival and failure across stages of development. Acad. Manag. Ann. 11, 770–799 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Lucas Jr., H.C., Goh, J.M.: Disruptive technology: how Kodak missed the digital photography revolution. J. Strateg. Inf. Syst. 18, 46–55 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Trahms, C.A., Ndofor, H.A., Sirmon, D.G.: Organizational decline and turnaround: a review and agenda for future research. J. Manag. 39, 1277–1307 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  26. Sveiby, K.-E.: Unattended consequences of innovation. In: Godin, B., Vinck, D. (eds.) Critical Studies of Innovation: Alternative Approaches to the Pro-Innovation Bias, pp. 137–155. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham (2017). https://doi.org/10.4337/9781785367229

  27. Baghizadeh, Z., Cecez-Kecmanovic, D., Schlagwein, D.: Review and critique of the information systems development project failure literature: an argument for exploring information systems development project distress. J. Inf. Technol. 35, 123–142 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1177/0268396219832010

  28. Tallon, P.P., Queiroz, M., Coltman, T., Sharma, R.: Business process and information technology alignment: construct conceptualization, empirical illustration, and directions for future research. J. Assoc. Inf. Syst. 17, 563–589 (2016). https://doi.org/10.17705/1jais.00438

  29. Creswell, J.W.: Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. Sage Publications Ltd., London (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  30. Myers, M.D.: Qualitative Research in Business & Management. Sage Publications Ltd., London (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  31. Provalis Research: QDA Miner Lite. https://provalisresearch.com/. Accessed 16 Apr 2020

  32. Gentles, S.J., Charles, C., Ploeg, J., McKibbon, K.A.: Sampling in qualitative research: insights from an overview of the methods literature. Qual. Rep. 20, 1772–1789 (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  33. Curtis, S., Gesler, W., Smith, G., Washburn, S.: Approaches to sampling and case selection in qualitative research: examples in the geography of health. Soc. Sci. Med. 50, 1001–1014 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. LinkedIn: LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/. Accessed 11 Apr 2019

  35. Sibona, C., Walczak, S.: Purposive sampling on Twitter: a case study. In: 45th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS), pp. 3510–3519. IEEE Computer Society, Maui (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  36. Sekaran, U., Bougie, R.: Research Methods for Business: A Skill Building Approach. Wiley, Chichester (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  37. Stats, S.A.: Standard Industrial Classification of all Economic Activities (SIC), 7th edn. Pretoria, South Africa (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  38. Murer, S., Bonati, B., Furrer, F.J.: Managed Evolution: A Strategy for Very Large Information Systems. Springer, Heidelberg (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-01633-2

    Book  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Grant Royd Howard .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Howard, G.R. (2020). A Change and Constancy Management Approach for Managing the Unintended Negative Consequences of Organizational and IT Change. In: Themistocleous, M., Papadaki, M., Kamal, M.M. (eds) Information Systems. EMCIS 2020. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, vol 402. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63396-7_46

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63396-7_46

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-63395-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-63396-7

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics