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Extensive literature on business process management suggests that organisations could enhance their overall performance by adopting a process view of business. However, there is a lack of empirical research in this field. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the understanding of the process view and process maturity levels in a transition economy and to test the impact of process orientation maturity level on organisational performance.

Empirical investigation combined an exploratory‐confirmatory approach using factor analysis and structural equation modelling.

The investigation confirms the impact of business process orientation on organisational performance in a transition economy. The link is even stronger than in the original investigation. The results show that business process orientation leads to better non‐financial performance and indirectly to better financial performance.

The research confirms that business process orientation is advantageous for companies since it has a positive influence on organisational performance. The finding that the impact on financial performance is indirect through non‐financial performance suggests that the companies have to take that view of performance into consideration as well.

The paper is valuable for academics and practitioners because the impact of business process orientation on organisational performance has been confirmed for a transitional economy. Its originality is in the measurement of organisational performance, for which a more detailed specification of organisational performance based on the balanced scorecard concept that includes non‐financial performance measures has been used.

Multiview was defined in 1985 and has been since refined to become an influential approach to information systems development. It has soft and hard aspects and, as a contingency approach, is not prescriptive but adapted to the particular situation in the organization and the application. Observations and reflections on Multiview in action over the last ten years together with more recent literature based on, for example, holism, emergence, multi‐causality, ethical analysis and technology foresight, form the basis for a new definition of Multiview. Changes in the domain of information systems are also taken into account. Away from centralized technology, long lead times and hierarchical organizations, towards networks, new organizational forms, business processes, informational products and services, and the removal of time and space constraints on human activity. This paper underlines the need for IS researchers to learn about methodologies as they are used in practice (rather than as described in text books) and for methodologies to evolve in response to changes in the domain in which they are applied.

For the last four decades, the alignment of strategy and digital technology has persisted as one of the most critical and bothersome issues for senior government executives. Against this backdrop and drawing on the fruits of an extended program of collaborative research between 1995 and 2020, this chapter draws attention to how government organizations foster effective alignment and how this is achieved through four distinct cycles of alignment work. Considering that this work is heavily people- and organization-centric, the chapter calls for greater involvement of organization development and change scholars and practitioners in this important area of organizational life and work.

Describes the results of research carried out in a large commercial telecommunications organisation where the information systems group was undergoing a change from developing systems in a traditional third generation environment to a fourth generation development environment. Exposes a number of difficulties, notably ′people problems′ associated with innovation. Concludes that even where the technical aspects should lead to increased efficiency, this might not be the end result.

Shared services are often viewed as a single type of business model but in reality, shared services can be organized in different ways. The goal of this research is to understand the factors influencing the shaping of shared services business models.

Inductive case oriented research is conducted by investigating three different types of shared services arrangements using Al-Debei and Avison's unified framework for business models.

A total of 12 different factors were identified that influence the shape of shared services business models including the path dependency, legal/regulatory driver, customer orientation, target segment, strategic importance, ICT/business orientation, IT governance structure, change strategy, degree of outsourcing, integration potential, economic rationale and the business value.

The level of customization and standardization can influence the potential benefits that can be gained from bundling services and it is important to understand the factors that influence this dimension.

The appropriate configuration of these factors can be helpful to design shared services arrangements with a balanced degree of standardization and customization. The choices regarding the configuration of these factors could result in a more or less effective functioning business model and could influence the governance processes and mechanisms that need to be put in place.

There is no prior research that addresses the shared services business model from a holistic perspective and this research provides a first conceptual model for shared services business models.

The proliferation of customer-related data provides companies with numerous service opportunities to create customer value. The purpose of this study is to develop a framework to use this data to provide services.

This study conducted four action research projects on the use of customer-related data for service design with industry and government. Based on these projects, a practical framework was designed, applied, and validated, and was further refined by analyzing relevant service cases and incorporating the service and operations management literature.

The proposed customer process management (CPM) framework suggests steps a service provider can take when providing information to its customers to improve their processes and create more value-in-use by using data related to their processes. The applicability of this framework is illustrated using real examples from the action research projects and relevant literature.

“Using data to advance service” is a critical and timely research topic in the service literature. This study develops an original, specific framework for a company’s use of customer-related data to advance its services and create customer value. Moreover, the four projects with industry and government are early CPM case studies with real data.

Considers the potential role of anthropology as a source discipline for information systems. Although anthropology has been largely neglected in the IS research literature, it is argued that important insights can be gained by adopting an anthropological perspective on information systems phenomena. Illustrates the value of an anthropological perspective by looking at the relationship between information technology and organizational culture. Shows that the concept of culture has generally been used rather narrowly in the IS literature, and argues that a more critical, anthropological view of the relationship between IT and organizational culture is required.

The purpose of this paper is to set out an argument for a way to design, implement and manage IS with an emphasis on first, the learning that can be created through undertaking the approach, and second, the learning that may be created through using the IS that was implemented. The paper proposes joining two areas of research namely, technology management with soft systems methodology (SSM). The framework was developed through undertaking a customer concern management project within a manufacturing organisation.

Reviewing the literature on information systems management, the learning organisation, and systems theory a proposed synergy is found. The outcome of this synergy allows a number of methodologies to be identified that are argued as suitable for IS design. From these information system development (ISD) methodologies, SSM is expanded to incorporate the principles of the learning organisation and systems theory. The expanded SSM framework is applied in practice through a process of participatory action research.

The outcome of the practical work argues for a complete framework that joins the areas of research (SSM and technology management) and emphasises other thinking from the areas of systems theory and the “learning organisation”.

The paper concludes with a discussion on the advantages of joining soft systems with technology management but also the limitations created. Such limitations have been identified as moving from the soft, tacit issues of the design phases to the harder more structured aspects of technology implementation and management. A change in philosophy may restrict other issues from being explored. This issue needs to be focussed on in future research.

A framework has been developed that draws on the work of soft systems methodology (SSM) and a technology management process framework (TMPF) used in the area of technology management. By expanding the SSM model and joining it with the TMPF an attempt to give individuals and teams a practical tool to help design, implement, and manage IS with an emphasis on learning the framework promotes.

The framework provides advantages for academics, consultants and other practitioners and gives a central focus on what issues need to be accomplished more explicitly in order to undertake an ISD project.

The proliferation of (big) data provides numerous opportunities for service advances in practice, yet research on using data to advance service is at a nascent stage in the literature. Many studies have discussed phenomenological benefits of data to service. However, limited research describes managerial issues behind such benefits, although a holistic understanding of the issues is essential in using data to advance service in practice and provides a basis for future research. The purpose of this paper is to address this research gap.

“Using data to advance service” is about change in organizations. Thus, this study uses action research methods of creating real change in organizations together with practitioners, thereby adding to scientific knowledge about practice. The authors participated in five service design projects with industry and government that used different data sets to design new services.

Drawing on lessons learned from the five projects, this study empirically identifies 11 managerial issues that should be considered in data-use for advancing service. In addition, by integrating the issues and relevant literature, this study offers theoretical implications for future research.

“Using data to advance service” is a research topic that emerged originally from practice. Action research or case studies on this topic are valuable in understanding practice and in identifying research priorities by discovering the gap between theory and practice. This study used action research over many years to observe real-world challenges and to make academic research relevant to the challenges. The authors believe that the empirical findings will help improve service practices of data-use and stimulate future research.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a better understanding of the progress and the success vs failure in e‐government development, based on case studies of two inter‐organizational (IO) e‐service projects.

The analysis in the paper is made from an e‐government systems development life cycle perspective and a challenge and success factor perspective. The point of departure is theory and a comparative analysis of two e‐government projects.

The main results in this paper are: a combination of perspectives (in a project stage and analysis grid) that can serve as a support when managing e‐service development and a set of identified crucial success factors within an IO e‐government project including project manager skills and position in the agency organization as well as when and how systems maintenance issues are introduced into a project. Existing theory and perspectives are also criticised based on the present study.

Lessons to learn from a challenge and success factors perspective in two different e‐government projects, and suggestions to revise an e‐government development life cycle in order to perform a better practice in the field. The revised/developed project stage and analysis grid presented in the paper is one way to deal with the challenges related to the management of e‐service development in the public sector.

The paper addresses a number of challenges of complexity and risk that e‐government initiatives face. It is not an easy matter to realize such initiatives' potential. A key research issue for the e‐government field, as well as the information systems field in general, is to understand why some projects progress to success while others end in failure. This is the niche for the present paper.