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Digital transformation projects are complex, lengthy and difficult to implement, often failing to meet their objectives. Previous research has attributed this failure to competing institutional logics influencing actors’ coping responses, and differences in actors’ interpretations of the project’s goals, technology and processes - their “organising vision”. The purpose of this paper is to analyse a complex technology implementation project from an institutional perspective, to further elucidate the role of multiple logics and organising vision.

A qualitative single study approach was used to investigate a public-sector technology project aimed at delivering a unified Human resource information system (HRIS) across regional health organisations in one country.

Four logics characterised the project (public sector, professional, corporate and market), but their relative dominance shifted as the project transitioned through stages, from comprehension to implementation. These shifts exposed tensions between components of actors’ organising vision, which influenced their coping behaviours in response to unexpected changes in the project’s strategic ambitions and technological scope. Coherence of vision, both within groups of actors and between them, was a key mediator of coping responses and project outcomes.

This analysis demonstrates the role of actors’ organising vision in bridging institutional logics and coping responses to shape digital transformation projects. It highlights the need to account not only for diverse institutional logics, but also for their changing influence as projects unfold and actors’ attention is directed onto different aspects of the organising vision. From a management perspective, it illustrates the importance of clear and consistent communication, to avoid entrenching conflicting interpretations.

Drawing broadly from the technology frame (Davidson, 2002) and organizing vision perspectives (Swanson and Ramiller, 1997) which consider the business value of information technology as resulting from actors' efforts to make sense of new technology, the study applies Ojala's (2016) business model framework to examine how different sets of actors understand the value of blockchain within the healthcare sector.

To include the perspective of different sets of actors, the research combines a systematic literature review to capture academic research, semi-structured interviews with blockchain experts, with an analysis of blockchain healthcare vendors.

The study finds a high degree of congruence between the perspective of different actors, with key sources of blockchain value concentrated around value proposition, particularly enhancing privacy and security; value capture, specifically cost savings, and value network, mostly enhancing data accessibility and reducing intermediation. Value delivery is the least emphasized value creation mechanism and concerns primarily improvements in supply chain transparency. Minor variations between actors' interpretations of value exist, mostly around the contribution of blockchain to support the value proposition and include the provision of social value, the creation of trust, supporting automation and improving employment.

Recognizing that the value of new technology is as much the result of actors' interpretations, as the objective outcome of its deployment, this study takes a multi-stakeholder perspective to examine blockchain's business value and highlights new aspects of value associated with blockchain deployments. The findings include a value outcome framework that allows systematic comparisons between blockchain implementations across contexts.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the different types of adoption costs faced by organizations involved in the adoption of radio frequency identification (RFID) within supply networks, and to understand how these potential costs affect the likelihood of RFID adoption.

The paper applies an existing generic theoretical framework of costs associated with process innovation adoption to the case of RFID technology. Data are collected by interviewing participants in the RFID adoption process in supply network settings, and by examining a range of publicly available information on RFID development. The data are used to test and expand the theoretical framework.

Of the six main categories of generic process innovation costs, four are identified as applicable in the case of RFID adoption by early adopters: development, switching, cost of capital and implementation. No evidence is found for initiation and relational costs. In addition, a seventh category of costs is identified as applicable to the adoption of RFID in supply networks: ethical costs associated with privacy and health issues.

Further empirical work is required to test the generalisability of the findings. Because RFID technology is still in the early phases of development, the research has been able to consider only early adopters: further work is required as the technology matures to assess the impact of costs throughout the technology development lifecycle.

The work demonstrates that when considering the adoption of RFID managers need to look at a range of potential costs in making the investment decision. Policy makers also need to consider how organizations consider a range of costs that may not be explicitly specified when making adoption decisions.

The paper tests and extends the generic framework of costs associated with process innovations in supply networks. The study also clarifies the various costs involved in the adoption of RFID technologies by early adopters, and their influence on the decision to adopt.