LEARNING FROM NOTES: Organizational Issues in Groupware Implementation

1. LEARNING FROM NOTES:Organizational Issues in Groupware Implementation 1992 Wanda J. Orlikowski Sloan School of Management, M.I.T. Presentation by Swapnil Sinvhal CPSC 671: Spring 2004

2. Introduction • Introduction of groupware into an organization • Results affected by • People’s mental models • Organization’s structure • Organization’s culture • On it’s own, groupware unlikely to lead to group work • Case study – Lotus Notes

3. Goal of the study • To investigate whether and how the use of a collaborative tool changes the nature of work • Does it relate to social interactions in the office? • Intended / Unintended consequences

4. Research Site and Methods • Large Services Firm (Alpha Corporation) • Studied 1 office over 5 months, 90+ interviews • Hierarchical (4 levels) • Matrix form – • client work - local offices, decentralized • management centralized at head quarters office • Phase where Lotus Notes has just been introduced to “leverage the expertise of our firm” Principals Managers Sr. Consultants Staff Consultant

5. Research results • Background • Cognitive Elements • Structural Elements

6. How did it start ? • A new CIO … “playing with Notes” … realized it was “a breakthrough technology” … with the potential to create “a revolution”

7. Cognitive Elements • Communication about Notes • Top-down approach; user pull • Rapid installation It’s a database housed somewhere in the center of the universe. I know absolutely nothing about Notes. I don’ t know what it is supposed to do. I’ve heard that it’s hard copy of email ... but I am not very clear about what it is exactly. It’s big email.

8. The Management speaks … Our strategy was to blast Notes through our organization as quickly as possible, with no prototypes, no pilots, no lengthy technical evaluation. We want to transform the way we deliver service to clients. We made a conscious decision between whether we should throw it [Notes] to the users versus spending a lot of time training. We decided on the former.

9. Training on Notes • Self-study • (Video tape, workbook) • Classroom training • (4 hours, hands on exercises by computer support personnel) • Did not emphasize collaborative nature or possible business value • Training resembled that of personal productivity tools

10. I think it will reduce the time of gathering information. I think it will cut down on frustration in transferring information. But it is not a radical change. Perceptions I see Notes as a personal communication tool… Source of image: http://www.jainworld.com/literature/story25i1.gif

11. Structural Elements (1 of 3) Reward Systems • Senior Consultants and Managers • Stress on “billable hours” • Skeptic – so unwilling to spend personal time • Time spent on Notes “less legitimate” • Use of Notes seen as potentially disrupting • Principals • Less pre-occupied with time constraints • Less concerned about “billable hours” • Willing to take a longer-term, firm-wide perspective on Notes

12. Structural Elements (2 of 3) I would definitely want to know who was looking at it. Policies and Procedures • No explicit procedures and policies around Notes • Security concerns • Anxiety over personal liability, embarrassment • Ambiguity – especially in local offices • May have inhibited wider application of Notes I would not want to be cited by someone who hasn't talked to me first,

13. Structural Elements (3 of 3) Firm culture and Work norms • Principals • Tenured – “fraternal culture” • More focused on interests of the firm • Levels below principal • Competitive environment • Little precedent, incentive for cooperation • Less acceptance of collaborative features • Technologists • Share technical expertise People aren’t backstabbing consciously, it’s just that the environment makes people maximize opportunities for themselves.

14. Summary of the findings • Effective Utilization of groupware affected by: • People’s cognitions and mental models about their technology and work • Structural properties of the organization – • Policies, norms, reward systems • If people do not understand the technology, they will interpret it in terms of something they do understand • Success of groupware depends on the degree of collaboration, effort, cooperation … it depends on the group !!

15. Discussion • Early phase – participants expected to get accustomed to Notes … different from the concept of taking requirements from users • Learning groupware collectively • How do you devise a game plan if you have never played the game before?

16. Prof. W. J. Orlikowski • 1999- , Professor of Information Technologies and Organization Studies at MIT's Sloan School of Mgmt • Ph.D., Stern School of Business at New York University • Eaton-Peabody Chair of Communication Sciences at MIT • Senior editor for Organization Science • Research Interests: • Information technologies and organizing structures • Groupware technologies, electronic media in organizations • Working virtually • Social and economic implications of Internet technology use in organizations (5 year project - NSF)

17. Prof. W. J. Orlikowski • By the same author • "The Duality of Technology: Rethinking the Concept of Technology in Organizations," Organization Science, 3, 3, 1992: 398-427. • "Windows of Opportunity: Temporal Patterns of Technological Adaptation in Organizations," [with Marcie J. Tyre], Organization Science, 5, 1, 1994: 98-118. • "Technological Frames: Making Sense of Information Technology in Organizations," [with Debra C. Gash], ACM Transactions on Information Systems, 2, 2, 1994: 174-207. • "Genre Repertoire: The Structuring of Communicative Practices in Organizations," [with JoAnne Yates], Administrative Science Quarterly, 39, 4, 1994: 541-574. • "Improvising Organizational Transformation over Time: A Situated Change Perspective," Information Systems Research, 7, 1, 1996: 63-92. • "Explicit and Implicit Structuring of Genres: Electronic Communication in a Japanese R&D Organization," [with JoAnne Yates and Kazuo Okamura]. Organization Science, 10, 1, 1999: 83-103. • "Using Technology and Constituting Structures: A Practice Lens for Studying Technology in Organizations," Organization Science, 11, 4, 2000: 404-428.