Factors influencing user involvement in digital change processes: A study of DNV GL employee experiences

The position of the user in digital change efforts has not been prominent in prior research within the field of information technology. Additionally, organisational change research claim that a majority of change efforts fail to produce the intended outcome. The process perspective indicate that this could be due to a lack of acknowledgement of individual actors. This qualitative research study, used seven semi-structured interviews with both ICT project workers and users of the technology, to identify the potential effects of user involvement on digital change at the organisation Det Norske Veritas, Germanischer Lloyd (DNV GL). Digital change was defined as any change involving information and communication technology. The interviews provided an insight into how the users can be involved in digital change efforts and what potential benefits such involvement can grant the contemporary organisation. It was found that by providing sufficient involvement early through communication where the feedback from the users was taken into the change project, the process could be greatly improved. This research found that motivating the users by providing information about how new technology can benefit them individually, could affect their perceived involvement in digital change efforts. Finally, it was found that perceiving user attitudes as resistance could limit the involvement, and create a gap between the users and the ICT project workers. This research suggests viewing user attitudes as expert opinions and then utilize these opinions to improve digital change initiatives. By using the process perspective on organisational change, this research suggests that these micro mechanisms of communication, motivation and attitudes, co-exist at all times. Such continuous change processes should be accounted for in order to involve the users in any change effort. It therefore proposes that organisations who seeks to be successful in their change efforts, should account for these continuous processes in an effort to involve users. This research adds to existing theoretical perspectives on digital change by suggesting a model of micro processes where these three factors is accounted for as a part of continuous change. Such a model can be used by organisations working with ICT implementations as reminder of some of the effects that influence the involvement of users