Understanding the complexity of adaptation and effective use in enterprise system implementations

When organizations want to gain benefits from complex information technology (IT) such as Enterprise Systems (ESs), employees not only need to use the technology, they need to use it effectively. However, few studies have examined the effects of complex IT on employees’ jobs and what it takes for them to adapt towards effectively using it. Specifically, there is little knowledge about the post-adoption phase; the time right after a new ES has been implemented in an organization. Effective use, however, is the prerequisite for organizations to gain any benefits. In this thesis, I build upon a thorough review of the literature on the adoption and use of IT, using a mixed-method approach, grounded in a critical realist philosophy. First, I present the IRR (Inflation-Recession-Recovery), a process theory that explains the outcomes of IT-induced change by an increase in complexity, employees’ adaptation behavior and effective use. The model was developed through a longitudinal case study at a financial services firm over the period of two years. Then, I provide deeper insights on the concepts of adaptation and learning by suggesting, operationalizing, and testing a variance-theoretical research model of social and ambidextrous knowing towards effective use. In sum, I find that structural complexity is an important explanatory factor in employees’ adaptation behavior towards effective use. In turn, adaptation and learning can be well explained by mechanisms of exploration, exploitation and communication in work systems