Mobile Services in an Organisational Context - A Study of the Swedish Road Administration

People have become more and more mobile as a result of advancements in wireless communications technologies. The mobile phone as an enabler of this increased mobility has become an ever more important part of our society but comparatively little research has been done concerning mobile services at the organisational level as opposed to the individual level. With our study we wish to contribute to knowledge about mobile service development and diffusion as seen in an organisational context. In order to do this we conducted ten semi-structured telephone interviews with employees representing a variety of different roles within the Swedish Road Administration. The empirical data gathered from these interviews was then used together with actor-network theory to describe our case organisation and mobile services within it. This description in combination with diffusion of innovation theory and the innovation development process were then used as the basis for our analysis. Our study shows the importance of user involvement in the development process of mobile services, and the importance of service usefulness, from a work perspective, for individual adoption. There is also a need to focus on infrastructure for the service in order to ensure that existing services continue to function, but also that future services will be possible. The uncertain relationship between strict organisational governing/control and successful mobile service adoption and diffusion is also illuminated