HOW DIGITAL INNOVATION PROJECTS CULTIVATE SHIFTS IN IT FUNCTIONS’ ORGANIZING LOGICS: INSIGHTS FROM A MULTIPLE CASE STUDY

While digital innovation becomes increasingly important for business success, the role of firms’ internal IT functions in digital innovation is unclear. Most IT functions come from institutionalized service provider roles, unfit to contribute significantly to digital innovation which requires organizing logics that emphasize speed, flexibility, and exploration over stability, standardization, and exploitation. Our study investigates how digital innovation projects impact the IT function’s established organizing logic. In this multiple case study, we collected qualitative data on five digital innovation projects conducted by incumbent firms with established IT functions. Our cross-case analysis shows that the idiosyncrasies of digital innovation projects led to temporary decoupling to adapted IT function’s organizing logic. We found that as this new organizing logic contradicted with established IT service provider organizing logics of IT functions, new value commitments of the IT function emerged