This book explores multidimensional issues concerning digital resilience and analyzes how people and organizations maintain, enhance and protect value stemming from digital technologies. Society is now heading for a future in which organizations and people will increasingly depend on digital technologies, yet to date many are still unaware of the scale and risks associated with the digital transformation. As a result, there is an urgent need for digital resilience to drive a fundamental shift in the way people and organizations understand digital technologies, risks and opportunities. The book gathers a selection of the best papers presented at the annual conference of the Italian chapter of AIS, which took place in Trento, Italy, in October 2021. The diverse range of views put forward by the authors makes it particularly relevant for scholars and practitioners interested in organization, and for all of us living in the digital transformation era.
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to contribute to the ongoing debate on organizational socialization by exploring the constitutive aspects of socialization practice. By taking a practice stance, the paper explores how the constitutive aspects shape the evolution of the socialization practice and of the overall organizational functioning. The aim is to address a clear gap in the literature as it does not have fully investigated socialization as an evolving practice in the web of other organizational practices.Design/methodology/approachThe research relies on a case study analysis, which focuses on a multinational consulting firm. The paper focuses on the evolution of two main practices within the company one of which is socialization and the second is knowledge management.FindingsThe main result emerging from the field study is that the evolution of the socialization practice as well as its alignment with other organizational practices is affected by a set of constitutive aspects. The analysis of these elements allows to disarticulate the nature of a practice and to clarify how it evolves. The paper is particularly interesting as during the analysis, the case study firm experienced an external shock. This latter resulted to be a relevant cornerstone for understanding the evolution and alignment of the socialization practice and of the organizational functioning as a whole.Research limitations/implicationsThe research presents two clear limitations. First, the results might be very case‐specific. Further analysis should be done to increase consistency and validity of the findings. Second, the qualitative methodology needs further improvement as the practice based analysis of socialization is still at its infancy and thus is not well assessed.Practical implicationsFindings indicate that socialization practice might be somehow rigid over time and unable to match the evolving organizational setting. The case study further shows that while the procedures which are embedded in a practice might not change apparently, their content might be substantially affected by external facts.Originality/valueStarting from the recognition that the evolution of the socialization practice has not received enough attention, this paper sheds new light on how a set of constitutive aspects may facilitate/hinder such evolution.
PurposeThis paper contributes to the debate on the relationship between IT‐artefacts and organisational structuration by describing the dynamics surrounding the collaborative development of an innovative electronic metering system. The aim of the paper is to address a clear gap in the current literature on collaborative IT‐artefacts design, as cooperation at early design stages has barely been analysed. This work tries to understand whether and to what extent the design of an IT‐artefact is driven by the interests of a number of heterogeneous actors and how these are able to affect the artefact's evolution.Design/methodology/approachThe research relies on a case study analysis, which focuses on a consortium of heterogeneous actors (firms, the public sector, research institutes) working within the green energy industry. The research focuses on a workgroup attempting to develop an innovative IT‐artefact: an electronic metering system.FindingsThe main results emerging from the field study are: the relevance of each actor's interests as a prevalent rationale for explaining the technical features of the IT‐artefact; the role of negotiation and consensus in determining the final shape of the IT‐artefact in terms of its features; and the bundling/unbundling of IT‐artefact features as a result of changes in the alignment of actors.Research limitations/implicationsThe research presents two clear limitations. First, the activities of the workgroup are still ongoing thus limiting some of the insights one may draw from the case study. Second, the analysis is carried out on a single case study. Further analysis should be done to increase consistency and validity of the findings.Practical implicationsFindings indicate that in an open and collaborative environment, the conceptualisation and evolution of an IT‐artefact are influenced more by the political agendas of the various actors rather than by pure technical problems and concerns. The practical implications thus are that every attempt to manage such a collaborative effort must seriously take into consideration these aspects.Originality/valueStarting from the recognition that little research has been conducted on the factors influencing cooperative IT‐artefact design, this paper sheds new light on how these factors influence such cooperative activity. The authors believe that this kind of work helps lay some foundations for general models attempting to explain cooperative innovation processes such as the open innovation model.
