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This research deals with the implantation of IT enterprise applications in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). It comprises two main phases. The first phase aims at deepening the existing understanding of the process of adoption and implantation of IT Enterprise applications in SMEs. Besides a literature review this phase includes the realization of case studies and interviews of the different players in the adoption and implantation process. The second phase aims at producing models and methods to guide SME in implantation of IT enterprise applications. This phase follows is being carried out under the Design Science Research (DSR) paradigm. This document presents the advances and results obtained in understanding the problem and determines the work to be done soon. The main findings to date are: Government regulations are the main motivations for implanting IT enterprise applications in SMEs, the cost is not the main selection parameter for SMEs with previous experience in applications, it is necessary a person inside the company that knows the core of the business, to save costs it is not necessary to migrate all the data of previous solutions ; This work has been supported by COMPETE: POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007043 and FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the Project Scope: UID/CEC/00319/2013, the Secretaría Nacional de Educación Superior, Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación del Ecuador (SENESCYT) and the Universidad Técnica del Norte – ...

Computer-based systems (CBS) are usually adopted to support structural aspects of the organization, such as mission, strategy, objectives, tasks, processes, responsibilities, coordination and control of the activities, resources allocation, authority, decision making, etc. These are assumed as objectively identifiable aspects of work and, therefore, they can be analyzed and measured. For this reason, they are object of preferential study when the goal is to adopt tools to solve organizational problems. However, the complexity of the organizational processes, and the importance of individual experiences and human interaction in shaping perceptions has come to enhance the necessity to consider a wider diversity of organizational aspects as well as the process of adoption of a CBS, in order to facilitate the proper dynamics of the organizational transformation processes. In this paper, we present and analyze two cases of work reality transformation. Each transformation process was supported by the adoption of a specific CBS. In one of the cases, this adoption was implemented explicitly and was sanctioned by senior management. In the other, the transformation was implemented without the formal support of senior management. The paper ends by emphasizing the importance of considering the multi-dimensionality of the work realities when defining CBSs to assist work practices. It is also emphasized that work realities are continually being reshaped by the combined action of social processes that lead to transformation. Often these processes occur at an implicit level and without the actors that sustain them having full awareness of the effects of their own ...

Organizations of any kind, including companies and government institutions, understand the need to incorporate information technologies (IT) to improve internal and external communication, faster access to information, modernize decision making and provide better service to their customers. Integrating IT into operations and management requires changes at various levels of the organization (services, processes, forms of work, technology and organizational structure) and brings up several challenges. Considering the level of maturity of existing IT solutions, the acquisition and implantation of ready-to-use software applications is, nowadays, a standard way of gaining access to IT solutions. However, there is a lack of models to guide this process. The objective of this article is to propose such a model. The proposed model is grounded on the findings of a case study carried out in medium size municipality that recently went through the implantation process of an ERP IT application. The study allowed to identify critical features in different facets of the implantation process. The study mainly involved interviews with key participants in the process. The model proposed in this article emerged during this study and accounts for the issues and concerns identified. ; The authors acknowledge the support received for the production of this work, namely:(i) Project "SmartEGOV: Harnessing EGOV for Smart Governance (Foundations, methods, Tools) / NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000037", supported by Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (EFDR);(ii) FCT - Fundacao para a Ciancia e Tecnologia within the Project Scope: UID/CEC/00319/2019 - Portugal;(iii) Universidad Tecnica del Norte - Ecuador;(iv) Secretaria Nacional de Educacion Superior, Ciencia, Tecnologia e Innovacion (SENESCYT) - Ecuador;(v) Gobierno Autonomo Descentralizado S.M. de Ibarra - ...

PurposeThe paper reports a study that evaluated the effectiveness and usefulness of Business and Technology Management (BTM), a management practice for formulating business digital strategies that address organization, processes and technology in an integrative way.Design/methodology/approachThe research followed action design research guidelines that combine the methodological principles of design science research and action research.FindingsEvidence from the study confirmed the adequacy and usefulness of BTM as a solution to an old management problem of internal fit, synergies, alignment or strategic integration. It also led to an improvement in its way of working, namely, a management practice with four process stages: (1) define trade objectives, (2) design an integrated business model, (3) manage the business transformation and execution and (4) evaluate the results obtained.Research limitations/implicationsThe study exemplifies how practice research can be used within a long-term research pursuit to provide empirical evidence that permits evaluating and improving a research-originated management approach.Practical implicationsBeing a theory-for-action, BTM has direct relevance for managers engaged in defining organizational and technological strategies connected with business results. The paper discloses an improved version of BTM together with a description of its application in a medium-sized company operating in the tourism sector.Originality/valueBTM addresses a recurrent issue raised by researchers and practitioners concerning a failure to bring different management perspectives together when formulating a strategy. Therefore, its value lies in its ability to assist in the integration of management perspectives into business development initiatives.

In recent years, there have been significant changes in the fields of collective action and political activism. The increasing use of ICTs in social interactions has facilitated informal ways of organizing and affected the participation, emergence, and organizing of conflictual and consensual collective actions. In this study we seek to understand how the integrated use of multiple ICTs, that is the ICT ensemble, affects the organizing of consensual collective action. We investigated the ICT ensembles used by two civic movements that successfully organized large-scale consensual collective action events in two European countries. In our results, we reveal how ICT ensembles constrained and facilitated the organizing functions and requirements of collective action. The findings show that ICTs allow organizers to operate purposefully in order to organize collective action, but the extent to which they succeed in the actual concretization of collective action actually depends on their capacities and intents. Therefore, we argue that human factors (that is, their resourcefulness and agency) are greatly implicated in the success of collective action supported by ICTs. This study extends the research on impact of technology-enabled collective action by looking at the combined use of multiple ICTs and examining the rare and overlooked phenomenon of consensual collective action.

Many organizations depend on the success of rapidly deployed, limited time frame and multipartner projects as an important element of their business strategies. Information management is regarded as a critical and upmost important issue, especially in projects. Complex projects require additional team collaboration and a consistent information management strategy to support the development of the project. This paper reports the findings of an exploratory study on information management barriers in complex projects, particularly focusing issues and difficulties recognized by project participants and managers. Our study intends to fill the gap in empirical research regarding this subject and to provide new insights for project managers of complex projects to devise more effective information management strategies and tools to set up and run information technology platforms. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Numerous projects are considered complex because of the number of stakeholders, the diversity of skills, and the uncertainty involved, requiring accurate information retrieval and management of the social interactions between different participants leading to efficient knowledge sharing. This paper reports the findings of an empirical study on knowledge sharing barriers and research and development (R&D) activities that occur in the context of complex project management. The study presents issues, difficulties, and practices acknowledged by project managers related to knowledge sharing and R&D (focused on activities that involve cooperation and collaboration). Particularly, we point out the following major knowledge sharing barriers: codification process, inadequate information technology, lack of initiative and strategy by the workers, and lack of time and resources. We also explained the following practices and issues regarding the collaborative R&D activities: information exchange and retrieval, communication barriers, interdependence of knowledge and skills, and different technical terminologies. We intend to contribute to the understanding of the work carried out in the context of complex projects to improve the management practices and the information technology platforms to support them. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.