Authors:
Erja Mustonen-Ollila
1
and
Jukka Heikkonen
2
Affiliations:
1
Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland
;
2
Helsinki University of Technology, Finland
Keyword(s):
Empirical research, Longitudinal study, Case Study, IS process innovations, Evolution paths.
Related
Ontology
Subjects/Areas/Topics:
Enterprise Information Systems
;
Information Engineering Methodologies
;
Information Systems Analysis and Specification
;
Methodologies, Processes and Platforms
;
Model-Driven Software Development
;
Software Engineering
;
Systems Engineering
Abstract:
This study identifies Information System process innovations’ (ISPIs) evolution paths in three organisations using a sample of 213 ISPI development decisions over a period that spanned four decades: early computing (1954-1965); main frame era (1965-1983); office computing era (1983-1991), and distributed applications era (1991-1997). These follow roughly Friedman’s and Cornford’s categorisation of IS development eras. Four categories of ISPI’s are distinguished: base line technologies, development tools, description methods, and managerial process innovations. Inside the ISPI categories ISPI evolution paths are based on the predecessor and successor relationships of the ISPIs over time. We analyse for each era the changes and the dependencies between the evolution paths over time. The discovered dependencies were important in understanding that the changes on ISPIs are developed through many stages of evolution over time. It was discovered that the dependencies between the evolution
paths varied significantly according to the three organisations, the four ISPI categories, and the four IS development eras.
(More)