From Control to Drift: The Dynamics of Corporate Information Infastructures

Front Cover
Oxford University Press, 2000 - Business & Economics - 246 pages
Firms are investing considerable resources to create large information infrastructures able to fulfil their varied information-processing and communication needs. The more the drive towards globalization, the more such infrastructures become crucial. The 'wiring' of the corporation should be done in a way that is aligned with its corporate strategy-it is global and generates value. This book presents six in-depth case studies of large corporations-AstraZeneca, IBM, Norsk Hydro, Roche, SKF, and Statoil-which offer a rich picture of the main issues involved in information infrastructure implementation and management. Far from being a linear process, the use of the information infrastructure is in fact an open-ended process, in many cases out of control. Current management models and consulting advice do not seem to be able to cope with such a business landscape. This book provides the reader with interpretations and theories that can foster a different understanding and approach.
 

Contents

Introduction
1
A Critical Review of the Literature on the Management of Corporate Information Infrastructure
15
Globalization and Risk Society
41
The Economics of Standards
56
ActorNetwork Theory and Information Infrastucture
71
Conservative Success Organization and Infrastructure Evolution at SKF
87
Infrastructure as a Process The Case of CRM in IBM
105
Whos in Control Designers Managers or Technology? Infrastructures at Norsk Hydro
125
Infrastructure Strategy Formation Seize the Day at Statoil
148
Global and Local Dynamics in Infrastructure Deployment The Astra Hassle Experience
172
From Alignment to Loose Coupling From MedNet to wwwrochecom
193
Postface From Infrastructure to Networking
212
References
227
Index
237
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About the author (2000)

Claudio U. Ciborra is Professor of Information Systems at the London School of Economics. He is a leading researcher in the areas of information systems, management, and strategy. Affiliated to many leading European universities and research centres, he has conducted several international projects studying the impacts of IT on organizations. Author of many books on this topic, he is also widely published in the related fields of institutional economics, strategy, and organization theory.

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