Magnus Mähring

Stockholm School of Economics · House of Innovation

Though IT transformation programs are gaining in importance, we know little about the nature of the challenges involved in such programs and how to manage them. Using grounded theory methodology, we conducted a multiyear case study of a large IT transformation program in a major commercial bank, during which we encountered the interrelated themes o...

The control of information systems (IS) projects is a key activity for deployment of information technology (IT) resources and ultimately for value creation through IT. For the last 20 years, research on IS project control has grown to cover a wide range of aspects and issues, including control modes, amounts, and portfolios, control in internal an...

In this research commentary, we argue that the current digital era compels a reconsideration and problematization of research on information systems (IS) project control. IS projects are key to the pursuit of digital innovation and transformation activities, and the control of IS projects is central to creating and capturing value from these activi...

How is it possible to gain a sense that you have a voice and that your life matters when you have lost everything and live your life as a ‘displaced person’ in extreme precarity? We explore this question by examining the mundane everyday organizing practices of Syrian refugees living in tented settlements in Lebanon. Contrasting traditional empiric...

Based on a study of Lean management practices at the Swedish Migration Board, we develop a novel theoretical understanding of the translation of management ideas. We show how translation, rather than being reduced to a network of human intentions and actions governing the transformation of organizational practices, can instead be understood as a hi...

Information systems (IS) projects are notoriously difficult to control, especially under conditions of uncertainty. This difficulty is particularly pronounced for senior IS managers, such as CIOs and IT Vice Presidents, who tend to have scarce time and limited project-related knowledge but are ultimately held accountable for IS project performance....

This study explores the role of mobile phones in livelihood creation among Syrian refugees in informal tented settlements in Akkar Governorate and the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon. Drawing on forty-five interviews with Syrian refugees and ten interviews with aid workers, the study highlights the importance of mobile phones in reviving, maintaining and l...

While IS development (ISD) projects are essential for deploying digital technologies in organisations, they are notoriously challenging to control and complete successfully. Prior ISD project control research mostly conceptualises control activities in terms of formal and informal control modes and frequently focuses on performance effects at the p...

While IS development (ISD) projects are essential for deploying digital technologies in organizations, they are notoriously challenging to control and complete successfully. Prior ISD project control research mostly conceptualizes control activities in terms of formal and informal control modes and frequently focuses on performance effects at the p...

These proceedings of the IFIP WG 8.2 reflects the response of the research community to the theme selected for the 2018 working conference: “Living with Monsters? Social Implications of Algorithmic Phenomena, Hybrid Agency and the Performativity of Technology”.KeywordsHybrid AgentDecision Maker AlgorithmMonster FigureLucy SuchmanSurveillance Capita...

This paper reports on the panel discussion that took place at the European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS) in Guimarães, Portugal, on 9 June, 2017. The discussion focused on three central questions: 1) “What does research impact mean for you?”, 2) “What is your approach to making an impact with your research?”, and 3) “What advice would yo...

Whereas extant research on trust in interorganizational relationships tends to focus on trust convergence – i.e. members of one focal firm developing similar trust perceptions toward a partner firm – we shift focus to trust divergence – i.e. members of one focal firm developing different trust perceptions toward a partner firm. To explore trust div...

Offshoring of information systems (IS) projects has become a widespread global practice. While prior research suggests that controlling, and communicating with, offshore vendors represent key managerial challenges, the topic of how control is communicated, or transmitted, from client to vendor has been widely neglected. Our study focuses on control...

Offshoring of information systems (IS) projects has become a widespread global practice. While prior research suggests that controlling, and communicating with, offshore vendors represent key managerial challenges, the topic of how control is communicated, or transmitted, from client to vendor has been widely neglected. Our study focuses on control...

This paper aims to move sensemaking theory forward by exploring a post-humanist view of how sense is made in material-discursive practices. Answering recent calls for novel theoretical views on sensemaking, we adopt a relational ontology, assuming subject and object to be ontologically entangled, and viewing agency as a circulating flow through mat...

Strategically important projects involve high stakes, uncertainty, and stakeholder complexity, with contingencies and risks typically surfacing repeatedly as the project evolves. This is challenging not only for the project team, but also in particular for the steering committee (SC), the top management oversight structure typically used to align a...

Strategically important projects involve high stakes, uncertainty, and stakeholder complexity, with contingencies and risks typically surfacing repeatedly as the project evolves. This is challenging not only for the project team (PT) but also in particular for the steering committee (SC), the top management oversight structure typically used to ali...

Most previous research on ISD project control conceptualizes control activities in terms of control modes and focuses on performance effects at the project level. This seems to oversimplify the way controls ‘work’ by neglecting the multidimensionality of control activities and their effects at the individual level. In this paper, we adopt an expand...

In virtually every information systems (IS) project, control is exercised on multiple hierarchical project levels. For example, senior managers exercise control over project team leaders, who in turn exercise control over distinct groups of project team members. Most prior studies have exclusively focused on one specific controller-controllee dyad....

Existing IS project control research primarily draws on agency theory to conceptualize control, relating control closely to aligning behaviors of self-interested controllees with organizational objectives. Recent studies in neighboring disciplines, however, suggest that the agency view of control is too narrow to fully understand control activities...

As firms increasingly engage in interorganizational information systems (IS) projects, including IS offshoring projects, the challenge for client firms of effectively exercising control across organizational boundaries becomes critical. Although the importance of informal controls (clan and self-control) in this context has been recognized, prior r...

This study combines the institutional logics perspective with a sociomaterial lens to explore how a new element of an institutional logic is negotiated and manifested in sociomaterial practices at the micro-level of organizing. Building on recent research, emphasizing the role of agency in the micro-level dynamics and use of logics, we show how the...

This study explores the constitutive role of visualizations in the sensemaking of new operational work practices at an emergency ward of a Nordic University hospital. By employing a performative lens, viewing the social and the material as constitutively entangled in practice, we show how visual cues of a digital workflow board trigger intra-action...

This paper addresses the governance of trust repair in strategic alliances. Based on a longitudinal case study of three consecutive R&D alliances between two firms, we conduct an in-depth analysis of trust dynamics with particular focus on the trust repair process and its anatomy. Our study offers important implications both for the relational view...

While research on information systems (IS) project control has advanced considerably over the last decade, knowledge about the performance effects of particular combinations of control modes is still limited. In this study, we add an important piece to the puzzle of control effects and control mode interaction. We do so by examining the impact of i...

This paper takes a novel approach to IS project control by studying control perception differences between clients and vendors in IS offshoring projects and the implications of such perception differences for project performance. We present the results of a survey-based analysis of control perception differences based on a dataset involving 46 clie...

This paper takes a novel approach to IS project control by studying control perception differences between clients and vendors in IS offshoring projects and the implications of such perception differences for project performance. We present the results of a survey-based analysis of control perception differences based on a dataset involving 46 clie...

This study addresses the dilemmas and challenges facing senior executives who serve on steering committees or other supervising bodies of large and strategically important initiatives. They ultimately bear responsibility, but they are not in a position that allows them to understand all the details of what is going on. They do not have the time, th...

Any seasoned executive knows that information technology (IT) projects have a high failure rate. Large IT projects can become the business equivalent of what astrophysicists know as black holes, absorbing large quantities of matter and energy. Resources get sucked in, but little or nothing ever emerges. Of course, projects do not become black holes...

Introduction Taming runaway Information Technology (IT) projects is a challenge that most organizations have faced and that managers continue to wrestle with. These are projects that grossly exceed their planned budgets and schedules, often by a factor of 2--3 fold or greater. Many end in failure; failure not only in the sense of budget or schedule...

IT failures abound but little is known about the financial impact that these failures have on a firm’s market value. Using the resource-based view of the firm and event study methodology, this study analyzes how firms are penalized by the market when they experience unforeseen operating or implementation-related IT failures. Our sample consists of...

This study draws upon the project and team literatures to explore how project boundaries are managed across the IT project life-cycle. A longitudinal study of a commercial automation control solutions provider was conducted. Particular emphasis was placed on the interaction between one focal project and its environment. We found that recurrent, sit...

What happens when an organization form that has emerged in one context is brought into a different context? In this paper, a longitudinal field study approach is used to explore how Hewlett-Packard (HP) molded open source software development (OSSD) into a proprietary software development approach called “Progressive Open Source” (POS). With the he...

Given the persistent and costly problem of escalating IT projects, it is important to understand how projects can be de-escalated successfully, resulting in project turnaround if possible, or termination if necessary. Recent work suggests that the instantiation of specific roles may be central in bringing about de-escalation. How¬ever, few such rol...

The article presents a study of how Hewlett-Packard (HP) created their proprietary "Progressive Open Source" (POS) process using the open source software development approach as a template. The longitudinal case study method is used to investigate the transformations involved in making the open source approach compatible with the corporate environm...

Information technology (IT) a common and costly problem. While much is known about the factors that promote escalation behavior, little is known about the actual escalation process. This article uses an in-depth case study to construct a process model of escalation, consisting of three phases: drift, unsuccessful incremental adaptation, and rationa...

The reluctance to report bad news about a project and its status is a known problem in software project management that can contribute to project failure. The reluctance to report bad news is heightened when it bears personal risks. Oftentimes, those who report bad news end up losing face. In extreme cases, they not only lose face, but may end up o...

What can an organization do when it has an opportunity to innovate with IT and faces pressure to improve operations – but lacks the capabilities necessary to conduct IT-related organizational change efforts? In this paper, this challenging situation is explored with the help of the resource-based view of the firm. A case study of digital radiology...

The role of the board of directors in IT governance draws increasing attention from practitioners faced with evolving competitive pressures and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance requirements. However, research on the topic is in its very early stages. To further the continued development of this emerging research area, this review paper surveys the extant...

This study investigates the potential of actor-network theory (ANT) for theory development on information technology project escalation, a pervasive problem in contemporary organizations. In so doing, the study aims to contribute to the current dialogue on the potential of ANT in the information systems field. While escalation theory has been used...

This paper reports on a study of organizational control of IT projects, specifically how control forms and evolves over time and how executives engage in the control task. Viewing executive involvement in its organizational context, the study builds on studies on executive involvement in IT (including top management support), IT project escalation...

This research in progress addresses how managers engage in controlling IT projects, which can be seen as an instance of a classical problem in organizational control: managing sensibly in situations where subordinates have superior task knowledge. Theories used in the study include control theory, theories on commitment and escalation, and theories...

This paper reports on an explorative study of the role of the top manager (the CEO or leader of a business unit) in connection with business process development projects. Findings from two case studies are reported. The findings indicate some important tasks for the top manager in connection with business process development projects. Specifically,...