The role of emergent strategies in managing the implementation of industry IOIS

A dominant implicit assumtion in the literature on inter-organizational information systems (IOIS) is that the implementation of the IOIS is rationally planned, it goes according to a plan and use follows as expected. Contrary to this assumption, this empirical paper shows that the management of IOIS cannot only be conceived as pre-defined planned intervention, but also as a form of reaction and response to situational demands and users behaviour. IOIS emerge from users enactment and reinforcement of the system, which managers have difficulties in foreseeing and cannot avoid. We present a case study about the implementation of an industry IOIS in the Seaport of Barcelona. Using Grounded Theory method we have found five maneuvers that the IOIS management undertakes during and following the implementation in order to encourage and support the use of the IOIS. Next, drawing on the literature of mutual adaptation, organizational change, and emergent strategies, we interpret these managerial maneuvers. Finally, we show that the five managerial maneuvers converge into two emergent strategies: attract users to bootstrap the IOIS, and keep the IOIS adaptable.