Paper Number
2023
Paper Type
SP
Abstract
Workarounds are purposeful deviations from business processes or routines that participants perform to overcome obstacles or inefficiencies. Prior research has conceptualized types of workarounds, identified their antecedents, and discussed the mechanisms of their (unattended) diffusion in an organization. However, it is unknown how organizations can manage workarounds purposefully, implementing them as a capability of bottom-up process innovation that complements and extends traditional top-down process innovation. We set out to perform a multiple case study to find out how and why organizations do (or might) implement this new capability. In this paper, we present a coding schema that guides this inquiry based on conceptualizing the innovation process as an interplay of process participants, organizations, and IT artifacts. To validate our coding schema and discuss initial insights, we present evidence from one case organization. We conclude the paper by presenting perspectives for understanding and implementing the workaround-to-innovation process as an organizational capability.
Recommended Citation
Beverungen, Daniel; Bartelheimer, Christian; Assbrock, Agnes; and Löhr, Bernd, "Workaround-to-Innovation - Exploring Bottom-up Process Re-Design" (2024). ECIS 2024 Proceedings. 5.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/ecis2024/track08_bpm_di/track08_bpm_di/5
Workaround-to-Innovation - Exploring Bottom-up Process Re-Design
Workarounds are purposeful deviations from business processes or routines that participants perform to overcome obstacles or inefficiencies. Prior research has conceptualized types of workarounds, identified their antecedents, and discussed the mechanisms of their (unattended) diffusion in an organization. However, it is unknown how organizations can manage workarounds purposefully, implementing them as a capability of bottom-up process innovation that complements and extends traditional top-down process innovation. We set out to perform a multiple case study to find out how and why organizations do (or might) implement this new capability. In this paper, we present a coding schema that guides this inquiry based on conceptualizing the innovation process as an interplay of process participants, organizations, and IT artifacts. To validate our coding schema and discuss initial insights, we present evidence from one case organization. We conclude the paper by presenting perspectives for understanding and implementing the workaround-to-innovation process as an organizational capability.
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