Paper Number
ECIS2026-1744
Paper Type
CRP
Abstract
Workarounds—intentional deviations from pre-defined processes that employees perform to fulfill their day-to-day work effectively—can remain temporary fixes or trigger process innovation at the organizational level. However, the combination of conditions impacting one or the other outcome have not been empirically examined. Employing a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to analyze responses from 542 informants, we identify six configurations of conditions under which workarounds remain temporary fixes or become process innovations. Our findings reveal that supervisors need to establish communication with process participants while facilitating communication and observation among co-workers, alongside establishing aspects of organizational learning, to enable workarounds to become a bottom-up process innovation. This sheds light on the role of workarounds on an organizational level, spurring further dialogue on process innovation, process drift, and relationships between managers and process participants. Managers can use our results to promote or prevent process innovation through workarounds in their organizations.
Recommended Citation
Hellweg, Talea; Sandfort, Luc; Reineke, Malte; Bartelheimer, Christian; and Beverungen, Daniel, "Temporary Fix Or Process Innovation? A Fuzzy-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis Of Workarounds" (2026). ECIS 2026 Proceedings. 6.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/ecis2026/bpm/bpm/6
Temporary Fix Or Process Innovation? A Fuzzy-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis Of Workarounds
Workarounds—intentional deviations from pre-defined processes that employees perform to fulfill their day-to-day work effectively—can remain temporary fixes or trigger process innovation at the organizational level. However, the combination of conditions impacting one or the other outcome have not been empirically examined. Employing a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to analyze responses from 542 informants, we identify six configurations of conditions under which workarounds remain temporary fixes or become process innovations. Our findings reveal that supervisors need to establish communication with process participants while facilitating communication and observation among co-workers, alongside establishing aspects of organizational learning, to enable workarounds to become a bottom-up process innovation. This sheds light on the role of workarounds on an organizational level, spurring further dialogue on process innovation, process drift, and relationships between managers and process participants. Managers can use our results to promote or prevent process innovation through workarounds in their organizations.
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