The growing adoption of agile methods of system development can be seen as broadly consistent with characteristics of a management fashion. However, the extent that fashions relate to how specific organizations actually adopt and use agile remains unclear. Based on five case studies, this research seeks to apply the concepts from management fashion theory to understand how organizations mindfully (or mindlessly) adopt agile methods. We find in some cases that agile appears to be characterized as a short-term, transitory trend, while in others it is embedded in an organization’s processes and culture. We identify three categories that distinguish between fashion patterns during agile adoptions: Crusaders, who exclusively adopt agile in a pure form; Tailors, who integrate agile and traditional approaches to fit their specific circumstances; and Dabblers who employ a few ceremonial agile activities alongside a traditional approach. The results from this study can encourage managerial awareness of the link between fashions and agile development, which can serve to highlight the unique opportunities to enhance mindfulness and avoid the pitfalls of mindlessness. By uncovering insights into the fashion-centric drivers of agile adoption, this research extends past theory related to both mindful innovation and management fashions.

Abstract In this article, the author examines an enterprise resource planning (ERP) adoption process in a particular case setting to explore the knowledge management challenges encountered, specifically challenges related to the sharing and integration of knowledge, and the ways that social capital is used to overcome these challenges. More specifically, the author relates the different sources and effects of social capital to the different implementation phases, with their differing knowledge management challenges. By doing so, he highlights the relative importance of the bridging and bonding aspects of social capital that vary during different phases because of the different types of knowledge that become more or less important over the lifecycle of the project—embrained, embodied, encultured, embedded, and encoded.

It is increasingly recognized that the ability to create, use and reuse knowledge is key to organizational survival, underpinning the development of routine practices that encourage efficiency as w...

In this paper we examine the phenomenon of Y2K as an example of cross-functional knowledge integration. We start with the observation that although an enormous amount of investment was made for year 2000 (Y2K) readiness, a smooth millennium rollover has ended with widespread debates about the worthiness of the investment. These debates not only reflect a common perception that the Y2K investment has been a waste of money, but also indicate that organisations often fail to learn from what they have done in the past in order to prepare for future actions. A case study of a multinational investment bank's Y2K program was conducted to analyse its main features and conceptualise the underlying cross-functional knowledge integration process. Based on our findings, we identified the following as the main processes involved in knowledge integration: (1) the penetration of different boundaries to obtain required knowledge and support; (2) the expansion of different paradigms to achieve shared understanding; (3) the reconfiguration of organisational memory to create new organisational routines and knowledge.

This article reviews and contrasts the experiences of two major companies in attempting significant change projects incorporating information and communication technologies. It does so by utilizing and critiquing the MIT "Management in the 1990s" model and by reflecting on socio-technical approaches to organizational change. It makes the point that while much of current attention is on electronic commerce as it pertains to industry transformation and inter-organizational relations, it is nonetheless a phenomenon that can impact complex internal relations and communication in addition. Additionally, conclusions are drawn with respect to the process of change and the need for further longitudinal studies when researching change projects of this kind.