Overview

With this new monograph, Hans Lehmann demonstrates the efficacy of using the Grounded Theory method to study the factors that lead to success - or failure - in the creation and ongoing management of the international information systems (IIS) within global enterprises. He presents three cases of large transnational companies he worked with in this study and describes in detail the steps in the analysis of findings and the incremental conceptualization that finally result in a substantive theory of IIS. There is also a companion website that contains a full set of analysis notes to add a further level of detail. Grounded Theory was developed in the social sciences as a means of recording, analyzing, understanding and then fully explaining what was happening within a given social situation - so that theories could be developed that were firmly grounded in those circumstantial facts. The method is very well-suited to solving information systems problems in any enterprise setting, let alone in those situations peculiar to multi-national enterprises.

Lehmann first explains the need for this type of research, reviews the paucity of existing literature on IIS, then lays out his research problem, methodology, and the basics of Grounded Theory and how it is used in descriptive and exploratory case studies. He then details each of the three cases - the New Zealand Dairy Board; J. Lauritzen Ship Owners, a Danish shipping line; and Panalpina International Forwarders, a Swedish-based freight forwarder -and uncovers their similarities and differences before forming a theory of IIS that, broadly applied, confronts the common problems facing global enterprises no matter their differences. The volume closes with a discussion of the theory and its implications for research and practice.

Practitioners will immediately find much to use here when dealing with global issues, and researchers will have much to work with in developing future projects. Methodologists will also find plenty of seed material for teaching how to develop, conceptualize and refine theoretical constructs. All in all, a cutting-edge addition to the ISIS series.

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9781441957511

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