The adoption of ICT in project-based and traditional organizations: Evidence from Finnish and Swedish companies

ISSN： 1741-0398

Source： Journal of Enterprise Information Management, Vol.25, Iss.1, 2011-12, pp. : 7-27

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Abstract

Purpose - This research aims to investigate the adoption of electronic communication tools and seeks to shed more light on their diffusion process, a challenging task for project-based (PBO) and traditional business organizations (TBO). Design/methodology/approach - The data for the study were collected through three surveys, one total population survey in the Finnish and Swedish house building industries representing traditional business organizations, together with a focused and a total population survey in project-based organizations. Findings - The main findings from the survey indicate a difference in attitude between the employees of TBOs and PBOs. Moreover, electronic document management and scheduling were more prominent among PBOs, because these firms exhibit more inter-organizational communication. Research limitations/implications - The findings are limited to project-based and traditional business organizations. The research emphasises the fact that PBOs make more inter-firm collaboration efforts and thus require more extensive communication systems for inter-organizational links. Further research is needed in other industries to validate the present findings. Practical implications - By looking at the use of ICT, the aim was to determine which e-communication tools are more tightly coupled to management and how firms can benefit most from these tools for organizational governance. Originality/value - This is one of the few studies to have examined the uses of ICT in a PBO and TBO context and especially in Finnish and Swedish background.