A Case Study of Systems Development in Custom IS Organizational Culture

Abstract

This paper presents a study of how the custom IS organizational culture influences ISD practices in organizations developing tailored information systems. We studied four organizations by applying grounded theory and using organizational culture perspective as a lens to the data. The study provides example that illustrate the importance of partnership with customer in the perpetuation of a custom information systems work community. It presents a community of practice that embodies the beliefs in customer satisfaction, growth from global markets and project work along with values of business domain knowledge, customer closeness and doing things right. This study shows how these beliefs and values are manifested in systems development practices and artifacts. Findings show evidence of traditional and customer driven practices aiming to gain a trusted partnership position among customers. The study reveals also the change process going on in those organizations competing in the global markets. This change manifests itself in more product-driven practices aiming to develop more repeatable solutions for multiple customers. The possible consequences of this change process are discussed in the paper.