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Product or Service? An Interpretive Case Study of Web Development

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Information Systems Development

Abstract

We present an interpretive case study of web development in one particular organisation, the Gem Company, using qualitative data. The study explores how the social and organisational context influenced the design of the Gem Company’s website and the employees’ differing perceptions about appropriate technical work practices and the resulting effectiveness of the website. It shows how one group of employees’ shared meanings and assumptions about both the product and information systems development (ISD) process became embedded in the company’s website, leading to conflict with another group of employees which shared different meanings and assumptions. This chapter’s contribution is a rich, interpretive case study which adopts a socio-technical perspective to propose an explanation for the conflicts we observed, which is potentially transferable to other ISD situations.

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Lawrence, M.T., Oates, B.J. (2013). Product or Service? An Interpretive Case Study of Web Development. In: Pooley, R., Coady, J., Schneider, C., Linger, H., Barry, C., Lang, M. (eds) Information Systems Development. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4951-5_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4951-5_12

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-4950-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-4951-5

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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