Cooperative Design Efforts for the Development of Complex It-Artefacts

This paper contributes to the debate on the relationship between IT-artefacts and organisational structuration by describing the dynamics surrounding the collaborative development of an innovative electronic metering system. The aim of the paper is to address a clear gap in the current literature on collaborative IT-artefacts design, as cooperation at early design stages has barely been analysed. This work tries to understand whether and to what extent the design of an IT-artefact is driven by the interests of a number of heterogeneous actors and how these are able to affect the artefact’s evolution. The research relies on a case study analysis, which focuses on a consortium of heterogeneous actors (firms, the public sector, research institutes) working within the green energy industry. The research focuses on the activities of a workgroup attempting to develop an innovative IT-artefact: an electronic metering system. The main results emerging from the field study are: the relevance of each actor’s interests as a prevalent rationale for explaining the technical features of the IT-artefact; the role of negotiation and consensus in determining the final shape of the IT-artefact in terms of its features; and the bundling/unbundling of IT-artefact features as a result of changes in the alignment of actors. The research presents two clear limitations. First, the activities of the workgroup are still ongoing thus limiting some of the insights one may draw from the case study. Second, the analysis is carried out on a single case study. Further analysis should be done to increase consistency and validity of the findings. The paper suggests that in an open and collaborative environment, the conceptualisation and evolution of an IT-artefact are influenced more by the political agendas of the various actors rather than by pure technical problems and concerns. The practical implications thus are that every attempt to manage such a collaborative effort must seriously take into consideration these aspects. Starting from the recognition that little research has been conducted on the factors influencing cooperative IT-artefact design, this paper sheds new light on how these factors influence such cooperative activity. The authors believe that this kind of work helps lay some foundations for general models attempting to explain cooperative innovation processes such as the open innovation model.