Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2012, Management Information and Decision Systems

Digitally-enabled generative organizational processes (such as product design and development) change frequently and vary greatly within and between companies, and over time, making them difficult to understand and manage. These kinds of generative processes can be viewed as sets of organizational routines afforded by technology, which in this thesis are commonly labeled as “sociomaterial routines”. To further complicate sense-making of such processes for scholars and practitioners, digital innovations continue to alter the form of sociomaterial routines through the simultaneous consolidation of tasks and expansion of capabilities, and thus provide means to both increase and decrease complexity and variety in organizations. This complex dynamic of sociomaterial routines offers a tantalizing, yet heretofore elusive, opportunity to explore the effects digitalization and process structure have on process variety. The primary research questions addressed in this thesis are: 1) How are sociomaterial routines structurally composed, 2) what variations (over time and space) can we identify across sociomaterial routines, and 3) what can explain these variations? The theorizing and analysis of routine variation and evolution provides new insights and genuine opportunities for research inquiries—such as finding systematic drivers of variation among routines—that have been hitherto out of reach (Pentland et al. 2009). The substance of the thesis draws primarily upon three research articles my colleagues and I have published. The first introduces the suite of tools and techniques we have developed for exploring the structure of sociomaterial routines and analyzing their variation. The second article examines the way in which routines evolve, and the role embedded digital capabilities play in driving that evolution. The third develops and validates a theory of routine variation over across four world class design organizations . The findings from these studies suggest that soc (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Kalle Lyytinen (Advisor); Youngjin Yoo (Committee Member); Brian Pentland (Committee Member); Fred Collopy (Committee Member); Richard Buchanan (Committee Member); Richard Boland Jr. (Other) Subjects: Design; Epistemology; Evolution and Development; Information Systems; Information Technology; Management; Philosophy of Science; Social Research; Social Structure

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2014, Management

Design methodologies exist in espoused theories while methods-in-action never adhere to the entirety of the concepts envisaged by the methodology itself (Avison and Fitzgerald 2003). Currently, there is no deficit in design methodologies but, rather the deficit is in accurate understanding of the application and tailoring of the methodology in a given situation. Despite extensive methodology research over the last two decades we still know very little about how design methodologies are enacted in real-time. To date, there are no studies, which have systematically explored these differences. To uncover the differences, I ask these primary questions in the thesis: 1) What are the sources of variations in methodologies? 2) How iterations-in-practice differ in design methods? And 3) how projects evolve over time? At the core, this thesis work examines the differences in two contrasting design methodologies - agile and waterfall- using the lens of organizational routines. Specifically, I propose here four different types of variation in this thesis: (1) method-induced variation (2) agency-induced variation (3) fitness-induced variation (4) random variation. These sources explain some of the differences occurring in practice between these competing methodologies. The findings from these studies suggest that methods (by themselves) do not generate drastic variation in routines but it is rather the agency and fitness aspects (i.e. the method use) that accounts for most of the routine variation. Further, the differences in the structures of iterations in agile and waterfall were minimalistic, however qualitative data suggests otherwise.

Committee: Kalle Lyytinen (Committee Chair); Dick Welke (Committee Member); Dick Boland (Committee Member); Fred Collopy (Committee Member); John Paul Stephens (Committee Member) Subjects: Information Systems

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2008, Mass Communication (Communication)

This study's focus, the tragic December 26, 2004, Indian Ocean tsunami, took more than 31,000 lives in Sri Lanka alone. All 543 stories about the island nation in 3 elite and influential U.S. newspapers, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Christian Science Monitor, were analyzed 18 months before and 18 months after the tsunami (excluding the tsunami itself) by comparing Keesing's Record of World Events (the "menu") to covered events (the "diet"). Results showed that 43% of pre and 76% of post-tsunami Keesing's events were covered. Military/defense was the number 1 topic both pre and post-tsunami. After grouping 4 topics into a violence dimension, the researcher found a four-fold increase in the violence coverage post-tsunami, due to a sharp increase in actual violence. Research questions addressed 3 levels of the Shoemaker and Reese Hierarchy of Influences model. Regarding Level 2 (news routines), results indicated a spike in coverage on the anniversary of the tsunami, December 26, 2005. Regarding Level 3 (the organization), the study examined organizational differences, Level 3 of the Shoemaker and Reese Hierarchy of Influences model. Each news organization's coverage of Sri Lanka was found to be unique, reflecting different newsroom policies and different economic realities. In addition to many more newsworthy events being covered post-tsunami, the significant post-tsunami increase in discretionary coverage, feature stories, editorials, and local news, likewise shows a heightened attention to Sri Lanka. Finally, the study found that U.S. elite newspapers had more prominent (e.g., page 1) coverage of Sri Lanka post-tsunami than pre -tsunami. In other words, the tragedy seems to have pushed Sri Lanka onto the media agenda. Thus this study posits the addition of a new element, a (cataclysmic) event itself, to Level 4 (extra-media influences) of the Shoemaker and Reese model.

Committee: Anne M. Cooper (Committee Chair); Hong Cheng (Committee Member); Drew McDaniel (Committee Member); Patricia Weitsman (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; Journalism; Mass Media