Anne Kristin Sortehaug Ajer

• Ajer, Anne Kristin Sortehaug; Hustad, Eli; Vassilakopoulou, Polyxeni & Olsen, Dag Håkon (2021). Strengthening the Use of Enterprise Architecture: an Institutional Work Perspective, ECIS 2021 Proceedings. Association for Information Systems (AIS). ISSN 978-1-7336325-6-0. Show summary

  The conference theme of ECIS 2021 (European Conference on Information Systems) is Human Values Crisis in a Digitizing World. After migrants facing environmental, political and economic disasters, the current pandemic is highlighting that crisis can affect all countries and people of all conditions. Digital technologies are often presented as at least part of the solution for helping to drive towards a sustainable and inclusive future. Yet at the same time, digital technologies have also been identified as a threat to our freedoms (e.g., in relation to our privacy), to fairness (e.g., with the digital divide decreasing the economic opportunities for some, and with robotization causing unemployment levels for others), and to community (e.g., with social media reducing face-to-face relationships between people even while online connections may be increasing).

• Ajer, Anne Kristin Sortehaug; Hustad, Eli & Vassilakopoulou, Polyxeni (2021). Enterprise architecture operationalization and institutional pluralism: The case of the Norwegian Hospital sector. Information Systems Journal. ISSN 1350-1917. 31(4), p. 610–645. doi: 10.1111/isj.12324. Show summary

  Enterprise architecture (EA) is a systematic way of designing, planning, and implementing process and technology changes to address the complexity of information system (IS) landscapes. EA is operationalized when architecture visions move towards realization through concrete projects. We report a case study on the dynamics of operationalizing EA in the Norwegian hospital sector by exploring different EA project trajectories. Our empirical context is an institutionally pluralistic setting where multiple logics coexist. We show that the distinct logic of EA is added to the institutional context and we find that tensions among existing medical, technical, and managerial logics and EA principles and assumptions emerge. We contribute to the under‐researched topic of EA operationalization by suggesting a model that demonstrates how the meeting of multiple institutional logics can lead to varying degrees of differentiation or even disassociation from EA visions during decision‐taking in projects. Furthermore, we advance extant research on IS projects' implementation in institutionally pluralistic settings by providing an empirical account of actors' interactions and project leadership arrangements that contribute to the persistence of coexisting logics in a dynamic equilibrium.

• Ajer, Anne Kristin Sortehaug & Olsen, Dag Håkon (2020). Enterprise Architecture Implementation Is a Bumpy Ride: A Case Study in the Norwegian Public Sector. Electronic Journal of e-Government. ISSN 1479-439X. 17(2), p. 79–94. doi: 10.34190/EJEG.17.2.002. Show summary

  Enterprise architecture (EA) is a widespread approach for the development of new digital solutions in a planned and controlled way for large and complex organisations. EA is also viewed as a prerequisite for the digitalisation of the public sector. However, public sector organisations struggle to implement EA programmes, and research has demonstrated that organisational and managerial issues are critical obstacles to EA implementation. This study aims to increase our understanding of EA implementation in the public sector by investigating the central challenges for EA initiatives and to trace the progress of current EA initiatives in the Norwegian public sector. An additional goal is to disclose some ways to improve the situation. We conducted three interpretive case studies in the hospital, higher education, and labour and welfare sectors. We have identified 28 challenges to the EA initiatives. We find that organisational and technical complexities, as well as a limited understanding of EA and lack of formal EA governance mechanisms, are significant obstacles. Among others, the lack of understanding of EA and its methodology will lead to problems with anchoring the EA approach in the organisation and facilitating the necessary EA arrangements to induce the promised benefits of EA, which are necessary requirements to establish the EA initiative’s legitimacy and foster the organisation’s willingness to implement change. Our study provides four lessons learned for planning and implementing EA initiatives, as follows: #1. It is advisable to take small steps. #2. The use of external consultants should be carefully considered. #3. Formal architectural governance mechanisms are important for legitimacy and enforced use. #4. Executive commitment and understanding of EA are crucial for achieving a sustainable EA initiative. Finally, we find a common evolution of the EA initiatives through the phases of optimism, resistance, decline and finally, reconsolidation of the most persistent ones.

• Ajer, Anne Kristin Sortehaug; Hustad, Eli & Vassilakopoulou, Polyxeni (2019). Enterprise Architecture in Hospitals: Resolving Incongruence Issues. In Ohno-Machado, Lucila & Séroussi, Brigitte (Ed.), Health and Wellbeing e-Networks for All - Proceedings of the 17th World Congress on Medical and Health Informatics . IOS Press. ISSN 978-1-64368-003-3. p. 659–663. doi: 10.3233/SHTI190305. Full text in Research Archive
• Ajer, Anne Kristin Sortehaug & Olsen, Dag Håkon (2018). Enterprise Architecture Challenges: A Case Study of three Norwegian Public Sectors. In Bednar, P; Frank, Ulrich & Kautz, Karlheinz (Ed.), European Conference on Information Systems: Beyond Digitization - Facets of Socio-Technical Change ECIS 2018 Proceedings. Association for Information Systems (AIS). ISSN 9781861376671.
• Ajer, Anne Kristin Sortehaug; Hustad, Eli & Vassilakopoulou, Polyxeni (2018). Enterprise Architects’ Logics across Organizational Levels: A Case Study in the Norwegian Hospital Sector. In Kourouthanassis, Panos; Markopoulos, Panos; Pateli, Adamantia; Pouloudi, Nancy; Pucihar, Andreja & Vieira da Cunha, João (Ed.), Digital and social transformation for a better society - Proceedings of the Twelfth Mediterranean Conference on Information Systems (MCIS 2018) . Association for Information Systems (AIS). ISSN 978-960-7260-61-1.
• Ajer, Anne Kristin Sortehaug (2018). Enterprise Architecture in Healthcare and Underlying Institutional Logics: a Systematic Literature Review of IS Research. In Tanabu, Motonari & Senoo, Dai (Ed.), PACIS 2018 Proceedings - Opportunities and Challenges for the Digitized Society: Are We Ready? : Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems (PACIS 2018) . Association for Information Systems (AIS). ISSN 978-4-902590-83-8. Full text in Research Archive
• Ajer, Anne Kristin Sortehaug & Hustad, Eli (2015). Enterprise system implementation in a franchise context: an action case study. Procedia Technology - Elsevier. ISSN 2212-0173. 64, p. 948–956. doi: 10.1016/j.procs.2015.08.612. Show summary

  This research paper reports on a study focusing on a franchise relationship that utilizes an enterprise system (ES) to optimize its supply chain. The ES is in its post-implementation phase; however, the franchisee has challenges with inventory management due to poor data quality, which causes problems with vendor analysis and revenue control. An action case study was carried out to identify and diagnose the source of the problem, and interventions were implemented and evaluated. The findings demonstrate that several of the challenges related to poor data quality in the supply chain were influenced by problems of a socio-technical character. These included a lack of understanding of the system, a shortage of training, workarounds, opportunistic behaviors and a lack of effective control mechanisms for the franchisor. Implications for the franchisor include the need for greater emphasis on good communication routines with franchisees, so problems in the system can be identified early and resolved. Franchisees must try to establish a good relationship with the franchisor and to be aware that knowledge and training can be the keys to realizing the benefits of the ES.

View all works in Cristin

• Ajer, Anne Kristin Sortehaug; Hustad, Eli & Vassilakopoulou, Polyxeni (2020). Institutional perspective on introducing enterprise architecture. The case of the Norwegian hospital sector. . University of Agder. ISSN 978-82-7117-973-1. Full text in Research Archive

View all works in Cristin