This paper presents an adaptive and resilient architecture of the digital enterprise, grounded in... more This paper presents an adaptive and resilient architecture of the digital enterprise, grounded in a systems perspective. The motivation for the current architecture of the enterprise has emerged due to the inadequacy of current conceptualizations that masks the increased complexity of organizations, as decentralization through decentralized autonomous organizations using exponential digital technologies takes. The transition towards more decentralization requires the questioning of the current Weberian model of the enterprise, in which power is concentrated within certain functional structures. However, the promise of the open architecture of the digital economy calls for a different view of reality of the contemporary exercise, facing digitalization processes of digitization, disintermediation, disruption, dematerialization, demonetization and democratization. There are other additional pressures, such as the call for enterprises to adopt more sustainable business models in an era of 'creative destruction'. This paper adopts a critical realist approach anchored in Critical Systems Thinking to propose a process-oriented architecture for digitalizing operations in enterprises. The novelty of the architecture can aid organizations identify the interplay of various feedback mechanisms between the various organizational layers revealed through the architecture.
We start from the premise that the retroductive mode of reasoning is not well understood in the t... more We start from the premise that the retroductive mode of reasoning is not well understood in the theorizing and research process. Retroduction and abduction, less well known and rarely acknowledged in scientific contributions, stems from our perception that advances in sciences are not limited to deductive and inductive reasoning alone, but that retroductive and abductive reasoning equally contribute to acquisition of knowledge in the research process. Our contribution is linked to a caveat linked to Kuhnian thinking) that: knowledge is time-constrained, and that as paradigms are overthrown, the theoretical landscape reshapes to reify new knowledge claims anchored on newer grand, middle and subsequently, substantive theories relevant to a researcher's context (discipline, research setting). We limit our contribution in improving research practice to epistemological concerns and how individual researchers can better improve how they conceptualize research problems and develop theory through retroduction and abduction. We link our contribution to the epistemological arena, since the general understanding of how scientists reason and formulate explanations is still surprisingly limited, yet prescriptions for methodological rigor are the norm and essential in research.
This contribution sought to explicate the nature of and make sense of the global organizing respo... more This contribution sought to explicate the nature of and make sense of the global organizing response to the evolving COVID-19 pandemic. Through recourse to an analytical framework anchored on a critical realist synthesis, the contribution highlights how context (C) and generative mechanisms (M) comingle to define the logic of current outcomes (O) linked to the COVID-19 global response. By elevating contextual conditions linked to global governance shifts, interests and outcomes of global health security capability and technological accountability (or lack of); specific generative mechanisms were identified that explicate outcomes of current global COVID-19 organizing response. Three fundamental outcomes are proffered: the first elevates the outcome of disaster or shock capitalism as the pre-eminent neoliberal monetarist logic that is currently defining the global response to the pandemic. The second outcome brings forth the "herd" mentality characterizing the spate of national lockdowns, social distancing and contact tracing conceived under the banner of "collective vulnerability". Lastly, and recognizing that a common conversational tone is critical in combating pandemics, minimizing "collective equivocality" should form part of a repertoire of strategies for fostering positive behavioural change. The implications call for a consideration of a requisite variety of options that underpin each outcome to make COVID-19 organizing responses relevant to different contexts.
This study is based on an interpretive case study of an e-government program in Zimbabwe, a count... more This study is based on an interpretive case study of an e-government program in Zimbabwe, a country in Southern Africa, consisting of a number of projects that have to be prioritised. Using public value theory as a theoretical lens, six interviews were conducted with senior managers involved in the program, complimented by a review of various project related documents and followed by a focus group of thirteen managers which was used to rank the relative importance of various criteria that relate to the delivery of public value. Using a prioritisation framework developed for this study, a mock prioritisation of a menu of projects was conducted and this was compared to the actual prioritisation that had been carried out during the implementation of the program. The study finds that public managers believe that seeking public authorisation is undesirable, unnecessary and that governments are often ill equipped to undertake this task. The study concludes that the lack of citizen participation in project conceptualisation and service creation and delivery can be overcome by the use of more and more commonly available technologies such as social media and the increasing proliferation of the internet.
This conceptual contribution explores the relevance of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and... more This conceptual contribution explores the relevance of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and its artifacts to the transformation and redefinition of corporate governance in general, and specifically to Information Technology Governance (ITG). We have premised our contribution on the ‘open’ nature of the contemporary society founded on open digital infrastructures, with the Internet as the backbone and various 4IR technologies reliant on this evolving and dynamic digital infrastructure. We propose an IT governance conceptualization anchored on 4IR technologies. Our perspective and conceptualization of the emerging 4IR Governance (4IRG) draws from systems thinking, and specifically management cybernetics from which Stafford Beer evolved the Viable Systems Model (VSM) as a theory for diagnosing organizations. From a Critical Realist philosophical foundation, our contribution is contextualized in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to aid in motivating for governance mechanisms that can be anchored on 4IR and VSM. We offer a conceptualization of digital governance mechanisms that call for algorithmic accountability of 4IR technologies. Specific research questions are proposed that can guide future studies on Fourth Industrial Revolution Governance (4IRG).
This contribution sought to explicate the nature of and make sense of the global organizing respo... more This contribution sought to explicate the nature of and make sense of the global organizing response to the evolving COVID-19 pandemic. Through recourse to an analytical framework anchored on a critical realist synthesis, the contribution highlights how context (C) and generative mechanisms (M) comingle to define the logic of current outcomes (O) linked to the COVID-19 global response. By elevating contextual conditions linked to global governance shifts, interests and outcomes of global health security capability and technological accountability (or lack of); specific generative mechanisms were identified that explicate outcomes of current global COVID-19 organizing response. Three fundamental outcomes are proffered: the first elevates the outcome of disaster or shock capitalism as the pre-eminent neoliberal monetarist logic that is currently defining the global response to the pandemic. The second outcome brings forth the "herd" mentality characterizing the spate of national lockdowns, social distancing and contact tracing conceived under the banner of "collective vulnerability". Lastly, and recognizing that a common conversational tone is critical in combating pandemics, minimizing "collective equivocality" should form part of a repertoire of strategies for fostering positive behavioural change. The implications call for a consideration of a requisite variety of options that underpin each outcome to make COVID-19 organizing responses relevant to different contexts.
Public Sector E-Government Conceptualization in the Context of a Developing Country
E-Government, launched in many African countries under the banner of New Public Management (NPM),... more E-Government, launched in many African countries under the banner of New Public Management (NPM), was introduced to improve governance in the public sphere. This paper offers an exploratory analysis into the relationship between E-Government conceptualization and its intended impacts. The three independent research streams of technology transfer, information technology conceptualization and impacts are combined to assess how the expected impacts of E-Government influence the way in which policy ...
This is a rapid realist review paper on the use of Systems Thinking (ST) in Complex Digital Trans... more This is a rapid realist review paper on the use of Systems Thinking (ST) in Complex Digital Transformation Environments (CDTE). The article will motivate for systems thinking tools for the resolution and dissolution of 'complex' digital transformation dilemmas. The dominant approach to decision making is anchored on the concept of reductionism, whose focus is on individual parts or elements. Reductionism is complimentary to the approach motivated for in this article: a system thinking approach predicated on focusing on the "whole", rather than the parts. A case is made for the adoption of Critical Systems Practice 9CSP), as a decision making framework for such environments.
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