Coping with technology heritage A case study of a large telecommunications organization

Abstract

The digitalization of society has become apparent with technology entering previously non-digital contexts, resulting in new opportunities for organizations to exploit and explore. Technology plays a part in enabling organizations to explore new possibilities. However, with the furthered use of technology, a heritage is also built, which could materialize as a constraint for organizations. The purpose of this study is to investigate how managers act to deal with the constraints of technology heritage. The study is conducted as a case study with a qualitative approach to identify patterns of how managers cope with the constraining effects of technology heritage, within a telecommunications organization. As the findings show, there are six strategies of coping that managers employ to confront the constraints of technology heritage: Process - coping through relying on an established approach or the assigned responsibility of the manager; Ignore - coping through accepting the constraint by choosing not to act or due a lack of known possible actions to take; Sponsor - coping through the aid of key individuals; Information seeking - coping through the gathering of knowledge; Quick fix - coping through the employment of temporary solutions; and Leadership - coping through the motivating of others or leading through action.