Information systems for multinational enterprises--some factors at work in their design and implementation

Information systems for multinational companies (MNCs), referred to as international information systems (IIS), have been a problem area for many years, yet have failed to attract more than token attention from the academic information systems research community. This study applies a grounded theory method to establish a first theoretical framework dealing with the structure of IIS and the dynamics of their development and implementation. The substantive theory is based on extensive, long-term work with three MNCs and covers four key areas: (a) the dealings between the actors concerned with an IIS take place in a force field; (b) the force field is reflected in a generic two-dimensional architecture an IIS, which always has a 'core' of systems used by all (or many) of the regions and 'local' systems, different at every regional site; (c) the balance of functionality between the 'core' and the 'local' parts of an IIS follows the degree to which the operations of the MNC require synchronous access to data and processing within the IIS. (d) The interactions of IT and users in the force field follow a cyclical, self-reinforcing dialectic such that an enforced consensus process is required in order to boost acceptance and to limit the probability that continuing rejection leads to catastrophic failure. The limitations of the theory are discussed and directions for future research are given.