32. Governance of IT-Shared Services: Moving Between Hierarchical and Networked Service Provision

This research-in-progress paper provides a preliminary explanation of an organization’s transitional journey as it moves from a hierarchical model of IT service provision towards a network one. What is important to understand is how the organization can safeguard that the value-producing qualities of IT service provision are maintained and enhanced throughout this transition. Using a single case-study approach we discuss and analyze these aspects. We find that the transition has an impact on managing IT service provision, that the speed of the transition is shaped by endogenous and exogenous friction, and that the organization can move both forward and backwards in its journey. We propose a tentative model to explain the transition from a hierarchical model of IT service provision towards a network one. The proposed model constitutes a starting point for our further research into how organizations manage this transition and what factors support or impede this move.