Enterprise Architecture Institutionalization: a Tale of two Cases

The purpose of this research is to examine why organizations with similar objectives and environments at the beginning obtain different outcomes when implementing enterprise architecture (EA) projects and how EA institutionalization process occurs. We conduct a qualitative multiple-case study using the lens of institutional theory through the analysis of intra-organization relations. The results show that the institutional logic of stakeholders can drive EA projects in different directions during the process of EA institutionalization, and thus organizations obtain different project outcomes ultimately. We contribute by extending the knowledge on EA institutionalization from a micro-level perspective, understanding and explaining how the organizational structure was shaped and influenced by stakeholders’ relations, as well as providing insight into stakeholders’ behaviors and activities during the process of EA institutionalization so that practitioners may improve the success rate of EA projects, particularly in the public sector.