Developing internet operations
and subcultural dynamics
An exploratory study
Emmanuel Ogbonna and Lloyd C. Harris
Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
Abstract
Purpose – It is commonly argued that the exponential growth in the application of internet
technology is one of the most important recent developments in business and management. However,
although much research has been conducted on the strategic and operational aspects of the internet,
there is a surprising dearth of research on the organizational cultural dynamics of this technological
innovation. The purpose of this study is to examine the implications of introducing an internet-led
strategy on organizational culture.
Design/methodology/approach – Specifically, the study explores the attempts by management to
exploit the introduction of internet operations as a catalyst to transform the culture of the organization.
Findings – It is argued that although a number of factors (such as organizational centrality and
senior management patronage) increased the profile of the Internet Operations Unit, the attempt by
this unit to dominate subcultural dynamics was met with difficulties, dissenting voices and issues that
were not wholly consistent with the wishes of senior management.
Originality/value – The paper offers insight into the emergent subcultures and the attempts of their
members to increase their visibility and influence within the organization as a whole.
Keywords Organizational culture, Internet, Financial services
Paper type Research paper
The significance of the internet to the world economy is increasingly being
acknowledged. Arthur Andersen Consulting estimates that e-commerce sales in
Western Europe was approximately $430 billion in 2003 while Forrester forecasts
2004 e-commerce sales of roughly $1.5 trillion in Europe and Asia of which nearly 93
percent will be business-to-business and Jupiter Communications predicts a level of
US business-to-business e-commerce of $6,300 billion in 2005. Such examples of the
exponential growth in the application of internet technology have stimulated research
interest in the fields of information systems management (see special issue in Journal
of Management, 2001), marketing (Anderson and Srinivasan, 2003) and operations
management (Boyer, 2001). These studies have typically employed what could be
labeled a “technological determinist perspective” (McLoughlin, 1999) and stressed the
immense capacity of the internet to revolutionize the functioning of organizations
(Amit and Zott, 2001; Raghurama et al., 2001). In particular, it is commonly claimed
that the internet has significant potential to transform not only the ways in which
businesses compete (Boyer, 2001) but also the manner in which organizational
members interact with each other and with their external environments (Kickul and
Gundry, 2001).
However, paradoxically, although numerous studies have been conducted on the
technical aspects of the internet and the commercial benefits that it brings to
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JOCM
20,3
388
Received April 2004
Revised December 2004
Accepted February 2005
Journal of Organizational Change
Management
Vol. 20 No. 3, 2007
pp. 388-408
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0953-4814
DOI 10.1108/09534810710740209