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IDENTIFYING THE DRIVERS OF ISD METHOD EMERGENCE 59
information systems (IS) developers rarely adopt methods in their entirety; instead they adapt and
apply method elements in a pragmatic way (see, e.g., Bansler and Bødker, 1993; Fitzgerald, 1997,
1998; Fitzgerald, Russo, and Stolterman, 2002; Madsen and Kautz, 2002; Stolterman, 1991, 1992,
1994). Others argue that the formalized method is just one element among many that influence
and shape the actual unfolding development process and situated use of methods—which has been
referred to as the unique method (Truex, Baskerville, and Travis, 2000), the local methodology
(Vidgen, 2002; Vidgen et al., 2002), or the method-in-action (Fitzgerald, Russo, and Stolterman,
2002). However, so far, little theoretical and empirical research has addressed the practical and
temporal details of how and why the unique and local method emerges. To help overcome this
deficiency, we have previously investigated and meticulously mapped the relationship between
what influences and shapes the method and how it consequently emerges in a Multimedia project
(Kautz, 2004) and a Web project (Madsen, Kautz, and Vidgen, 2006). In this chapter, we draw
on and develop the research further and more conceptually by exploring how unique and locally
situated ISD methods unfold over time and why they emerge differently. The purpose is to identify
the underlying sequence and drivers of change in ISD method emergence.
As our object of study we focus on the emergent method, which we define as the unfolding
development process and the activities and the applied method elements that comprise this process.
This definition addresses the development process as a sequence of activities (Sambamurthy and
Kirsch, 2000). The choice of the concepts of emergent method, when we describe and analyze
concrete cases, and method emergence, when we relate to the phenomenon on a general level, is
inspired by Pettigrew (1987). Studying change processes in firms, he argues that from a holistic
and systemic perspective the language of process is characterized by verb forms such as emerg-
ing, elaborating, mobilizing, changing, dissolving, and transforming, whereas at the level of the
individual actor the emphasis is on enacting, acting, reacting, interacting, and adapting (Pettigrew,
1987). While we take the individual actor into account, we are primarily interested in the unfold-
ing of the development process as an outcome of a complex interplay of enacting and interacting
actors and structures.
In the next sections, we describe our research approach and develop a theoretical framework
for understanding method emergence in practice. Then we describe the emergent methods in two
longitudinal case studies of a Multimedia project and a Web project. The chapter systematically
compares the elements and interactions that contributed to the method emergence in the two cases
with the aim of explaining why they unfolded differently. The results of the cross-case comparison
are discussed in relation to process theory to identify the underlying process forms and drivers.
The chapter ends with a summary of the main conclusions.

RESEARCH APPROACH

For the research presented in this chapter we draw on two empirical case studies of ISD projects
in practice. The purpose of the first project was to develop a multimedia information system
(MMIS) to spread knowledge about software process improvement (SPI) and quality manage-
ment to information technology (IT) professionals. The project was undertaken for the European
Union (EU) based on a joint bid by two software organizations: an IT consultancy and an academic
organization. The Multimedia project lasted twenty-two months. The second project concerned
the development of a Web-based information system and was performed in-house in a small to
medium-sized market research company. The Web project was conducted in contracted collabora-
tion with academic researchers but for the benefit of the market research department. The purpose
was to improve the department’s internal work practices and support its online sales to customers