Research on value co-creation and user involvement has traditionally assumed direct user interaction, where user involvement is limited to a particular time and place.
However, in large public organizations, services are directed towards large and heterogeneous user groups that span multiple locations and long periods of time. To explore such value co-creation as it unfolds in a large-scale context, the research presented in this thesis focuses on scalar devices: the techniques and technologies that enable actors to manage large-scale enterprises (Ribes 2014). In other words, instead of studying value co-creation directly in the context of interactions with citizens, I approach this issue by studying it indirectly. This study thus focuses on the development practices and technology platforms inside NAV, paying less attention the reactions and opinions of individual citizens. This choice of perspective does not imply that the opinions of users are irrelevant. Rather, this research design reflects the assertion that value co-creation in large-scale settings requires indirect and mediated forms of interaction.
It is widely recognized that prior knowledge of the success or failure of a strategic change influences informants’ recollections (Van de Ven 1992). This study was therefore designed as a two-year longitudinal case study where I followed the examined change process as it unfolded. To capture the temporal and contextual frame of reference explored, the real-time study was complemented by a historical reconstruction.
Together, the real-time study and the historical reconstruction covered a period of 12 years.
In addition to studying NAV, I performed two pilot studies of smaller organizations.
These pilot studies provided training in qualitative research methods as well as an opportunity for conceptualizing the examined phenomenon and formulating an initial theoretical lens (Pan and Tan 2011). The pilot studies and the design of the main study within NAV are described below.
4.2.1 Pilot studies
In the first pilot study, which was initiated in the spring of 2016, fieldwork was performed within a medium-sized consultant company. The consultancy was awarded a contract for the development of a case tool to be used for the management of marine resources in the public sector. The project had two development teams, and the developers within the two teams were distributed across multiple locations. My aim was to investigate how agile development practices were applied in a large-scale and distributed context, and I used the software development process as my unit of analysis.
As I had limited experience with qualitative research methods, this fieldwork enabled me to practice participant observation and to explore relevant literature on agile development methods. However, although the project gave some insight into the challenges of working in a distributed setting, it was relatively small and had few dependencies on other projects and systems. It was therefore poorly suited to addressing issues relating to complexity and size.
In the second pilot, which was conducted during the autumn of 2016, I studied software development practices within a large Norwegian bank. The unit of analysis that I used was the software development process, and I especially emphasised a team that was responsible for developing web applications for the private sector. The organization and the system portfolio examined in this case were considerably more complex than those explored in the marine case, and while the marine case represented “green field”
development, the banking case provided insight into the challenges of developing information systems in relation to existing systems and practices.
Two central concerns in the banking case were the introduction of agile development practices and how innovation could be achieved alongside existing systems and practices. At the heart of the development strategy employed lay the belief that internal ownership and continuous deliveries would increase the efficacy and effectiveness of the services provided. The introduction of agile development practices was accompanied by changes to the organization’s digital infrastructure, where monolithic systems were dismantled into a platform-oriented structure. The study, although short in duration, allowed me to further extend my theoretical lens and refine my research questions, thus it prepared me for the study of NAV.
4.2.2 The main study
In the main study, fieldwork was conducted within the IT department of NAV, and the value co-creation process was used as the study’s unit of analysis. To capture the breadth of the examined development activities while ensuring a manageable scope in terms of
data collection, the study was centred on three elements of the IT organization: The DigiSyFO project, the Parental Benefit project, and the IT Architecture division.
The DigiSyFO project was the first project done by NAV to implement continuous deliveries. This project had a significant impact on the organization’s transformation of its service delivery process and thus provided an important understanding of the events leading up to the transformation. Although the DigiSyFO project had few dependencies on other systems and projects, it demonstrated to the organization that agile development practices were both efficient and viable within NAV.
The Parental Benefit project was the largest ongoing software development project within the Norwegian public sector at the time of the study. While the DigiSyFO project was small with few dependencies, the Parental benefit project had more than 60 software developers and was dependent on 42 other systems. The two projects also differed in terms of their development methods and sourcing strategies. While the DigiSyFO project employed agile development methods from its beginning, the Parental Benefit project began with a staged delivery model and adopted an agile delivery strategy half-way through. Together with the DigiSyFO project, the Parental Benefit project exemplified both the breadth of NAV’s development activity and the contrast between its new and old service delivery strategies.
The IT Architecture division was responsible for supervising projects and ensuring consistency across systems and projects. This division was chosen for analysis in an attempt to capture the tension between the line organization and individual projects. With the transformation of the organization’s service delivery strategy, the IT Architecture division went from supervising to assisting software development teams. The IT Architecture division also provided insight into the tasks and responsibilities of the line organization and how the long-term needs of line organizations often conflicted with the short-term objectives of IT projects. While projects were evaluated based on their ability to deliver functionality in terms of time and cost, the line organization was evaluated based on its ability to operate and maintain these systems over time.
Focusing on these distinctly different parts of the organization and choosing informants with different experiences and interests regarding the transformation ensured the study’s sensitivity to differences in interpretations (Klein and Myers 1999). While projects gained influence and autonomy from the ongoing change, the members of the IT Architecture division became less influential. By collecting accounts from both the
“winners” and “losers”, I was less prone to systematic biases and systematic distortions.
The NAV IT department is situated in Oslo. Since I lived in Trondheim, almost 540 kilometres north of Oslo, I also requested access to the local NAV administrative system.
By borrowing a workstation, I was able to access the organization’s internal documents and task management systems, thus reducing the need for travelling. Employees in the local NAV administration also provided context and background regarding the ongoing transformation of the IT department. I visited the local NAV administration one to two times a week over the period of a year. During these visits, I reviewed documents and talked to local employees. My contacts in the local administration also provided useful
information. Discussions during lunch and coffee breaks also provided important insight into the context of the transformation and the way it was perceived by other parts of the organization.
This real-time study of the transformation was complemented by a historical reconstruction of the events that occurred between 2006 and 2016. This reconstruction enabled me to critically reflect on the context in which the transformation had taken place – a central principle when conducting and evaluating interpretive research (Klein and Myers 1999). Figure 4 shows the fieldwork of the different cases over time.
Figure 4. Fieldwork of the main study and pilot studies over time