Enabling process innovation through sensor technology: A multiple case study of RFID deployment

Journal article, 2010

The advances in information technologies (IT) that we have witnessed in recent years has enabled organisations to digitise much of the work that previously was carried out manually or supported by analogue tools only. As this development continues, it is likely that IS in the future will have an even more profound impact on organisations and their capacity to innovate. In this paper, we make a contribution to the study of IT’s effect on business process innovation by reporting from a multiple case study of five Swedish organisations using sensor technology. Understanding sensor technology as a boundary spanning technology, we have studied in particular the purpose of introducing Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), the intended effects on process innovation and what business processes were affected. We illustrate how business values are achieved as automational, informational, and transformational effects, and whilst the automational effects are easiest to detect and value, it is the transformational effects that are likely to have the strongest and most profound impact on the organization. In addition we identify three major inhibitors: insufficient integration with existing systems; lack of organisation adjustment; and uneven distribution of cost/benefits. Our work thereby offers contributions to both academia and practice.