How Did It Happen? A Memetic Theory of Interorganizational Information Systems Emergence and Evolution

Abstract

Interorganizational information systems (IOISs) have become the core platform of today's digital economy. Despite their increasing importance, little is known about how they have emerged, evolved into their current operational form, and coevolved with social institutions that develop, regulate, use, and maintain them. Why certain IOIS features and functions are selected for implementation while others are not, and once implemented, why some features and functions remain in existence while others disappear have yet to be explained. Departing from the current research paradigm on IOIS emergence and evolution that focuses mainly at the macro level, we conceptualize IOIS as complex adaptive systems and look at the smallest elements that constitute their existence, i.e., memes or information, knowledge, and ideas that fuel their implementation and dictate their features and functions. We propose a memetic theory of IS emergence and evolution, and operationalize our theory with four propositions. A 17-year longitudinal case study is used to illustrate our meme-centered view of emergence and evolution.