Theory of Workarounds

Abstract

Although mentioned frequently in the organization, management, public administration, and technology literatures, workarounds are understudied and undertheorized. This article provides an integrated theory of workarounds that describes how and why workarounds are created. The theory covers most types of workarounds and most situations in which workarounds occur in operational systems. This theory is based on a broad but useful definition of workaround that clarifies the preconditions for the occurrence of a workaround. The literature review is organized around a diagram that combines the five "voices" in the literature of workarounds. That diagram is modeled after the diagram summarizing Orton and Weick's [1990] loose coupling theory, which identified and combined five similar voices in the literature about loose coupling. Building on that basis, the theory of workarounds is a process theory driven by the interaction of key factors that determine whether possible workarounds are considered and how they are executed. This theory is useful for classifying workarounds and analyzing how they occur, for understanding compliance and noncompliance to methods and management mandates, for incorporating consideration of possible workarounds into systems analysis and design, and for studying how workarounds and other adaptations sometimes lead to larger planned changes in systems.

Workarounds to hospital electronic prescribing systems: a qualitative study in English hospitals

“…Data across sites were then examined in designated data analysis meetings, where we drew on the Theory of Workarounds as an analytical lens 6. The Theory of Workarounds is concerned with different types of workarounds, attempting to explain why they occur, and describing their consequences.…”

“…The lack of existing empirical work and theorising surrounding workarounds in healthcare has repeatedly been emphasised 6 24. In particular, there is a need for better conceptual models of the reasons underpinning workarounds 24.…”

From an apparent failure to a success story: ERP in China—Post implementation

“…From the Chinese users' point of view, the ERP system was impeding proper execution of their local organizational activities (Strong & Volkoff, 2010). Workarounds are user adaptations and improvisations that overcome anomalies and constraints preventing the system being fully effective from the users' point of view (Alter, 2014;Malaurent & Avison, 2015). The last clause (in italics) has been added by us as headquarters management -as we shall see -may well not have the same perspective as the Chinese users on at least some of the workarounds.…”

Issues that support the creation of ICT workarounds: towards a theoretical understanding of feral information systems

“…Alter () argued that there is no real theoretical framework to conceptualize workarounds, and that they usually exist as a means to join some loosely coupled systems or to plug the gaps between elements to complete a process. FISs are a by‐product of end users seeking operational efficiency, that is, to nullify additional transactional costs imposed by the ES.…”

“…Firstly, we present a workaround in the form of an FIS in situ in a major utility company from the workplace's point of view. Second, we seek to theorize workarounds further – as outlined in Alter's (, p. 1060) section on future research about workarounds – by ‘ starting from other underlying theories ’. We adopted Alter's suggestion by exploring FIS from the alternative theoretical standpoint of structuration theory and socio‐materiality and through the lens of FIS creation in the utility company mentioned in the preceding texts.…”