Creating IT identity for adoption and use: The case of lotus notes

Identity as the unique characteristics of a person or an entity that make them different from others has attracted an overwhelming attention in management studies over the last few years. This paper explores the emergence of an IT-related identity and argues that this will influence IT diffusion and use in different organizations. It is based on the assumption that while interacting with IT, people also make sense of it. Hence, IT identity could shape subsequent people's actions and understandings of the technology. This study employs the interpretivist approach using the case-study method. The use of Lotus Notes in four organizations is investigated. In each of these cases, four different identities of Notes have been found, namely Notes as a unique and integrated business application, Notes as a replaceable communication tool, Notes as a reporting tool and Notes as complementary tool to other IT tools. Analysis has shown that several factors have contributed to the development of these different types of identities; factors such as the organizational context, including sector and size of the firm, mediators' role, and the availability of other IT applications that may replace or complement Notes.