Data warehouse-in-practice: exploring the function of expectations in organizational outcomes

Traditionally, data warehouses (DW) have been counted among the most powerful problem-solving tools to enable easy access to information and enhance the effectiveness of decision-making processes. Nevertheless, as noted by some authors, the outcome of any Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tool is emergent, since there will always be scope for improvisation in technology use. ICT tools are expected to be used in different ways, either ignoring certain properties, working around them, or inventing new ones that may go beyond or even contradict designers’ expectations and inscriptions. In order to cope with this, the term “technology-in-practice” is frequently used. Adopting this perspective, the aim of the authors was to broaden the empirical basis of DW-in-practice, showing how different uses of the same tool could lead to different outcomes. We, therefore, examined DW-in-practice in three manufacturing and services organizations.