The Dynamics of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) Implementation

Despite the increasing popularity of Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), mixed outcomes about SOA implementation have often been reported. The key research question to be answered in this study is how various factors, while interacting with each other over time, affect the dynamics of the SOA implementation and certain organizational challenges may occur in the implementation process. To develop plausible explanations for the organizational challenges to SOA implementation, this study builds a system dynamics model from a process research perspective which is missing in the extant literature on SOA. In particular, the relationship between the duration (rather than just the strength) of top management normative commitment and the time delay of technology learning, which is critical to the success of SOA implementation but ignored in extant literature, is uncovered and the critical effects on the success of SOA implementation is demonstrated through experimental simulations. The simulations show that reducing a seemingly short period of duration of normative commitment may cause dramatically unexpected and usually negative outcomes of SOA implementation. The implications are that when providing normative commitment on SOA implementation, managers should consider the time delay of SOA technology learning in their organization and carefully decide appropriate duration of their normative commitment.