In search of mechanisms for organizing digitalization

The development and maintenance of digital products interacting with large scale infrastructures requires new ways for organizing innovation. Contradictory requirements, conflicting needs and managerial challenges emerge from the interplay between local and global practices, structural forms and tools for knowledge sharing and coordination. In this study we explore the underlying mechanisms of sustainable software development over time and space. We conduct an inductive longitudinal case study of digital product development and maintenance in the context of the R&D unit of a major telecommunication infrastructure manufacturer. A critical realist approach is adopted for identifying and validating the structural components of infrastructural ambidexterity, a key mechanism for organizing digitalization.