Five Challenges for Benefits Management in Complex Digitalisation Efforts – and a Research Agenda to Address Current Shortcomings

Abstract

Over the past decades a number of benefits realisation (BR) frameworks have been developed. The benefits management model (BMM) is considered to be the most widely adopted and is often seen as a reference for good practice in digitalisation efforts in single organisations. However, this literature provides little support for complex, inter‑organisational efforts. This is problematic, considering that digitalisation increasingly involves multiple organisations. To explore this gap, we studied the phenomenon in a Norwegian inter‑organisational eHealth effort. Based on a qualitative study involving 50 interviews, observations and document analyses, we identify five distinct challenges and suggest a research agenda with five propositions for benefits management in complex digitalisation settings that can be further explored and tested by other researchers. The challenges and propositions constitute novel insights into a poorly understood area and contain implications and directions that can benefit both researchers and practitioners working in similar contexts.