Consumerization-conflict resolution and changing IT-user relationships

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand how the digital workplace, in particular employees using consumer tools at work (users), impacts how internal IT departments function and their relationships with users they have historically supported. Design/methodology/approach An interpretive, longitudinal case study highlighting how one IT department coped with the conflicts using consumer tools at work creates a trend called IT consumerization. Findings Internal IT departments manage the conflicts IT consumerization poses through an ongoing process of conflict and conflict resolution. This impacts the IT department’s relationship with users along three dimensions: IT-control, user-self-sufficiency and IT-user partnerships. Originality/value While there is an ongoing debate about internal IT departments needing to change, the study shows how one IT department did change in response to IT consumerization. The authors develop a data-driven model grounded in theories that explains how IT departments cope with the conflicts IT consumerization poses.