IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT, VOL. 47, NO. 2, MAY 2000 245 The Development of Knowledge Embeddedness in CASE Technologies Within Organizations Russell L. Purvis, V. Sambamurthy, and Robert W. Zmud Abstract—Over the last decade, computer-aided software engi- neering (CASE) has become an important part of the information technology landscape and software development activities. While researchers have examined the productivity gains associated with CASE, relatively little attention has been accorded to one of the critical elements of CASE: the repository. The CASE repository is considered to be the cornerstone of CASE technology platforms. Therefore, any plan for CASE tool implementation must include a plan for building and managing the repository. Yet, significant challenges are encountered in efforts to fashion the CASE repos- itory as an active source of relevant systems development knowl- edge in organizations. This study investigates the influence of fac- tors that are believed to facilitate knowledge embeddedness within the CASE repository. Knowledge embeddedness refers to the ex- tent to which relevant systems development knowledge in an or- ganization has been codified and stored within the CASE reposi- tory. Data drawn from 176 firms employing CASE environments are used to investigate the relative influence of these factors. The results indicate that management support, methodology influence, time since adoption, and external knowledge links enable success in knowledge embeddedness. Index Terms—CASE technology, knowledge embeddedness, repository, systems development, technological innovation. I. INTRODUCTION O VER the last decade, computer-aided software engi- neering (CASE) has become an important part of the information technology landscape. Major vendors such as Borland, Microsoft, and Oracle now integrate CASE-like functionality into their development environments. This added functionality offers great potential for enhancing an organ- ization’s systems development effectiveness and efficiency. Researchers have examined the impact of CASE technologies on applications development productivity and the factors influencing the increased use of CASE [11], [12], [29], [32]. Surprisingly, little attention has been accorded to a crucial component of CASE, the repository. This is surprising, par- ticularly since the importance of the repository has taken on new relevance as researchers and practitioners alike are finding an emerging new era of business practices centered around organizational learning and knowledge management. Manuscript received May 26, 1998; revised March 1999. Review of this man- uscript was arranged by Editor-in-Chief D. F. Kocaoglu. R. L. Purvis is with the Department of Management, College of Business and Public Affairs, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634-1305 USA. V. Sambamurthy is with the Department of Decision and Information and Technologies, Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742-1815 USA. R. W. Zmud is with the Michael F. Price College of Business, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019 USA. Publisher Item Identifier S 0018-9391(00)03362-6. McClure [27] considers the repository to be “the heart of CASE,” while Yourdon [39, p. 137] declares that the reposi- tory is the “single most important technological development in the CASE industry today’s CASE environment could be re- garded as a number of tools clustered around the repository.” Such claims suggest that the manner in which an organization utilizes the CASE repository by storing relevant systems de- velopment knowledge within it is an important determinant of CASE use. This view is perhaps best summarized by McClure [28, p. 211], who states, “a repository is not useful to a corpora- tion unless it is populated with information about the corpora- tion, its software systems, and its software life cycle processes.” McClure [28, p. 211] further states that, “population of the repository is a major undertaking and therefore a major issue.” Difficulties in populating the repository are echoed by many experts [7], [24], [25], [30]. Significant organizational learning barriers must be confronted as firms attempt to understand the features of the CASE repository, interpret its role as a memory store, and develop strategies for embedding and using relevant systems development knowledge within the repository [1], [18]. Despite the importance of populating knowledge within the CASE repository and actively managing its use in the ongoing practice of systems development activities, little is known about how to undertake such efforts. Understanding the antecedents of knowledge embeddedness within a CASE envi- ronment is needed “because the repository is the cornerstone of an integrated CASE tools environment, the introduction of a repository should be planned along with the introduction of CASE tools. Any plan for CASE tool implementation must include a plan for repository implementation” [28, p. 214]. In this research, we articulate the concept of knowledge em- beddedness to represent the extent to which an organization’s relevant systems development knowledge and information have been codified and stored within the CASE repository. By drawing upon the diffusion of innovations and organizational learning literatures, we identify key factors that could influence the extent of knowledge embeddedness. The next section presents our conceptual model and hypotheses for investigating the effects of specific factors upon the extent of knowledge embeddedness. Next, we present the details of our research methodology and analysis strategies. Finally, we present the results of our research, and implications for further research and practice. II. THE CONCEPT OF KNOWLEDGE EMBEDDEDNESS Knowledge embeddedness is defined as the extent to which systems development knowledge is codified and stored within 0018–9391/00$10.00 © 2000 IEEE