Organisational Usability of Mobile Computing: Volatility and Control in Mobile Foreign Exchange Trading

The past two decades have presented significant technological developments of mobile information and communication technology (ICT) such as portable technologies (e.g. mobile phones, notebook computers, personal digital assistants), and associated wireless infrastructures (e.g. wireless local area networks, mobile telecommunications infrastructures, bluetooth personal area networks). Mobile ICT offers a range of technical opportunities for organisations and their members to implement enterprise mobility. However, the challenges of unlocking the opportunities of enterprise mobility are not well understood. One of the key issues is to establish systems and associated working practices that are deemed usable by both individuals and the organisation. The aim of this paper is to show that the concept of organisational usability can enrich the understanding of mobile ICT in organisations. As an addition to the traditional understanding of individual usability, organisational usability emphasises the role of mobile ICT beyond individual support. A large-scale study of four different ways of organising foreign exchange trading in a Middle Eastern bank serves as the concrete foundation for the discussion. The empirical study showed how the final of the four attempts at establishing 24-h trading deployed mobile ICT to enable mobile trading and by providing a solution, which was deemed usable for both the organisation and the traders. The paper contributes to the understanding of how usability of mobile ICT critically depends on carefully balancing individual and organisational requirements. It also demonstrates the need for research in enterprise mobility to embrace both individual and organisational concerns in order to grasp the complexity of the phenomena.