When Code Meets Culture: How Citizen Development Triggers Cultural Change

Kraus, Julia (2026): When Code Meets Culture: How Citizen Development Triggers Cultural Change. ECIS 2026: 34th European Conference on Information Systems, Mailand, Italien, 15. - 17. Juni 2026. ECIS2026-2008

Abstract

Building a digital culture is essential for the successful digital transformation of established companies, yet it is difficult to achieve. Recent research indicates that the use of low-code development platforms by non-IT professionals, citizen developers, has the potential to foster a digital culture. However, we still lack understanding of how this impact comes about. Therefore, we conducted a multiple-case study across five incumbents from different industries. Drawing on Schein’s (1984) model of culture, our findings show that citizen development programmes introduce new artefacts into organisations, bridge espoused values and values in action, and, over time, shift basic underlying assumptions of involved employees. This triggers bottom-up emergent digital cultural change. Our study adds to the literature on digital culture and contributes to a more nuanced understanding of citizen development in the context of digital transformation. Furthermore, it offers practical implications for incumbents seeking to integrate these programmes into their transformation efforts.

• Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
• Keywords: Citizen Development; Low-Code; Digital Culture; Cultural Change; Digital Transformation
• Faculties: Munich School of Management > Institute for Digital Management and New Media > Digital change of companies
• Subjects: 300 Social sciences > 330 Economics
• Language: English