A Multiple Mini Case Study on the Adoption of Low Code Development Platforms in Work Systems

Although the adoption of Low Code Development Platforms (LCDPs) promises significant improvements in the efficiency and effectiveness of application development, their adoption requires further empirical research. This paper uses a combinatorial approach to research LCDP adoption and presents the results of a multiple mini case study with 36 cases on LCDP adoption. A combination of the Socio-Technical Systems theory and the Technology-Organisational-Environment model is used as a theoretical lens. In this paper, we show that LCDP adoption is a multifaceted phenomenon and identify three archetypes for LCDP adoption (i.e., Application Development Democratisers, Synergy Realisers, and IT Resource Shortage Mitigators) and one archetype for LCDP non-adoption (i.e., Intricacy Adversaries). Each archetype can be interpreted as an individual path to LCDP (non-)adoption. Based on these archetypes, we derive seven starting points for practitioners to adopt LCDPs in work systems. Furthermore, using the theoretical lenses, the paper shows that for LCDP adoption to occur, an optimisation of the social and technical sub-systems is required.