Implementing an integrated system in a socially dis-integrated enterprise: A critical view of ERP enabled integration

– Organisational integration has been presented as a key imminent outcome of implementing ERP systems. This study aims to examine critically this notion of integration by focusing on the role of the social fabric of the organisation in the implementation of ERP systems and, in particular, its integration capability., – This study examines the case of a successful ERP implementation in a large international organisation through the analytical lens of actor network theory and the introduction of the concept of “organisational othering”., – The study argues that the institutionalised marginalisation of some business units within the organisation created a highly political and largely dis‐integrated social context for the ERP implementation, which contrasts with the system logic of integration, transparency, and coordination. It reveals that this organisational practice of dis‐integration can be reproduced and inscribed in the implemented ERP system, thereby hindering the realisation of its integration capability., – The research contributes to the emerging critical studies of ERP systems and the ongoing discussion on IS implementation politics and intra‐group conflict by suggesting that configuring integrated systems such as ERP in such a context requires careful consideration and delicate management in order to achieve a workable version of integration that is socially and organisationally acceptable.

[1]  L. Smircich,et al.  Past Postmodernism? Reflections and Tentative Directions , 1999 .

[2]  Frantz Rowe,et al.  ERP project dynamics and enacted dialogue: perceived understanding, perceived leeway, and the nature of task-related conflicts , 2001, DATB.

[3]  M. Lynne Markus,et al.  Enterprise resource planning: multisite ERP implementations , 2000, CACM.

[4]  Kristin Braa,et al.  Technology as traitor: emergent SAP infrastructure in a global organization , 1998, ICIS '98.

[5]  Ben Light,et al.  A Critical Success Factors Model for Enterprise Resource Planning Implementation , 1999, ECIS.

[6]  M. Lynne Markus,et al.  Power, politics, and MIS implementation , 1987, CACM.

[7]  Jannis Kallinikos,et al.  Reopening the Black Box of Technology Artifacts and Human Agency , 2002, ICIS.

[8]  Diane Vaughan,et al.  The Challenger Launch Decision: Risky Technology, Culture, and Deviance at NASA , 1996 .

[9]  Erica L. Wagner,et al.  Networks, negotiations, and new times: the implementation of enterprise resource planning into an academic administration , 2003, Inf. Organ..

[10]  Jean Hartley,et al.  Case study research , 2004 .

[11]  B. Latour.  The pasteurization of France , 1988 .

[12]  B. Latour.  Aramis, or the Love of Technology , 1993 .

[13]  R. Yin.  Case Study Research: Design and Methods , 1984 .

[14]  Marie-Claude Boudreau,et al.  Enacting Integrated Information Technology: A Human Agency Perspective , 2005, Organ. Sci..

[15]  M. Lynne Markus,et al.  Tailoring ERP systems: a spectrum of choices and their implications , 2001, Proceedings of the 34th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.

[16]  Amarpreet S. Kohli,et al.  Enterprise resource planning systems and its implications for operations function , 2006 .

[17]  Ian Wright,et al.  SAP: An Executive's Comprehensive Guide , 1998 .

[18]  Joe Nandhakumar,et al.  Too close for comfort? Distance and engagement in interpretive information systems research , 1997, Inf. Syst. J..

[19]  Bill Doolin,et al.  Sociotechnical networks and information management in health care , 1999 .

[20]  Mary Sumner,et al.  Risk factors in enterprise-wide/ERP projects , 2000, J. Inf. Technol..

[21]  Steve Sawyer,et al.  Effects of intra‐group conflict on packaged software development team performance , 2001, Inf. Syst. J..

[22]  Trevor Hopper,et al.  A 'time' space odyssey': Management control systems in two multinational organisations , 2005 .

[23]  John Law,et al.  Shaping technology building society: studies in socio-technical change , 1993 .

[24]  Linying Dong,et al.  A Model for Enterprise Systems Implementation: Top Management Influences on Implementation Effectiveness , 2000 .

[25]  Nick Wailes.  The False Promise of Technological Determinism: The Case of Enterprise Resource Planning Systems , 2006 .

[26]  Eileen M. Trauth,et al.  The Choice of Critical Information Systems Research , 2004, Relevant Theory and Informed Practice.

[27]  Frantz Rowe,et al.  Does ERP Provide a Cross-Functional View of the Firm? Challenging Conventional Wisdom for SMEs and Large French Firms , 2005, ICIS.

[28]  B. Latour.  Technology is Society Made Durable , 1990 .

[29]  Stuart Maguire,et al.  Systems Development: A Restrictive Practice? , 1998 .

[30]  Bill Harley.  Editorial Introduction: The Work and Organisational Implications of Enterprise Resource Planning Systems , 2006 .

[31]  M. Markus,et al.  The Enterprise System Experience— From Adoption to Success , 2000 .

[32]  Wilhelm Hasselbring,et al.  Information system integration , 2000, CACM.

[33]  Geoff Walsham,et al.  Learning about being critical , 2005, Inf. Syst. J..

[34]  Steven John Simon,et al.  Control and coordination in global ERP configuration , 2001, Bus. Process. Manag. J..

[35]  Neil A. M. Maiden,et al.  Implementing enterprise resource planning packages in different corporate and national cultures , 2000, J. Inf. Technol..

[36]  C. Bullard.  Shaping technology/Building society , 1994 .

[37]  Graeme G. Shanks,et al.  Identification of Necessary Factors for Successful Implementation of ERP Systems , 1999, New Information Technologies in Organizational Processes.

[38]  Amany R. Elbanna,et al.  The construction of the relationship between ERP and the organisation through negotiation , 2006, ECIS.

[39]  Amany R. Elbanna,et al.  Strategic systems implementation: diffusion through drift , 2008, J. Inf. Technol..

[40]  Jeanne W. Ross,et al.  The ERP Revolution: Surviving vs. Thriving , 2000, Inf. Syst. Frontiers.

[41]  M. Callon.  Some Elements of a Sociology of Translation: Domestication of the Scallops and the Fishermen of St Brieuc Bay , 1984 .

[42]  B. Latour.  Pandora's Hope: Essays on the Reality of Science Studies , 1999 .

[43]  Stuart Hall.  Representation: Cultural representations and signifying practices. , 1997 .

[44]  Thomas Kern,et al.  Enterprise Resource Planning Implementation: Stories of Power, Politics, and Resistance , 2001, Realigning Research and Practice in Information Systems Development.

[45]  Keng Siau,et al.  Enterprise integration with ERP and EAI , 2003, CACM.

[46]  T. Grandon Gill,et al.  OFFICETECH®: a new paradigm in office services? , 2001, J. Inf. Technol..

[47]  CAROLE BROOKE,et al.  What does it mean to be ‘critical’ in IS research? , 2002, J. Inf. Technol..

[48]  Michael D. Myers,et al.  A Set of Principles for Conducting and Evaluating Interpretive Field Studies in Information Systems , 1999, MIS Q..

[49]  John Law,et al.  The Olympus 320 Engine: A Case Study in Design, Development, and Organizational Control , 1992, Technology and Culture.

[50]  Fredrik Ericsson,et al.  Information Systems Integration , 2001, ICEIS.

[51]  Bill Doolin,et al.  To reveal is to critique: actor–network theory and critical information systems research , 2002, J. Inf. Technol..

[52]  Ben Light,et al.  Integration in ERP Environments: Rhetoric, Realities and Organisational Possibilities , 2006 .

[53]  John M. Ward,et al.  Reconciling the IT/business relationship: a troubled marriage in need of guidance , 1996, J. Strateg. Inf. Syst..

[54]  Wanda J. Orlikowski,et al.  Research Commentary: Desperately Seeking the "IT" in IT Research - A Call to Theorizing the IT Artifact , 2001, Inf. Syst. Res..

[55]  Wiebe E. Bijker,et al.  Shaping Technology/Building Society: Studies in Sociotechnical Change ed. by Wiebe E. Bijker, John Law (review) , 1994, Technology and Culture.

[56]  M. Lynne Markus,et al.  Learning from adopters' experiences with ERP: problems encountered and success achieved , 2000, J. Inf. Technol..

[57]  Joan Antoni Pastor,et al.  Enterprise Resource Planning Systems Research: An Annotated Bibliography , 2001, Commun. Assoc. Inf. Syst..

[58]  Dale Littler,et al.  Information technology and organizations : strategies, networks, and integration , 1997 .

[59]  K. Knorr-Cetina,et al.  Epistemic cultures : how the sciences make knowledge , 1999 .

[60]  M. Lynne Markus,et al.  Multisite ERP Implementations. , 2000 .

[61]  Geoff Walsham,et al.  Doing interpretive research , 2006, Eur. J. Inf. Syst..

[62]  Michael D. Myers,et al.  The Challenges of Enterprise Integration: Cycles of Integration and Disintegration Over Time , 2004, ICIS.

[63]  M. Lynne Markus,et al.  Paradigm Shifts - E-Business and Business/Systems Integration , 2000, Commun. Assoc. Inf. Syst..

[64]  Sue Newell,et al.  'Best' for whom?: the tension between 'best practice' ERP packages and diverse epistemic cultures in a university context , 2004, J. Strateg. Inf. Syst..

[65]  T. Davenport.  Putting the enterprise into the enterprise system. , 1998, Harvard business review.

[66]  Jo Beall,et al.  A city for all : valuing difference and working with diversity , 1998 .

[67]  B. Latour.  Science in action : how to follow scientists and engineers through society , 1989 .

[68]  Raymond M. Lee,et al.  Doing Research on Sensitive Topics , 1993 .

[69]  Jonathan Blain.  Using Sap R/3 , 1997 .

[70]  Marc Berg,et al.  Guest editors' introduction: Actor-network theory and information systems. What's so special? , 2004, Inf. Technol. People.

[71]  G. Walsham.  Making a World of Difference: IT in a Global Context , 2001 .

[72]  Brian P. Bloomfield,et al.  Boundary Disputes: : Negotiating the Boundary between the Technical and the Social in the Development of IT Systems , 1994 .

[73]  Bonnie Kaplan,et al.  Qualitative Research Methods for Evaluating Computer Information Systems , 2005 .

[74]  Matthew B. Miles,et al.  Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook , 1994 .

[75]  Christian Vogt,et al.  Intractable ERP: a comprehensive analysis of failed enterprise-resource-planning projects , 2002, SOEN.

[76]  Marinos Themistocleous,et al.  ERP and application integration: Exploratory survey , 2001, Bus. Process. Manag. J..

[77]  Thomas H. Davenport,et al.  Mission Critical: Realizing the Promise of Enterprise Systems , 2000 .

[78]  John K. Christiansen,et al.  Understanding IS implementation by estimating power of subunits , 1996 .

[79]  John Law,et al.  Notes on the theory of the actor-network: Ordering, strategy, and heterogeneity , 1992 .

[80]  M. Alvesson.  Doing critical management research , 2000 .

[81]  Alan Bryman,et al.  Research Methods and Organization Studies , 1989 .

[82]  Marinos Themistocleous,et al.  Integrating diverse ERP systems: a case study , 2004, J. Enterp. Inf. Manag..

[83]  Wiebe E. Bijker,et al.  Science in action : how to follow scientists and engineers through society , 1989 .