The coordination of workarounds: Insights from responses to misfits between local realities and a mandated global enterprise system

Abstract We investigate how employees react when confronted with an enterprise system (ES) that does not fit with work processes dictated by local realities. We draw on interview data (n=31) from a multinational company to reveal how employees devised and coordinated workarounds that were not compliant with corporate IT policy, but enabled the completion of essential activities, thereby creating value for the firm and its customers. The coordination of these workarounds proved essential to their persistence. We discuss both the theoretical implications of our findings regarding workarounds and the practical contributions associated with the idea that non-compliance can be beneficial.

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