Amany Elbanna

Research on information systems failures and successes: Status update and future directions

Information systems success and failure are among the most prominent streams in IS research. Explanations of why some IS fulfill their expectations, whereas others fail, are complex and multi-factorial. Despite the efforts to understand the underlying factors, the IS failure rate remains stubbornly high. A Panel session was held at the IFIP Working Group 8.6 conference in Bangalore in 2013 which forms the subject of this Special Issue. Its aim was to reflect on the need for new perspectives and research directions, to provide insights and further guidance for managers on factors enabling IS success and avoiding IS failure. Several key issues emerged, such as the need to study problems from multiple perspectives, to move beyond narrow considerations of the IT artifact, and to venture into underexplored organizational contexts, such as the public sector.

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.

The validity of the improvisation argument in the implementation of rigid technology: the case of ERP systems

Claudio Ciborras improvisation argument provides a realistic dynamic account of how organisational practices address technology. This was developed from the study of malleable open-ended technology, but little research has occurred to investigate the theorys validity within different settings. This paper seeks to address this gap, by examining improvisation in the context of a rigid highly structured technology. It presents findings from the successful implementation of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system within a large international organisation, which was subsequently defined by the ERP vendor as being an ‘exemplary site’. Through the theoretical lens of Actor Network Theory, the paper reveals the improvisation, enactments and constant work around the plan that took place in dealing with the high contingencies of ERP implementation. The study extends the discussion on improvisation and contributes to an already illuminating argument. It invites practitioners to reflect on ERP implementation practice and review their evaluation methods.

Rethinking IS project boundaries in practice: A multiple-projects perspective

Information systems research and prescriptive IS project management methodologies are dominated by a perspective on single projects that treats the unit of analysis as a lonely phenomenon with strictly defined boundaries. This study questions this assumption by exploring how the taken for granted projects boundaries are defined in practice. It investigates a case study of an ERP implementation project in an international organization. The findings show the busy multiple-projects platform of contemporary organizations that ERP project cannot be isolated from. They also reveal that project management boundaries are continually crossed and that projects boundaries in practice are malleable and changeable. They are defined through negotiations with other projects and programs where what is inside or outside a project is subject to change according to the outcomes of such negotiations. A flatter view of project organizing could facilitate such an interaction. The implications for IS project management research and practice are discussed.

Top management support in multiple-project environments: an in-practice view

Top management support has generally been considered the most critical factor for the success of IS projects. Typically, there have developed implicit or explicit assumptions that top management support has to be constant and consistent during the entire life of an IS implementation project. However, previous research investigating this issue has been based mainly on a ‘single project’ perspective, although contemporary organisational settings have increasingly involved many projects taking place simultaneously. Such multiple-project environments bring into question the feasibility of the previous assumptions and invite revisiting them. This paper aims to do this by examining the materialisation of top management support in a multiple-project environment. To this end, it investigates the interactions between a project to implement an Enterprise Resource Planning system and other projects and programmes in a prominent international organisation. It applies a framework from Actor Network Theory to explore the different aspects of what is involved in being in a multiple-project environment and the nature of the materialisation of top management support. The findings unravel some of the complexity surrounding top management support in this contemporary organisational setting. Some important implications for theory and practice are highlighted and discussed.

Strategic systems implementation: diffusion through drift

The adoption of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems follows various paths in organisations and achieves diverse results. The traditional models of diffusion of innovation applied in information systems are not sufficient to explain such variations in adoption. This study examines the process of drift in an ERP project to answer the questions of how and why drift tends to occur in such projects. It applies Actor Network Theory to interpret the data. This analytical lens reveals that a software implementation projects fate depends on each move it takes and each party involved in handling that move. Every handling of the project by different parties could present either a positive modality (that strengthens it and pushes it forward on its track) or a negative modality (that weakens its initial form and drags it onto a different direction). The study provides an alternative view of diffusion, and an explanation of drift in the ERP case that could be extended to other technological projects. It invites practitioners to monitor the various movements of their projects and to allow strategic drift in order to achieve a successful implementation.

The formation of technology mental models: the case of voluntary use of technology in organizational setting

The use of information systems in organisations presents one of the early signs of success. Hundreds of studies have generated a wealth of knowledge on systems use across a broad range of technologies and theoretical approaches. However, new types of technologies and organisations continue to pose challenges to systems use. The case of open systems that are offered to users on a voluntary basis presents one of those challenges for two reasons: 1) the systems are open in the sense that they could be configured in many ways depending on users finding use cases and possible applications; 2) the system use is voluntary and hence there is no organisational push. They bring users’ choice and active finding of use cases to the centre of their success. This study questions why and how users choose to engage (or not to engage) with open technology on a voluntary basis and how and why its use options and potential unfold? It examines a longitudinal case study (1994–2012) on the voluntary use of telemedicine. The findings reveal that users’ perception of open technology in a voluntary setting is formed through a continuous interplay between users’ technology mental models, professional identity, institutional traditions and arrangements and work practices. If perceived to be in contradiction with professional identity, institutional traditions and arrangements or work practices, users’ technology mental models are fixated on the misfit and the misfit is thereby reinforced. Hence, users do not try to find use cases or think of possible applications. However, institutional entrepreneurs could break this self-fulfilling prophecy by influencing both the technology mental models of users and the institutional arrangements.

Open Innovation and the Erosion of the Traditional Information Systems Project's Boundaries

This paper examines the notion of open innovation and its implication on information systems management. It investigates a project of an enterprise resource planning system implementation in an international organization to unravel the resemblance with the open innovation model. The study shows that the conceptualization of ERP project as an open innovation could reveal the complex architecture of today’s organization from which the ERP project cannot be isolated. It argues that the traditional boundaries around IS projects are dissolving and the relationship between what used to be outside and what used to be inside the project is increasingly blurred. The study calls for a different perspective of project management that goes beyond single and multiple project management to scan the open space of innovation and actively look for partners, competitors, and collaborators.

The rise and decline of the ETHICS methodology of systems implementation: lessons for IS research

Professor Mumford has contributed significantly to the information system (IS) field. Among her achievements and pioneering thinking is the development of an integrated methodology for systems implementation named Effective Technical and Human Implementation of Computer Systems (ETHICS) that incorporates job design as part of the systems planning and implementation effort. This study questions why ETHICS initially rose in popularity and then declined over the years. To answer this question, we apply Latours (1999) five-loop framework to describe the formation of science. The findings reveal that Mumford held and aligned many heterogeneous actors and resources that together contributed to the shaping of ETHICS. As the content of ETHICS was shaped by the intertwining of many elements, when some of these elements later changed and undermined their previous alignment, the content of ETHICS was not reshaped, and hence it lost its status and declined. The paper ends by drawing more general lessons for IS research.

The Impact of Crowdsourcing on Organisational Practices: The Case of Crowdmapping

In this paper, we investigate the possible impact of crowdsourcing on organisational practices. We answer the research question of whether and to what extent the practices of crowdmapping impact humanitarian organisations. To answer this question, we examine a crowdmapping initiative during a natural disaster. The data collection is based on forty interviews with different actors including crowdmappers, humanitarian organisations, government specialists and technology providers. Concepts from structuration theory are applied to conceptualise and make sense of the data. The findings reveal the process of change that took place in the practices of a humanitarian organisation. They also show that these changes recursively impacted the practices of crowdmapping. We then argue that there is a duality of change between the micro-practices of crowdmapping and the macro-practices of a humanitarian organisation. The implications of the study on research and practice are then discussed.