School of Business

Information systems development as emergent socio-technical change: A practice approach

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Many information systems development (ISD) initiatives fail to deliver the expected benefits. An important percentage of these are the result of social and organizational factors, not simply technical failures. This paper explores the dynamics of these social and organizational factors to better understand the causes of success and failure. Based on data from a detailed case analysis of an ISD project, the paper depicts the ISD process as an emergent and dynamic one, characterized by continuous local adaptations. The paper ends with a proposal of a feedback-rich framework, based on a practice view of socio-technical change that offers theoretical insights and practical heuristics to system developers and project managers. © 2005 Operational Research Society Ltd. All rights reserved.

Publication Title

European Journal of Information Systems

Publication Date

1-1-2005

Volume

14

Issue

1

First Page

93

Last Page

105

ISSN

0960-085X

DOI

10.1057/palgrave.ejis.3000524

Keywords

information systems development, organizational change, practice approaches, process models, socio-technical systems

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