ERP project’s internal stakeholder network and how it influences the project’s outcome

So far little effort has been put into researching the importance of internal ERP project stakeholders’ mutual interactions, realizing the project’s complexity, influence on the whole organization, and high risk for a useful final outcome. This research analyzes the stakeholders’ interactions and positions in the project network, their criticality, potential bottlenecks and conflicts. The main methods used are Social Network Analysis, and the elicitation of drivers for the individual players. Information was collected from several stakeholders from three large ERP projects all in global companies headquartered in Finland,together with representatives from two different ERP vendors, and with two experienced ERP consultants. The analysis gives quantitative as well as qualitative characterization of stakeholder criticality (mostly the Project Manager(s), the Business Owner(s) and the Process Owner(s)) , degree of centrality, closeness , mediating or bottleneck roles, relational ties and conflicts (individual, besides those between business and project organizations) , and clique formations. A generic internal stakeholder network model is established as well as the criticality of the project phases. The results are summarized in the form of a list of recommendations for future ERP projects to address the internal stakeholder impacts .Project management should utilize the latest technology to provide tools to increase the interaction between the stakeholders and to monitor the strength of these relations. Social network analysis tools could be used in the projects to visualize the stakeholder relations in order to better understand the possible risks related to the relations (or lack of them).ERP; Social networks ; Enterprise resource planning; Stakeholders

An Exploratory Study of the Implementation of an Energy Management Information System using an Adapted Adaptive Structuration Theory Model

Oil prices globally have risen 500% since 1999. Ireland will have to pay €1.45bn in penalties next year and up to €4.3bn by 2012, as CO2 emissions are currently 23% over the agreed Kyoto allowances. Over the next 25 years, population and economic growth will cause global energy needs to increase by approximately 50%. Consequently, Energy Efficiency (EE) has become an essential part of most organisations. This paper reports on research-in-progress which explores the implementation of an Information System (IS), which is used to manage and monitor energy usage and implement energy efficiencies within several organisations. Adaptive Structuration Theory (AST) provides the conceptual model that helps to capture the longitudinal change process. There is currently no published research in the area of IS implementation investigating an energy management system using AST. Preliminary results show that stricter imperatives to adopt the IS will not necessarily lead to a successful system

ERP Implementation in Portugal: Interpreting Dimensions of Power

We use the dimensions of power framework (Hardy and Leiba-O\u27Sullivan 1998) to study an ERP implementation in a Portuguese small/medium sized enterprise (SME). In this study, we found that while the ERP implementation coincided with a great shift of power within the firm, it should not be considered the main driver of the episodic power shift. Instead, the ERP can be seen as a tool chosen and used to formalize and complete the shift in power for this SME. Our findings provide evidence of the usefulness of the dimensions of power framework in understanding complex organizational power issues in ERP implementations. Given the nature of the firm and the context, such findings are specific to an emerging economy

It project risk in Hong Kong

This study investigated the project risk in information systems design and development in the context of Hong Kong. While a large majority of the past research studies was conducted using the Delphi method, multiple case study research methodology was employed in this study in order to provide compelling evidence of the phenomenon. Another novel approach was the application of the causal mapping technique to analyse the cases. This technique enabled in-depth analysis of the research results. The findings extend prior models of software project development risk and show some of the subtle relationships among major model components

Social construction of information technology supporting work

In the beginning of 1999, the CIO of a Portuguese company in the automobile industry was debating with himself whether to abandon or to continue supporting the MIS his company had been using for years. This MIS had been supporting the company’s production processes and the procurement of resources for these processes. However, in spite of the fact that the MIS system had been deployed under the CIO’s tight control, the CIO felt strong opposition to the use of this MIS system, opposition that was preventing the MIS system from being used to its full potential. Moreover, the CIO was at lost as to how to ensure greater compliance to his control and fuller use of the MIS system. Therefore, the CIO decided that he needed someone external to the company to help him understand the fundamental reasons, technical, social, or cultural, for the opposition to the MIS system

Success Lies in the Eye of the Beholder: A Quantitative Analysis of the Mismatch Between Perceived and Real IT Project Management Performance

Building on an earlier exploratory study, this paper investigates the drivers of the possible mismatch between traditional real IT project management performance criteria - quality, time and cost - and perceived project management performance. We use partial least squares structural equation modeling to test five main hypotheses with survey data from 248 managers with extensive IT/IS project involvement. The results demonstrate that mismatches between real and perceived project management performance indeed occur. They are predominantly driven by poor expectation management before and during the execution of IT projects, as well as by a low project sponsor commitment. A discussion of the findings and limitations, as well as suggestions for future research, conclude the article

Professional Associations, Power and the Building of Electronic Prescription Systems

In this paper we pull together an analysis of power with an analysis of the agency of a Professional Association of Pharmacists in the building of an electronic prescription (EP) system. We frame our analysis of the building process of an EP system in terms of power from the perspective of the pharmacists collective, and particularly, from the perspective of the Catalan Professional Association of Pharmacists (CPAP). What concerns us in this paper is the role of the CPAP in structuring the field of other’s action –namely, community pharmacies which are members of the CPAP and the Catalan Health Service– during the building process. From this perspective, we study power not only in the CPAP’s capacity to influence others through the control of resources that others need, but also in the field of relations that characterize a power arena and in the effect of the ordering work performed by the CPAP. By examining the case from the lens of the circuits of power we identify two kinds of interventions from the CPAP –conservative and transformative–, and distinguish them based on the circuit of power they active and the use of IT they make

SYSTEMIC POWER, DISCIPLINARY AGENCY, AND DEVELOPER–BUSINESS CLIENT RELATIONS

This paper presents Hardy’s multi-dimensional model of power and illustrates its application to the field of IS. Findings from a case study of developer—business client power relations within a large financial institution are presented. Our findings indicate that from the developers’ perspective, the client exercised near complete control, with developers unwittingly playing a cooperative but submissive role. Our study makes two principal contributions. First, we combine Hardy’s (1996) multi-dimensional power framework and the principles of Pickering’s (1995) version of disciplinary agency to propose why the developer was compliant in this scenario of power inequality. Second, we examine how a development methodology helped convey symbolic and disciplinary power. By doing so we gain rich insight into how meaning power, and the power of the system institutionalised within the methodology, can constrain the actions of developers