Unity in Multiplicity: Towards Working Enterprise Systems

Enterprise systems are attractive exactly as they promise a stronger unity – integration, collaborationand standardization – across distinct and different organisational units of a business. However,empirical research on enterprise systems has documented convincingly how situated workaroundsundermine the unity of enterprise systems through local thus different practices and adoptions. Thisproduces an apparently paradoxical character of enterprise systems: unity in the face of multiplicity.Our contribution is (i) to outline a theoretical middle-position effectively resolving the paradox and(ii) identify and analyse empirical strategies for how the paradox gets resolved in practice. Theempirical basis for our study is a longitudinal (2007-2009) case study of a global oil and gas companywith 30.000 employees operating in 40 countries across 4 continents

CROSS-CONTEXTUAL USE OF INTEGRATED INFORMATION SYSTEMS

The international industry of engineering products and services is characterized by high complexity and competition. Corporations that expand globally have experienced that managing interdependent activities and business processes across several countries requires an effective deployment of advanced information technology. Whereas the literature has described implementation of global information systems as a means to coordinate and control the business processes, empirical studies have shown that introducing a large-scale information systems involves several managerial challenges when organizations are geographically dispersed. This paper studies deployment of a global enterprise system to support evolvement of global business processes. On the basis of a qualitative case study of a multinational corporation implementing an enterprise system across several geographical locations, we identify counteracting forces in the process of global standardization of IS and business processes and discuss how the organization try to manage these forces and challenges therein. The findings suggest that global business processes develop through diverse processes of learning and negotiation between local practices of use and infusion of the global enterprise system

Characterising Integration in Practice: A Case Study of Collaborative Infrastructure Change in a Large Oil and Gas Company

This thesis investigates collaborative work practices in a large oil and gas company (OGC), with special attention being given to recent integration and standardisation efforts to the collaborative infrastructure for improving knowledge sharing practices across disciplinary and geographical boundaries. Through a longitudinal case study, the thesis investigates how these efforts unfold in different organisational contexts. This dissertation is inspired by social studies of Information Systems (IS) and more recent debates on the mediating role of integrated systems. Drawing on the interdisciplinary field of science studies, the thesis investigates how working integrated systems are established in practice. Through the use of vivid empirical examples, previous research has illustrated how various systems do not account for locally unique practices, resulting in them having to be worked-around. In this research, we make a distinction between stand-alone and integrated information systems since local enactments have different dynamics. In particular, we argue that as opposed to largely local, independent contexts of enacted technology, the use of integrated systems implies the interdependent enactment across contexts now linked as a result of the integration. For that reason, we aim to contribute to a higher visibility of cross-contextual effects regarding the use of integrated information systems. The thesis is not restricted to investigations of a single integrated system, but instead aims to understand work practices which span multiple contexts and are supported by multiple enterprise systems. The primary aim is to investigate the core work practices related to oil and gas production. In contrast to social studies of IS which tend to emphasise that work is a predominantly local affair, our aim is to empirically illustrate and analytically discuss cross-contextual (i.e. non-local) aspects of work. We exemplify the array of strategies needed to sort out local differences and establish cross-contextual work practices, thereby leading us to emphasise the temporal and performative aspects of integration. As a whole, this thesis investigates socio-technical work practices within a large-scale heterogeneous organisation and aims to contribute to the literature on the social construction of information systems and provide practical implications for managing integrated information systems

The family resemblance of technologically mediated work practices

Practice-based perspectives in information systems have established how, in every instance of use (i.e., work practices), the user exercises considerable discretion in their appropriation of the technology with local workarounds and situated improvisations. We analyse the relationship between technologically mediated work practices separated in time and space. Specifically, we analyse how similarity in work practices is achieved. Achieving absolutely similar (or ‘best’) practices is unattainable. Drawing on a longitudinal (2007 – 2011) case of ambulatory maintenance work in the oil and gas sector, we identify and discuss three constituting strategies (differentiation, assembling and punctuation) through which a family resemblance of – similar but not the same – work practices is crafted. We discuss how, in the absence of an essentialist criterion, similarity is subject to pragmatic but also political negotiations. Keywords: Practice-based perspectives, mediating role of technology, work practices, standardisatio