This paper is a conceptual, research-in-progress study of the nature and role of communication in IT implementation projects. The paper considers different approaches to the implementation of change and to communication, and argues that scant attention is given to the design of communication approaches and strategies suitable for IT projects and other change initiatives. Arguments are developed to suggest that the most frequently used approaches to both implementation and communication are the least likely to be perceived to be successful, and those approaches to implementation and communication associated with greater acceptance of change are less likely to be used. We then map different approaches to implementation against different approaches to communication and argue that designing participative approaches to both implementation and communication are likely to result in better outcomes. The resulting conceptual model of communication approaches is then discussed with reference to a planned action research study of an enterprise system (ES) implementation in a global manufacturing company
