ERP systems and technological discourse shift: Managing the implementation journey

Abstract

In an implementation of an ERP system in a large Danish production company (here referred to as Omega), discourse surrounding the project changed appreciably during the course of the project. Drawing on recent adaptations of discourse theory, we provide a theoretical model which relates technological discourse to actions and outcomes. The model provides a theoretical explanation for how one dominant technological discourse in an organisation could be replaced by another. The ERP implementation at Omega was originally cast as a classical IT project (reflecting the dominant ways of thinking about the project and project management both in industry and academia); however, the experience of the project changed the sense-making of the participants and the implementation later came to be regarded as a technology-driven organisational change initiative. The new technological discourse helped the organisational actors to perceive value in what they were doing. The research form is a interpretive case study, which has different philosophical roots, methods and modes of presentation than the functionalist tradition dominant in AIS research. Both the research mode and the research conclusions challenge current AIS thinking concerning the implementation of a large information system. The implications for research and practice are discussed in the final sections of the paper.