Methodological choices in enterprise systems research

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present the choices to researchers when approaching the topic of enterprise systems from a social science perspective.Design/methodology/approachA selected bibliography is presented, on the themes relevant to methodological choices in studying enterprise systems in an organisational context. The themes encompass epistemology, causality, research approach and type of data, research design, researcher role in data collection, research strategy, method, techniques and researcher role in relation to the setting.FindingsThe paper presents theoretical approaches and illustrates the application of theory on the specific case of enterprise system implementation in an organisational context.Research limitations/implicationsA breadth of themes is considered here, however the review of the literature is not exhaustive, but selective.Practical implicationsThe paper argues for making research method explicit and transparent and for greater awareness of the researchers studying enterprise systems of the methodological choices available when engaging with the subject of study.Originality/valueThe paper brings together available and well‐developed research methods, mainly used in information systems (IS) research and organisation studies, and which have been used in enterprise systems somewhat sparsely and without particular transparency, closer to research practice.