ERP project dynamics and enacted dialogue

Abstract

Different views on change and IT- related outcomes have been proposed in the literature. Most privilege the technological deterministic and organizational imperative positions. This article introduces two types of process views on change arising from designers' inability to forecast the impacts of ERP on work and governance:• a dialectical process due to the lack of perceived leeway by the actors, and• a teleological process view, where actors feel they have more leeway and where they try to take advantage of technological effects that they feel they can controlBuilding on the concept of enactment and on the nature of conflicts, this work demonstrates the necessity to articulate these views in a theoretical framework describing the dynamics of ERP projects.This framework is employed to interpret problems arising from ERP choice and implementation in the French context. During the "chartering phase," the deterministic vision dominates the perceptions of designers. During the "project phase," the designers come closer to the organizational imperative view when they customize the system and make integration/differentiation choices. During the "shakedown" and subsequent phases, organizational outcomes are often not realized because of job and governance conflicts with end users.