Information Technology Biography
Enterprise systems are used by large companies and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to reorganize and streamline their internal and external operations. One particular type of enterprise system examined in this paper is that of the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. The installation of an ERP system usually entails major business process reengineering issues (Boudreau and Robey, 1999; Al-Mashari and Al-Mudimigh, 2003), as companies often have to adapt their work practices to the ERP system. Consequently, new forms of controls need to be in place in order to ascertain the prescribed and efficient working of employees within the ERP system. The main purpose of this paper is to conceptualize the way that organizational control is aided with the use of an enterprise system within a company, and how drift can result from the use of such a system. The relationship between control and organizational resilience is also proposed. The outcome of this research is twofold. On the one hand, results from this research contribute to a better theoretical understanding of the impact of enterprise systems on control and resilience in a company. As research on enterprise systems tends to move away from initial implementation concerns and success factors, the paper offers an important dimension by presenting more critical reflections on the actual use of enterprise systems and their impact on a company. On the other hand, the findings also help practitioners to become more aware of the impact of enterprise systems within their organizations, highlighting areas where the system can have unintended consequences and can function contrary to their expectations. In the following section, we briefly review the previous research on the issues of power and control and their relevance to information systems. We then present the theoretical underpinnings of this study, followed by a presentation of the research approach employed. We follow this with the presentation of the impacts of the enterprise system in the case study company. We then discuss and categorize the results of our research, and develop the theoretical conceptualization that arises from this discussion. We conclude this paper with the theoretical and practical implications of our study.
Enterprise systems are used by large companies and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to reorganize and streamline their internal and external operations. One particular type of enterprise system examined in this paper is that of the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. The installation of an ERP system usually entails major business process reengineering issues (Boudreau and Robey, 1999; Al-Mashari and Al-Mudimigh, 2003), as companies often have to adapt their work practices to the ERP system. Consequently, new forms of controls need to be in place in order to ascertain the prescribed and efficient working of employees within the ERP system. The main purpose of this paper is to conceptualize the way that organizational control is aided with the use of an enterprise system within a company, and how drift can result from the use of such a system. The relationship between control and organizational resilience is also proposed. The outcome of this research is twofold. On the one hand, results from this research contribute to a better theoretical understanding of the impact of enterprise systems on control and resilience in a company. As research on enterprise systems tends to move away from initial implementation concerns and success factors, the paper offers an important dimension by presenting more critical reflections on the actual use of enterprise systems and their impact on a company. On the other hand, the findings also help practitioners to become more aware of the impact of enterprise systems within their organizations, highlighting areas where the system can have unintended consequences and can function contrary to their expectations. In the following section, we briefly review the previous research on the issues of power and control and their relevance to information systems. We then present the theoretical underpinnings of this study, followed by a presentation of the research approach employed. We follow this with the presentation of the impacts of the enterprise system in the case study company. We then discuss and categorize the results of our research, and develop the theoretical conceptualization that arises from this discussion. We conclude this paper with the theoretical and practical implications of our study.
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