IT Symbolism and IT Implementation Strategies
Keywords:
IT, symbolism, implementation strategyAbstract
IT symbolism is so rich that becomes complicated for managers to understand and control all its dimensions. How could managers take into account the symbolic dimensions of an IT during implementation? We first distinguish three typical symbolic meanings associated with IT: IT as a Solution; IT as an Utopia and IT as a Threat. Then we present a detailed description of these three symbolic meanings and we associate them with IT implementation strategies. We obtain a descriptive grid that managers can use to manage IT symbolic dimensions during implementation.
References
Abubakre, M.A., Coombs, C., Ravishankar, M.N., (2017a), “The Impact of Salient Cultural Practices on the Outcome of IS Implementation”, Journal of Global Information Management, 25(1), pp. 1-20.
Abubakre, M, Ravishankar, M.N, Coombs, C., (2017b), "Revisiting the Trajectory of IT Implementation in Organizations: an IT Culture Perspective", Information Technology & People, 30(3), pp. 562-579.
Autissier, D., Moutot, J.-M., (2003), Pratiques de la conduite du changement, Dunod, Paris.
Balogun, J., Hope Hailey, V., (2004), Exploring Strategic Change, Prentice Hall.
Barley, S. R. and G. Kunda (1992), "Design and Devotion: Surges of Rational and Normative Ideologies of Control in Managerial Discourse.", Administrative Science Quarterly, 37(3), pp. 363-399.
Barthes, R. (1985), L’aventure sémiologique, Paris, Seuil.
Basden (2008), Philosophical frameworks for understanding information systems, IGI Global.
Blohm, I., J. M. Leimeister (2013), "Gamification." Business & Information Systems Engineering, 5(4), pp. 275-278.
Blumer, H. (1986), Symbolic interactionism: Perspective and method, University of California Press.
Boltanski, L., L. Thevenot (1991), De la justification. Les économies de la grandeur, Paris, Gallimard.
Boltanski, L., E. Chiapello (1999), Le nouvel esprit du capitalisme, Paris, Gallimard.
Brown, A, (1995), “Managing Understandings: Politics, Symbolism, Niche Marketing and the Quest for Legitimacy in IT Implementation”, Organization Studies, 16(6), pp. 951-969.
Cecez‐Kecmanovic, D., Klein, H., Brooke, C. (2008), "Exploring the Critical Agenda in Information Systems Research." Information Systems Journal, 18(2), pp. 123-135.
Cooper, R. B, Zmud, R.W., (1990), “Information Technology Implementation Research: a Technological Diffusion Approach », Management science, 36(2), pp. 123-139.
Dale, S. (2014), "Gamification: Making Work Fun, or Making Fun of Work?" Business Information Review, 31(2), pp. 82-90.
Dandridge, T. C., Mitroff, I, Joyce, W.F., (1980), “Organizational Symbolism: A Topic to Expand Organizational Analysis”, The Academy of Management Review, 5(1), pp.77-82.
Dandridge, T.C., (1983), "Symbols' Function and Use”, in Pondy, L. R, Frost, P. J., Morgan, G., Organizational symbolism, pp. 69-79, Greenwich, Conn., JAI Press.
de Vaujany, F.-X. (2005), De la conception à l'usage: vers un management de l'appropriation des outils de gestion, Paris Dauphine University.
de Vaujany, F.-X., Bussy-Socrate, H. (2018), « Des modes de diffusion de la rumeur : une approche par la matérialité ». Systèmes d'Information et Management, 23(4), pp. 9-30.
Delone, W.H., McLean. E.R. (1992), “lnformation Systems Success: the Quest for the Dependent Variable”, Information Systems Research, 3(1), pp. 60-95.
Dhillon. G. (2005), “Gaining Benefits from IS/IT Implementation: Interpretations from Case Studies”, International Journal of Information Management, 25(6), pp. 502-515.
Dooyeweerd, H. (1996), The Collected Works of Herman Dooyeweerd, Edwin Mellen Press.
Dudezert, A. D. E. Leidner (2011), "Illusions of control and social domination strategies in knowledge mapping system use.", European Journal of Information Systems 20(5), pp. 574-588.
Dudezert, A., Fayard, P., Oiry, E., (2015), "Astérix et la gestion des connaissances 2.0: une exploration de l’appropriation des SGC 2.0 par le mythe du Village Gaulois." Systèmes d'information management, 20(1), pp. 31-59.
Dudezert, A., Bossard-Préchoux, V., Grimand, A. (2017), "La technologie-totem. Les technologies de l’information créatrices d’identité métier chez les chercheurs en entreprise", Revue Française de Gestion, 155, pp. 45-63.
Eco, U. (1968), La structure absente, Bompiani.
Feldman, M.S, March, J.G., (1981), “Information in Organizations as Signal and Symbol”, Administrative Science Quarterly, 26(2), pp. 171-186.
Fine, G.A, (1992), “Agency, Structure and Comparative Contexts: Towards a Synthetic Interactionism”, Symbolic Action, 15(1), pp. 87-107.
Hennestad, B. W. (1987), “Organizations and the Computer Culture: The Mismanagement of Meaning”, In J. Child, P. Bate (Eds.), Organization of innovation: East-West perspectives: pp. 137-147. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
Hirschheim, R., Newman, M. (1991), “Symbolism and Information Systems Development: Myth, Metaphor and Magic”, Information Systems Research, 2(1), pp. 29-62
Jackson, S. (2016), “Understanding IS/IT Implementation through Metaphors: A Multi-Metaphor Stakeholder Analysis in an Educational Setting”, Computers in Human Behavior, 55, pp. 1039-1051.
Jiang, J.J., Klein, G., Balloun, J., (1996), “Ranking of Systems Implementation Success Factors”, Project Management Journal, December, pp. 49-52.
Kaarst-Brown, M.L., Robey, D., (1999), “More on Myth, Magic and Metaphor: Cultural Insights into the Management of Information Technology in Organizations”, Information Technology & People, 12(2), pp. 192-218.
Karoui M., Dudezert A, Leidner D.E. (2015), “Strategies and Symbolism in the Adoption of Organizational Social Networking Systems”, Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 24(1), pp. 15-32.
Kendall, J.E., Kendall, K.E., (1993), “Metaphors and Methodologies: Living beyond the Systems Machine”, MIS Quarterly, 17(2), pp. 149-171.
Kendall, K.E., (1997), “The Significance of Information Systems Research on Emerging Technologies: Seven Information Technologies that Promise to Improve Managerial effectiveness”, Decision Sciences, 28(4), pp. 775-792.
Kuruppuarachchi, P. P., Mandal, P., Smith, R., (2002), “IT Project Implementation Strategies for Effective Changes: a Critical Review”, Logistics Information Management, 15(2), pp. 126-137.
Kwon, T.H., Zmud, R.W., (1987), “Unifying the Fragmented Models of Information Systems Implementation”, in Boland., R.J., Hirchheim. R.A. (eds), Critical lssues in lnformation Systems Research, pp. 227-251. John Wiley, New York.
Leclercq-Vandelannoitte, A., H. Isaac (2013), "Technologies de l'information, contrôle et panoptique: Pour une approche deleuzienne." Systèmes d'information et management, 18(2), pp. 9-36.
Leonardi, P. M., Barley, S. R, (2010), “Whats Under Construction Here? Social Action, Materiality, and Power in Constructivist Studies of Technology and Organizing”, The Academy of Management Annals, 41(1), pp. 1–51.
Lorino (2018), Pragmatism and Organization Studies, Oxford University Press.
Lyon, D. (1993), "An Electronic Panopticon? A Sociological Critique of Surveillance Theory." The Sociological Review, 41(4), pp. 653-678.
Lyytinen, K. (1992), Information Systems and Critical Theory, Sage Publications, London.
Markus, M. L., R. I. Benjamin (1997), "The Magic Bullet Theory in IT-enabled Transformation." MIT Sloan Management Review, 38(2): pp. 55.
Markus, M.L., Robey, D. (1988), “Information Technology and Organizational Change: Causal Structure in Theory and Research”, Management Science, 34(5), pp. 583-598.
Martin, J, Feldman, M., S., Hatch, M. J., Stitkin, S.B., (1983), “The Uniqueness Paradox in Organizational Studies”, Administrative Science Quarterly, 28(3), pp. 438-453
Martineau, R. (2014), "Proposition d'une grille d'analyse de l'usage des outils de gestion : application à un outil de reporting hospitalier.", Gestion et management public, 24(2), pp. 21-43.
McLuhan, M. and B. R. Powers (1992), The Global Village: Transformations in World Life and Media in the 21st Century, Oxford University Press, New York.
Mitev, N. et F.-X. De Vaujany (Eds.) (2013), Materiality and Space: Organizations, Artefacts and Practices, Springer.
Mitroff, I. I., (1983), "Archetypal Social Systems Analysis: On the Deeper Structure of Human Systems", Academy of Management Review, 8(3), pp. 387-397.
Morgan, G. (2006), Images of organization, Thousands Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Munkvold, B. E. (1999), “Challenges of IT Implementation for Supporting Collaboration in Distributed Organizations”, European Journal of Information Systems, 8(4), pp. 260-272.
Myers, M. D. (1994), “Dialectical Hermeneutics: a Theoretical Framework for the Implementation of Information Systems », Information Systems Journal, 5(1), 51 -70.
Orlikowski. W.J., Baroudi, J.J. (1991), “Studying Information Technology in Organizations: Research Approaches and Assumptions”, Information Systems Research, 2(1), pp. 1-28.
Orlikowski, W. J. (2007), "Sociomaterial Practices: Exploring Technology at Work.", Organization Studies, 28(9), pp. 1435-1448.
Paré, G., Elam, J.J., (1997), “Using Case Study Research to build Theories of IT Implementation”, in Lee, A.S, Liebenau, J., DeGross, J.I., Information Systems and Qualitative Research, Springer, pp. 542-568.
Prasad, P., (1993), “Symbolic Processes in the Implementation of Technological Change”, Academy of Management Journal, 36, pp. 1400–1429.
Rafaeli, A., Vilnai-Yavetz, I., (2004), "Emotion as a Connection of Physical Artifacts and Organizations”, Organization Science, 15(6), pp. 671–686.
Rivard, S., Lapointe, L., Kappos, A, (2011), “An Organizational Culture-based Theory of Clinical Information Systems Implementation in Hospitals”, Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 12(2), pp. 123-162.
Sadin, E. (2018), L'intelligence artificielle ou l'enjeu du siècle : anatomie d'un antihumanisme radical. Paris : L’Echappée.
Sarker, S., (2000), “Toward A Methodology For Managing Information Systems Implementation: A Social Constructivist Perspective”, Informing Science, 3(4), pp. 195-205.
Sewell, G., L. Taskin (2015), "Out of Sight, Out of Mind in a New World of Work? Autonomy, Control, and Spatiotemporal Scaling in Telework.", Organization Studies, 36(11), pp. 1507-1529.
Subramanian, G.H., Jiang, J.J, Klein, G. (2007), “Software Quality and IS Project Performance Improvements from Software Development Process Maturity and IS Implementation Strategies”, The Journal of Systems and Software, 80, pp. 616-627.
Todorov, T. (1977), Théories du symbole, Le Seuil, Paris.
Tsoni, C. (2017), « L’apport des théories de la motivation pour comprendre l’appropriation des TI ». Systèmes d'Information et Management, 22(4), pp. 9-46.
Van Dijk, J. (2012), The network society, Sage Publications.
Walsh, I., Kefi, H., Baskerville, R, (2010), “Managing Culture Creep: toward a Strategic Model of User IT Culture”, Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 19(4), pp. 257-280.
Zuboff, S. (2015), "Big Other: Surveillance Capitalism and the Prospects of an Information Civilization.", Journal of Information Technology, 30(1), pp. 75-89.
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
The author bears the responsibility for checking whether material submitted is subject to copyright or ownership rights (e.g. figures, tables, photographs, illustrations, trade literature and data). The author will need to obtain permission to reproduce any such items, and include these permissions with their final submission.
It is our policy to ask all contributors to transfer for free the copyright in their contribution to the journal owner. There are two broad reasons for this:
- ownership of copyright by the journal owner facilitates international protection against infringement of copyright, libel or plagiarism;
- it also ensures that requests by third parties to reprint or reproduce a contribution, or part of it, in either print or electronic form, are handled efficiently in accordance with our general policy which encourages dissemination of knowledge within the framework of copyright.
In conformity with the French law, the author keeps the 'moral rights' related to the article:
- The 'authorship right': It is the author's right to have his name associated with each publication and exploitation of the article.
- The 'integrity right': It can be claimed by the author if he finds that during an exploitation, his work has been distorted (cutting, reassembly...).