Managing emergent information systems: Towards understanding how public information systems come into being

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Groenewegen, Peter^{a; *} | Wagenaar, Pieter^a

Affiliations: [a] Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department of Public Administration and Organization Sciences, De Boelelaan 1081, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Tel.: +31 20 5986918; E-mail: [email protected]

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding author

Abstract: The introduction of information technology is often considered to be important for increased organisational performance. Yet, in the public sector, regularly promised results do not (fully) materialise, and the actual systems delivered deviate strongly from those intended. In the literature, two perspectives are used to explain these outcomes: infighting in the initial phases of an information system's life, and continuous adaptation of the technology during its use. These perspectives are based on the awareness that mutual structuration between social and technical elements is a core finding in the analysis of system development. This awareness, however, has been translated into only one dominant paradigm for system development. In this article we argue that structuration leads to different means of intervention. In the initial infighting perspective the main concern with regard to influencing the information system is one of the inclusion of stakeholders and user groups in system design. These recommendations have to a greater or lesser extent found their way into systems development and design. Yet, the initial infighting perspective leaves the question unanswered as to whether, in the long run, information systems remain stable or whether ongoing changes and re-invention determine the way systems work out. Obviously, if the latter holds true, identifying the sources of change and monitoring the direction of actions in the workplace during the entire life of an information system are a necessary addition to the inclusion of stakeholders in its initial phase. In this paper we apply both perspectives to empirical material on the introduction of the information system 'GMS' in emergency rooms in the Netherlands. By doing so we try to establish which perspective should be applied and under what circumstances, and thus what path to intervention should be chosen.

DOI: 10.3233/IP-2006-0094

Journal: Information Polity, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 135-148, 2006