Temporal issues in information and communication technology-enabled organizational change: Evidence from an enterprise systems implementation

Steve Sawyer, Richard Southwick

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

48 Scopus citations

Abstract

In this article we highlight temporal effects in information and communication technology-enabled organizational change. Examples of temporal effects are explored in the context of one organization's efforts to implement an enterprise-wide information system. Temporality is presented as having two aspects, with the first being the well-recognized, linear and measured clock time. The second aspect of time is that which is perceived - often as nonlinear - and socially defined. We find that temporal effects arise both in changes to the structure of work and in differences among groups in how time is perceived. Evidence suggests that both specific characteristics of the implementation and of the enterprise systems' technologies further exacerbate these temporal effects. We conclude with suggestions for how to incorporate a temporally reflective perspective into analysis of technology-enabled organizational change and how a temporal perspective provides insight into both the social and technical aspects of the sociotechnical nature of enterprise systems.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)263-280
Number of pages18
JournalInformation Society
Volume18
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2002
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Enterprise systems
  • ICT
  • IT
  • Implementation
  • Organizational change
  • Research methods
  • Sociotechnical systems
  • Time

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Management Information Systems
  • Cultural Studies
  • Information Systems
  • Political Science and International Relations

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