| Abstract: |
The process covers a decade, and is interesting both
because of the differences between different groupings and companies
in the Group, and because the Enterprise System implementation
is an important part of a larger, strategic reorientation in the
Group. Standardisation, a benefit normally associated with Enterprise
Systems ventures, is problematised and explored. It can serve
efficiency and learning, but also has implications for the power
distribution and can give rise to conflicts. The shifting rationale for
the project that seems to lead its own life is analysed and the roles
of important actors in conducting, guiding and supporting the project
are discussed. A finding is that the project participants, rather
than being representatives of their “home organisation”, acting on
its behalf and having its approval, became aliens, representing the
project, its solutions and values. A proposition derived from this
case is that benefits from Enterprise System implementation can
stem from the learning the Enterprise System project has generated
in the organisation and from specific applications made possible by
the common platform the Enterprise System constitutes, rather than
from the use of the Enterprise System in itself. |
