Retrofitting Information Processes and Content Standardization in Response to Enterprise-Wide System Planning and Development: Organizational and Socio-Technical Influences as Determining Factors

When a large conglomerate initiated the planning and development of an enterprise-wide electronic database system to form part of its growing e-business systems infrastructure, the resulting action called for the reengineering of information processes coupled with the push towards data content standardization across the entire organization. The objective of the system was to help engineers sift through millions of components offered by various suppliers and component manufacturers, where the end-result was to improved the integration and efficiency of the product development, engineering design, e-sourcing and e-procurement processes. This research paper is a qualitative action research study on how different organizational, social, political, and technical forces influenced the social construction of an enterprise-wide information system. Understanding the dynamics and power of these socio-technical forces in shaping the development environment and change process of enterprise systems is the research contribution of this paper.