کار در سایه ها : درک استفاده از برنامه ریزی منابع سازمانی (ERP) به عنوان فرآیندهای پیچیده پاسخگوی مکالمات در شیوه های روزانه یک نیروی عملیات ویژه

In this paper we explore how ERP systems are used and impact local practice in a specialized unit within The Danish Defense. We draw on Stacey's theory of complex responsive processes to inspire our observations of how ERP systems are used and impact local practice specifically focusing on what role conversations about the system plays in enabling and constraining everyday local practice and the handling of complexity and uncertainty at the organizational front-line. Our findings suggest that the use of ERP does lead to an increased awareness of control, but that this awareness emerges in unintended and creative ways through different communicative patterns. Furthermore our findings suggest that implementing ERP systems may lead to unlearning the ability of trusting professional intuition.

Organizations are met with increasing demands for being in strategic control. According to conventional managerial wisdom, clearly defined tasks, uniform processes, thorough documentation and strategic oversight are all perceived as part and parcel of making large and unwieldy organizations manageable, transparent and efficient (Johnson et al., 2008 and Kaplan and Norton, 2008). To live up to these demands, numerous efforts have been undertaken, including the design and implementation of management information systems. These systems, as epitomized in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, seek to bring the organization under strategic control by creating a unified infrastructure for collecting and analyzing data from virtually all fields of organizational operations to enable planning and monitoring of activities (Kallinikos, 2006). Expectations of these systems at all levels of the organization are high as they are expected to create organizational transparency and oversight for decision making (Hanseth, Ciborra, & Braa, 2001). In this paper, we explore how ERP systems are used and impact local practice in a specialized unit within The Danish Defense. Specifically, we ask what role SAP R/31 plays in enabling and constraining everyday local practice and the handling of complexity and uncertainty at the organizational front-line. We draw on a case study conducted in a Special Operations Force unit within the Danish Defense, “The Frogman Corps”. The case illuminates the difficulties of using ERP systems for management control in organizations experiencing complex operational conditions, including tension between centralized control and uniformity on the one hand and unpredictability and need for de-centralized decision making on the other hand.

We conclude this paper by outlining how the use of Stacey's theory of complex responsive processes contributes with new knowledge about the use of ERP systems in organizations and what implications this has for research and practice. The main contribution of the study is the application of a micro perspective on the use of ERP that shows how the meaning of a systems tool does not lie in the tool itself but in how people use it as well as how the conversations around its use has implications for how it is actually used. First, the empirical findings clearly show that there is a widespread use of add-ons or self-developed spreadsheets that supplement the use of the system tool. While add-ons and sidestepping can, and often should, be viewed as resistance towards large-scale ERP systems, our study suggests that they could rightly also be seen as an expression of a willingness to exert managerial control beyond what is possible with the ERP system. Both legitimate and shadow themes are an important part of how ERP systems are localized and adapted to practice. And as such these conversational themes are a part of organizational life and a way of trying to cope with anxiety and uncertainty when implementing new technologies in organizations. In this way conversational patterns enable what is being done and at the same time constrain what is being done as power relating (Stacey, 2007). Add-ons can thus be viewed as a positive contribution to the organization's control practices and not as an act of resistance as it is often portrayed (Dechow and Mouritsen, 2005, Doolin, 2004, Ferneley and Sobreperez, 2006 and Lapointe and Rivard, 2005). This is supported by our findings which show that while many of the officers publicly support the system they still spend time developing their own add-ons and sub-systems instead of learning how to use the system as originally intended. If management seek to address the sidestepping of the system and focus on the locally developed add-ons and side-stepping processes as a way for employees to make use of the system rather than to avoid it, they will enable a more nuanced view of the system and enable local adaptations which again might benefit the use of the system in practice.