File(s) under permanent embargo
What is IT?: SAP, accounting, and visibility in a multinational organisation
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-10, 02:10 authored by Paolo Quattrone, Trevor HopperRecent work on Information Systems tries to reconcile the apparent homogeneity of Information Technologies (IT) with the heterogeneity of their use by recognising that users can render IT systems flexible and malleable. This paper advances theorisation of this apparent paradox by reflecting on the nature of IT, i.e. its ontology. Observations of an ERP (SAP) implementation in a large USA multi-national cast within Actor-Network Theory and Science and Technology Studies approaches help illustrate how an object like IT can possess diversity and heterogeneity whilst being a homogeneous and operative technology. The paper argues that IT appears homogeneous for it attracts and generates heterogeneous uses. This paradox is labelled 'heteromogeneous'. An IT system is theorised as an absence which establishes a presence by mobilising and attracting other actors and technologies, in this instance accounting, seeking visibility in organisations. IT emerges from multiple and continuous translations involving customisations of SAP. Thus the definition of IT is neither stable nor singular across time and space, which enables IT and SAP to travel across organisations.
History
Publication status
- Published
File Version
- Published version
Journal
Information and OrganizationISSN
1471-7727Publisher
ElsevierExternal DOI
Issue
3Volume
16Page range
212-250Department affiliated with
- Accounting and Finance Publications
Full text available
- No
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2022-01-07First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2022-01-07Usage metrics
Categories
No categories selectedKeywords
Licence
Exports
RefWorks
BibTeX
Ref. manager
Endnote
DataCite
NLM
DC