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This paper explores the interpretative flexibility of ERP systems through the study of a project to implement a hosted system for the Central Accounting Department of a large multinational. The paper presents intensive case study data around the decision to implement the system and analyses it in terms of the interpretative flexibility of the system. The paper questions the extent to which technological features of the new system influence the perceived flexibility of the system.

Presented at the Subject Centre Annual Conference, Networking and collaboration: supporting learning and teaching

This paper is based on a panel presented at ECIS 2003 that sought to explore the extent of diversity in practice in PhD programmes within AIS region 2. It presents respondents from six European countries: Germany, Norway, Italy, the United Kingdom, Spain, and the Netherlands. The participants address questions about the nature of their PhD programme in terms of such factors as admission, funding, style of dissertation, format of examination, employment prospects. Whilst some patterns exist amongst the experiences, diversity is still considerable. The paper concludes with a discussion of the impact of this evidence for the global field of information systems.

What does it mean for code to be law? Is there an inherent characteristic in software that renders it a modality of regulation? How should technology-as-regulation be studied and what is the role of the developer as a regulator? These are some of the research questions we are trying to address in our study concerning the mode of development of peer-to-peer technologies and the evolution of their regulatory facets over time. The study considers whether peer-to-peer technologies have regulatory characteristics that accumulate over time as a result of the effort to deal with the complexity and uncertainty of the tasks they support. The process of development of these technologies reflects the involvement of different stakeholders, both humans and nonhumans, in the refinement and proliferation of the regulatory characteristics. In our study we follow the path of development of code-as-law and seek alternative methods, drawn from both the fields of regulatory theory and systems development, in order to study these emergent phenomena.

This paper develops earlier theoretical work that raised doubts about the common perception that the properuse of information systems development methods is necessary and sufficient for obtaining a proper understand-ing of a problem domain. It provides a summary of this existing theoretical material before presenting newqualitative, empirical results, taken from the developers of successful web sites, which support the notion thatmethods are not being used in the way their developers intend them, but rather that pre-understanding is anecessary requirement for successful method use.

This thesis examines the use of expert systems in semi-formal domains. The research identifies the main problems with semi-formal domains and proposes and evaluates a number of different solutions to them. The thesis considers the traditional approach to developing expert systems, which sees domains as being formal, and notes that it continuously faces problems that result from informal features of the problem domain. To circumvent these difficulties experience or other subjective qualities are often used but they are not supported by the traditional approach to design. The thesis examines the formal approach and compares it with a semiformal approach to designing expert systems which is heavily influenced by the socio-technical view of information systems. From this basis it examines a number of problems that limit the construction and use of knowledge bases in semi-formal domains. These limitations arise from the nature of the problem being tackled, in particular problems of natural language communication and tacit knowledge and also from the character of computer technology and the role it plays. The thesis explores the possible mismatch between a human user and the machine and models the various types of confusion that arise. The thesis describes a number of practical solutions to overcome the problems identified. These solutions are implemented in an expert system shell (PESYS), developed as part of the research. The resulting solutions, based on non-linear documents and other software tools that open up the reasoning of the system, support users of expert systems in examining the boundaries of the knowledge base to help them avoid and overcome any confusion that has arisen. In this way users are encouraged to use their own skills and experiences in conjunction with an expert system to successfully exploit this technology in semi-formal domains.

The technological is often in the background of our research, despite claims of being socio-technical. Following from Orlikowski and Iacono’s call for research on the ability to theorize the technological within IS research, this research note reviews the literature on society and technology to understand how we may interrogate the technological within a discourse. This article then proposes that within a discourse there are moments of interest where we can observe, interrogate, and develop an understanding regarding the form of the technological. In turn, this may complement our understanding of the social, and allow for further research on how the socio-technological world takes form.

Over the past 20 years, the field of information systems has grown dramatically in theoretical diversity and global reach. This growth is reflected in the language that policy makers and organizational stakeholders use when they talk about their IT plans. As information technology penetrates further into organizational and global life, it becomes ever more important to articulate assumptions embedded in the discourse. This will help to clarify the complex and yet conceptually improvised or pasted-up worldview that becomes embodied in systems. The assumptions point to particular domains of discourse. The discourse sets up conventions and boundaries. It thus shapes what can or cannot legitimately be talked about, researched, addressed, or solved within the scope of IT. A number of practical and theoretical topics are discussed in detail, including: *Globalization, development, and space; *Mobilization of power; *ERP systems; *IS planning and projects; *Critical research and the study of discourse; *Public institutions; *Analytical frameworks. This book contains the selected proceedings of the Working Conference on Global and Organizational Discourse About Information Technology, sponsored by the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) and held in Barcelona, Spain in December 2002.