| A large majority of information system implementation projects fail in terms of stated managerial objectives. The systemic quality of this experience is matched by that of explanations offered by scholarly observers, who argue that these projects fail due to poor management of ‘social’, rather than ‘technical’, factors. This begs the question: What institutional or ‘structural’ qualities shared by organizations account for a common inability to address ‘social’ factors in the implementation of information systems?; This question is reflected upon as a heuristic device in developing a particular model of information system implementation, the ‘user satisfaction’ model. The model is elaborated by exploring ‘structural’ factors—those common to most organizations: Organizational hierarchy and hierarchical social influence. In addition, ‘participation’, a known antecedent of ‘user satisfaction’, is analyzed in terms of another ‘structural’ factor—organizational politics. Opportunity to ‘participate’ in the implementation of an information system is addressed as question of the distribution of valuable organizational resources shaped by organizational political structures. Finally, the ‘user satisfaction’ model is elaborated by looking at the consequences of implementation outcomes, i.e., on change in indices of general organizational heath before and after implementation.; ‘Socio-technical’ theory as a theory of underlying structures of organizational activity—‘social’ and ‘technical’. It is utilized as an analytic tool capable of addressing key theoretical questions, i.e., the identification of failure in terms of ‘social’ rather than ‘technical’ aspects. This approach is used to help address theoretical questions in models, but also itself is evaluated for theoretical and empirical fruitfulness. Finally, a contribution to ‘socio-technical’ theory is developed in the hypothesized association of particular types of hierarchical social influence with ‘socio-technical’ domains.; Longitudinal survey data was gathered before and after implementation of a critical information system in a service firm in the United States northeast between 1996 and 1998. Results suggest a strong role for hierarchical communication (‘leadership’) but, contrary to theory, a negative influence on ‘user satisfaction’ is reported. Further, ‘social’ rather than ‘technical’ dimensions of ‘user satisfaction’ is shown to have a strong role in explaining change in indices of general organizational health before and after implementation. |
