This paper presents a novel way of thinking about how information systems are used in organisations. Traditionally, computerised information systems are viewed as objects. In contrast, by viewing the information system as an actor, the understanding of the structuration process increases. The user, being influenced by the ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system and giving it an actor role, thereby also confers agency on the ERP system; through its very use it influences actions and thus also the structure. Based on a case study of ERP use in an ABB company over a decade, five different roles played by the ERP systems were identified. The ERP systems acted as Bureaucrat, Manipulator, Administrative assistant, Consultant or were dismissed (Dismissed) in the sense that intended users chose to avoid using them. These terms are defined in the full text.The purpose of this approach here is not to "animate" the information systems, to give them life or a mind of their own, but rather to make explicit the socially constructed roles conferred on them by users and others who are affected by them. On this basis, it is possible to suggest how the roles can help us open up new areas of exploration concerning the fruitful use of IT.
Social media technologies are increasingly used within organizational settings. Particularly, organizations continue to adopt and use wikis for enabling collaboration among their professional communities of practice. At this respect, the current paper reports results from an interpretive case study focusing on the use of a wiki for knowledge collaboration and sharing at a large multinational organization. It examines how the wiki is used by members of several professional communities of practice through interviews, observations, field studies, and documents. It concludes by showing that the openness of the wiki has a dual impact on wiki collaboration and also discusses how the wiki might serve as both an enabler and inhibitor for community and knowledge collaboration.
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