Global Software and its Provenance: Generification Work in the Production of Organisational Software Packages

From Artefacts to Infrastructures

“…There has been from its inception what some scholars have dubbed a 'localist' sensibility in CSCW (Pollock et al 2007). This sentiment is manifest in the CSCW emphasis on workplace studies and especially single site-implementations (in a specific department or an organisation) (see for instance Fitzpatrick 2003), the influence of ethnographically inspired research methods (Rooksby et al 2009), a focus on the adoption of a given system rather than on how users collaborate using multiple systems (Berg 1999), and studies of relatively small numbers of users (tens or hundreds rather than thousands).…”

“…The extension of ERP packages across organisations, sectors and countries is all the more intriguing when one considers that some CSCW proponents insist that information systems must be built around the unique exigencies of particular organisations (Hartswood et al 2002). We have explored how, in their design and development decisions, suppliers of standard ERP packages were able to build viable 'bridges' to diverse organisational users through various kinds of generification work (Pollock et al 2007). …”

Collaborative Development of Global Information Systems: Toward Community Based Generification

“…The process of compromise in software development whereby a diversity of 'local' requirements of different user groups of a product are channelled, filtered and prioritised to inform 'global' design features that work across a diverse range of organizational contexts is also referred to as 'generification' (Pollock et al 2007). Generification could thus be seen as the compromise reached as an outcome of negotiating between local and global requirements.…”

ICTs and Global Working in a Non-Flat World

“…Pollock et al (2003) argue the need to understand the "biography" of software packages such as ERP and the way that suppliers try to provide a "generic" product, whereas users try to accommodate tensions between that and local needs. In a later paper, Pollock et al (2007) describe this work of the suppliers as "generification" work. The authors provided a detailed description of this process in the case of an ERP system aimed at supporting the administrative functions of universities.…”

“…In other words, how do power relations influence the final design and make the system more suitable for some than others? Second, Pollock et al (2007) argue that diverse organizations and standard technologies can be brought together, but the question remains as to what the consequences are for the organizations, positive and negative. The generification of systems does not have "flat" effects across different organizations.…”