Patterns of enterprise system implementation - the case of Chinese aerospace corporate transformation

Abstract

This dissertation aims to identify patterns in the managerial processes during an enterprise system implementation (ESI) period. An ESI remains a notorious challenge. In most cases, it concurrently involves business strategy change, organizational change, and technical innovation. This dissertation adopts structuration theory as a __sensitizing device__ for understanding change forces behind an ESI. A pattern-recognition method is used to extract and describe patterns of managerial processes out of the structuration insights. Two sub-structuration processes are selected in order to make the structuration process observable and identifiable for the pattern recognition: Communicating significance by top management and facilitating learning for ESI. Ten in-depth empirical cases are studied in a longitudinal way. The main contribution of the thesis is four-fold: (1) the thesis designs a pattern-recognition method for conducting process studies (Structuration); (2) A set of process patterns are identified. These patterns clearly show the predictive power of the process studies; (3) A method to operationalize structuration theory. The __modalities__ embedded in the structuration framework are operationalized as a specific set of techniques within certain managerial processes which are observable and actionable; (4) New insights into the performance criteria of a strategic ESI project. A success of an ESI should not only be decided by operative criteria, but also should be judged by the achieved strategic impact.