The Effects Of Power On The Selection And Implementation Of Enterprise Systems: Evidence From Ghana

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to understand the effects of power on the selection and implementation of enterprise systems (ES). Literature available on the enterprise systems research dealt more with ES implementation, critical success factors (CSF) for selection, implementation and post implementation management. Good number of studies also focused on ES selection. Very few studies combine selection and implementation in a single study. Though some IS researchers examine power and its role in IS institutionalization and implementation projects, virtually no study examine how power starts form the selection phase and moves into implementation phase of ES implementation in a single project. This study adopts the Clegg’s circuits of power framework as the theoretical lens to examine the effects of power during the selection and implementation of an ES solution in Ghana. The study examines how the exercise of power starts during the ES selection phase and how this power moves into the implementation phase and the consequences it brings. The findings show that organizational agents who have unlimited access to resources such as senior managers exercise power by virtue of their position in the organizational hierarchy. The thoughtful exercise of this power is very productive because it enables the organization to achieve results. The study also reveal that lack broad stakeholder consultation and user involvement from the very beginning would lead to conflicts and resistance. Again, how power is exercised during the ES selection phase would greatly determine implementation success. Thus, poor ES selection practices coupled with distractive haphazard exercise of power may create conditions for botched implementation.