Narrative, Politics and Legitimacy in an IT Implementation

Andrew D. Brown

Journal of Management Studies, 1998, vol. 35, issue 1, 35-58

Abstract: This paper offers an interpretation of an information technology (IT) implementation through an analysis of group narratives. A focus on narrative is valuable because it facilitates recognition of the extent to which interpretive research involves the creation and ascription of meaning in ways that require authorial reflexivity. An analysis based on group narratives, which incorporate plurivocal understandings of actions and events, is also a means by which polysemy can more easily be read back into ethnography. The research contribution this paper makes is twofold. First, it exemplifies the importance of narratives for individuals and groups in their attempts to understand and give meaning to their technologies and working lives. Second, it illustrates how narratives can be deployed in political attempts to legitimate their actions and interests.

Date: 1998
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (30)

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6486.00083

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:jomstd:v:35:y:1998:i:1:p:35-58

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.blackwell ... s.asp?ref=00022-2380

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Management Studies is currently edited by Timothy Clark, Steven W. Floyd and Mike Wright

More articles in Journal of Management Studies from Wiley Blackwell
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().