RESISTING TECHNICAL CHANGE — THREE CASE STUDIES

Raija Halonen ()
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Raija Halonen: Department of Information Processing Science, PO Box 3000, FI-90014 University of Oulu, Finland

International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management (IJITM), 2004, vol. 01, issue 03, 325-339

Abstract: This article investigates the form and nature of resistance to technical change in implementing information systems. The data come from three different case studies in different environment. The first case comes from a factory where work is done to support technological development but the development is not seen in direct throughout this process. The second case comes from an environment where the nature of work is highly human and social; technology is serving only as a tool. The third case is directly connected with technological development and change and the workers are the developers. Each environment has its special technology and relation. A human being is a part of an organization and tends toward inertia and stability. Resistance to change is always related to the angle of view that is used. The information system with its required technology is a part of the organization where it is used. The implementation of an information system influences on the functions in the organization and any changes in the organization result in some resistance. The resistance can be known or unknown and the influences of the resistance can be dramatic on the success of the implementation. In every case in this article the new information system is more technical and more complex than its predecessor. One purpose of this article is to consider the nature of resistance to technical change in different environments and to consider its influence on the implementation in that culture. It seems that there will be resistance to change and it is independent of the branch and culture of the environment. Another purpose of this article is to find out, how to affect on the possible resistance to technical change. This article consists of a literature review, a review of three different information system implementations, and the phenomena of resistance to change in the implementations. The user role is emphasized in the paper. At the end of this article there is a discussion about how the resistance to technical change was managed in the implementations in their very different working cultures and how it was seen in the success of the implementations.

Keywords: Resistance to technological change; information system; implementation; technology (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2004
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DOI: 10.1142/S0219877004000222

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