© 1993 by British Computer Society
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Presumed Versus Actual Organizational Culture: Managerial Implications for Implementation of Information Systems
1 Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, PO Box 653, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel and Computer Information Systems Department, Suffolk University, Boston, MA 02108-2770, USA, 2 Department of Management, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia, 3 Department of Quantitative Analysis and Information Systems, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, USA, 4 School of Business Administration, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
This paper builds on Markus and Robey's four-level framework of analyzing resistance to implementation of information systems. The four levels of analysis pertain to the user, the organizational structure, the political power and the environment. We suggest adding a complementary fifth level pertaining to the organizational culture. The paper proceeds from a definition of culture to an explanation of its dimensions, in line with the management and control approach to culture. A case study of an attempt to implement an information system is presented and the five levels of analysis are used to explain the implementation failure. In particular, failure is attributed to a clash between the cultural presumptions embedded in the system design and the actual culture of the implementing organization. The concluding section contains recommendations for practitioners and suggestions for additional research on the role of organizational culture in implementation of information systems.
Received May 1990. revised August 1992.
* Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, PO Box 653, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel and Computer Information Systems Department, Suffolk University, Boston, MA 02108-2770, USA
Department of Management, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia
¶ Department of Quantitative Analysis and Information Systems, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, USA
School of Business Administration, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel