Enterprise Systems, Control and Drift

Abstract

Enterprise Systems are widespread in current organizations and seen as integrating organizational procedures across functional divisions. An Enterprise System, once installed, seems to enable or constrain certain actions by users, which have an impact on organizational operations. Those actions may result in increased organizational control, or may lead to organizational drift. The processes that give rise to such outcomes are investigated in this chapter, which is based on a field study of five companies. By drawing on the theoretical concepts of human and machine agencies, as well as the embedding and disembedding of information in the system, this chapter argues that control and drift arising from the use of an Enterprise System are outcomes of the processes of embedding and disembedding human actions, which are afforded (enabled or constrained) by the Enterprise System.