Information Technology Consulting and the Implementation of Information Technology

Abstract

IT consulting seems to be of growing importance within organizations. The tendency towards complex large-scale IT consulting projects requires a more detailed exploration of the implementation process on the organizational level. Given that these projects contribute to or create organizational change (i.e. Markus, 2004), power relationships are assumed to influence the implementation of information technology. This paper examines the collaboration between IT consultants, employees and project managers within IT consulting projects, considering aspects of power negotiation and power politics within organizations. Based on the literature on IT consulting and IT project implementation, major risks and challenges of the implementation process as well as possible solutions will be identified and analyzed. Following Giddens’ theoretical framework of structuration theory (Giddens, 1984), an actor’s access to authoritative and allocative resources as well as his position and strategies in relation to power are explored. It will be shown that IT consultants may have a central position within the constellation of an IT project, depending on their strategies of impression management and charismatic leadership (Sosik & Jung, 2003).