An Institutional Analysis of Pluralistic Responses to Enterprise System Implementations

Organizations are awash in a wide range of practices that are guided by a variety of goals, values, assumptions, and identities. New enterprise systems are consistent with many of these practices, yet conflict with others. Using institutional theory, we show how the congruence with the institutional logics associated with an ERP implementation affects the local responses to the system. This institutional logic is often accompanied by strong institutional pressures whereby actors can respond either with strategies of acquiescence such as compliance or mutual adaptation, or with loose coupling strategies of compromise and avoidance. We conducted a qualitative meta-analysis of eighteen published case studies of ERP implementations. The results support our theoretical conjectures. The findings suggest that situations involving loose coupling call to question the validity of enterprise system data. We also highlight the limited role of resistance strategies as viable long-term responses.