Chrisanthi Avgerou IT and organizational change : an institutionalist perspective

This paper challenges the tendency of the information systems (IS) literature to subsume IS innovation in processes of organizational change, either with the role of the ‘enabler’ of organizational objectives, or as an instrument appropriated by situated organizational actors. Using institutionalist theory, the relationship between information systems development and organizational transformation is studied as the interaction of two institutionalization processes: the increasing momentum and legitimation of IT innovation; and the organizational efforts for the substitution of established structures and activities with new ones which often do not command adequate legitimacy. Such analysis suggests that IS innovation is to a large extent sustainable by its own institutional forces, irrespective of its contribution to the processes of organizational change. This perspective is demonstrated with the case study of the Mexican oil company, Pemex, which, for almost two decades, has made significant efforts to transform itself from a state controlled bureaucracy to a ‘modern’ market driven corporation and has been engaged in successive IS projects.