Chrisanthi Avgerou Evaluating information systems by consultation and negotiation

Despite the emphasis on the importance of evaluation and the plethora of recommended methods, evaluation continues to be an ad hoc rather than a systematic practice. Recommendations for evaluation methodologies have not accommodated the evolving perceptions of the nature and the value of information systems. In this paper we argue that current professional evaluation practices are particularly inadequate for systems that have strategic issues at stake and intense political behaviour in the evaluation context. We therefore suggest an approach to determine the value of proposed or implemented information systems by means of informed group consultation and negotiation processes. We then propose two possible ways to implement the suggested approach.