Repairing ERP Producing Social Order to Create a Working Information System

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software is used to enable organizational change. The challenges of implementing these integrated software products have recently dominated academic and practitioner literatures. Given that it is difficult for organizations to stop such projects once started, the authors'approach is to focus on how to make troubled ERP projects work. A narrative methodology is adopted to analyze a strategic initiative between a university that partnered with an ERP vendor seeking entrance into the higher education market. Through the lens of social ordering, the authors argue against the idea that consensus must be sought in instances of conflict if success is to be realized. Rather, the important thing appears to be coordinating action that will allow goals to be achieved, even if this involves compromise. Such compromise depends on reciprocity to produce order and does not expect a shared aim as long as a solution can be negotiated.