The Effect of ERP System Workarounds on Organizational Control: An interpretivist case study

Organizations installing an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system often seek to gain better control over their data and operations. Nevertheless, studies indicate that this aim often fails to materialize. Although the literature has looked into the factors that may lead to a successful (or conversely unsuccessful) ERP implementation, it has largely overlooked the actual use of the system after its initial implementation. While implementation outcomes and actual patterns of system use are closely interrelated, close examination of system use in-situ can reveal ways in which users can use the system to cause a decrease in organizational control. This is particularly the case when users create workarounds or try to bypass controls embedded within the system. This paper examines such workarounds and their impact on organizational control, using an interpretive case study and through the conceptual lenses of human and machine agencies.