The power/knowledge of consultants and project management office in enterprise system implementation: a case study of a Saudi Arabian university

Almatrodi, Ibrahim (2015) The power/knowledge of consultants and project management office in enterprise system implementation: a case study of a Saudi Arabian university. Doctoral thesis, University of East Anglia.

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Abstract

This thesis explores the power/knowledge of consultants and the project management
office (PMO) in the implementation of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
system and its subsequent development. The research followed a qualitative approach
involving an interpretive in-depth case study. The study was conducted at a Saudi
Arabian university and explored the power of consultants and the PMO in the
implementation of enterprise systems in order to better understand the interaction of
power and knowledge in the implementation and development process. A theoretical
framework was developed by applying Clegg’s (1989) Circuits of Power, Absorptive
Capacity, Agency theory, Structuration theory, and Neo-institutional theory. This
theoretical framework was used to guide data collection and analysis. A total of 34
interviews with senior management, consultants, technical staff, project managers,
and end users were conducted. Data were analysed following Creswell’s (2013)
approach, and the principles of interpretive research in information systems (IS)
proposed by Klein and Myers (1999) were applied. This study found that PMO and
associated consultants have become powerful in ERP implementation and can
mobilize power/knowledge by speaking for both the technology and the organization.
This study contributes to research addressing ERP by investigating the
power/knowledge of highly influential actors (consultants and PMOs) in the adoption
and implementation of ERP. It also contributes to the literature on ERP and power,
which has not extensively explored the context of developing nations such as Saudi
Arabia.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Norwich Business School
Depositing User:	Users 4971 not found.
Date Deposited:	17 Feb 2017 14:04
Last Modified:	17 Feb 2017 14:04
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/62646
DOI:

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