Software and Organisations: The Biography of the Enterprise-Wide System or How SAP Conquered the World

by Neil Pollock, Robin Williams

Overview

This is the first book that addresses the genesis and career of the modern day enterprise system in a comprehensive and robust manner. It does so through setting out a new approach for the study of packaged solutions and presents novel empirical studies based on in-depth ethnographic and longitudinal research conducted within supplier organisations

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781134139477
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	08/14/2008
Series:	Routledge Studies in Technology, Work and Organizations
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Neil Pollock is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh where he teaches and researches on the sociology of information technologies. Robin Williams is Professor of Social Research on Technology and Director at the Institute for the Study of Science, Technology and Innovation at the University of Edinburgh.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1. The Dynamics of Software Packages 2. Critique of Existing Knowledge 3. The Biography of Artefacts Framework 4. Fitting Standard Software to Non-Standard Organisations 5. Generification Work in the Design of Global Solutions 6. Technology Choice and its Performance: Towards a Sociology of Software Package Procurement 7. Industry Analysts and the Labour of Comparison 8. Passing the User: Searching for Expertise in Globalised Technical Support 9. Discussion and Conclusions

Editorial Reviews

"The book Pollock and Williams have written is an outstanding achievement and lasting signpost to future research." - Economic & Social Research Council

"Software and Organizations is a great academic work, theoretically insightful and empirically potent and compelling. In many respects, the volume could be interpreted as signalling the maturation of the cross-disciplinary field of technology and organization studies...A contribution like the one Pollock and Williams have made has long been wanted."- Jannis Kallinikos, Organization Studies

"The brilliant empirical chapters joined with in-depth engagement with the literature leave little to disagree with in Software and Organizations...Indeed, one is tempted to say that it may well show the way to the next wave of technology studies." - Sampsa Hyysalo, Social Studies of Science

"The authors convincingly propose a new analytical template, the Biography of Artefacts (BoA) framework, and align themselves with the so-called ‘third wave’ in Science and Technology Studies...The BoA framework constitutes the epitome of analytical advancements in the study of IT in organisations, over a period of more than 20 years by Edinburgh-based scholars." - Antonios Kaniadakis, Science Studies

"Software and Organizations makes an excellent and timely contribution to the literature and is an impressive piece of research...As STS scholars, Pollock and Williams’ accomplishment is their commendable theorisation of the relations between technology and society." - Debra Howcroft, New Technology Work & Employment

'This book is a very welcome addition to critical research based texts examining the ever changing relationship between software design and organisational change. Pollock and Williams bring together rich empirical theoretical material with a keen theoretical perspective, which generates new insights for both organisational studies and technology studies.' - Janice McLaughlin, Newcastle University

From the Publisher