Fundamental Systems Thinking Concepts for IS Engineering: Balancing Between Change and Non-change

摘要

The introduction of a new IT system in an organization is always accompanied by changes to business processes, and sometimes to reporting structures and customer relationships. Resistance to change is a well-known response to these initiatives. By going to the roots of systems thinking it is possible to explain this resistance through homeostasis, the maintenance of the identity of a system in a changing environment. Understanding the necessity and inevitability of this resistance can help both researchers and practitioners. Researchers will better understand the nature of organizations enabling them to design better research initiatives. Practitioners will be able to design better change initiatives in their organization.