Failure, identity loss and living information systems

摘要

Attempting to understand information systems failure is a complex task. Recent approaches described in the literature have sought to reject positivist explanations as being too simplistic, shifting the debate in favor of more 'weblike' explanations based on the interpretation of case studies. This paper seeks to synthesize two well-known explanatory frameworks into an enhanced conceptual model that approach information systems failure through the concept of 'identity loss'. Whilst this synthesis offers explanation, the resulting model also challenges the existing paradigm of information systems development. Utilizing the findings of a case study that investigates the effects of privatization on the systems of an industrial organization, we postulate that, rather than to continue offering palliatives to combat the symptoms of information systems failure, what is needed is a fundamental reconsideration of approach.