Understanding Business Process Change Failure: An Actor-Network Perspective

• Published in: Journal of management information systems Vol. 23; no. 1; pp. 51 - 86
• Main Authors: Sarker, Suprateek, Sarker, Saonee, Sidorova, Anna
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Routledge 01.06.2006; M. E. Sharpe; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Actor-network theory; Betrayal; Business management; Business models; business process change; Business process reengineering; Business structures; case study; Employees; Failure analysis; Information storage and retrieval systems; information systems implementation; information systems politics; Information technology; interpretive research; Layoffs; Management consulting; Organizational change; power; reengineering; social construction of technology; Statistical analysis; Studies; Vendors
• ISSN: 0742-1222; 1557-928X
• DOI: 10.2753/MIS0742-1222230102

In this paper, we use concepts from actor-network theory (ANT) to interpret the sequence of events that led to business process change (BPC) failure at a telecommunications company in the United States. Through our intensive examination of the BPC initiative, we find that a number of issues suggested by ANT, such as errors in problematization, parallel translation, betrayal, and irreversible inscription of interests, contributed significantly to the failure. We provide nine abstraction statements capturing the essence of our findings in a concrete form. The larger implication of our study is that, for sociotechnical phenomena such as BPC with significant political components, an ANT-informed understanding can enable practitioners to better anticipate and cope with emergent complexities.