Proceedings of the IFIP WG 8 2 Organizations

Proceedings of the IFIP WG 8. 2 Organizations and Society in Information Systems (OASIS) Workshop Reconstructing best practices embedded in software packages: an actor-network perspective Assoc. Prof Siew-Kien Sia Adrian Yeow December 2004

OASIS Workshop Dec. 2004 Reconstructing best practices … Sia & Yeow Agenda Motivation n Framework for reconstruction of best practices n Case Study n Findings n Concluding Remarks n

OASIS Workshop Dec. 2004 Reconstructing best practices … Sia & Yeow Motivation n “Best practices”: a set of normative business practices that is objective and context-free knowledge that can be readily acquired, stored, and transferable? Package software vendors are increasingly shaping the definition of industry best practices or standards for organizational consumers (Sawyer 2001). Organizations that adopt package software go through a process to recast the best practices embedded in these software packages. But what is that process?

OASIS Workshop Dec. 2004 Reconstructing best practices … Sia & Yeow Framework n n n Technological frame’s content describes the concept of best practices itself. The content is defined subject to the interpretation of the social group itself. These technological frames go through change processes depending on the configurations and are analyzed from ANT’s translation and inscription processes

OASIS Workshop Dec. 2004 Reconstructing best practices … Sia & Yeow Framework n n n Translation process: two or more dominant frames from competing actor-networks engaged in rhetorical debates The dominant frame that results will eventually inscribe its program of action on various materials. Contingent on the translation process and the technological frame that result, this inscription may take various forms and strengths: weak and flexible or strong and inflexible inscription.

OASIS Workshop Dec. 2004 Reconstructing best practices … Sia & Yeow Case Study n n n E-Procurement system deployed in a large government sector organization dealing with decentralized buy transactions (approx. 500, 000 purchase orders, amounting to about $60 M) Multi-disciplinary system implementation project completed within one year (on schedule and on budget) Three groups of stakeholders analyzed across three “best practices” reconstruction

OASIS Workshop Dec. 2004 Reconstructing best practices … Sia & Yeow Case Study: Stakeholders n Operations department ¨A newly formed department to co-ordinate the logistics of all subunits so as to leverage their capabilities to ensure more effective and efficient operations ¨ Key concern – to achieve efficiency and cost/time saving for the entire organization through process standardization across all business units

OASIS Workshop Dec. 2004 Reconstructing best practices … Sia & Yeow Case Study: Stakeholders n Finance department (DFO) ¨ Its main job is to manage the financial policies across the organization. It was the originator of the electronic procurement system project albeit a more limited version ¨ Key concern – to remove all potential loopholes in decentralized procurement process that can give rise to audit issues within departments and units of the organization via an integrated e-procurement system

OASIS Workshop Dec. 2004 Reconstructing best practices … Sia & Yeow Case Study: Stakeholders n User Groups This is made up of three highly independent business units. The first business unit (Unit A) has the largest number of subunits and staff strength hence the largest volume of decentralized purchases ¨ The subunits also suffer from a high turnover rate and limited financial management capability, which increase potential of audit risks and number of unauthorized purchases. ¨ Unit A’s management exercise centralized budget controls over its subunit’s expenditure through a centralized group of Budget Managers through a set of fixed process and expenditure limits at subunit level ¨ Key concern: to provide a finer-grained and more flexible management control. ¨ ¨

OASIS Workshop Dec. 2004 Reconstructing best practices … Sia & Yeow Case Study: Stakeholders n User Groups The other two business units are smaller in terms of the number of subunits and manpower strength. However both business units’ operations tend to be more technical, -> trained and professional staff. ¨ Unit B has largely decentralized structure with each subunit’s manager involved in its own budget planning. ¨ Unit C however structures its procurement functions around business office location instead of unit levels. ¨ Key concern – to enable the various units to better control and manage their procurement purchases ¨

OASIS Workshop Dec. 2004 Reconstructing best practices … Sia & Yeow Analysis n n n Identify explicit anticipations of use by the various actors Identify the technological frames Identify degree of inclusion of the actors in those frames and the configuration of the frames within the translation process How are anticipations translated and inscribed? Who inscribes them? The strength of these inscriptions

OASIS Workshop Dec. 2004 Reconstructing best practices … Sia & Yeow Findings: Tech. Frame Core Actor-N: Operations Goal of Technology -To achieve efficiency and cost/time saving for the entire organization through process standardization Problems -A lack of an integrated and centralized procurement system that covered the entire process -The current inefficient and costly processes Strategies/ Solution Criteria -To clearly identify areas in that were duplicated or nonstandardized and to consolidate and harmonize them in e. PS. -To modify current common practices with the technology to achieve added convenience and efficiency. -To ensure that e. PS solution is cost-effective and useful with no-mod policy

OASIS Workshop Dec. 2004 Reconstructing best practices … Sia & Yeow Findings: Tech. Frame Core Actor-N: Finance Goal of Technology -To remove all potential loopholes that can give rise to audit issues -A tool to ensure that the proper checks and controls are in place Problems -The manual procurement processes and use of local cash accounts for payments Strategies/ Solution Criteria -To promote electronic processes and payments and to remove all cash accounts in units. -To ensure that all security, audit and legal requirements are met by the e. PS and that the system processes are in compliance to all financial policies and rules.

OASIS Workshop Dec. 2004 Reconstructing best practices … Sia & Yeow Findings: Tech. Frame User Actor-N Goal of Technology -It differs among the units but overall, the technology is to provide a finer-grained and more flexible management control Problems -To provide central control over subunits’ procurement budgets -To resolve all the controls and checks that are currently lacking at the subunit levels due to the manual processes Strategies/ Solution Criteria -To ensure that their requirements of current controls and checks are met. -To ensure that the system was user-friendly to reduce the users’ resistance to change.

OASIS Workshop Dec. 2004 Reconstructing best practices … Sia & Yeow Contested Best Practices n n n Financial Management models: Vote management system versus Accountability system E-Procurement Approval Process: Streamlined Practice versus Multiple Approval Practice E-Procurement Payment methods: Automated versus Supervised 3 -way matching system

OASIS Workshop Dec. 2004 Reconstructing best practices … Sia & Yeow Findings Contested Best Practice Financial Management Model Core Actor-N -Operations and Finance Departments Opposing Actor-N -User groups (Units A, B, and C) Background -Vote mgmt vs. accountability mgmt -Core Actor-N to appropriate package s/w for vote management -Users Actor-N different appropriation of vote management

OASIS Workshop Dec. 2004 Reconstructing best practices … Sia & Yeow Findings Core Actor-N arguments -Authoritative: existing procurement and financial policies; mgmt direction away from intermediate control; reinterpretation of use of sub-vote -Pragmatic: use of soft control for sub-vote as shown by vendor; less dev’ment, modification & maintenance issues; flaws with current system; less audit risks -Scientific: study to show cost and efficiencies gained Opposing Actor-N arguments -Ritualistic: it’s been done this way -Authoritative: appeal to audit & control risks in new process; appeal to current budget problems for more control

OASIS Workshop Dec. 2004 Reconstructing best practices … Sia & Yeow Findings Vendor contract Unit A

OASIS Workshop Dec. 2004 Reconstructing best practices … Sia & Yeow Findings Result Core actor-N successfully translates user actor-N but had to compromise on sub-vote use. A hybrid version of vote mgmt system Final Inscription Standardized vote mgmt for financial settlement with visibility of expenditure at sub-vote levels e. g. Reports summarizing expenditure at sub-vote levels; Soft controls at sub-vote levels within e. PS

OASIS Workshop Dec. 2004 Reconstructing best practices … Sia & Yeow Concluding remarks n Insights: ¨ ¨ ¨ n n Multi-agencies system within a single large organization: many voices versus only one strong single voice Political powers wielded by the users threatens to overwhelm mandated parties in reconstruction process and its implication for the process Public sector setting The translation process and inscription adopted from the actor-network theory provides us with the analytical lens to describe and explain how and why the beliefs are structured and found within the e. PS actor-network It provides also a process-oriented view to understand how the beliefs are constructed.