Abstract
Can ERP be studied from the point of view of Science and Technology Studies? What kind of insights this approach can bring to the comprehension of the phenomenon? These are the questions we are trying to answer with this paper. In the Information Systems field, ERP have been studied according to three main approaches: ethnomethodology, phenomenology, and deconstructivism. We show how these accounts are not able to describe ERP as complex artifacts.
We suggest that an actor — network theory approach, without making a priori assumptions about the role that technology, society, politics and economics can enact, is a powerful theoretical instrument in the study of ERP. Drawing from a comparative analysis of four systems (Compiere, Erp5, GNUe and Open for Business), we show how the choice of a free/open source license was made according to different goals, and entered in the translation processes taking place in the ERP development; shaping communities, customers and developers.
In conclusion, we believe that our approach can be fruitfully applied to the study of other topics connected to ERP, such as accountability, thanks to its ability to show how the different aspects are relationally shaped.
We suggest that an actor — network theory approach, without making a priori assumptions about the role that technology, society, politics and economics can enact, is a powerful theoretical instrument in the study of ERP. Drawing from a comparative analysis of four systems (Compiere, Erp5, GNUe and Open for Business), we show how the choice of a free/open source license was made according to different goals, and entered in the translation processes taking place in the ERP development; shaping communities, customers and developers.
In conclusion, we believe that our approach can be fruitfully applied to the study of other topics connected to ERP, such as accountability, thanks to its ability to show how the different aspects are relationally shaped.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Research and practical issues of enterprise information systems |
| Subtitle of host publication | IFIP TC 8 International Conference on Research and Practical Issues of Enterprise Information Systems (CONFENIS 2006) April 24-26, 2006, Vienna, Austria |
| Editors | A. Min Tjoa, Li Xu, Sohail S. Chaudhry |
| Place of Publication | Boston |
| Publisher | Springer |
| Pages | 695-704 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9780387344560 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9780387343457, 9780387343458 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 6 Jun 2006 |
| Externally published | Yes |
| Event | IFIP TC 8 International Conference on Research and Practical Issues of Enterprise Information Systems - Vienna, Austria Duration: 24 Apr 2006 → 26 Apr 2006 |
Publication series
| Name | IFIP International Federation for Information Processing (IFIPAICT) |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Springer |
| Volume | 205 |
| ISSN (Print) | 1571-5736 |
| ISSN (Electronic) | 1861-2288 |
Conference
| Conference | IFIP TC 8 International Conference on Research and Practical Issues of Enterprise Information Systems |
|---|---|
| Abbreviated title | CONFENIS 2006 |
| Country/Territory | Austria |
| City | Vienna |
| Period | 24/04/06 → 26/04/06 |
Keywords
- Translation process
- Free software
- Software license
- Enterprise Information system
- Open source community