IMPLEMENTATION SCRIPTS - A NEW APPROACH TO MODELING THE PROCESS

This paper presents a new, empirically grounded, process model of the implementation of information technology in an organization. The model is based on a longitudinal investigation of the implementation of a computer-based information management system in a three-college library consortium. Data were collected through interviews with, and observations of, participants in the implementation process at various stages in that process, and through an analysis of pertinent documents produced by the organization. Implementation is conceptualized here as a process of mutual adaptation: both the technology and the organization, where that technology was implemented, were adapted as the process unfolded. Using events analysis, in combination with script theory, instances of adaptation are presented in the context of other organizational events and interruptions to the process. Patterns of events are then identified and aggregated to form scripts for the different periods of the implementation process.