Managing the ERP implementation journey - change in discourse from classical IT project to technology-driven organisational change initiative

In the implementation of an ERP system in a large Danish production company (here referred to as Omega), discourse surrounding the project changed appreciably during the course of the project. Drawing on recent adaptations of discourse theory, we provide a theoretical model which relates technological discourse to actions and outcomes. The model provides a theoretical explanation for how one dominant technological discourse in an organisation can be replaced by another. The ERP implementation at Omega was originally cast as a classical IT project (reflecting the dominant ways of thinking about system development and project management both in industry and academia); however, the experience of the project clearly changed the sense-making of the participants and the implementation later came to be regarded as an technology-driven organisational change initiative. The new technological discourse helped the organisational actors to perceive value in what they were doing. However, it also has many implications for practice in large IT implementations, and some of these are elaborated