When Innovation Stumbles: Applying Sauer's Failure Model to the Flemish Road Sign Database Project

Catalogues of failure factors and descriptive accounts of failures are relatively easy to find in the information systems (IS) literature as are studies of IS success or technology adoption. In contrast, in-depth studies of failure are rare. What is more, most of the research into IS failure and success uses a positivist approach - two widely cited examples of the latter being the Delone and McLean IS success model and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology. Given this, an interesting question is whether an interpretivist approach can uncover aspects and causes of failure that might not be visible when viewed through a positivist lens. This paper seeks to answer this question by examining a failed e-government system in Flanders (Belgium) using Sauer's Information Systems failure process model. The analysis suggests that this model, and more generally an interpretivist approach, can provide a richer and more insightful understanding of the causes and the process of failure.