Knowing a few rules doesn't mean you can play the game:   The limits of "best practice" in enterprise systems

Paul R. Devadoss; Mike W. Chiasson; Roger F.A. van Daalen Fuente

Knowing a few rules doesn't mean you can play the game: The limits of "best practice" in enterprise systems

Paul R. Devadoss, Mike W. Chiasson, Roger F.A. van Daalen Fuente

Aston Business School

Research output: Chapter in Book/Published conference output › Conference publication

Abstract

We examine the common claim that "best practices" are encompassed and represented in Enterprise Systems (ES). We suggest that an ES can at best only represent the ostensive and not the performative elements of work tasks. Thus, representation of best practice in an ES does not take practical action into account. This has two important implications. First, ostensive abstractions of best practice in an ES are a sparse and superficial representation of a "good" business process, at a specific moment in time. Second, the practical understanding required for performance is often ignored in the ostensive representation of best practice in the implementation of an ES. This constrains user and business adaptability. Inflexible coding of ostensive business tasks furthermore leads to rigidity where flexibility should be sought, to keep on top of the competition. Implications and directions for further research are discussed.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	14th Americas Conference on Information Systems, AMCIS 2008
Pages	3045-3051
Number of pages	7
Volume	5
Publication status	Published - 1 Dec 2008
Event	14th Americas Conference on Information Systems, AMCIS 2008 - Toronto, ON, Canada Duration: 14 Aug 2008 → 17 Aug 2008

Conference

Conference	14th Americas Conference on Information Systems, AMCIS 2008
Country/Territory	Canada
City	Toronto, ON
Period	14/08/08 → 17/08/08

Bibliographical note

This material is brought to you by the Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS) at AIS Electronic Library (AISeL). It has been accepted
for inclusion in AMCIS 2008 Proceedings by an authorized administrator of AIS Electronic Library (AISeL). For more information, please contact
elibrary@aisnet.org.

Keywords

Best practice
Enterprise systems
Ostensive
Practical action
Task performance

Access to Document

Knowing a Few Rules Doesn't Mean You Can Play the GameAccepted author manuscript, 199 KB

Cite this

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