A Critical Systems Thinking Perspective for IS Adoption

Information systems (IS) project management is a challenging task. Lack of user support and involvement are among the key reasons for IS/IT project failure. The established information technology adoption models-like TAM, TAM2 and similar-only consider technology adoption from an individual user's viewpoint, highlighting key factors and their relationships, but they do not provide any mechanism to deal with multiple user perspectives and their roles in a holistic framework from a project management viewpoint. This chapter proposes a model for information system adoption based on critical systems thinking (CST) in an organisational context from a management perspective. The authors, considering IS adoption as a multiphase innovation project, argue that boundary considerations using a multiple stakeholder perspective (boundary critique) provide an alternative focus for IS adoption. The chapter uses the five basic phases or activities for information system development of the system development life cycle (SDLC). The model integrates the traditional SDLC with the ongoing process of 'phase-stakeholder-identification'. The emerging systemic stakeholder networks are proposed to be applied with network mechanisms to influence stakeholders' attitudes towards IS adoption. The study suggests that the proposed model has the capacity to serve as a roadmap for smoother IS adoption by facilitating organisational learning and change.