IS success and failure: the problem of scale

Kreps, DGP ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5776-2888 and Richardson, H 2007, 'IS success and failure: the problem of scale' , The Political Quarterly, 78 (3) , pp. 439-446.

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Abstract

In this article we consider Information Systems (IS) failure, and how social and technical factors combine and contribute to project setbacks. This is a timely re¯ection, given the turbulence and confusion facing what has been described as the largest non-military IT project in history Ðthe Connecting for Health (CfH) agenda part of the National Programme for IT in the NHS. Firstly, we catalogue some predecessors of CfH producing costly IT project failures. We then analyse `failures' in IS and discuss some theories put forward to contextualise failure. This then provides the framework for a more in-depth discussion of the CfH agenda. We discuss the way forward, suggesting that `joined-up-thinking' is necessary with the adoption of the government's own interoperability framework. We conclude with the message `think local, think modular', suggesting that good practice should be built on and that trust should be a key word for future IS project developments.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	IS failure, public-sector IT projects, social constructivism, interoperability, Connecting for Health, web services
Themes:	Built and Human Environment Energy Health and Wellbeing Media, Digital Technology and the Creative Economy Memory, Text and Place Subjects outside of the University Themes
Schools:	Schools > Salford Business School > Salford Business School Research Centre
Journal or Publication Title:	The Political Quarterly
Publisher:	Blackwell Publishing
Refereed:	Yes
ISSN:	1467-923X
Depositing User:	HJ Richardson
Date Deposited:	06 Oct 2011 13:17
Last Modified:	11 Feb 2019 17:53
URI:	http://usir.salford.ac.uk/id/eprint/17944

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