Control is vital for IS projects to be delivered on time and within budget. Control theory helps us better understand and explain control in information systems operations and development. However, simplistic notions about control do not correspond to how control actually works. We believe that a social perspective that sees controls as negotiated orders, and not just things imposed by controllers on controlees, better explains control of IS projects and operations. Through an interpretive case study of client-vendor control in the IS department of a large agricultural distributor, we show that: (1) control enactment involves the controller's consideration of the social and organizational context as well as the controller's intention. (2) Control enactment involves a socially constructed meaning and unintended consequences. (3) The control enactment also involves controlee intent either because of negotiation with the controller, or indirectly by way of alternative structures. Finally, (4) the control itself influences the controller and controlee in unanticipated ways. Seeing control as the result of negotiated orders between controllers and controlees contributes to control theory by suggesting that, in practice, negotiation, shaping and re-appropriation are necessary for successful control enactment.
AdlerP.S. (2001). Market, Hierarchy, and Trust: The Knowledge Economy and the Future of Capitalism, Organization Science12 (2): 215–234.
2.
AgocsC. (1997). Institutionalized Resistance to Organizational Change: Denial, Inaction and Repression, Journal of Business Ethics16 (9): 917–931.
3.
BarkerJ.R. (1993). Tightening the Iron Cage: Concertive Control in Self-Managing Teams, Administrative Science Quarterly38 (3): 408–437.
4.
BechkyB.A. (2011). Making Organizational Theory Work: Institutions, Occupations, and Negotiated Orders, Organization Science22 (5): 1157–1167.
5.
BlauP. (1955). The Dynamics of Bureaucracy: A Study of Interpersonal Relations in Two Government Agencies, London: Sage Publications.
6.
ButlerB.S., and GrayP.H. (2006). Reliability, Mindfulness, and Information Systems, MIS Quarterly30 (2): 211–224.
7.
CardinalL.B., SitkinS.B., and LongC.P. (2004). Balancing and Rebalancing in the Creation and Evolution of Organizational Control, Organization Science15 (4): 411–431.
8.
ChoudhuryV., and SabherwalR. (2003). Portfolios of Control in Outsourced Software Development Projects, Information Systems Research14 (3): 291–314.
9.
ChuaC.E.H., LimW.K., SiaS.K., and SohC. (2012a). Client Strategies in Vendor Transition: A Threat Balancing Perspective, Journal of Strategic Information Systems21 (1): 72–83.
10.
ChuaC.E.H., LimW.K., SohC., and SiaS.K. (2012b). Enacting Clan Control In Complex IT Projects, MIS Quarterly36 (2): 577–600.
11.
CrispC.B. (2003). Control Enactment in Global Virtual Teams, Austin, TX: Department of Management Science and Information Systems, University of Texas at Austin.
12.
DanzigerJ.N., and KraemerK.L. (1985). Computerized Data-Based Systems and Productivity Among Professional Workers: The Case of Detectives, Public Administration Review45 (1): 196–209.
13.
EisenhardtK.M. (1989). Agency Theory: An Assessment and Review, Academy of Management Review14 (1): 57–74.
14.
FineG.A. (1984). Negotiated Orders and Organizational Cultures, Annual Review of Sociology10: 239–262.
15.
GiddensA. (1976). New Rules of Sociological Method, London: Hutchinson.
16.
GiddensA. (1979). Central Problems in Social Theory: Action, Structure, and Contradiction in Social Analysis, London: Macmillan Press.
17.
GiddensA. (1984). The Constitution of Society: Outline of the Theory of Structuration, Cambridge: Polity Press.
18.
GooJ., and HuangC.D. (2008). Facilitating Relational Governance Through Service Level Agreements in IT Outsourcing: An Application of the Commitment-Trust Theory, Decision Support Systems47 (1): 216–232.
19.
GooJ., KishoreR., RaoH.R., and NamK. (2009). The Role of Service Level Agreements in Relational Management of Information Technology Outsourcing: An Empirical Study, MIS Quarterly33 (1): 119–145.
20.
GopalA., and KokaB.R. (2012). The Asymmetric Benefits of Relational Flexibility: Evidence From Software Development Outsourcing, MIS Quarterly36 (2): 553–576.
21.
GopalA., SivaramakrishnanK., KrishnanM.S., and MukhopadhyayT. (2003). Contracts in Offshore Software Development: An Empirical Analysis, Management Science49 (12): 1671–1683.
22.
GovindarajanV., and FisherJ. (1990). Strategy, Control Systems, and Resource-Sharing: Effects on Business-Unit Performance, Academy of Management Journal33 (2): 259–285.
23.
GregoryR.W., BeckR., and KeilM. (2013). Control Balancing in Information Systems Development Offshoring Projects, MIS Quarterly37 (4): 1211–1232.
24.
HeimerC.A. (1985). Allocating Information Costs in a Negotiated Information Order: Interorganizational Constraints on Decision Making in Norwegian Oil Insurance, Administrative Science Quarterly30 (3): 395–417.
25.
HendersonJ.C., and LeeS. (1992). Managing I/S Design Teams: A Control Theories Perspective, Management Science38 (6): 757–777.
26.
JaworskiB.J., StathakopoulosV., and KrishnanH.S. (1993). Control Combinations in Marketing: Conceptual Framework and Empirical Evidence, Journal of Marketing57 (1): 57–69.
27.
KirschL.J. (1996). The Management of Complex Tasks in Organizations: Controlling the Systems Development Process, Organization Science7 (1): 1–21.
28.
KirschL.J. (1997). Portfolios of Control Modes and IS Project Management, Information Systems Research8 (3): 215–239.
29.
KirschL.J. (2004). Deploying Common Systems Globally: The Dynamics of Control, Information Systems Research15 (4): 374–395.
30.
KirschL.J., and CummingsL.L. (1996). Contextual Influences on Self-Control of IS Professionals Engaged in Systems Development, Accounting, Management and Information Technology6 (3): 191–219.
31.
KirschL.J., KoD.-G., and HaneyM.H. (2010). Investigating the Antecedents of Team-Based Clan Control: Adding Social Capital as a Predictor, Organization Science21 (2): 469–489.
32.
KirschL.J., SambamurthyV., KoD.-G., and PurvisR.L. (2002). Controlling Information Systems Development Projects: The View from the Client, Management Science48 (4): 484–498.
33.
KleinH.K., and MyersM.D. (1999). A Set of Principles for Conducting and Evaluating Interpretive Field Studies in Information Systems, MIS Quarterly23 (1): 67–94.
34.
KlingR. (1977). The Organizational Context of User-Centered Software Designs, MIS Quarterly1 (4): 41–52.
35.
KlingR. (1980). Social Analyses of Computing: Theoretical Perspectives in Recent Empirical Research, ACM Computing Surveys12 (1): 61–110.
36.
KotterJ.P. (1996). Leading Change, Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
37.
KotterJ.P., and CohenD.S. (2002). The Heart of Change, Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
38.
KraemerK.L., and DanzigerJ.N. (1984). Computers and Control in the Work Environment, Public Administration Review44 (1): 32–42.
39.
LeeY., and CavusgilS.T. (2006). Enhancing Alliance Performance: The Effects of Contractual-Based Versus Relational-Based Governance, Journal of Business Research59 (8): 896–905.
40.
LevittS.D., and DubnerS. (2004). Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, New York: William Morrow.
41.
LiM., and EdwardsP. (2008). Work and Pay in Small Chinese Clothing Firms: A Constrained Negotiated Order, Industrial Relations Journal39 (4): 296–313.
42.
LimW.K., SiaS.K., and YeowA. (2011). Managing Risks in a Failing IT Project: A Social Constructionist View, Journal of the Association for Information Systems12 (6): 414–440.
43.
MainesD.R., and CharltonJ. (1985). Negotiated Order Approach to the Analysis of Social Organization, In: H.A. Farberman and R. Perinbanayagam (eds.)Foundations of Interpretive Sociology: Original Essays in Symbolic Interaction, Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
44.
MertonR.K. (1936). The Unanticipated Consequences of Purposive Social Action, American Sociological Review1 (6): 894–904.
45.
MullingsB. (1999). Sides of the Same Coin? Coping and Resistance among Jamaican Data-Entry Operators, Annals of the Association of American Geographers89 (2): 290–311.
46.
MyersM.D., and NewmanM. (2007). The Qualitative Interview in IS Research: Examining the Craft, Information and Organization17 (1): 2–26.
47.
NidumoluS.R., and SubramaniM.R. (2003/2004). The Matrix of Control: Combining Process and Structure Approaches to Managing Software Development, Journal of Management Information Systems20 (3): 159–196.
48.
PoppoL., and ZengerT.R. (2002). Do Formal Contracts and Relational Governance Function as Substitutes or Complements?Strategic Management Journal23 (8): 707–725.
49.
PrasadP., and PrasadA. (2000). Stretching the Iron Cage: The Constitution and Implications of Routine Workplace Resistance, Organization Science11 (4): 387–403.
50.
RamM., EdwardsP., and JonesT. (2007). Staying Underground: Informal Work, Small Firms and Employment Regulation in the UK, Work and Occupations34 (3): 318–344.
51.
RyallM.D., and SampsonR.C. (2009). Formal Contracts in the Presence of Relational Enforcement Mechanisms: Evidence from Technology Development Projects, Management Science55 (6): 906–925.
52.
SaundersC., GebeltM., and HuQ. (1997). Achieving Success in Information Systems Outsourcing, California Management Review39 (2): 63–79.
53.
SimonH.A. (1957). Models of Man, New York: Wiley.
54.
SohC., ChuaC.E.H., and SinghH. (2011). Managing Diverse Stakeholders in Enterprise Systems Projects: A Control Portfolio Approach, Journal of Information Technology26 (1): 16–31.
55.
StraussA. (1978). Negotiations: Varieties, Contexts, Processes, and Social Order, San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
56.
StraussA., SchatzmanL., EhrlichD., BucherR., and SabshinM. (1963). The Hospital and Its Negotiated Order, In: E. Freidson (ed.)The Hospital in Modern Society, London: Collier-Macmillan, pp. 147–169.
57.
SwansonE.B., and RamillerN.C. (2004). Innovating Mindfully with Information Technology, MIS Quarterly28 (4): 553–583.
58.
TiwanaA., and KeilM. (2007). Does Peripheral Knowledge Complement Control?An Empirical Test in Technology Outsourcing Alliances, Strategic Management Journal28 (6): 623–634.
59.
TiwanaA., and KeilM. (2009). Control in Internal and Outsourced Software Projects, Journal of Management Information Systems26 (3): 9–44.
60.
WeberM. (1930). The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, London: Allen and Unwin.
61.
WienerM., MähringM., RemusU., and SaundersC. (2016). Control Configuration and Control Enactment in Information Systems Projects: Review and Expanded Theoretical Framework, MIS Quarterly40 (3): 741–774.
62.
ZhengJ., RoehrichJ.K., and LewisM.A. (2008). The Dynamics of Contractual and Relational Governance: Evidence from Long-term Public-Private Procurement Arrangements, Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management14 (1): 43–54.
