This research is concerned with the role played by integrated packaged software in organisations and the validity of the emerging notion of improvisation in implementing such systems. It is informed by the information systems (IS) literature on systems implementation, improvisation, and social shaping of technology, and by the social science literature on the role of technology in society. It is also guided by the sociological approach of Actor Network Theory (ANT). The study examines social and organisational efforts to implement Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems in two international organisations, taking account of the role played by the system itself. The research findings deny both the technology and social deterministic perspectives and argue that the technology effect is a result of negotiation between the technology and society. The findings also argue that implementing a large, integrated, module-based packaged IS like ERP can be seen as an improvised activity, in which the plan is an actor and that drift is inherent in the process of moving the multi-layered project into different social and technical networks. The research therefore contributes to the long-standing debate about technology determinism and social construction of technology. By focusing on a structured technology, such as ERP and its implementation, the study extends existing work that supports the argument of IS improvisation and makes significant progress in appropriating ANT for its application in IS research. This novel application of ANT as a theoretical framework and analytical vehicle provides an alternative way of analysing the role of technology in organisations. It supports the social contructivism view without undermining the role played by the technology. This could provide a solution to one of the main difficulties of IS research, namely accounting for the capacity of technology without losing the social focus. The research findings invite practitioners to rethink and reflect on two aspects: how the evaluation procedures of IS implementation and use can best incorporate and encourage the improvisation view; and the role of technology in organisations and the way integrated systems projects are managed.

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Many vendors of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems claim their software is widely applicable - configurable to meet the needs of any business, whatever the product or service offering. But Make-To-Order (MTO) companies, which produce high-variety and bespoke products, have particularly challenging decision support requirements, leading to questions about the effectiveness of ERP. This thesis takes a contingency-based perspective, assessing both the applicability and impact of ERP systems on MTO companies. A theoretical assessment is first provided based on a comprehensive literature review. This suggests a substantial misalignment does exist between ERP functionality and MTO requirements and calls for empirical research into the applicability and impact on ERP systems on MTO companies. This thesis addresses this gap through a mixed method study in which a survey is followed by case research. The survey is -both explanatory and exploratory and compares MTO with Make-To-Stock (MTS) companies. Significant differences are found between the adoption of ERP systems in MTO and MTS companies. At an exploratory level, for example, MTO companies find ERP system selection more difficult than MTS companies while many non-adapters, particularly MTO non-adopters, claim ERP would not suit their needs. At an explanatory level, for example, Customer Enquiry Management (CEM) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) are the best-utilised functionality by MTO companies, leading to improved performance but the effectiveness of Product Configurator (PC) and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) functionality could not be demonstrated. The case study research involved two MTO adopters and one MTO non-adopter. While two cases had implemented ERP, only high-level functionality was in operation to get an overview of the status of company resources and processes. This is because there is not only a gap between the software available and MTO decision support requirements, but also between the expertise required to utilise the software and that found in small MTO companies in practice. Finally. this thesis has focused on comparing decision support requirements with ERP functionality and performance at a given planning stage. Future research should investigate the knock-on effects of planning at one stage on the effectiveness of planning at subsequent stages.

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Our work will be mainly concerned with improving the crucial first stage (the requirements stage) of any system development methodology in order to improve requirements. A framework has been developed, called "knowledge requirements framework (KRF)" to help customers and system developers bridge the knowledge and understanding gaps at the initial requirements stage of the Information Technology System (ITS) development process. Unclear business requirements, mismatch of knowledge and understanding are among the major factors that contributes to some ITS failures worldwide. The aim is to capture functional requirements at the initial stage of the system development process and to integrate systems and people use them in the development process. Multi-surveys are conducted, capture and highlight the criteria of initial requirements exactness and executability. Knowledge and understanding gaps, which occur in the development process, are described. These gaps constitute the problem at the invisible architecture in the initial requirements stage, as they expose mismatch of both knowledge and understanding problems (Requirements/Specifications). A notation to describe this framework is elaborated, novel techniques and tools for the construction and application of customer requirements in systems development are developed and used in KRF to facilitate bridging these gaps. The resulting prototype KRF is developed and used against some example problems in retail organisations, and so shown to be sufficient in principle of handling all the negotiation problems at the initial requirements stage, singly and in combination. Also, it is shown how KRF sub-process can be combined and used to elicit information and knowledge mining between both the customer and the system developer using human communication and interaction capture as an example. Systems these days are living systems, changeable, in business and the human factor in developing them cannot be excluded. It is further shown how these techniques and tools can be augmented with established methodologies rather than inventing new ones and to enable management to react as quickly as possible to global changing market conditions. This proposed framework is also evaluated and tested against the original criteria of initial requirements, exactness and executability.