icegov2012 proceedings

key challenges of Enterprise Systems resides in their tight
integration with the business process. We believe that the sociomateriality
framework can aid the understanding of the dynamic
and emergent nature of contemporary organizing involving the
introduction of Enterprise Systems and internet-connected
technologies.
3. RESEARCH DESIGN OF THE STUDY
In order to learn about organizational changes derived from
technology, we interviewed users of the On-Nara system. We
recruited interview subjects selectively among people in
administrative positions in the Korean National Police Agency
who have used On-Nara extensively. There were pre-screening
processes to identify the most appropriate samples and finally
nine phone interviews (four from the Headquarters and five from
local police stations) were conducted. Interview questions were
developed based on conditions (facility, interpretive scheme, and
norm) of enactment which are borrowed from the practice lens
proposed by Orlikowski [2].
3.1 Research Setting: Government
Organizations and an Enterprise System
The On-Nara system was launched in 2007 with extensive
supports from the Korean Ministry of Public Administration and
Security. By 2011, 100% of central, provincial, and metropolitancity
governments used On-Nara. On-Nara is expected to enable
nationally standardized (a) online knowledge transfer, (b)
document management, (c) policy analysis and performance
management, and (d) preservation of decision making histories.
There are six functionalities provided to users in On-Nara: Record
Management, Memo Report, Task Management, Meeting
Management, Order Management, and Schedule Management.
4. FINDINGS
A variety of technology mediated practices emerged, which
depended on individual technological efficacy, knowledge of and
interests in technologies, institutional conditions, and other
technologies at hand. The On-Nara system was used creatively to
improve individual or group productivity, and to collect feedback
from colleagues. Distinctive new practices observed are described
briefly below.
First, users who see using On-Nara as constraining their legacy
practices, tend to work around it. For instance, when users
perceive that the level of transparency required in On-Nara as
burdensome, they would instead use the messenger function from
the Police Integrated Portal System (IPOS) for corresponding to
each other (Interview #4, #6). Second, users improvise
technological capabilities from certain functions in On-Nara that
they find helpful for attaining their task goals. The Memo Report
was initially developed for brief reports to superiors. But it was
also creatively utilized for receiving opinions from colleagues
who would be interested in or knowledgeable about a matter
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(usually for policy preparation or project planning) prior to
official review (Interview #1, #2, #3, #6). Third, enactment of On-
Nara is deeply intertwined with other technologies in use.
Functions of some systems (such as the Police Knowledge
Management System) overlap with those of On-Nara, which
creates less utilization of such functions in On-Nara. For example,
the Police Knowledge Management System is popularly used by
police officers to acquire business knowledge including
instructions, manuals, professional reports, and official
government reports. On-Nara came into use after this system, and
one of the original intentions of the On-Nara system, enabling online
knowledge transfer, does not seem to have been effectively
achieved. This suggests that when there is an existing system that
works efficiently, people will tend to continue to use it, even if a
similar function is available in a new system.
5. CONCLUSION
Using a socio-materiality framework, we identified multiple
emergent practices of technological usage. We identified
unintended changes in user routine that were induced by the
enactment of the On-Nara system. This study illustrates how an
Enterprise System can result in unintended micro-level
organizational changes.
The socio-materiality view posits that non-human factors, along
with human agents, play consequential roles in the production of
social life. Our study of On-Nara-in-Practice confirm that the
technological context in which a new Enterprise System is
embedded (e.g. IPOS in the Korean National Police Agency) is
crucial in shaping the structures of technology use. We further
note that a relatively inflexible Enterprise System can become
more flexible as human enact it recursively in relation with other
internet-connected technologies.
6. REFERENCES
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[3] Orlikowski, W.J. Sociomaterial practices: Exploring
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[4] Orlikowski, W.J. The Sociomateriality of organisational life:
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