"Doing battle": a metaphorical analysis of IT-induced cultural change

Jackson, Stephen (2013) "Doing battle": a metaphorical analysis of IT-induced cultural change. 13th International Conference on Knowledge, Culture and Change in Organisations, Vancouver, Canada. 12 - 13 Jun 2013.

Abstract

Organizations are faced with unprecedented pressure to continuously adopt new Information Technology (IT). This is evidenced by the relentless increase in internet-based systems to enhance the overall efficiency of the business. However, achieving successful IT implementation continues to be a major challenge, as witnessed by many IT initiatives failing or ending up being only partially successful. One important factor that can act as an enabler or barrier (more often the latter) to IT implementation is organizational culture i.e., values, beliefs and underlying assumptions which members form towards IT. Often the introduction of IT can induce competing subcultural differences, leading to poor IT use or resistance. One useful way of deciphering organizational culture is metaphorical analysis. More specifically, by analyzing the words and phrases of 30 in-depth interviews from across departments and levels carried out in a UK educational institution and its futile attempt to adopt a new IT-based system, revealed the use of ‘war metaphors’. The paper acknowledges that the use of metaphor (particularly metaphor as war) can offer a penetrating account of the challenges and subcultural differences at play during IT-induced cultural change.

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