VARIETIES OF POLITICAL-PROCESS DURING SYSTEMS-DEVELOPMENT

This study uses a longitudinal research design with multiple data coll ection methods on a systems development project. Five theoretical pers pectives about power have been used to evaluate the case: zero sum, pr oeessual, organizational, structurally constrained, and social shaping /social construction. Our working assumption is that power is multidim ensional and therefore that any attempt to understand systems developm ent must simultaneously use several complementary perspectives, Studie s of information systems development have in the past often been based on a view of power as zero sum (with winners and losers from systems development) and of power as based on information. We will attempt to show that expansion from this narrow definition of Fewer has much to o ffer information systems research. The paper will attempt eo identify what unique and essential insights about the relationship between powe r and systems development are surfaced by each perspective.