NARRATIVE, POLITICS AND LEGITIMACY IN AN IT IMPLEMENTATION

This paper offers an interpretation of an information technology (IT) implementation through an analysis of group narratives. A focus on nar rative is valuable because it facilitates recognition of the extent to which interpretive research involves the creation and ascription of m eaning in ways that require authorial reflexivity. An analysis based o n group narratives, which incorporate plurivocal understandings of act ions and events, is also;a means by which polysemy can more easily be read back into ethnography. The research contribution this paper makes is twofold. First, it exemplifies the importance of narratives for in dividuals and groups in their attempts to understand and give meaning to their technologies and working lives. Second, it illustrates how na rratives can be deployed in political attempts to legitimate their act ions and interests.