Representing the common: a critical approach to representing the process

In trying to understand any aspect of success and failure in information systems practice, concepts of organisational analysis become increasingly important. Many issues arise and must be dealt with when an information system is to be developed and implemented. In order to avoid information system failures information system analysts should adopt an approach, which exploits the intrinsic and contextually dependent characteristics of organisational activities. Such an exploitation acknowledges the uniqueness inherent in individual organizations and can inform the adoption of appropriate technologies which can be innovatively employed for competitive advantage. In order to facilitate successful future organisational change practices and to lay the base for supporting overall information system effectiveness, there is a need to employ both in theory and in practice, ideas of organisational learning and (critically informed) interpretivist information system analysis and design.