IS technologies constraining and enabling powers in budgeting

Budgeting is one of the oldest and the most popular organisational decisionmaking
and controlling mechanisms. Although not new, information system (IS) technologies
are not developed to support the process fully. Based on the structuration theory, this paper uses
the concept of human agencies to examine how users interpret different types of IS technology,
which are commonly used in budgeting, such as ERP systems, spreadsheets and business intelligence.
The research question is: what are human agencies’ interpretations of the enabling and
constraining powers of different IS technologies used in budgeting? The secondary empirical
data suggests that there is a mismatch between the flexible and integrative nature required in
budgeting and the IS technologies employed. The paper concludes that no single IS technology
tool is ideal for budgeting. Users must constantly extract, transfer and load information between
systems in order to exploit the enabling powers fully and to avoid the constraining powers embedded
in each system.