Start Date

11-12-2016 12:00 AM

Description

This study analyzes the interactions among individuals engaged in an information system project aimed to support an organization created by the merger of previously independent entities. We draw on a practice perspective to analyze the spanning practices of boundary shakers – mandated change agents – as they attempt to engage with others in cross-boundary collaborative initiatives that aim at changes as part of the post-merger integration process. Our analysis suggests that some of the pre-merger practices were resilient at the end of the project. We suggest that one of the boundary shakers’ practices of boundary consolidation through discourses of authoritative knowledge and ‘group-making’ facilitated the construction of symbolic boundaries between the merging parties, thus contributing to the resilience of pre-merger practices.

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Dec 11th, 12:00 AM

From Boundary Shaker to Boundary Consolidator by Ways of Symbolic Discourses in a Post-Merger Integration Context

This study analyzes the interactions among individuals engaged in an information system project aimed to support an organization created by the merger of previously independent entities. We draw on a practice perspective to analyze the spanning practices of boundary shakers – mandated change agents – as they attempt to engage with others in cross-boundary collaborative initiatives that aim at changes as part of the post-merger integration process. Our analysis suggests that some of the pre-merger practices were resilient at the end of the project. We suggest that one of the boundary shakers’ practices of boundary consolidation through discourses of authoritative knowledge and ‘group-making’ facilitated the construction of symbolic boundaries between the merging parties, thus contributing to the resilience of pre-merger practices.