Abstract
The dominant view in the information systems (IS) and software engineering literature is that the
application of a rigorous pre-investment evaluation methodology is the key to ensuring the selection of
the best IS projects – that is those with the highest expected value for the organisation and with the
highest probability of success. While the literature is replete with methodologies for the evaluation of
IS projects, there is insufficient attention given to the evaluation process itself and to what constitutes
successful IS evaluation. Whilst some within IS argue that the development of more elaborate
evaluation methodologies is necessary for the advancement of the field, many report that it is not
methodologies as such that need improvement. What is missing is an understanding of IS evaluation
processes in practice and how organisations adopt and apply evaluation methodologies. In this paper
we focus on the IS evaluation process in a company with a history of IS successes and examine the
ways in which the evaluation process shapes and ensures the selection of the best IS projects. By
adopting the Actor Network Theory lens we demonstrate a) that the view of pre-investment IS
evaluation in the literature is very narrow, b) that the practice of IS evaluation produces the ‘object’ it
evaluates, c) that this object, that is the IS project proposal document, is an inscription device
produced by relations in the actor network formed around it, and d) that these networks and relations
as well as the translation of actors’ expertise, experiences and interests into the document (inscription
device) are critical for IS project proposals evaluation and their chances of success.
Recommended Citation
Nagm, Fouad and Cecez-Kecmanovic, Dubravka, "Pre-Investment Information Systems Assessment: An Actor Network Theory Account" (2008). ECIS 2008 Proceedings. 114.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/ecis2008/114