Inside a Secret Software Laboratory [electronic resource] : An Ethnographic Study of a Global Software Package Producer /
Grimm, Christine.author.
How does one of the world’s biggest Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) suppliers develop software? How do Oracle, SAP, Microsoft and Co really work? Christine Grimm presents a first-hand account of a social researcher who entered the software laboratory of one of the biggest ERP providers. Presenting an in-depth ethnography on how people act within such labs, she reveals the highly unexpected social character of programming and shows how the vendor reorganizes himself to find new ways to respond to the expectations of the market. Furthermore, the author highlights the informal practices when an ERP system, as a defective or incomplete product, re-enters the supplier’s labs. The book provides a window into what happens if bugs are dug up and emotions on both the supplier and customer sides are running high.
Description based upon print version of record.
Acknowledgements; Abstract; Contents; List of Figures; List of Abbreviations; 1 Introduction; 1.1 Towards a Different Understanding of ERP Systems; 1.2 Aim of This Research; 1.3 Structure of This Book; 1.4 A Note on Style; 2 Discussion of Existing Knowledge; 2.1 Introduction; 2.2 ERP Systems in Social Research; 2.2.1 ERP System Design; 2.2.2 ERP System Development; 2.2.3 ERP System Procurement; 2.2.4 ERP System Implementation; 2.2.5 ERP System Support; 2.3 Summary: ERP Systems in Social Research; 2.4 Science and Technology Studies: Conceptual Perspective
2.4.1 Organisational Sociology of Software2.4.2 Social Constructivist Analysis of Software; 2.4.3 Studies of the Commodification of Software; 2.5 Summary: Conceptual Perspective; 2.6 Conclusion; 3 Settings and Research Methods; 3.1 Introduction; 3.2 An Ethnographic Tale; 3.2.1 Arriving at the Labs; 3.2.2 A Day in the Labs and the Importance of Food; 3.2.3 The Atmosphere; 3.2.4 My Work; 3.2.5 Developer Training; 3.3 Introducing People; 3.4 Participating in Other Peoples' Lives; 3.4.1 The Necessity of the 'Stranger's Eye'; 3.4.2 Changing Roles; 3.4.3 When the 'Subjects' Become Friends
3.5 Ethnography3.5.1 Getting Access; 3.5.2 A Triangular Approach to Data Collection; 3.5.3 'Finding' Interesting Topics; 3.5.4 Interviews; 3.5.5 Participant Observation; 3.5.6 Secondary Data; 3.6 Evolving Research Questions; 3.7 Limitations; 3.8 Conclusion; 4 ERP System Support; 4.1 Introduction; 4.2 The Birth of a Support Message: The User's Site; 4.2.1 Creating a Support Message; 4.2.2 Setting Message Priorities; 4.3 Distributing Problems; 4.4 Avoiding Problems: The Game of Ping Pong; 4.5 When Experts and Problems Meet; 4.5.1 Problems Arrive; 4.5.2 Solving Problems
4.6 Whose Fault Is It Anyway (and Who Pays For It)?4.7 Which Problems Should Be Solved First?; 4.7.1 Message Priorities: When Problems Escalate; 4.7.2 Negotiating Space; 4.7.3 Informal Priorities: The Support's Discretion; 4.7.4 New Tools to Frame the Relationship; 4.8 User Discretion: Evaluating the Support; 4.9 Summary; 4.10 Analysing the Support; 4.10.1 Dis-embedding and Distributing Problems; 4.10.2 Re-embedding Problems: Visiting the User Virtually; 4.10.3 The Power of Formal and Informal Problem Priorities; 4.11 Conclusion; 5 ERP System Development; 5.1 Introduction; 5.2 Tom's Strategy
5.3 A New Software Development Approach Is Needed5.4 "What Is It That We Are Doing?"; 5.4.1 Conforming Interpretations?; 5.4.2 The Participating Researcher Discovers Inconsistencies; 5.5 Summary; 5.6 Enactment of the Managerial Changes; 5.6.1 Enactment: The Daily Confirmation; 5.6.2 Enactment: The Daily Scrums; 5.6.3 Enactment: Development Phases and Unit Tests; 5.7 The Feeling of Becoming 'Visible'; 5.8 Conclusion; 6 Analysing the Labs; 6.1 Introduction; 6.2 Introducing Competing Management Practices; 6.2.1 Managerial Power and Accountability; 6.2.2 When Control Mechanisms Are Not Welcome
6.3 Communication Structure and Working Practices
Diss.-- University of Edinburgh, 2009.
Includes bibliographical references.
How does one of the world’s biggest Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) suppliers develop software? How do Oracle, SAP, Microsoft and Co really work? Christine Grimm presents a first-hand account of a social researcher who entered the software laboratory of one of the biggest ERP providers. Presenting an in-depth ethnography on how people act within such labs, she reveals the highly unexpected social character of programming and shows how the vendor reorganizes himself to find new ways to respond to the expectations of the market. Furthermore, the author highlights the informal practices when an ERP system, as a defective or incomplete product, re-enters the supplier’s labs. The book provides a window into what happens if bugs are dug up and emotions on both the supplier and customer sides are running high.
Business.
Management science.
Business and Management, general.