Managing the tension in IS projects: balancing alignment, engagement, perspective and imagination

The differing experiences and practices of systems professionals and users cause major obstacles in the process of requirements definition. For system design projects to be successful, users and systems professionals must learn from each other. Wenger (1998) believes alignment, imagination and engagement to be the core elements for learning in a community of practice. Boland and Tenkasi (1995) believe that perspective taking and perspective making are core elements in learning across communities. We explore the value of these elements as a model for evaluating how users and IT professionals came together to work on an ERP project. The non-profit organization we observed undertook an accelerated and iterative approach to the configuration process in order to surface relevant issues and expedite the project´s delivery. Participants were organized into teams dedicated to developing individual modules for the system. The model we propose offers theoretical insight and support for the major problems identified by management as the organization began to test the initial configurations of the system. The case provides insights into how a high degree of active involvement in the configuration process by users, with the assistance of knowledgeable and experienced consultants, can help bridge the boundaries of knowledge across these two communities of practice. Yet, the accelerated schedule limits their ability to leverage their future system. Furthermore, the current project structure created limitations in the team´s ability to fully integrate the system modules. This research offers a new lens through which to examine systems design processes. For both practitioners and researchers, it provides insights into the importance of balancing the tensions in a design project.