Motives for Feral Systems in Denmark

TY - CHAP

T1 - Motives for Feral Systems in Denmark

AU - Tambo, Torben

AU - Olsen, Martin

AU - Bækgaard, Lars

PY - 2014

Y1 - 2014

N2 - Feral systems have largely been regarded as the users’ response to misfit between official IT software systems and actual business processes. Inadequacies, discrepancies and absence of systems support to work processes might lead to users initiating systems development themselves; systems involving any combination of software and manual processes. Feral systems are unofficial and exhibit a conflict between formal and actual operational implementation. In this chapter, the use and implementation of feral systems in Denmark are analysed and discussed. It is found interesting to aim for an understanding of feral systems in a small, relatively agile economy traditionally positive to rapid adoption of information technology in enterprises. The method being used is qualitative case studies in selected companies representing various complexities of their respective business models and industries. The case studies address both issues of organisational and technological nature of the feral systems typically with an offset in the companies’ overall information systems architecture. Among findings are (1) feral systems as a known choice when reflecting business processes with open and non-routinised character, (2) a general acceptance not related to the size or industry, (3) feral systems have received attention as implementations of innovation, (4) feral systems start as opposed to formal and official systems, but during their lifetime they can drift towards a more official status, and (5) feral systems are accepted as low-cost solutions to fill gaps in business process support where ERP systems come short.

AB - Feral systems have largely been regarded as the users’ response to misfit between official IT software systems and actual business processes. Inadequacies, discrepancies and absence of systems support to work processes might lead to users initiating systems development themselves; systems involving any combination of software and manual processes. Feral systems are unofficial and exhibit a conflict between formal and actual operational implementation. In this chapter, the use and implementation of feral systems in Denmark are analysed and discussed. It is found interesting to aim for an understanding of feral systems in a small, relatively agile economy traditionally positive to rapid adoption of information technology in enterprises. The method being used is qualitative case studies in selected companies representing various complexities of their respective business models and industries. The case studies address both issues of organisational and technological nature of the feral systems typically with an offset in the companies’ overall information systems architecture. Among findings are (1) feral systems as a known choice when reflecting business processes with open and non-routinised character, (2) a general acceptance not related to the size or industry, (3) feral systems have received attention as implementations of innovation, (4) feral systems start as opposed to formal and official systems, but during their lifetime they can drift towards a more official status, and (5) feral systems are accepted as low-cost solutions to fill gaps in business process support where ERP systems come short.

U2 - 10.4018/978-1-4666-5027-5.ch007

DO - 10.4018/978-1-4666-5027-5.ch007

M3 - Book chapter

SN - 9781466650275

SN - 1466650273

T3 - Advances in Business Information Systems and Analytics

SP - 129

EP - 160

BT - Feral Information Systems Development. Managerial Implications

A2 - Kerr, Donald

A2 - Burgess, Kevin

A2 - Houghton, Luke

PB - IGI global

CY - Hershey, PA

ER -