Converging paths to Notes: In search of computer‐based information systems in a networked company Available to Purchase

The nature of the information systems needed in a networked firm is not well known: nor is the process leading to particular solutions. Describes a small computer‐consulting company which works as a network of independent consultants, and analyses the slow and circuitous path from recognizing its IS/IT needs to its commitment to a particular solution as seven steps; using ideas of structuration theory as a focus. During the selection process, participants formed new interpretations of the firm, of technology, and of the appropriate process towards a feasible solution. New resources – both material and symbolic– were acquired to enable the search. Existing “norms”provided boundaries for the search process, but at times had to yield or be circumvented in order for the organization to reach a solution.