Back-Stage User Participation in Large-Scale IS Projects

Abstract

In recent years, both the public and private sector organizations have started shifting to large-scale information systems (IS). Still, the results of these large-scale implementations are not very promising. Ensuring user participation is considered as a (partial) solution to overcome the issues associated with large-scale IS development. Given the complexities associated with the scale, the activities happening in large-scale projects are categorized as front-stage and back-stage, and it is essential to engage users in both of these activities. The literature around the component of user participation in back-stage of large-scale projects is not very mature. We contribute to this by studying a large-scale medical record system implementation in central Norway. Our findings highlight that the back-stage activities are very prevalent in large-scale projects whereas these activities lack adequate user participation.