Cognition, Behavior, and Team Structure in Enterprise Systems Implementation: A Comparative Study

Abstract

The METRICS framework was developed during a landmark enterprise-wide system implementation in a Brazilian university. It was designed as a tool for managing the social subsystem (cognition, behavior, and structure) of customer teams as they work with external technology and business teams. Our research draws on METRICS to verify the stability of cognitive, behavioral, and structural attributes that are expected to impact the performance of customer teams in projects. We compare two studies developed in different periods, with different methods, theories, projects, and types of teams, and in different geographical, cultural, and economic regions of Brazil—the south and the northeast. Data collection and analysis were based on personal constructs theory and the repertory grid technique applied to select information technology professionals from external teams (that worked with customer teams) in the northeast. With 77.3% (68/88) of the original measures verified empirically, the framework was considered stable across multiple settings. Given that enterprise-wide system implementation usually involves global technology vendors, and since Brazil is an illustrative case of Latin America and the developing world, our research contributes with insights into the social aspects of customer teams that impact project performance.

Keywords:

• Behavior
• Brazil
• Cognition
• Customer Team
• Structure
• System Development

Notes

1. CISS products are similar to COTS products (Brereton, 2004), but here we want to emphasize the large customization effort involved in developing CISS in contrast to COTS products.

2. Not to confound with Ancona and Bresman’s (2007) concept of X-Team. Ancona and Bresman (2007) concept of X-Team refers to the team’s focus of attention (the team’s external boundaries), whereas Bellini’s (2006) concept of XTeam refers to where the team is located (it is external to the customer organization). The two concepts were developed independently.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Pedro Jácome de Moura

Pedro Jácome de Moura Junior holds PhD and MSc in Management and a BSc in Data Processing, UFPB, Brazil. He is CIO/CTO at UFPB since 2013 and has an experience of over 20 years as systems analyst in the private and public sectors. Research interests include the management of IT professionals, and psychometrics.

Carlo Gabriel Porto Bellini

Carlo Gabriel Porto Bellini holds PhD and MSc in Management and a BSc in Computer Science, UFRGS, Brazil. He worked as systems analyst, DBA, and programmer in sectors such as air transportation, news media, and telecom. He is associate professor of IS at the Department of Management, UFPB, Brazil. Research interests include the management of IT professionals, and the digital divide.

Rita de Cássia de Faria Pereira

Rita de Cássia de Faria Pereira holds PhD in Management, UFRGS, Brazil, and MSc and BSc in Management, UFPB, Brazil. She is associate professor of marketing at the Department of Management and head of the Graduate School of Management, UFPB. In 2009, she co-edited with Dr. Bellini a special issue of JGITM on IT management research in Brazil. Research interests include customer-supplier business relationships, and consumer behavior.