TY - JOUR
T1 - Metaphors in Managerial and Employee Sensemaking in an Information Systems Project
AU - Hekkala, Riitta
AU - Stein, Mari-Klara
AU - Rossi, Matti
PY - 2018/1
Y1 - 2018/1
N2 - This longitudinal study looks at the metaphors used in a public sector information systems development project from the perspective of cognitive metaphor theory (Lakoff & Johnson,). We examine the use of metaphors by project team members, including representatives of the users, software developers and the managers guiding the project work. The findings indicate that project team members and managers use a rich set of metaphors to make sense of the project and the records management system they are working on. Notably, distinct sets of metaphors are used in different project phases and among the project personnel and management. As the differences in the metaphors also coincide with key events in the trajectory of the project, we contend that metaphors have significant power in sensemaking, influencing action and project outcomes. In particular, we find that in highly ambiguous, knowledge-intensive situations, metaphor use with unclear intentions and purpose hinders learning and creates more chaos than order. From a practical perspective, our study highlights the relevance of metaphor use for project management. We suggest that intentional selection of metaphors by management could be beneficial for many complex information systems projects.
AB - This longitudinal study looks at the metaphors used in a public sector information systems development project from the perspective of cognitive metaphor theory (Lakoff & Johnson,). We examine the use of metaphors by project team members, including representatives of the users, software developers and the managers guiding the project work. The findings indicate that project team members and managers use a rich set of metaphors to make sense of the project and the records management system they are working on. Notably, distinct sets of metaphors are used in different project phases and among the project personnel and management. As the differences in the metaphors also coincide with key events in the trajectory of the project, we contend that metaphors have significant power in sensemaking, influencing action and project outcomes. In particular, we find that in highly ambiguous, knowledge-intensive situations, metaphor use with unclear intentions and purpose hinders learning and creates more chaos than order. From a practical perspective, our study highlights the relevance of metaphor use for project management. We suggest that intentional selection of metaphors by management could be beneficial for many complex information systems projects.
KW - Cognitive metaphor theory
KW - Information systems development
KW - Metaphors
KW - Qualitative case study
KW - Sensemaking
KW - Cognitive metaphor theory
KW - Information systems development
KW - Metaphors
KW - Qualitative case study
KW - Sensemaking
U2 - 10.1111/isj.12133
DO - 10.1111/isj.12133
M3 - Journal article
SN - 1350-1917
VL - 28
SP - 142
EP - 174
JO - Information Systems Journal
JF - Information Systems Journal
IS - 1
ER -