The Virtual University as 'Timely and Accurate Information'

Bibliographic Data

ID20507705
AuthorsNeil Pollock (0000-0002-9960-2081, Newcastle University, corresponding author)
Year2000
Volume3
Issue3
Pages349-365
Publication date2000-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueInformation Communication & Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1369-118X • E-ISSN: 1468-4462
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13691180051033298
OpenAlexW1993709016
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited11

This article investigates the implementation of an Enterprise Resource Planning System in a redbrick university in the UK. The first part is concerned with the way in which the Implementation Project Team has come to conceptualise its task or mission and represent it both to itself and to the rest of the University. On one hand, the discussion is about the rolling-out of a rather mundane information system, purchased simply as a replacement for an out of date system called 'MAC'. On the other, for some people, the system amounts to a large, and complex -- almost mythical - model of the University, a kind of `Virtual University'. Specifically, the article is interested in one particular phrase, script, or mantra that appears over and over as the accepted rationale, mission and justification for the project: the `provision of timely and accurate information'. It is argued that the phrase helps to mediate the boundary between how the Project Team and others understand the University as a whole, and the ways in which it is, could be, and should be changing. The second part of the article is focused on the way in which those implementing the new system are attempting to move the University from an old (seemingly `chaotic') model to a new (supposedly `ordered') `informational model'. Keywords Information, Informational Mantra, Virtual University, Enterprise Resource Planning Systems, Change Management

Human–computer interaction · Computer Science · Knowledge Management and Sharing · Online and Blended Learning · Organizational Learning and Leadership

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