Serafeimidis, Vasilis

Interpreting the Evaluation of Information Systems Investments: conceptual and operational explorations

(1997)

This research investigates the evaluation of information systems investments by using the interpretive research paradigm. It aims to develop a better understanding of the evaluation of information systems, approaching them as socio-technical entities and providing a conceptual framework for their in-context investigation. This thesis focuses on the social roles of the evaluation stakeholders and investigates the organisational integration and evolution of the evaluation approaches.

The lack of solid theoretical frameworks and the narrow concentration on the tangible, technical and financial aspects of evaluation encouraged the development of an interpretive framework for understanding and learning. The conceptual framework proposed by the current research expands the traditional view of evaluation and introduces a multiple perspective approach based on contextualist principles. The social actions of the evaluation participants are at the centre of this framework. The framework further acts as a theoretical foundation for the investigation of three case study organisations.

Three case studies with demonstrated maturity in information systems investment evaluation are analysed in-depth. The cases include an insurance corporation, British Telecommunications plc and the Post Office. Their evaluation conceptions and practices are analysed and criticised through the conceptual framework.

The experience elicited from the empirical research is used to promote the understanding of the phenomenon of information systems evaluation. This is achieved in terms of the social roles and the cognitive aspects of the evaluation stakeholders, the organisational types of evaluation and their integration in terms of organisational structures and processes, and the ways of managing the evolution of IS evaluation.

Read the full thesis: Interpreting the Evaluation of Information Systems Investments: conceptual and operational explorations (PDF)

Supervisor: Steve Smithson, PhD

Vasilis Serafeimidis is currently a consultant with KPMG in London.