The Interpretive Flexibility of an E-Government Project: From an Actor-Network Theory Perspective

This paper draws upon concepts from the actor-network theory (ANT) to interpret the sequence of events that lead to the interpretive flexibility of information systems implementation in a municipal administration in Shanghai, China. Through our intensive examination of the process of development and implementation of the e-government project, we find that interpretive flexibility of the information system is highly determined by the heterogeneous interests inscribed in the technology. We propose that the heterogeneous interests reach a settlement through a phased translation process. By investigating the translation of the actor-network, the paper demonstrates the process by which the interpretive flexibility of the IT project comes into being. While great amount of studies on interpretive flexibility are focusing on mental sides of human agents, the research sheds lights on uncovering the interpretive flexibility from inscribed interests perspective.