A Cybernetic Theory of the Impact of Implementers' Actions on User Resistance to Information Technology Implementation

This paper focuses on the information technology (IT) implementers' role in the dynamics of user resistance to IT implementation. We adopt the notion of cybernetic control and conceptualize an IT implementation as a limited system made up of users and an IT application. We propose a cybernetic theory wherein the implementers are the control device, and their objective is to keep the intensity of user resistance at a level that is acceptable from an organizational point of view. To this end, implementers engage in various actions in response to user resistance behaviors. These actions constitute the feedback sent to the system by the control device. The theory posits that some implementers' actions have a negative feedback effect and maintain user resistance within an acceptable range. Other implementers' actions have a positive feedback effect that will lead to significant organizational disruption, which may ultimately require the abandonment of the IT implementation.