Issues of power are often neglected in information systems (IS) studies and under-theorised in IS research. Systems development methods (SDMs) are commonly used in the IT industry to coordinate the activities between developers and clients. The role of power in the relationship between clients and systems developers remains an important topic of research in information systems development (ISD). Yet, despite the importance of understanding this relationship better, there has only been a limited number of studies exploring the role that an SDM can play in influencing this relationship. What is not widely acknowledged or researched is how different forms of power are inscribed in and enacted through an SDM. The aim of this paper is to advance our understanding of different forms of power—here, obtrusive and unobtrusive power—to show how ISD concepts provide structures during the enactment of an SDM and thereby influence relationships between developers and clients. We present qualitative results from an exploratory case study within an IT division of a large international bank and interpret the results using Clegg's (1989) circuits of power (CoP). Our analysis shows that developers feel disempowered in relation to the client, with developers playing a cooperative but submissive role. Prior SDM enactment studies have either not encountered or not recognised cases where obtrusive and unobtrusive forms of power inscribed within the SDM directly determine the relationship between developers and the client. Our results are presented as a set of propositions explaining how obtrusive and unobtrusive power is inscribed in the SDM and the effect such inscription has on the enactment of the SDM.

中文翻译：

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制定系统开发方法中的权力关系

权力问题在信息系统（IS）研究中经常被忽视，并且在信息系统研究中缺乏理论化。系统开发方法 (SDM) 在 IT 行业中通常用于协调开发人员和客户之间的活动。权力在客户和系统开发人员之间的关系中的作用仍然是信息系统开发 (ISD) 研究的一个重要课题。然而，尽管更好地理解这种关系很重要，但只有有限数量的研究探索了 SDM 在影响这种关系中可以发挥的作用。没有被广泛承认或研究的是不同形式的权力是如何通过 SDM 铭刻和制定的。本文的目的是促进我们对不同形式的权力的理解——在这里，突兀和不突兀的力量——展示 ISD 概念如何在 SDM 的制定过程中提供结构，从而影响开发人员和客户之间的关系。我们提供了来自一家大型国际银行 IT 部门的探索性案例研究的定性结果，并使用 Clegg (1989) 的电源电路 (CoP) 来解释结果。我们的分析表明，开发人员在与客户的关系中感到被剥夺了权力，开发人员扮演着合作但顺从的角色。先前的 SDM 制定研究没有遇到或没有认识到 SDM 中规定的突兀和不突兀的权力形式直接决定了开发商和客户之间的关系的案例。