The need for inter-organisational information systems projects, which are complex undertakings often riddled with poorly understood power struggles and conflicts that hinder project success, has increased in previous decades. Through the lenses of systemic and episodic power, together with an organisational conflict model, this longitudinal, qualitative case study explores the dynamics of power and conflict and their effects in an inter-organisational information systems development project. This study highlights that the bureaucratic, social and technical setup of the project forms a foundational system from which specific power practices emerge, in this case, the practices of hiding, storytelling and bargaining. The power practices have both restrictive and productive effects on conflict, but the practices cannot easily escape the confines of the foundational system and continue to cause the resurfacing of different manifestations of latent conflict inherent in the system. As a result, both ‘power to’ (systemic power) and ‘power over’ (episodic power) can escalate project conflict, and rational conflict management for gaining ‘win-win’ resolutions may not be in the stakeholders' interests. Thus, strategies for openly managing political conflicts should be considered.

中文翻译：

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跨组织信息系统开发中的权力与冲突

在过去的几十年中，对组织间信息系统项目的需求有所增加，这些项目是一项复杂的事业，通常充斥着难以理解的阻碍项目成功的权力斗争和冲突。通过系统性和偶发性权力的视角，以及组织冲突模型，这个纵向的、定性的案例研究探讨了权力和冲突的动态及其在组织间信息系统开发项目中的影响。这项研究强调，该项目的官僚、社会和技术设置形成了一个基础系统，特定的权力实践从中出现，在这种情况下，隐藏、讲故事和讨价还价的实践。权力实践对冲突既有限制性又有生产性的影响，但这些做法并不能轻易摆脱基础系统的限制，并继续导致系统固有的潜在冲突的不同表现形式重新浮出水面。因此，“权力”（系统权力）和“权力支配”（情节权力）都可能使项目冲突升级，而为获得“双赢”解决方案而进行的合理冲突管理可能不符合利益相关者的利益。因此，应该考虑公开管理政治冲突的策略。