The history of Texaco's corporte information technology function: A general systems theoretical interpretation

MIS Quarterly: Management Information Systems

Volumn 29, Issue 4, 2005, Pages 721-746

  Porra, Jaana ^a   Hirschheim, Rudy ^b   Parks, Michael S ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON   (United States)

^b LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

Colonial systems; Historical research; Interpretive research; IT function failure; IT function success factors; Longitudinal study; Mechanistic systems; Organic systems; Organizational change; Punctuated equilibrium; Radical change; Systems theory

Indexed keywords

BUDGET CONTROL; INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY; PERSONNEL; SOCIETIES AND INSTITUTIONS;

COLONIAL SYSTEMS; HISTORICAL RESEARCH; INTERPRETIVE RESEARCH; MECHANISTIC SYSTEMS; ORGANIC SYSTEMS; ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE;

SYSTEM THEORY;

EID: 33747473210     PISSN: 02767783     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2307/25148707     Document Type: Article

References (61)

1. AICPA. Accounting for the Costs of Computer Software Developed or Obtained for Internal Use (Statement of Position 98-1), American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, New York, 1998.
2. Ashby, W. R. An Introduction to Cybernetics, Chapman and Hall, London, 1956.
3. Bailey, K. D. Sociology and the New Systems Theory - Toward a Theoretical Synthesis, State University of New York Press, Albany, NY, 1994.
4. Benko, C., and McFarland, F. W. Connecting the Dots: Aligning Projects with Objectives in Unpredictable Times, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, 2003.
5. Bleicher, J. Hermeneutic Imagination: Outline of a Positive Critique of Scientism and Sociology, Routledge, London, 1982.
6. Boulding, K. E. The Image, University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, MI, 1956.
7. Burns, T., and Stalker, G. M. The Management of Innovation, Tavistock, London, 1961.
8. Carr, N. "IT Doesn't Matter," Harvard Business Review, May 2003, pp. 5-12.
9. Carroll, G., and Delacroix, J. "Organizational Mortality in the Newspaper Industries of Argentina and Ireland: An Ecological Approach," Administrative Science Quarterly, (27), 1982, pp. 169-98.
10. Checkland, P. Systems Thinking, Systems Practice, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1999.
11. Dedrick, J., Gurbaxani, V., and Kraemer, K. L., "Information Technology and Economic Performance: A Critical Review of the Empirical Evidence," ACM Computing Surveys, (35:1), 2003, pp. 1-29.
12. Earl, M., and Feeny, D. "Is Your CIO Adding Value?," Sloan Management Review (35), Spring, 1994, pp. 11-20.
13. Earl, M., and Feeny, D. "How to Be a CEO for the Information Age," Sloan Management Review, Winter 2000, pp. 11-23.
14. Eldredge, N., and Gould, S. "Punctuated Equilibrium: An Alternative to Phyletic Gradualism," in Models in Paleobiology, J. Schopf (Ed.), Freeman, Cooper & Co., San Francisco, 1972, pp. 82-115.
15. th European Conference on Information Systems, R. Hansen, M. Bichler, and H. Mahrer (Eds.), Vienna, Austria, July 3-5, 2000, pp. 660-666.
16. Feeny, D., and Willcocks, L. "Core IS Capabilities for Exploiting Information Technology," Sloan Management Review, Spring, 1998, pp. 9-21.
17. Giddens, A. The Constitution of Society, University of California Press, Berkeley, CA, 1984.
18. Gray, W., and Rizzo, N. Unity Through Diversity: A Festschrift for Ludwig von Bertalanffy, Parts 1 and 2, Gordon and Breach Science, New York, 1973.
19. Harvard Business Review. "Are ClOs Obsolete?," March-April 2000, pp. 55-63.
20. Heidegger, M. Being and Time, Harper Collins, New York, 1962.
21. Hirschheim, R., Porra, J., and Parks, M.S. "The Evolution of the Corporate IT Function and the Role of the CIO at Texaco: How Do Perceptions of IT'S Performance Get Formed?," Database (34:4), Fall 2003, pp. 8-27.
22. Hodges, L. Interview with Les Hodges, the former General Manager of Texaco IT department by R. Hirschheim and J. Porra, February 9, 1998.
23. Hodges, L. Follow-up interview with Les Hodges by R. Hirschheim and J. Porra, June 17, 1999.
24. Klir, G. J. Architecture of Systems Problem Solving, Plenum Press, New York, 1985.
25. Lacity, M., and Hirschheim, R. Information Systems Outsourcing: Myths, Metaphors and Realities, John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, UK, 1993.
26. Land, F. F. "Adapting to Changing User Requirements," Information & Management (5:2), 1982, pp. 59-75.
27. Land, F. F., and Somogyi, E. K. "Software Engineering: The Relationship between a Formal System and its Environment," Journal of Information Technology (1:1), February 1986, pp. 14-21.
28. Luhmann, N. The Differentiation of Society, Columbia University Press, New York, 1982a.
29. Luhmann, N. "The World Society as a Social System," International Journal of General Systems (8), 1982b, pp. 131-27.
30. McDonald, E. "Information Technology at Texaco," internal presentation, February 26, 1996.
31. McKenney, J. L., Mason, R. O., and Copeland, D. G. "Bank of America: The Crest and Trough of Technological Leadership," MIS Quarterly (21:3), 1997, pp. 321-353.
32. Meyer, A. D., Brooks, G. R., and Goes, J. B. "Environmental Jolts and Industry Evolution: Organizational Responses to Discontinuous Change," Strategic Management (11), 1993, pp. 93-110.
33. Miller, J. G. Living Systems, McGraw Hill, New York, 1978.
34. Palmlund, D. "In Search of the Ideal CIO," Financial Executive (13:3), May-June 1997, pp. 37-39.
35. Pastore, R. "Rosenbluth's Dean Sivley on Marrying the Marketing and IS Functions," C/O Magazine (10:15), May 15, 1997, p. 118.
36. Peppard, J., and Ward, J. "'Mind the Gap': Diagnosing the Relationship between the IT Organization and the Rest of the Business," Journal of Strategic Information Systems (8:1), 1999, pp. 29-60.
37. Pilgreen C. Interview with Carolyn Pilgreen, Manager Human Resources, Global Information Servicesm Texaco, Inc., by R. Hirschheim and J. Porra, April, 1998.
38. Pilgreen, C. Follow-up interview with Carolyn Pilgreen by R. Hirschheim and J. Porra, April 19, 1999.
39. Porra, J. "Colonial Systems," Information Systems Research (10:1), March 1999, pp. 38-69.
40. Porra, J., Hirschheim, R., and Parks, M. S. "Forty Years of Corporate Information Technology Function at Texaco, Inc.: A History," Information and Organization, 2006 (forthcoming).
41. Rackoff, N., Wiseman, N. and Ulrich, W. A. "Information Systems for Competitive Advantage: Implementation of a Planning Process," MIS Quarterly (9:4), 1985, pp. 285-294.
42. Romanczuk, J. B., and Pemberton, J. M. "The Chief Information Officer: Rise and Fall?," Records Management Quarterly (31:2), April 1997, pp. 14-26.
43. Rosen, R. "Some System Theoretical Problems in Biology," in The Relevance of General Systems Theory, E. Laszlo (Ed.), George Braziller, New York, 1974, pp. 43-66.
44. Sabherwal, R., Hirschheim, R., and Goles, T. "The Dynamics of Alignment: The Punctuated Equilibrium Model," Organization Science (12:2), 2001, pp.179-197.
45. Solow, R. "The Real Source of the Productivity Boom," Harvard Business Review(80:3), 2002.
46. Strassmann, P. The Business Value of Computers, The Information Economics Press, New Canaan, CT, 1990.
47. Strassmann, P. Information Payoff, Free Press, New York, 1985.
48. Strassmann, P. The Politics of Information Management, The Information Economics Press, New Canaan, CT, 1995.
49. Sullivan, A. "Star of Restructured Texaco Shines Again: Kinnear Turns Around Oil Concern After Years of Woes," Corporate Focus, The Wall Street Journal, 1991.
50. Texaco. Computer and Information Systems Department, Strategic Plan (1984-1988), Texaco, Inc., 1983.
51. Texaco. Computer and Information Systems Department: Merging Getty's and Texaco's IT Departments, Texaco, Inc., 1984.
52. Texaco. Information Systems Strategic Directions (1988-1993), Texaco, Inc., 1987.
53. Texaco. Information Technology: Path to the Future - Information Technology Department Business Plan (November 1988), Texaco, Inc., 1988.
54. Tushman, M. L., and Romanelli, E. "Organizational Evolution: A Metamorphosis Model of Convergence and Reorientation," Research in Organization Behavior, (7), 1985. pp. 171-222.
55. Venkatraman, N., and Loh, L. "The Shifting Logic of the IS Organization: From Technical Portfolio to Relationships," Information Strategy, Winter 1994, pp. 5-11.
56. Vogel, T., and Bremner, B. "Texaco: From Takeover Bait to Dynamo," Business Week, July 22, 1991, pp. 50-52.
57. Von Bertalanffy, L. General Systems Theory, George Braziller, New York, 1968.
58. Von Foerster, H. "On Self-Organizing Systems and Their Environment," in Self-Organizing Systems, M. C. Yovits and S. Cameron (Eds.), London, 1960, pp. 31-50.
59. Wiener, N. Cybernetics, or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1948.
60. Willcocks, L., and Lacity, M. (Eds.). Strategic Sourcing of Information Systems, John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, UK, 1998.
61. Yates, F. E. (Ed.). Self-Organizing Systems: The Emergence of Order, Plenum Press, New York, 1987.