Understanding user agency and structural conditions in information system implementation: a study in industrial maintenance

Purpose Users within the same organization may enact the same digital information system differently, creating diverse requirements and challenges for implementation. It is essential to view information system implementation as a process shaped by individuals' capacity to act within organizational structures, that is, through their agency. This study explores the manifestation of user agency and its associated structural conditions in information system implementation. Design/methodology/approach We examined users' experiences of information system implementation in two industrial companies' maintenance operations, through an interpretive qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews. Findings The study identifies four types of agency, namely eligible, estranged, skilled and motivated, and shows ways in which structural conditions of work design, social relationships and practices and situated individual resources in information system users' work both enable and hinder user's capacity to act during information system implementation. Practical implications The identified agency types can help managers in tailoring information system implementation support. Acknowledging work design, collaborative practices and situated resources enhances users' capacity to act with the new system. Originality/value This study contributes by introducing a typology of user agency in information system implementation: it provides a fine-grained lens to explain why users facing the same information system enact it differently and extends enactment-oriented information system research on human agency. Showing how agency is conditioned by work design, social relationships and practices and situated individual resources in users' unique work conditions, it addresses agency as part of the social and structural dynamics of information system implementation.