{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,17]],"date-time":"2026-03-17T17:29:56Z","timestamp":1773768596372,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":55,"publisher":"Emerald","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2001,12,1]],"date-time":"2001-12-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1007164800000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/site-policies"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2001,12,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>This paper examines discursive strategies deployed by individuals to manage the deinstitutionalization of technology during IS development. In particular, the strategy of face\u2010work is an inevitable response to requirements analysis, because it centers on identifying \u201cproblems\u201d. Directly implicated are individuals who work with the legacy system, thus threats to face and place within the organization are inescapable. This research shows that individuals save face by valorizing the past. This face\u2010work is accomplished through constructing the legacy system as a great system of the past and by confessing to previous transgressive acts with this system that attests to their technological competence. Both strategies are an intricate part of identity negotiations that serve to secure an individuals\u2019 place in the organization. In this study, the presence of expert consultants and researcher gave expression to particular skewed power relations during the interviews. Thus, face\u2010work is profoundly influenced by the discursive field in which it takes place. Implications for research and practice are discussed.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1108\/eum0000000006518","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2003,1,6]],"date-time":"2003-01-06T22:18:30Z","timestamp":1041891510000},"page":"385-405","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":22,"title":["\u201cIt was a great system\u201d"],"prefix":"10.1108","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Ros\u00edo","family":"Alvarez","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"140","reference":[{"key":"key2022031720274125500_b1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Agarwal, R., Sinh, A.P. and Tanniru, M. (1996), \u201cCognitive fit in requirements modeling: a study of object and process methodologies,\u201d Journal of Management Information Systems, Vol.13 No. 2, pp. 137\u201062.","DOI":"10.1080\/07421222.1996.11518126"},{"key":"key2022031720274125500_b2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Agarwal, R. and Tanniru, M.R. 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