Cynicism as User Resistance in IT Implementation

Journal article, 2012

In this paper,we examine the process by which user cynicism emerges and is constituted as part of resistance in information technology (IT) implemen- tation. We ground our process perspective in the received user resistance litera- ture by linking cynicism to users’ projections of the system’s future use. Rather than attributing cynicism to perceived threats, however, we see user cynicism as cognitively distanced resistance that manifests as a perception of seeing through the espoused goals of the implementers. Based on a process analysis of a customer relationship management implementation at a customer service centre, the paper extends the user resistance model proposed by Lapointe and Rivard by identifying three dimensions of user cynicism in IT implementation. It also shows how cynicism, as a form of passive resistance, easily escalates and feeds new forms of resistance. Lastly, we introduce the cynicism literature as a new reference theory for the Information Systems (IS) audience.