Packaged software applications such as enterprise
systems are designed to support generic rather than specific
requirements, and hence are likely to be an imperfect fit in any
particular instance. Using critical realism as our philosophical
perspective, we conducted a three-year qualitative study of misfits
that arose from an enterprise system (ES) implementation. A detailed
analysis of the observed misfits resulted in a richer understanding
of the concept of fit and of the ES artifact itself. Specifically,
we found six misfit domains (functionality, data, usability, role,
control and organizational culture) and within each, two types of
misfit (deficiencies and impositions). These misfit types correspond
to two newly defined types of fit: fit as coverage and fit as
enablement. Our analysis of fit also revealed a new
conceptualization of the ES artifact, with implications for IT
artifacts in general.
Keywords: Fit, misfits, enterprise systems, IT artifact, critical
realism