Strategic Underuse of IFMIS: A Process of Shadow System Institutionalization in Public Sector Budgeting

Integrated Financial Management Information Systems (IFMIS) are meant to tighten fiscal control, improve transparency, and support better resource allocation in the public sector. Yet a recurring paradox remains: a system may be fully operational for transaction processing and still be sidelined when strategic budget decisions are made. This paper examines that pattern as strategic underuse. Using an interpretive qualitative case study of Kenya's National Treasury, the analysis draws on documentary evidence from 2016 to 2025, including Auditor General reports, parliamentary oversight proceedings, Treasury circulars, and budget publications. Combining process tracing with the Gioia methodology, the paper develops a process model showing how shadow systems emerge, stabilize, and become institutionalized. The findings suggest that spreadsheet-based reporting tools do not persist simply because of technical weakness. They endure because sociotechnical misalignment is reinforced by credibility concerns, oversight demands, and time pressure within the budget cycle. Over time, these parallel tools become trusted enough to function as the practical system of truth even while IFMIS remains the formal system of record. The paper therefore reframes underuse as an institutional process rather than a simple implementation failure and offers a more grounded way to understand digital reform in public financial management.