Change Management Strategy M.L. Markus and R.I. Benjamin

Purpose  To stimulate information systems specialists’ efforts to become more effective and credible agent of organizational change  To improve organizational effectiveness in order to avoid IT implementation failures at great cost in money, organizational competitiveness, and individual careers.

Introduction  Why do IS specialists need to become better agents of organizational change?  Reasons – New IT is an organizational intervention Need to know how to market How IT is implemented is a major factor in the results organizations achieve from new ITs. – Change Agentry will become a large part of IS work Outsourcing of in-house technical IS work Organization-specific knowledge stays in-house IT Implementation and change management issues are unlikely to diminish

Introduction (cont’d)  Reasons (cont’d) – To improve IS specialist credibility Strong mutual relationship between credibility and change management skill Effective IS specialists act ‘out of the box’ Transform not only their interpersonal relationships with clients, but also behavior of managers and users in IT projects and decision making

Issues  Disagreement in both theory and practice  3 models on what change agents do and why – Traditional IS model – Facilitator model Identified in various Organizational Development (OD) text, (Schwarz (1944)and Cummings and Huse (1989)) – Advocate model Originated from the innovation, management, and change politics literatures, (Kanter et al.,1992; Rogers, 1995)

Traditional IS model  Technology causes change  No change responsibilities beyond building technology  The manager’s pair of hands  Not responsible for achieving change or improvements in organizational performances

Consequences  Widespread systems failures for social reasons – Perspective in handling users training – Groupware Implementation  IS inhibiting change – Technology standards – Personal/group interest: Learning & Costs  Low IS credibility – Outsourcing: Poor financial performances – Poor interpersonal skills ‘Heterophilous’ (different in background, beliefs systems & interests Lack ‘value congruence’

Structural Conditions  IS specialists are sole providers of services  Clients have limited technical and sourcing options  Low budget pressure exists – Lack of external competitions  IS specialists rewarded based on functional unit goals

The Facilitator model  Clients make change using technology; technology does not  Facilitators – Promote change – Avoid exert power/other power over clients – Serve interests of all clients – Not responsible for changes; clients are responsible

Consequences  Greater attention to building user capacity – To increase project success and IS credibility  Emphasis on client self-sufficiency – To reduce client resentment & increase IS credibility  New information technologies provide greater opportunities to IS specialists as facilitators than as experts/builders

Structured Conditions  Facilitator – Not a client group member – Lies outside the hierarchical chain-of-command – Not formally responsible for business results – Valuable expertise will be negated – Authority for organizational control Sending mixed messages – Authority for technical outcomes – Concerns about locus of employment

The Advocate Model  People make change – Identifying and direction of change  Advocate influence change target as desirable  More flexible in accepting change  ‘Whatever works’  Serve the organizations’ best interests even there are personal or professional conflicts

Consequences  Benefits from using advocate model  ‘Managers unaware of how IT can be deployed ‘  Sharing traditional IS specialist’s belief – Technology to create organizational change – IS specialists to add business value Advocating process change & user skill training  ‘Emphasis on communication’ – Lack of communications CIOs, CEOs, Managers, IS analyst and users – Change agentry is a contact sport Increase Credibility and communications

Consequences (Cont’d)  The advocate role may fit the issues of IT infrastructure  Today’s challenge – To ensure levels of commonality – Interoperability to support internal/external communication & future flexibility – Public goods problem  Advocate uses consensus decision-making approach – To negotiate the political shoals of IT infrastructure development

Structural Conditions  2 assumptions to define the change agents role  1 st assumption – Involve in gov’t funded/public organizations – Tactics: communicating/empathizing with change targets Gaining target’s confidence (social station & attitudes) Working through the targets’ ‘opinion leaders’

Structural Conditions  2 nd assumption on change agents role – Advocates are line managers – Mandate and enforce changes do not work – Applying behavior modeling, changing organizational symbols, displaying of power – Problems: Lack of line mgmt authority Lack of direct authority over users and the managers who funded the project Require Senior executive to initiate and support the change project

Implications  IS specialist have different levels of skill in client contact & involvement in bringing organizational change  Suggestions: – Intellectually familiar with, behaviorally skilled in, and highly adaptable to the 3 models – To increase credibility and contribute to organizational success with IT

Research Agenda  Educational Reform – To improve interpersonal or ‘soft skills’ – Debate about the place of soft skills training in IS and other technical curricula. – Proposed a change in the relevant content and outline a program structure in IS academics. – Role plays using case scenarios are the best ways to foster affective and behavioral learning. – ‘computers and society’ course be the first course in the track. – Effectively engage them in the intellectual level, setting the stage for later behavioral and affective growth.

Research Agenda (cont’d)  Educational Reform (cont) – Promotes the development of insight and perspective before the student takes more technical subjects later on. – Second course will focus on interpersonal skills in the IS context to complement cognitive skills development. – It will cover individual differences (cognitive, affective, behavioral) and the student’s own personal style. – Active listening skills, interpersonal conflict, interviewing techniques. – Recognition of, and intervention in, group and intergroup dynamics. – The last course will be the course in change agentry, the last in the soft skills track.

Research Agenda (cont’d)  In-house training and development – is necessary because the structural aspects of their jobs are likely to jeopardize their credibility. – Partner with ‘neutral’ internal training staff or academics to design/conduct training. – Make participation voluntary and avoid including bosses and their subordinates. – Don’t worry excessively about the training materials at first. – Document and disseminate the key lessons learned to build interest in others in attending subsequent trainings.

Research Agenda (cont’d)  IS professional ethics – Ethical dilemma arises from their change agent roles: when interests differ, whose interests are to be served? – Ethical codes prepared for computer science community did not address these issues. – IS community needs a separate code that specifically addresses the ethical dilemmas faced by in-house IS professionals, to tackle in house change agentry role in particular.

Conclusion  Obstacles – Differing views about what it means to be a change agent, inhibiting progress. – Many IS specialists do not see any need to change. – Structural barriers to change in the change agentry role, esp. over-reliance on technical expertise, control authority, and an inappropriate reward system.  Positive Prospect – IS managers and executives’ structural abilities as effective change advocates – Voluntary efforts on the part of IS departments to relinquish or share the control that their clients resent.