Information Systems and Organisations Outline: Understanding the inter-relationships between IT and organisations, Formal models and theories of organisations, Understanding and mapping business processes How does the Information Systems function fit into organisation.

MEDIATING FACTORS: Environment Culture Structure Standard Procedures Politics Management Decisions Chance ORGANIZATIONS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ORGANIZATIONS INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

ORGANIZATION FORMAL DEFINITION: - stable, formal structure takes resources/inputs from environment – capital, labour, materials, knowledge(?) etc processes them to produce outputs *

STRUCTURAL CHARACTERISTICS OF ALL ORGANIZATIONS Clear division of labor Hierarchy Explicit rules & procedures: standard operating procedures (sop) Objective/impartial judgments Technical qualifications Strive for maximum organizational efficiency *

ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES ENVIRONMENTAL OUTPUTS BEHAVIORAL VIEW OF ORGANIZATIONS STRUCTURE: Hierarchy Division of labor Rules, Procedures PROCESS: Rights/Obligations Privileges/Responsibilities Values Norms People *

TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONS ENTREPRENEURIAL: Startup business MACHINE BUREAUCRACY: Mid-sized manufacturing firm DIVISIONALIZED BUREAUCRACY: Very Large, multi-business/multi-divisional corporations PROFESSIONAL BUREAUCRACY: Law firms, hospitals ADHOCRACY: Consulting firm *

ORGANIZATION & ITS ENVIRONMENT THE FIRM INFORMATION SYSTEMS THE ENVIRONMENT: RESOURCES & CONSTRAINTS GOVERNMENTS COMPETITORS FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS CULTURE KNOWLEDGE TECHNOLOGY

BROADER VIEW OF ORGANIZATIONS COMMON FEATURES: FORMAL STRUCTURE STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES POLITICS CULTURE * 3.11

SALIENT FEATURES OF ORGANIZATIONS UNIQUE FEATURES: ORGANIZATIONAL TYPE ENVIRONMENTS, GOALS, POWER CONSTITUENCIES, FUNCTION LEADERSHIP, TASKS TECHNOLOGY LEVELS *

Business Process: The unique breakdown and sequence of activities that an organisation specifies for the completion of a task. Typically we refer to tasks that cut across multiple functions or departments. Eg. Order fulfillment, new product introduction

WORK GROUPS, PROBLEMS, SYSTEM SUPPORT HIERARCHICAL: Frequent meetings, workers dispersed –VIDEO CONFERENCING, INTERDEPARTMENTAL COMMITTEES: Need occasional direct communication –ELECTRONIC MESSAGING *

WORK GROUPS, PROBLEMS, SYSTEM SUPPORT PROJECT TEAMS: Day-to-day interactions, meeting schedules –SCHEDULING/COMMUNICATION/ SUPPORT SOFTWARE, INTRANET COMMITTEES: High peak load, intermittent communication –ELECTRONIC BULLETIN BOARDS, VIDEO/COMPUTER CONFERENCING, *

WORK GROUPS, PROBLEMS, SYSTEM SUPPORT TASK FORCES: Rapid communication, internal/external data –GRAPHICS DISPLAY, INFORMATION/ DOCUMENTATION INTERCHANGE PEER GROUPS: Intense personal communication –TELEPHONE, *

PROBLEMS OF ALL WORK GROUPS Making arrangements Attending meetings Long agenda Cost of meetings Between-meeting activities *

DEVELOPMENT OF INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE 1950s: ELECTRONIC ACCOUNTING MACHINES 1960s: DATA PROCESSING DEPARTMENTS 1970s: INFORMATION SYSTEMS 1980s: INFORMATION SYSTEMS & SERVICES 1990s: ENTERPRISE-WIDE INFORMATION UTILITY *

INFORMATION SYSTEMS DEPARTMENT PROGRAMMERS: Write software SYSTEMS ANALYSTS: Translate business problems into solutions Data Administrators: in charge of managing the information resources of the org. IS MANAGERS: Department leaders Chief Information Officer (CIO) END USERS: Department reps for whom applications are developed *

PERSPECTIVES ON ORGANIZATIONS AND THE ROLE OF IT MICROECONOMIC MODEL/THEORY OF THE FIRM: The outputs of the firm as a function of key factors of production such as capital C, labor L, and knowledge K. Investments in IT can lead to increase in K and reduction overall L.

AGENCY/TRANSACTION COST THEORY: Firm is nexus of contracts among agents who make decisions. The firms attempts to minimise transaction costs in contracting. IS/IT shrink number of agents & reduce transaction costs. BEHAVIORAL THEORIES: Concepts from Psychology, Political Science; Organizations & Information Technology mutually influence each other. Implementation strategies, resistance.. * PERSPECTIVES ON ORGANIZATIONS AND THE ROLE OF IT

DECISION & CONTROL THEORY: Decisions are made under conditions of risk & uncertainty; centralization & hierarchy can reduce uncertainty in certain circumstances. SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY: Bureaucracy, SOPs help stabilize organizations, but slow ability to change *

PERSPECTIVES ON ORGANIZATIONS AND THE ROLE OF IT POSTINDUSTRIAL THEORY: Flatter organizations; dominated by knowledge workers; decentralized decision making CULTURAL THEORY: Information technology must fit organization’s culture to be accepted *

PERSPECTIVES ON ORGANIZATIONS AND THE ROLE OF IT POLITICAL THEORY: Info systems are outcome of political competition among coalitions and groups for power and resources. *

IMPLEMENTING CHANGE Source: Leavitt, Handbook of Organization (1965)TASKPEOPLETECHNOLOGY STRUCTURE RESISTANCE MUTUAL ADJUST MENT

HOW INTERNET AND THE WORLD WIDE WEB AFFECT ORGANIZATIONS More info, anywhere, anytime/potential information overload More scope, depth, range of knowledge Lowers cost, potential to raise quality of info distribution: *

Types of Decisions Well-Structured decisions Semi-structured decisions Unstructured or ill-structured decisions They lie along a continuum.

INFO SYSTEMS, LEVELS, DECISIONS TPS OAS MIS KWS DSS ESS ORGANIZATIONAL LEVEL TYPE OF DECISIONOPERATIONALKNOWLEDGEMANAGEMENTSTRATEGIC STRUCTURED ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE ELECTRONIC PRODUCTION SCHEDULING COST OVERRUNS SEMI-BUDGET STRUCTUREDPREPARATION PROJECT SCHEDULING FACILITY LOCATION UNSTRUCTUREDPRODUCT DESIGN NEW PRODUCTS NEW MARKETS

STAGES OF DECISION MAKING INTELLIGENCE: Collect information; identify problem DESIGN: Conceive alternatives; select criteria CHOICE: Use criteria to evaluate alternatives; select IMPLEMENTATION: Put decision into effect; allocate resources; control * SOURCE: Simon, The New Science of Management Decision (1960)

RATIONAL MODEL: Assumes comprehensive rationality - comprehensive search for alternatives, their systematic evaluation against objectives, choosing the alternative that maximises value. Satisficing Models: Based on the concept of bounded rationality - people do not have the cognitive capacity to be comprehensively rational; hence they ‘satisfice’. Political Model MODELS OF DECISION MAKING