1. CMIS 520 Managing Technology Jo Ellen Moore, Ph.D.

2. IS/IT in Process View n Business Process: u Any sequence of activities that consumes resources and adds value to a product or service u Supports the customer or supports someone who supports the customer u Business functions contribute to multiple business processes

3. IS/IT in Process View Business Functions Process

4. IS/IT in Process View n Role of IEMgrs in Process View u Tp -- serves at enterprise level; responsible for IT infrastructure u tP -- responsible for process and its success u TP -- bridge between Tp and tP; bridge between enterprise and process in regard to technology u tp -- provides info about process problems and opportunities for improving process

5. IS/IT in Process View TP tP (Process) tp Tp (IT Infra- structure)

6. IS/IT in Process View n Role of IEMgr(TP) u The key player in a reengineering effort u Bridging role is crucial u TP individuals are rare u When TP individual does not exist: F Need effective partnering between Tp’s and tP’s F This partnering should also help to develop TP individuals

7. Partnering of IS & Business Managers n Sources of this material: u Lind & Zmud (1991, Organization Science) u Sambamurthy, Zmud, & Boynton (1992, ACM SIGCPR) u Zmud (1984, MISQ) u Brown (1997, MISQ)

8. Partnering of IS & Business Managers n What org structures tend to promote innovative IT-based business initiatives? u Research shows that greater IT innovation occurs when IS staff and users agree on importance of IT and importance of business unit activities (L&Z)

9. Partnering of IS & Business Managers n SZ&B recommend: u Centralized IS for IT infrastructure decisions u Business units lead decision-making on IT applications and project management u Use “coordination mechanisms” to involve IS in application and project management decisions u In other words, they are recommending a hybrid form

10. Partnering of IS & Business Managers n Coordination Mechanisms: u channels for information exchange u intended to break down barriers to cross-unit communications n Examples: u Steering committees u Liaison positions u Physical co-location u Inter-departmental job rotations

11. Partnering of IS & Business Managers n Formal vs. Informal CM’s (Zmud) u Formal CM’s F Static, Uni-directional F To promote consistency, predictability F Best for routine or well-understood activities F Examples: Steering Committees IS Committees Liaison Positions

12. Partnering of IS & Business Managers u Informal CM’s F Dynamic, Multi-directional F To promote flexibility, interaction F Best for non-routine or poorly understood activities F Examples: Physical co-location IT networks (email, intranets, groupware) Interdepartmental events Interdepartmental job rotations Cross-unit reward & measurement practices

13. Partnering of IS & Business Managers n CM’s and IS Org. Structures (Brown) u Centralized IS orgs use CM’s to: F Improve communications between IS and business units u Hybrid IS orgs use CM’s to: F Improve communications between corporate IS and dispersed IS units u Decentralized IS orgs tend to have less need for CM’s in regard to IT/IS. Why?...

14. Partnering of IS & Business Managers n Job Rotation article u Specifically considers rotation between EUC support (IS) and business units u Focus is on worker-level rotation, with managers involved in defining and managing the rotations

15. Partnering of IS & Business Managers n The rotations are proposed to: u Increase transfer of knowledge between users and IS u Reduce conflict between IS and users u Improve organizational integration of EUC u Create climate conducive to innovation applications of EUC u Provide challenging and maturing opportunities for business unit and IS employees

16. Partnering of IS & Business Managers n In CMIS 520 terms, the rotations should: u Increase ‘T’ of end users u Increase ‘P’ of IS folks u Help to directly integrate an organization’s ‘T’ and ‘P’ expertise and increase the likelihood of strategic applications of IT

17. Partnering of IS & Business Managers n Potential problems in rotating workers between IS and business units: u learning curve for rotated employee u increased workloads for rotated employee and for coworkers u decreased satisfaction and motivation of coworkers u issues in compensating, evaluating, and supervising the rotated employee u IS/IT professional’s fear of losing technical skills

18. Partnering of IS & Business Managers n What CM’s (formal or informal) have you seen implemented in organizations you’re familiar with? u Do they seem to help? Not help? n What CM’s would like to see implemented?