Copyright 2002 by Prentice Hall, Inc. 2-1 The Top IS Job Chapter 2 Information Systems Management In Practice 5E McNurlin & Sprague

Copyright 2002 by Prentice Hall, Inc.

2-1

The Top IS Job

Chapter 2

Information Systems Management In Practice 5EMcNurlin & Sprague


2-2

Where Is The Department Headed?

The Escalating Benefits of Information Technology

– Kenneth Primozic, Edward Primozic, and Joe Leben introduce the notion of “Waves of Innovation” which they define as how IT is used by industries and enterprises.

– There are five Waves of Innovation:

1. Reducing cost

2. Leveraging investments

3. Enhancing products and services

4. Enhancing executive decision making

5. Reaching the consumer


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The traditional set of responsibilities for IS has included:

1. Managing operations of data centers, remote systems, and networks

2. Managing corporate data

3. Performing systems analysis and design, and constructing new systems

4. Systems planning

5. Identifying opportunities for new systems

Traditional Functions Are Being Nibbled Away


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The following trends are moving their performance out of the IS department:

1. Distributed systems

2. Ever more knowledgeable users

3. Better application packages

4. Outsourcing

Traditional Functions Are Being Nibbled Away


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IS is not a single monolithic organization, but rather a cluster of four functions:

1. Run operations

2. Develop systems

3. Develop architecture

4. Identify business requirements

The Metamorphosis of IS departments is described as:

In computer and network operations

In system development and maintenance

In systems and information architecture

In business requirements identification

New Roles are Emerging


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To make the federal model work better, companies are shifting attention from roles to processes.

The IS department can be viewed as managing three overall processes:

Driving innovation

Managing change

Supporting infrastructure

Toward IS Lite


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In order to take a leadership role in reshaping the way the enterprise works and competes, we see IS executives having the following six primary responsibilities:

1. Understand the business

2. Establish credibility of the IS department

3. Develop a competent IS staff and IT-savvy users

4. Create a vision of the future and sell it

5. Implement an information system architecture

6. Foster relationships

The CIO’s Responsibilities


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There are seven approaches CIOs are using to understand the business and its environment:

1. Encourage project teams to study the marketplace

2. Concentrate on lines of business

3. Sponsor weekly briefings

4. Attend industry meetings with line executives

5. Read industry publications

6. Hold informal listening sessions

7. Become a “partner” with a line executive

1. Understand the Business


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A. Gather the following information about the company and its industry:

A. Current industry environment

B. Business goals and objectives

C. Major practices of competitors

D. Pertinent government regulations

E. The inputs, outputs, and resources of the firm

1.1 Understand the Business: Have Project Teams Study the Marketplace


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It is recommended to ask the following questions about each line of business:

A. Are we organized to serve that line of business?

B. Do we have an account manager in IS who has responsibility for that line of business?

C. Do we have someone within that line of business who oversees IT activity and talks the business language?

D. Do we have a sponsor in the line of business?

E. Do we have the attention of their management?

F. Does the line of business offer an opportunity to use systems in new ways?

1.2 Understand the Business: Concentrate on Lines of Business


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1.3 Understand the Business: Sponsor Weekly Briefings

To understand the business, one needs to understand the marketplace.

By sponsoring short presentations by the people closest to a business, IS management can help fix the problem of employees not being given exposure to the marketplace without cutting into working time too greatly.


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1.4 Understand the Business: Attend Industry Meetings with Line Executives

Attending meetings with a line executive can be even more enlightening because he or she can explain what the company is or is not doing in areas discussed by the speakers.

It is also likely to foster new friendships.


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1.5 Understand the Business: Read Industry Publications

News publications provide information on new products, current issues, company changes, and so on.

They provide better analyses of industry trends, discussions of ongoing research, and projections about the future.


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1.6 Understand the Business: Hold Informal Listening Sessions

Employees learn a lot by listening to each other’s needs.

Meetings are held in a setting that is not charged with tension, participation is voluntary, and their purpose is to “just chat.”


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1.7 Understand the Business: Become a “Partner” with a Line Manager

The Society for Information Management presents an award each year to honor an IS executive business team who have achieved significant business results through their alliance.

It reinforces partnering which is needed to successfully guide and deploy IT today.


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IS departments have two missions: maintain today’s systems and work on tomorrow’s systems.

The “Today” operation should concentrate on providing services, while the “Tomorrow” operations need to focus on helping the businesses operate better.

2. Establish Systems Department Credibility


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The “Today” organization includes computer operations, technical support, and maintaining and enhancing existing applications.

2.1 Establish Systems Department Credibility: Managing the “Today” Organization Better


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CIOs need to nurture an IT-knowledgeable workforce in business units, and then keep pace with those who have become IT savvy.

IT-savvy organizations are the ones most likely to excel in this Internet-based economy.

3. Increase The Technological Maturity of the Firm: Develop a Competent IS Staff and

IT-Savvy Users


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IS departments need to help line executives become comfortable managing the use of IT, enable employees to become comfortable using IT, and encourage everyone to be comfortable exploring innovative new uses of IT

Especially on the Web with personal digital assistants (PDAs), and handheld communicators, and in creating consumer connections to the firm

3. Increase The Technological Maturity of the Firm: Develop a Competent IS Staff and

IT-Savvy Users


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A champion is someone with a vision who gets it implemented by obtaining the funding, pushing the project over hurdles, putting his or her reputation on the line, and taking the risk of the project.

The first step in encouraging champions is to find them.

They are opinion leaders, and they have a reputation for creative ideas or being involved with innovations.

They have developed strong ties to others in their organization, and they command respect within the firm.

They have the organizational power to get strategic innovations implemented.

3.1 Increase The Technological Maturity of The Firm: Encourage Championing of IT

Projects


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Information systems champions need three things from IS Management:

1. They Need Information

Champions need information, facts, and expertise for persuading others that the technology will work.

Information systems people can help them find the information they are lacking.


Projects


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2. They Need Resources

Giving champions “free” staff time is especially helpful during the evaluation and persuading portions of a project.

Champions are likely to need material resources, such as hardware and software

3. They Need Support

Champions need people who approve of what they are doing and give legitimacy to their projects.


Projects


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4. Create a Vision of the Future and Sell It

IS executives are no longer reactive, providing only support.

They manage some of the most important tools for influencing the firm’s future.

They are becoming more “proactive” by helping to create a vision of the firm’s future and its use of IT and selling those ideas to others.


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4.1 Create a Vision of the Future and Sell It: What is a Vision?

It is a statement of how someone wants the future to be or believes it will be.

Beath and Ives present several corporate visions:

Otis Elevator

USAA, an insurance company for current and retired military officers

Rittenhouse Homes

Fidelity Investments


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The word “Vision” is seen everywhere because in turbulent times such as we face today, people are looking for some stability.

A vision of a desirable future can provide stability when it sets direction for an organization.

4.2 Create a Vision of the Future and Sell It: Why Develop A Vision?


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In a growing number of cases, it is the management team, including the CIO, that creates the vision.

Listen to all ideas, no matter how crazy they sound.

4.3 Create a Vision of the Future and Sell It: Who Should Create the Vision?


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Explore the present and think about how it might be improved.

A second approach to create a vision is to “scout” the future.

Look at the trends that appear likely to continue as well as changes that might disrupt the current trends.

Examples are the Internet, handheld devices, etc.

4.4 Create a Vision of the Future and Sell It: Getting A Vision


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There are four approaches to exploring the present:

1. Ask: What bothers you more about the organization? When people are (or are not) working well with one another, what seems to be going on?

2. Try participation by involving people inside and outside the firm to uncover their top 10 irritants and their top 10 best experiences.

3. Clarify the vision, perhaps by meeting with subordinates to study the data and stories in detail, to refine shared views and values.

4. Listen. Visions are seldom original.

4.5 Create a Vision of the Future and Sell It: Exploring the Present


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The Institute for the Future studies trends and publishes a ten-year forecast.

Helps organizations plan their long-term futures by discussing near-term and long-term outlooks in numerous areas such as the United States economy, demographics of the United States, and more

Also, look for discontinuities, or shifts in trends as they create major changes in the way people think about the world

4.6 Create a Vision of the Future and Sell It: Scouting the Future


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At a conference, attendees offered the following ideas on possible shifts that could change the way we live:

Decline in the growth of cities

Holograms to replace travel

Small is better than big

Personalized products (a market of one)

Portable and personal two-way communication

Small but powerful batteries

Manufacturing in outer space

A powerful shift from a manufacturing base to a knowledge base

Deterring the aging process

4.6 Create a Vision of the Future and Sell It: Scouting the Future


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Once you have a vision, you need to sell that idea to others.

Selling an idea requires understanding the marketplace, meaning, what potential customers want rather than what they should have.

Listening is actually a potent form of selling.

Often, personal relationships are the key to successfully selling an idea because people like to do business with people they know and trust.

Keep your customers informed. Customer care is important in selling products or ideas.

4.7 Create a Vision of the Future and Sell It: Selling a Vision


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5. Implement an Information System Architecture

An architecture is a blueprint.

Designing a system architecture used to be considered strictly a technical issue.


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6. Nurture Relationships It is increasingly important for CIOs to develop and nurture

relationships.

1. Relationships with senior management

2. Relationships with customers

3. Relationships with suppliers and other external partners

Due to the increased importance of information systems architectures caused by the rise of e-commerce and e-business, the new job of chief technology officer has appeared in IS departments during the past couple years.

The CTO is in charge of the technology and its architecture, whereas the CIO is in charge of the use of information technology.


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The relationship between CTOs and other senior executives, especially CEOs is diversifying.

We see the traditional relationship between CEOs and CIOs diversifying.

The CIO is expected to implement technology to support business plans in a boss-subordinate, and somewhat distant, relationship.

CEOs now know a lot more about IT, and dot-com CIOs know a lot more about running the business.

6.1 Nurture Relationships: Relationships with Senior Management


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A major set of partnerships revolves around internal and external customers of the IS function.

The organization’s customers, who buy services and products, are becoming customers of the IS function.

The first job is to build credibility with business peers, at all levels.

This is happening most often in companies that use multifunctional teams to run systems projects.

Peer-to-peer working can break down stereotypes, improve relationships, and hopefully lead to a “partnering” mentality, which seems to be the goal of the IS departments these days.

6.2 Nurture Relationships: Relationships with Customers


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Due to fast-moving changes, IS departments are establishing cooperative external relationships with all sorts of suppliers to put in needed systems quickly.

Another trend has forced executives to forge “partnerships” or closer working relationships with suppliers that remain after their enterprise has reduced suppliers from thousands to tens.

They tell them of future plans, do joint planning, perhaps work together on projects, etc.

6.3 Nurture Relationships: Relationships with Suppliers and Alliance Partners


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The main responsibility for managing the use of IT needs to pass to the line, while the management of the IT infrastructure is retained by the IS group.

It is reflected in the following saying:

1. “We used to do it to them”-IS required end users to obey strict rules for getting changes made to systems, submitting job requests, etc.

2. “Next, we did it for them”-IS moved to taking a service orientation.

3. “Now, we do it with them”-which reflects “partnering”.

4. We are moving toward teaching them how to do it themselves”.

To achieve this transformation, CIOs must play a leadership role in their enterprise and develop partnerships with senior management, internal and external customers, and suppliers.

Conclusion

Documents

Copyright 2002 by Prentice Hall, Inc. 2-1 The Top IS Job Chapter 2 Information Systems Management In Practice 5E McNurlin & Sprague