1. The Challenges Ahead Chapter 15
Information Systems Management In Practice 7E
McNurlin & Sprague
PowerPoints prepared by Michael Matthew
Visiting Lecturer, GACC, Macquarie University – Sydney Australia

2. Part V: Thinking Ahead
This part, which consists of just one chapter, is intended to stimulate thinking about the future and the roles IT could play in the future
It begins by exploring some intriguing thoughts about potential organizing principles for an Internet-based world
These rules of the road do not necessarily extrapolate from the rules of the physical world, so they are worth considering carefully, especially when they appear counter-intuitive
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

3. Part V: Thinking Ahead cont.
The chapter also looks at the people issues of moving ahead
Such as people’s enthusiasm or reticence to embrace new technologies and
How to spur non-IT executives to learn about their roles in leading the use of IT
In essence, this part is about leadership in the Internet-based economy
So we end this unit / book as we began it, highlighting the leadership box in our framework
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

4. ©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

5. Chapter 14
The computer’s capability to leverage people’s brain power allows companies to not only communicate in new ways, but to compete in new ways
It looks at the challenges facing IS organizations worldwide by assembling a collage of opinions about possible principles underlying the e-world
Acknowledging our transformation into a networked world, it describes three viewpoints of the differences between non-networked and networked and their importance
The lecture / chapter concludes with ways to move forward with the people who need to lead us into this new business world and the people who will be led into it
Case examples include NYNEX, a football team, National Semiconductor, Sun Microsystems, Cemex, Semco S.A., Capital One, MIT’s IT for the Non-IT Executive Program and SIM’s Strategic Business Leaders Program
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

6. Today’s Lecture Introduction Organizing Principles
The Learning Organization
Processes Rather Than Functions
Communities Rather Than Groups
Virtual Rather Than Physical
Self-Organizing Rather Than Designed
Adaptable Rather Than Stable
Distributed Rather Than Centralized
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

7. Today’s Lecture cont. Understanding A Networked World Moving Forward
The Internet Mindset
Where’s the Value in a Network?
The Rules of Networks
Moving Forward
Understanding Users
Increasing Executives’ Understanding of IT
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

8. Introduction Despite all the ‘bad news’ of the dot-com crash etc.
Enterprises around the world are quietly redefining their strategy, work environment, and skills to move into the e-world
In this chapter we address the challenges faced by IS organizations worldwide by assembling a collage of possible principles underlying the ‘e-world’
The computer is an amazing machine
Leverages people’s brain power, not just muscle power
This capability is being used to process data & communicate in new ways
This communication in turn allows companies to compete in new ways
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

9. Organizing Principles
EXCITING TIMES!
We are in a time of grand exploration – a new economy is being born (perhaps in fits and starts)
Equally frustrating though – is that the tenets of this evolving economy are so different that the rules are just now being formulated, reformulated and reformulated again!
As the economy matures – some principles will prove to be true, while others will fall by the wayside
The following opinions offer promising new thinking on organizing principles
They point to areas enterprises need to focus on to succeed in an ‘e-economy’
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

10. Organizing Principles The Learning Organization
Peter Senge The 5th Discipline: The art & practice of the learning organization.
Most organizations live only 40yrs – 1/2 the life of a person, because they have ‘learning disabilities’
Organizational Learning Disabilities
Enterprises move forward by looking backward in that they rely on learning from experience = companies solve the same problem over & over
Organizations fix on events – yet the real threat comes from processes that move so slowly, no one notices them
Teamwork is not optimal, contrary to current belief. Team based organizations operate below the lowest IQ on the team = skilled incompetence
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

11. Organizing Principles The Learning Organization cont.
Organizations that can learn faster than their competitors will survive
In fact, it is the only sustainable advantage
To become a learning organization, an enterprise must create new learning & thinking behaviors on its people
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

12. Organizing Principles The Learning Organization cont.
An organization and its people must master the following five basic learning disciplines:
Personal mastery: lifelong learning
People reach a special level of proficiency when they live creatively
This personal mastery forms the spiritual foundation for the learning organization, so organizations need to foster these aspirations
Mental models: deeply ingrained assumptions, generalizations, and images that influence how people see the world and what actions they take
Organizations can accelerate their organizational learning by spurring executives to surface their assumptions and test them for relevancy
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

13. Organizing Principles The Learning Organization cont.
An organization and its people must master the following five basic learning disciplines cont.:
Shared vision: organization’s view of its purpose, its calling
It provides the common identity by which its employees and others view it
A shared vision is vital to a learning organization because it provides the rudder for the learning process
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

14. Organizing Principles The Learning Organization cont.
An organization and its people must master the following five basic learning disciplines:
Team learning: “dialog”: where people essentially think together, occur when people explore their own and others’ ideas, in order to arrive at the best solution; “discussions”: occur when people try to convince others of their point of view
Few teams dialog; most discuss, so they do not learn.
Systems thinking: to understand systems, people need to understand the underlying patterns
Systems thinking is a conceptual framework for making complete patterns clearer
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

15. Organizing Principles The Learning Organization cont.
Of these 5 disciplines – systems thinking is the cornerstone
Until organizations look inwardly at the basic kinds of thinking and interacting they foster, they will not be able to learn faster than their competitors
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

16. Organizing Principles Processes Rather Than Functions
Key point in the re-engineering movement wasn’t that changes needed to be dramatic – but that they needed to be made from a process centered rather than task centered view
Tasks - about individuals
Processes – about groups, we are now in a ‘group economy’
The shift to processes ramifications include:
Need for new position, such as process owners
In one process virtually all departments are involved
One person needs to have end-to-end responsibility
Process owners provide the knowledge of the process – not just manage people (still important!)
Sense of urgency & intensity as teams are more intense & allow less slack time
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

17. Organizing Principles Processes Rather Than Functions cont.
Requires measuring a process:
How long it takes to complete
Accuracy rate
Cost, etc.
Process centered structure requires:
Measures of processes which are different from measures of tasks
Measuring a process means measuring an outcome from the customers’ point of view
Process Centering:
Turns people into professionals rather than workers
If you define a professional as someone who is responsible for achieving results rather than performing a task
The professional is responsible to customers, solving their problems by producing results
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

18. NYNEX Case Example: Process centered organization (1)
Targeted 12 major processes for redesign in a company wide business process redesign initiative
11 used the traditional approach.
The 12th group used participative design & involved the Work Systems Design group, along with 8 employees from across one provisioning process
This project was the only one of the 12 implemented, and = excellent results
It followed a socio-technical approach to design a new process for handling customer orders. Rather than pass a customer among specialized groups, all the people in the process worked together, in one area, as a multifunctional team — with engineers working alongside salespeople.
A major difficulty with an innovative new process was under-rating how difficult it would be to keep it going when it is counter cultural
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

19. A (U.S.) FOOTBALL TEAM Case Example: Process centered organization (2)
Has 2 processes:
Offensive
Defensive
Process owners:
Offense co-ordinators
Defense co-ordinators
Team has:
Position coaches
Head coach
Once on the field – the team is
self-directed.
It adapts to the unfolding play
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

20. Organizing Principles Communities Rather Than Groups
Communities – form of their own volition
Groups – formed by design, their members are designated a priori
Communities:
Perform the same job, or collaborate on a shared task/product
They have complementary talents & expertise
They are held together by a common purpose & a need to know what the others know
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

21. Organizing Principles Communities Rather Than Groups cont.
Most people belong to several communities of practice, and most important work in companies is done through them
Note: not necessarily ‘defined’
Communities are the critical building blocks of a knowledge-based document
Three reasons:
People, not processes, do the work
Learning is about work, work is about learning, and both are social
Organizations are webs of participation
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

22. NATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR Case Example: Community of Practice
Company began encouraging communities after its business model that built low margin commodity chips collapsed
Community of practice:
Energize & mobilize the firms engineers
Shape strategy & then enact it
A community of practice on signal processing grew slowly over 18 months & now includes engineers from numerous product lines & has been influential in strategy decisions
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

23. NATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR Case Example: Community of Practice cont.
National is extending communities of practice by:
Formally recognizing them
Offering funding for their projects
Handing out a toolkit to help people form their own communities of practice
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

24. Organizing Principles Virtual Rather Than Physical
A virtual organization doesn’t exist in one place or time – it exists whenever & wherever the participants happen to be
The virtual organization is a popular description of new organizational form
Underlying principle = time & space are no longer the main organizing foundations
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

25. SUN MICROSYSTEMS Case Example: Virtual rather than physical organization
Chief Scientist – John Gage
The network creates the company
“Your flow determines whether you’re really part of the organization: the mailing lists you’re on say a lot about the power you have.”
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

26. Organizing Principles Self-Organizing Rather Than Designed
Form of future organizations – chaos theory, ecology, biology, and look at nature & how it organizes itself
The basic tenet is that nature provides a good model for future organizations that must deal with:
Complexity
Share information & knowledge
Cope with change
The message is about being to adapt, it’s like imitating structures found in nature
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

27. CEMEX Case Example: ‘Self organized’ organization
Cemex (Cementos Mexicanos) delivers ready mix cement in Monterey Mexico
Delivering mix on time difficult – traffic jams, poor road conditions, contractors not ready for their order
Delivery rate = 35%
Deal with problem of unpredictability:
No reservations required
Deliver faster than pizza
Turned attention to managing information rather than assets
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

28. CEMEX Case Example: Self designed organization cont.
To do so:
They installed a GPS system for all the trucks & full information to all employees
Drivers to schedule themselves in real time as calls came in, rather than dispatchers
Result = 98% delivery rates
= delivery time 20mins, (rather than 3hrs)
= less wasted, hardened cement
= 35% fewer trucks
= lower fuel costs
= happier customers
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

29. Organizing Principles Self-Organizing Rather Than Designed cont.
The self-organization point-of-view
Requires taking the perspective of “organizing-as-a-process” rather than “organization-as-an-object”
Self-organizing systems create their own structure, patterns of behavior, and processes to accomplish their work
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

30. SEMCO S.A Case Example: An organization with a self organizing principle
Maverick the success story behind the worlds most unusual work place – CEO Semco Richard Semler
Company – a Brazilian manufacturer of industrial equipment moved from 56th to 4th place in its industry by breaking all the rules to get costs down & productivity up
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

31. SEMCO S.A Case Example: An organization with a self organizing principle cont.
Result =
Factory workers:
At times set up their own production quotas
Help redesign products
Formulate marketing plans
Choose their own bosses
Bosses:
Set their own salaries – yet everyone knows what they are as workers have unlimited access to Semco’s one set of books
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

32. SEMCO S.A Case Example: An organization with a self organizing principle cont.
The changes have been rough & not undertaken in an orderly or cohert manner
BUT the radical changes to a far more democratic workplace allowed the company to grow 600% at the same time that the Brazilian economy was faltering
A dramatic story & illustrative of the benefits of self-organization
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

33. Organizing Principles Adaptable Rather Than Stable
Speculation on future organizations
Successful organizations will be structured to naturally support (perhaps even foster) volatility and continual surprises
Today’s organizations are structured to maintain stability; change is minimised
Change costs a lot
Firms built for stability are not adaptable
IT is causing the world to become more connected
Connectivity increases volatility
To keep pace companies will need to adapt more quickly
The only way to achieve adaptability = through distributed intelligence and action
Thus organizational models will be built around networks and will be designed to evolve
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

34. CAPITAL ONE Case Example: Adaptable Rather Than Stable
Credit company that believes in “the law of large numbers”
Conducts ‘000s of tests to read the marketplace
Strategy = dreaming up credit programs that might have value to customers
Then = testing numerous variations of each program to see which yield the best results
Example = discovered from its first test that “balance transfer” was a winning offer
Strategy goes with its bottom-up culture where decisions are made at the bottom based on the market tests
Management controls funds for rolling out new products but not for conducting the testing
Has the lowest charge-off rate and the highest risk adjusted margin in the industry
Grew 45% in one year!
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

35. Organizing Principles Distributed Rather Than Centralized
Organizations of the future could become more distributed. Two views:
Distributed Capitalism
Commercial purpose of organizations is changing, hence structures will change
Managerial capitalism will not really satisfy today’s consumers due to the huge gap between consumer desires and the good and services for sale
Will possibly lead to federations
Market-Based Organizations
Cost of communications has influenced the structure of organizations
High = centralize
Reducing (like now) = more decentralized
Organizations will structure more like democracies or markets
Job of management will move from command and control to coordination and cultivation
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

36. Understanding A Networked World
Our networked world has different characteristics from the non-networked world many people are used to living in
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

37. Understanding A Networked World The Internet Mindset
Just as PCs turned the mainframe data processing mindset upside down, this new world of communications, with its multi-dimensions and interactivity, wreaks havoc with businesses unless they understand and embrace the mindset of the global online world
The Internet mindset:
Communication is personal, not mass market
Customer contact is interactive, not broadcast
The customer time frame is theirs, not yours
The culture is bottom-up, not top-down
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

38. Understanding A Networked World The Internet Mindset cont.
Communication is personal, not mass market
Communication is ‘up close and personal’, not top-down mass marketing
Message to traditional marketing departments = “Your ad copy is boring”
Some corporate Web pages are stuck in the traditional advertising model, ‘duplicating’ the ‘printed page’
THEY ARE USING THE WRONG MINDSET: MASS MARKET RATHER THAN PERSONAL
Others get it ‘right’ and give people a way to create their ‘own’ pages e.g. My-Yahoo, My-CNN etc.
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

39. Understanding A Networked World The Internet Mindset cont.
Customer Contact is Interactive, Not Broadcast
The single most important point of view to take toward the Internet is to view it as interactive, not broadcast:
Incoming, not outgoing
In essence, the Internet is a customer’s window to companies
It is substantially different from TV because customers can initiate communications with a firm rather than merely react to their ads
Customer-initiated dialog supported by the Internet significantly challenges marketing departments, customer support groups and fulfillment folks
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

40. Understanding A Networked World The Internet Mindset cont.
The customer time frame is theirs, not yours
Customers are closer than most companies have ever experienced
Being put on hold increasingly irks
Today’s consumers are busy with little patience with waiting
As with TV remote controls, customers who do not get immediate satisfaction will switch to the competition with a point and click
Assess any proposed Internet business solution:
WILL OUR FIRM’S INTERNET STRATEGY TRULY HELP OUR CUSTOMERS COMMUNICATE WITH US?
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

41. Understanding A Networked World The Internet Mindset cont.
The culture is bottom-up, not top-down
The Internet is not the expert’s world where the few impart their knowledge to the many
The message is clear for IS departments:
IS cannot work in the top-down broadcast mode, “I’m IS and I’m the expert, so here’s your solution customer”
More than ever, IS must get input from its customers to determine the services they want, when they want them and where they want them
Hearing directly from customers is both a goldmine and a massive challenge, especially to those with a broadcast mindset
FEEDBACK, FEEDBACK, FEEDBACK!!
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

42. Understanding A Networked World Where’s the Value in a Network?
To leverage the Internet (or any network), it helps to understand where value is created
When computers (or items containing computers) are not networked, each one needs to provide both front-end and back-end intelligence (coupled intelligence)
Introduce a network and these two forms of intelligence can be decoupled, and better optimized
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

43. Understanding A Networked World Where’s the Value in a Network? cont.
The back-end intelligence (to store and process data) is best when centralized, made robust, is stable, is standardized, and can be housed in a core-shared infrastructure
The front-end intelligence (for interacting with the user), is most useful when it can be dispersed to a myriad of devices that can be small, mobile, customized, and specialized
Networks allow value in four places, leading to four new kinds of businesses:
At the core and periphery
In common infrastructures
In modules
From orchestration
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

44. Understanding A Networked World Where’s the Value in a Network? cont.
Core and Periphery Services
Value moves to the ends
Value is in the core (leadership and strategy handled by top management) and the periphery (customer-facing employees making decisions and taking actions) – or in the IT infrastructure and end devices
Common Infrastructures
Elements of any infrastructure
An organization, a system, a business process…
That were distributed are being pulled together and operated as a utility
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

45. Understanding A Networked World Where’s the Value in a Network? cont.
Modules
Software, devices, organizational capabilities, and business processes are being divided into self-standing modules so that they can quickly and easily connect to form a value chain for responding to circumstances
Orchestrating Modules
When modules are abundant, there’s value in being able to bring them together
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

46. Understanding A Networked World The Rules of Networks
Three distinguishing characteristics of e-economy:
It is global
It favors soft things - intangibles, such as software, information, ideas, and most importantly relationships - over hard things, such as trucks, steel, and cement
It is intensely interlinked
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

47. The Rules of Networks cont. 1. Aim for Relationship Tech.
All about connecting
Connecting more devices to a network exponentially increases the value of the network for everyone involved as so many new connections are created
Today’s world is all about networks = connecting.
With unlimited connections & abundant information, the organization is peer-to-peer rather than hierarchical
Customer & company create together on a peer-to-peer basis, they both get smarter together & develop a closer relationship
Technology that enhances these relationships is called relationship tech
Company with the smartest customers wins – requires more trust from both company & customer
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

48. The Rules of Networks cont. 2. Follow the Free
The best gets better and cheaper at the same time
The network economy is founded on this principle of decreasing price for increasing quality – smart companies anticipate this & offer products for free
The most valuable goods & services are those that are most abundant – they increase the value of every other one
Netscape gave the browser away free & sold the servers. This strategy worked until Microsoft with a large market did the same thing & took away the market share
How you make money in this market:
Aim for free, but only achieve cheap = same effect
Give away the core product & sell the service
Structure the business so that you will be profitable when your product is free
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

49. The Rules of Networks cont. 3. Feed the Web First
More important to be on the right network or network platform.
It is important to be on the right network, or network platform – a Mac or Windows person?
A companies success depends on the standards it chooses – choice of ERP packages & bolt-ons to then choose from
In the network economy, enterprises will shift their focus from maximizing their own value to maximizing the value of their network
Its to early to tell how important one wireless Internet access platform will be over another & to whom the choice will have the greatest value
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

50. Moving Forward
So far (this chapter) = about processes, structures and technologies
Moving forward though, is about people
It is people who will lead us into this new business world and the people who will be led.
First = discuss the followers
Then = what the leaders need to know to be comfortable with talking about IT
N.B.: Not all people have the same inclinations to use IT
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

51. Moving Forward Understanding Users
Individuals, work groups, departments, even business units have different levels of eagerness concerning any new technology
To help them use a new technology IS needs to understand user comfort levels
Levels of comfort with new Technology (see Figure 14-1):
Eager Beavers: The Innovators and Pioneers (.5%)
Early Adopters: The First Consumers (5%)
Early Majority: The First Big wave (30-35%)
Late Majority: The Technology Skeptics (40-50%)
Technically Averse: “Not On My Time You Don’t” (10-15%)
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

52. ©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

53. Moving Forward Understanding Users cont.
Eager Beavers - The Innovators and Pioneers
Noisiest
Everything about (technology) is wonderful (today = wireless)
Most = in software and hardware companies where their enthusiasm (vision?) might be an asset
Some = part of ‘Advanced Technology Group’
Approach = support them with some funding and learn from them
‘Bleeding edge’ companies may need to support with big $$$$
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

54. Moving Forward Understanding Users cont.
Early Adopters: The First Consumers
‘Disciples’, not too far behind the innovators
Often have a lot of discretionary income ($$$) and think the corporation does too!
Enterprises could miss a market by ignoring these people
Approach = Need to be managed.
They need IS’s help and encouragement but should not be allowed to overwhelm
Watch $$$ closely!
Make sure they invest their own money in the experiments
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

55. Moving Forward Understanding Users cont.
Early Majority: The First Big Wave
Willing to use technology but need some help to make it happen
Not the self-sufficient pioneers or risk takers
Tend to be in relatively important positions
Make or break introduction of new technology
Approach = Need to understand how they view the company, customers and competition; then help them choose a strategy to expand their familiarity with, say, the wireless Internet
IS management must become adept at creating options that can be tested for acceptance or rejection
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

56. Moving Forward Understanding Users cont.
Late Majority: The Technology Skeptics
Not afraid of technology, but they do have serious concerns about risks and costs
Concerned about wasting time and $
Approach = IS management needs to be prepared to address risks and costs as they are to address technology opportunities
Need to show an appreciation of ‘bottom-line’ ($) concerns and answer security questions at a level that late majority people can appreciate
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

57. Moving Forward Understanding Users cont.
Technically Averse: Not on My Time You Don’t
Resist technology e.g. not currently doing anything about the wireless Internet or Web Services
In many cases, their concerns about loss of privacy, security, control, and possible exposure to competition override any perceived benefits of the technology
Some = industry ‘trend’ / trait
Sunk costs etc.
Approach = IS first needs to understand their concerns
They (may) have justifiable business fears that need to be identified and addressed before any thought of using a new technology for business purposes can be entertained
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

58. Moving Forward Understanding Users cont.
The Technology Camel:
IS Management – The ‘Bottom Line’
IS Department (Management) need to recognize and acknowledge each cluster’s concerns about new technology, and then develop a multi-tiered approach to respond to the diverse concerns
Eager Beavers: The Innovators and Pioneers (.5%)
Early Adopters: The First Consumers (5%)
Early Majority: The First Big wave (30-35%)
Late Majority: The Technology Skeptics (40-50%)
Technically Averse: “Not On My Time You Don’t” (10-15%)
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

59. Moving Forward Increasing Executives’ Understanding of IT
Finally, we end this chapter / lecture and book / unit, as we began it, on the subject of leadership
Leadership of IT is no longer a technical challenge; it is a challenge for all business managers
CIOs need to ensure that the business managers:
Stay abreast of the changes and new uses of IT
Are comfortable with IT, and
Understand its impact and potential value to the business
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

60. Moving Forward Increasing Executives’ Understanding of IT cont.
The dot-com boom and bust also had a “damaging” effect on collective opinions about IT because many executives and venture capitalists believe the money they spent creating Websites and funding new e-businesses was wasted
New channels to the customer did not pay off
As a result, many now de-emphasize the importance of e-commerce at the very time when early promise is being realized in many industries and sectors
There is an e-commerce boom taking place right now, even though the hype is gone
CIOs need to be concerned with the potential gap between what their fellow business executives believe is important about IT versus what they really need to know to effectively guide the use of IT
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

61. Increasing Executives’ Understanding of IT cont
Increasing Executives’ Understanding of IT cont. Executives’ Leadership Roles
These roles include:
Setting the tone of the enterprise toward technology
Envisioning how IT can serve business strategy
Governing as well as leading
Using IT to promote business change, and
Assessing costs and benefits
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

62. Project management is another topic of current interest
Increasing Executives’ Understanding of IT cont. Current, Longstanding, and Upcoming IT Issues
The impact of new regulations is a current issue, with a potentially huge impact
Project management is another topic of current interest
Measuring the value of IT is a continuing topic of interest, as is change management and organization and control of the IS organization
Cross-organizational e-processes are areas on the verge of breaking through, as is obtaining services via the Web
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

63. Increasing Executives’ Understanding of IT cont
Increasing Executives’ Understanding of IT cont. Means for Executive Learning
These include:
Learning by doing
Learning by governing, and
Learning via educational programs
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

64. MIT’S IT FOR THE NON-IT EXECUTIVE PROGRAM Case Example: Executive Learning
This two-day course is given three times a year and has attendees
The program is not about technology; rather, it presents frameworks and a vocabulary to help non-IT managers and executives understand, in business terms, what is going on with the technology
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

65. Moving Forward Educating IS About the Business
“When it comes to educating users about IT, my philosophy is that we in IS should be educating ourselves about the business environment”
Some options
Train in the Business
Move into the Business
Encourage direct reports to move into the business
Include an option to come back
Lead with the Business
Get the business to take the lead on an IT project
Attend Business Programs
Need for education in “business speak”
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

66. SIM’S STRATEGIC BUSINESS LEADERS PROGRAM Case Example: Educating IS About the Business
2 day program which gives senior IS leaders a place to interact with business leaders
1st program = “Navigating Unchartered Waters: The Global Economy and Business Strategy”
5 session program
7 business + X technology (max. = 25)
Sessions:
Informal Getting-to-Know-You activities
Establishing the Framework
The Business Perspective
Integration with the Technology Perspective
Practical Take-Aways
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

67. Conclusion We are indeed in a business revolution
With it, the use of IT is changing in kind
It has shifted from amplifying thinking and processing to amplifying communicating and connecting
It is now much more about relationships than transactions (which happen in the background) and are becoming increasingly sophisticated
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

68. Conclusion cont.
Now that this shift has been made, IT becomes about business and needs to be the responsibility of the business folks, not just technology folks
The foundations of past ways of working are changing
That is the exciting exploration that is going on right now, as people grapple with creating the new work environment and the challenge it presents
©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.

69. ©2006 Barbara C. McNurlin. Published by Pearson Education.