IS for Managers (INFO 640)

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IS for Managers (INFO 640)

• L1(b) Challenges in introducing and managing
  IS/IT in modern day organizations
• GP Dhillon, PhD
• Associate Professor of IS
• School of Business, VCU

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Assessing your IT department
IT does not support customer relations. Its
generally viewed as an overhead. And is often the
first target for reduced spending when profit
margins get tight. The IT manager generally
reports to the CFO
Co. commits significant capital to IT but follow,
not lead, the industry in automation efforts
Characterized by a CIOs who reports to the CEO.
Absolute need to execute strategic plans
The CEO delegates technology responsibility to a
CIO who is more concerned with standards than
changing customer relationships. IT is still very
much an overhead item
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The eras
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Current trends and challenges

• The challenge of IS planning
• The challenge of time required for successful
  organizational learning about IT limits the
  practical speed of change
• The challenge of managing disruptive technologies
  (e.g. the Internet)
• The challenge of developing competencies for
  harnessing IT
• The challenge of remaining ethical
• The challenge of information security

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The challenge of IS planning

• Achieve two way strategic alignment
• Develop effective relationships with the line
  management
• Deliver and implement new systems
• Build and manage infrastructure
• Reskill the IT organization
• Manage vendor partnership
• Redesign and manage the federal IT organization

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The challenge of time required for successful
organizational learning about IT limits the
practical speed of change
Innovate
A
Realize
B
Deliver
Loop A dominant Innovate/Change Increasing
returns Loop B dominant Supply/Stability
Decreasing returns
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The challenge of managing disruptive technologies

• Companies that utilize disruptive technologies or
  have a product or a service that is disruptive,
  should remember that their success depends on
  both the customers and investors for resources.
• Since small markets don't solve the growth needs
  of large companies, the launch and sustainability
  of a disruptive product or service needs to be
  positioned accordingly.
• Since disruptive technology products and services
  are novel, it is hard to analyze their respective
  markets, which do not exist.
• Ability to create a business model, product or a
  service does not necessarily mean that there is a
  demand for such a product or service, i.e.
  technology supply may not equal market demand.

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The challenge of developing competencies for
harnessing IT
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The challenge of remaining ethical

• Issues of privacy and confidentiality
• Accessibility to technology issues
• Property rights and ownership issues
• Freedom of speech issues
• Issues of quality and reliability of information
  and the related systems

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The challenge of information security