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Change Management
StrategyM.L. Markus and R.I. Benjamin
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Purpose
To stimulate information systems
specialists efforts to become more
effective and credible agent of
organizational change
To improve organizational effectiveness in
order to avoid IT implementation failures
at great cost in money, organizational
competitiveness, and individual careers.
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Introduction Why do IS specialists need to become better
agents of organizational change?
Reasons
New IT is an organizational intervention
Need to know how to market How IT is implemented is a major factor in the
results organizations achieve from new ITs.
Change Agentry will become a large part of IS
work Outsourcing of in-house technical IS work
Organization-specific knowledge stays in-house
IT Implementation and change management issuesare unlikely to diminish
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Introduction (contd)
Reasons (contd)
To improve IS specialist credibility
Strong mutual relationship between credibility andchange management skill
Effective IS specialists act out of the box
Transform not only their interpersonal
relationships with clients, but also behavior ofmanagers and users in IT projects and decision
making
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Issues Disagreement in both theory and practice
3 models on what change agents do andwhy
Traditional IS model
Facilitator model Identified in various Organizational Development
(OD) text, (Schwarz (1944)and Cummings and Huse(1989))
Advocate model Originated from the innovation, management, and
change politics literatures, (Kanter et al.,1992;Rogers, 1995)
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Traditional IS model
Technology causes change
No change responsibilities beyond building
technology
The managers pair of hands Not responsible for achieving change or
improvements in organizational
performances
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Consequences Widespread systems failures for social reasons
Perspective in handling users training
Groupware Implementation
IS inhibiting change
Technology standards
Personal/group interest: Learning & Costs
Low IS credibility
Outsourcing: Poor financial performances
Poor interpersonal skills Heterophilous (different in background, beliefs systems &interests
Lack value congruence
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Structural Conditions
IS specialists are sole providers of services
Clients have limited technical and sourcing
options
Low budget pressure existsLack of external competitions
IS specialists rewarded based on functional
unit goals
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The Facilitator model
Clients make change using technology;technology does not
Facilitators
Promote change
Avoid exert power/other power over clients
Serve interests of all clients
Not responsible for changes; clients areresponsible
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Consequences
Greater attention to building user capacityTo increase project success and IS credibility
Emphasis on client self-sufficiency
To reduce client resentment & increase IScredibility
New information technologies provide
greater opportunities to IS specialists as
facilitators than as experts/builders
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Structured Conditions
FacilitatorNot a client group member
Lies outside the hierarchical chain-of-command
Not formally responsible for business resultsValuable expertise will be negated
Authority for organizational control
Sending mixed messages
Authority for technical outcomes
Concerns about locus of employment
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The Advocate Model
People make changeIdentifying and direction of change
Advocate influence change target as
desirable More flexible in accepting change
Whatever works
Serve the organizations best interests eventhere are personal or professional conflicts
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Consequences
Benefits from using advocate model Managers unaware of how IT can be deployed
Sharing traditional IS specialists belief
Technology to create organizational change
IS specialists to add business value
Advocating process change & user skill training
Emphasis on communication
Lack of communications
CIOs, CEOs, Managers, IS analyst and users
Change agentry is a contact sport Increase Credibility and communications
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Consequences (Contd)
The advocate role may fit the issues of ITinfrastructure
Todays challenge
To ensure levels of commonality
Interoperability to support internal/externalcommunication & future flexibility
Public goods problem
Advocate uses consensus decision-making
approach To negotiate the political shoals of IT infrastructure
development
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Structural Conditions
2 assumptions to define the change agentsrole
1st assumption
Involve in govt funded/public organizationsTactics:
communicating/empathizing with change targets
Gaining targets confidence (social station &
attitudes)
Working through the targets opinion leaders
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Structural Conditions
2nd assumption on change agents roleAdvocates are line managers
Mandate and enforce changes do not work
Applying behavior modeling, changingorganizational symbols, displaying of power
Problems:
Lack of line mgmt authority
Lack of direct authority over users and the managerswho funded the project
Require Senior executive to initiate and support thechange project
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Implications
IS specialist have different levels of skill inclient contact & involvement in bringing
organizational change Suggestions:
Intellectually familiar with, behaviorallyskilled in, and highly adaptable to the 3
models
To increase credibility and contribute toorganizational success with IT
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Research Agenda
Educational Reform To improve interpersonal or soft skills
Debate about the place of soft skills training in IS and other
technical curricula.
Proposed a change in the relevant content and outline a program
structure in IS academics.
Role plays using case scenarios are the best ways to foster
affective and behavioral learning. computers and society course be the first course in the track.
Effectively engage them in the intellectual level, setting the stage
for later behavioral and affective growth.
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Research Agenda (contd)
Educational Reform (cont) Promotes the development of insight and perspective before
the student takes more technical subjects later on.
Second course will focus on interpersonal skills in the IS
context to complement cognitive skills development. It will cover individual differences (cognitive, affective,
behavioral) and the students own personal style.
Active listening skills, interpersonal conflict, interviewingtechniques.
Recognition of, and intervention in, group and intergroup
dynamics. The last course will be the course in change agentry, the last in
the soft skills track.
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Research Agenda (contd)
In-house training and development is necessary because the structural aspects of their jobs are likely
to jeopardize their credibility.
Partner with neutral internal training staff or academics to
design/conduct training.
Make participation voluntary and avoid including bosses and
their subordinates.
Dont worry excessively about the training materials at first.
Document and disseminate the key lessons learned to buildinterest in others in attending subsequent trainings.
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Research Agenda (contd)
IS professional ethics Ethical dilemma arises from their change agent roles: when
interests differ, whose interests are to be served?
Ethical codes prepared for computer science community did
not address these issues.
IS community needs a separate code that specifically addresses
the ethical dilemmas faced by in-house IS professionals, to
tackle in house change agentry role in particular.
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Conclusion Obstacles
Differing views about what it means to be a change agent,
inhibiting progress.
Many IS specialists do not see any need to change.
Structural barriers to change in the change agentry role, esp.over-reliance on technical expertise, control authority, and an
inappropriate reward system.
Positive Prospect
IS managers and executives structural abilities as effectivechange advocates
Voluntary efforts on the part of IS departments to relinquish or
share the control that their clients resent.
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