SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT AND COST ESTIMATING

Systems development cost estimating is a critical challenge for most IS managers. Inaccurate low estimates result in overruns and can reduce senior management's confidence in IS. Inaccurate high estimates can dissuade corporate management from funding worthwhile IS projects. If cost estimates are entered into a corporate budget, management may be even more concerned about them. The cost-estimating practices in effect at 115 organizations were studied to determine why cost estimating remains such a challenge for IS managers and to devise some guidelines to help IS management arrive at more accurate estimates.     

Integrating IS Disciplines into End-User Training

Abstract

In addition to software training, users need to learn systems analysis concepts and development techniques that will enable them to develop better and more reliable end-user applications. IS managers should realize that this type of IS-sponsored training not only improves the users’ productivity but the IS staffs as well.     

The Project Manager: An Emerging Professional

Unlike other managers in the IS department, project managers require a specific set of skills to help them manage the varying elements of a project. This article describes the tools, techniques, and training project managers need to complete a project successfully.     

Blending bureaucratic and collaborative management styles to achieve control ambidexterity in IS projects

Managing information systems (IS) projects requires what we refer to as ‘control ambidexterity’, which is the use of different types of control to meet conflicting demands. This leads to the use of contrasting styles of IS project management and creates tensions in managerial practice, neither of which are well understood. We address this theoretical gap in our understanding based on an exploratory case study of an IS implementation project in the financial services industry. Adopting the lens of management styles as a meta-theoretical perspective, we sought to address two research questions: (1) Which management style(s) do IS project managers draw upon in practice and why? (2) What kinds of tensions result for IS project managers and team members from drawing upon contrasting management styles in combination – and how do IS project managers and team members deal with these tensions? Two contrasting styles of management emerged from our data – bureaucratic and collaborative – that are drawn upon by IS project managers to achieve control ambidexterity. Furthermore, drawing upon these two different styles in combination within the confines of a single project creates tensions. We explore these tensions and present an illustrative example of how IS project managers can deal with these tensions successfully in practice. Specifically, we find that they can be dealt with effectively by a tandem of two project managers who share responsibility for managing the IS project. The findings of this study have important implications for our understanding of control ambidexterity in IS projects.     

Integrating IS Disciplines into End-User Training

In addition to software training, users need to learn systems analysis concepts and development techniques that will enable them to develop better and more reliable end-user applications. IS managers should realize that this type of IS-sponsored training not only improves the users' productivity but the IS staffs as well.     

CREATING A BALANCED IS MEASUREMENT PROGRAM

Although IS measurement programs have long posed challenges in terms of focus and implementation, they have the potential to provide IS managers with the opportunity to improve software development and maintenance based on information not intuition. This article presents a framework that helps IS managers ensure that all critical aspects of the IS function are represented in a measurement program and that the metrics developed for each of them are based on the delineation of appropriate goals. Creating this comprehensive, custom-tailored program provides IS managers with the information they need to formulate targeted actions for improvement.     

A study of subsidiaries’ views of information systems strategic planning in multinational organisations

This research examines information systems strategic planning (ISSP) in multinationals from the perspective of the subsidiaries. The research was carried out through interviews with the IT and business managers in subsidiaries of nine large American, European, and Japanese multinationals. The evidence from this study reveals that, in the majority of these organisations, IS planning is either centralised or moving towards centralisation. The main focus of IS planning, in many of these organisations, is to control cost and achieve scale economies. As centralisation increases IT tends to control the planning process and, as a result, IS planning becomes more tactical than strategic and is dominated by IT infrastructure planning. Project implementation was the main criterion used to measure IS planning success. However, due to the dominant role of IT, the subsidiary business managers are often less satisfied with the IS planning approach compared with the subsidiary IT managers. The level of involvement of business managers and their satisfaction with ISSP was related to the degree of decentralisation of responsibility for IS planning.     

Building Effective Project Teams

Most IS managers know that managing a project to its successful completion is not an easy task. Conflicts among team members often delay a project's schedule and can ruin the team's morale. Although most managers usually follow the traditional, authoritative style of management to control their team members, this style is no longer considered as effective as the more contemporary, collaborative approach. This article describes how IS managers can manage their projects more effectively by creating collaborative project teams.     

Enhancing the Climate for Creativity for Software Designers

Measurement of the degree to which company climate is supportive of creativity is becoming increasingly important. Tight economic conditions worldwide make it imperative for companies to find ways to generate more innovative products and services. This paper provides data on measurement of degree of creativity in climates of business organizations in general, then data specific to one profession, the Information Systems profession. It also discusses ways the climate for creativity can be enhanced to improve both creativity and productivity. However, the information is not only important to managers of IS, but also to the clients of IS. The departments for whom IS is designing software are equally concerned that software developers have a climate supportive of creative efforts. Therefore, this survey of programmers and analysts should be of interest across the company, not just to IS management.     

Technical and management perceptions of enterprise information system importance, implementation and benefits

Abstract.  This paper compares information systems (IS) integration in high-tech organizations from the information technology (IT) and general management perspectives. All the organizations studied have experience of integrated Enterprise Resource Planning systems, and some with their extension to Supply Chain Management and Customer Relationship Management systems. The operational scope of the sample systems, and senior IT and general management perceptions of the importance of their functions, benefits and implementation success factors, obtained by qualitative interviews with 49 senior managers and a quantitative survey of 219 high-tech companies, are described and compared. Although the opinions expressed indicate some mutual hostility, IT and general management perceptions of IS implementation were very similar. IT managements overall importance assessments of business functions were more strongly correlated with their overall level of implementation, and they tended to rate system benefits and system reliability more highly. The significance of these findings is discussed and some suggestions for further investigation, placing them in a wider context, are made. Arguably, the similarities found are more important than the differences.     

Critical IS professional activities and skills/knowledge: A perspective of IS managers

This study utilized the activity competency model to investigate the perceived importance of critical professional activities and skills/knowledge required by three levels of information system (IS) managers. Our findings indicated that the perceived importance of critical IS professional activities were significantly different among the management levels, but not significantly different for various industry types. Carrying a critical IS activity out involves the use of a number of different skills and/or knowledge. A portfolio of the professional activities and the needed skills/knowledge at each management level are identified. The results of this study have implications for IS professional development and training. They can also serve as a guideline for recruiting the right IS managers and developing IS curriculums.     

Building Effective Project Teams

Most IS managers know that managing a project to its successful completion is not an easy task. Conflicts among team members often delay a project's schedule and can ruin the team's morale. Although most managers usually follow the traditional, authoritative style of management to control their team members, this style is no longer considered as effective as the more contemporary, collaborative approach. This article describes how IS managers can manage their projects more effectively by creating collaborative project teams.     

Partnering Roles of the IS Executive

IS partnering-the formation of linkages with managers both internal and external to the IS department-is critical to effective leadership in today's strategically focused organizations. This article discusses the leadership and partnering roles essential to IS managers as well as to an ideal IS management team.     

The relative influence of management control and user–IS personnel interaction on project performance

Research has failed to establish a conclusive link between levels of user involvement and information system project success. Communication and control theories indicate that the quality of interactions between users and inofrmation personnel may serve to better the coordinaton in a project and lead to greater success. A model is developed that directly relates management control to the quality of interaction and project success, with interaction quality as a potential intermediary. These variables provide a more distinct relationship to success as interactions are more structurally defined and controlled. A survey of 196 IS professionals provides evidence that management control techniques improve the quality of user–IS personnel interactions and eventual project success. These formal structures provide guidelines for managers in controlling the critical relations between users and IS personnel.     

MANAGING THE DISTRIBUTED ENVIRONMENT An Architecture for Success

As more organizations move to complex distributed information processing environments, IS managers must reexamine their method of controlling the data, software, and applications that run across the systems of the various departments. The increased challenge in protecting the security of data and applications has led to the need for a more efficient management plan.     

THE BASICS OF RIGHTSIZING The Key to an Effective IS Department

An important part of the IS department's function is to provide timely, quality assistance to its users as well as its senior managers, who often need detailed information to make critical business decisions. In most organizations, however, the IS department is not positioned properly to perform this much-needed task. This article discusses three principles for rightsizing the IS department so it can properly manage its resources in support of the organization and its users.     

A Systemic Approach to Change Management

As a proactive process emphasizing IT-based process change, IS planning shares several objectives with business process reengineering and total quality management. This article discusses how IS planning can form the platform for an integrated approach to change management, provides steps for achieving the integration, and suggests how IS managers can foster the IS function's supportive role in an integrated effort toward organizational change.     

A Systemic Approach to Change Management

As a proactive process emphasizing IT-based process change, IS planning shares several objectives with business process reengineering and total quality management. This article discusses how IS planning can form the platform for an integrated approach to change management, provides steps for achieving the integration, and suggests how IS managers can foster the IS function's supportive role in an integrated effort toward organizational change.     

Developing a set of management needs for IS managers: a study of necessary managerial activities and skills

This study presents an activity competency model (ACM) that was developed to investigate the perceived importance of managerial activities and skills/knowledge required of three levels of information systems (IS) managers from three types of industries. Our findings indicate that, not surprisingly, the importance of IS managerial activities varies significantly for different levels of management but does not vary significantly for different industries. The results of this study have implications for management development, training, and IS management career planning. They can also serve as a guideline for recruiting the right IS managers.