Chapter 14: Eight Imperatives for the New IT Organization


John F. Rockart, Michael J. Earl, Jeanne W. Ross

Overview

Change has become the trademark of the business world in the 1990s. The pace of change is so frenetic that organizational theorists view change management as a critical competency—in some cases, the critical competency—for successful organizations in the future. New customer demands and technological capabilities are causing organizations to undergo transformations that involve redefining their very mission. Not surprisingly, subunits within those organizations, particularly the information technology (IT) function, are also rethinking their roles. The growing importance of information, coupled with the increased distribution of the technology to knowledgeable users, has both IT professionals and business managers reexamining the role of the IT unit. Some wonder whether there will even be a role for the IT function. This article presents our perspective on the future of the IT organization, based on three years of research on IT's changing role.

Our conclusions are partially drawn from a study of new IT management practices in fifty firms and a comparative study of IT organizations in four countries.[1] As part of the latter project, we interviewed IS executives at four large U.S. corporations and twelve European and Japanese companies. Their views on the future of IT organizations in general and, more particularly, their plans and change programs for their organizations, form the basis for our thinking. These CIOs and other IS managers with whom we have discussed the future role of IT offered diverse views of their environments. Most had unique plans for their particular units, but many common themes emerged.

We review these themes first by exploring changes in business and technology that are driving changes in the role and structure of IT units. We then define and discuss eight "imperatives" for IT organizations in responding to these changes. Finally, we suggest the responsibilities that will become core activities of the IT unit and emphasize a major factor necessary to its future success: line management's assumption of a joint leadership role for IT.

[1]See, for example, Ross, Beath, and Goodhue (1994), Ross, Beath, and Goodhue (1996). The comparative study, a joint research project between the MIT Center for Information Systems Research (CISR) and the Centre for Research in Information Management (CRIM) at London Business School, led by Michael Earl, examines similarities and differences in IT management in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Japan.




Inventing the Organizations of the 21st Century
Inventing the Organizations of the 21st Century
ISBN: 026263273X
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2005
Pages: 214

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