Some Management Challenges

When bringing about the UNITY change that is being advocated here, one of the most important challenges is likely to be at CEO level. Currently, many CEO’s would already consider themselves to be as deeply involved in their IT exploitation as the situation demands. Indeed, it is true that in many cases they already spend considerable quality time on this subject, even though many would admit that they have deep concerns about whether this time is wisely spent.

It is quite natural for a hard pressed CEO to delegate matters that require his investment in a steep learning curve. However, whilst that was understandable when IT was only just emerging as a critical business transformational force, its key contribution in that role is now abundantly clear for all to see, and no self respecting CEO can therefore justify not raising their personal awareness of at least the critical success issues.

A lack of board level awareness of even the most basic critical success issues surrounding IT exploitation is a major hindrance to soundly based board level direction of this activity, as is some directors' deep personal reluctance to deal with this inadequacy. This reluctance to be properly involved can result in too much influence by external consultants, and too little cognisance being taken of important underlying business issues and cultural imperatives.

IT is the one major business area where individual business directors do not have a meaningful instinct or 'feel' for the longer term business consequences of their decisions or, perhaps more importantly, for the underlying risks associated with major IT developments. Clearly this lack of board level awareness and sensitivity is a major impediment to maximising the benefits and minimising the risks in the transformation of the business into the new e-business environment.

There are particular challenges in the case of highly decentralised businesses where the traditional devolved accountability of the ‘business barons', and their strong traditional business independence in the heavily decentralised organisation, can allow costly and high risk IT anarchy. This is often tolerated - and sometimes even encouraged - in the name of legitimate devolved personal accountability.

A more integrated view of the way forward, that puts more emphasis on the importance of business process effectiveness as well as functional efficiency, also raises many highly political and management accountability issues. These challenge traditional and long established management concepts, and the management power structure that had grown up around them. Slowness in responding to this challenge is still an impediment to much beneficial change in many organisations.

The general management challenge that has to be addressed concerns two sides of the same coin. We have to design new business processes/systems that need to deliver improved business efficiencies in the new e-business scenario. However, at the same time we also need to address the root causes of past inadequacies if we are to be confident that those inadequacies are not to seriously jeopardise current objectives. Additionally there is a requirement for a new generation of IT infrastructure upon which those systems will depend for their effectiveness.

If we are to meet this challenge we have to change the established business culture, attitude and management process in connection with new system developments, such that those systems are developed in a more timely, cost effective and future proof manner. This inevitably calls for a wide spectrum of changes in the way in which IT is currently organised and delivered throughout the business.

The management, organisational and cultural changes that are needed to address current inadequacies and achieve deeper business involvement and management accountability are fundamental. In most businesses such change is likely to have a significant impact on the established traditional IT exploitation culture.

Such a significant culture change means that all parties to the IT exploitation process, both throughout the business and within the IT professional community, need to challenge the traditional IT management norms of the past which have predominantly focused on the management of the technology itself.

On the business management side of the equation, the attitude, behaviour and practice of many business people in relation to IT developments has to undergo substantial change. This change must be facilitated through a better informed business culture in relation to IT developments and this needs to be accompanied by a re-focussing of the IT management organisation and the development process itself. These are substantial challenges by any measure.

Bad IT experiences by business managers and directors over many years have created justifiable cynicism in the minds of many business people. There is no doubt that the blame culture between business people and IT has been a comforting wall for some to hide behind when project delivery and quality problems have arisen. There is consequently a great reluctance by some business people to become more involved and thus more directly accountable for their IT activities.

Finally, a typical business person’s perception of the IT Director’s role is that he or she is almost exclusively a specialist technology expert, rather than a business change specialist, and this reinforces the business view of the IT function as simply a ‘techie’ service. Consequently this does not encourage a strong focus on business process issues, rather than on the technology that is simply a tool with which to address them.

In spite of the fact that there is clearly a huge business/IT culture gap, many IT directors still do not seem to realise the extent of the business relationship problem that they should be addressing. Many are certainly not prepared to devote prime quality time to relationship management matters, or perhaps they feel that they don’t have the time to do so when the pressures to keep up with technology developments are as never before. For those people this situation has to change.

"IS Professionals who don't change today won't see tomorrow."

James Martin