Change Management Strategy

M.L. Markus and R.I. Benjamin

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.

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 issues are unlikely to diminish

Introduction (contd)
Reasons (contd) To improve IS specialist credibility
Strong mutual relationship between credibility and change management skill Effective IS specialists act out of the box Transform not only their interpersonal relationships with clients, but also behavior of managers and users in IT projects and decision making

Issues
Disagreement in both theory and practice 3 models on what change agents do and why
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)

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

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

Structural Conditions
IS specialists are sole providers of services Clients have limited technical and sourcing options Low budget pressure exists
Lack of external competitions

IS specialists rewarded based on functional unit goals

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 are

responsible

Consequences
Greater attention to building user capacity
To increase project success and IS credibility

Emphasis on client self-sufficiency

To reduce client resentment & increase IS credibility

New information technologies provide greater opportunities to IS specialists as facilitators than as experts/builders

Structured Conditions
Facilitator
Not a client group member Lies outside the hierarchical chain-of-command Not formally responsible for business results

Valuable expertise will be negated

Authority for organizational control
Sending mixed messages

Authority for technical outcomes

Concerns about locus of employment

The Advocate Model

People make change
Identifying and direction of change

Advocate influence change target as desirable More flexible in accepting change Whatever works Serve the organizations best interests even there are personal or professional conflicts

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

Consequences (Contd)
The advocate role may fit the issues of IT infrastructure Todays challenge
To ensure levels of commonality Interoperability to support internal/external

communication & future flexibility Public goods problem

Advocate uses consensus decision-making approach

To negotiate the political shoals of IT infrastructure

development

Structural Conditions
2 assumptions to define the change agents role 1st assumption
Involve in govt funded/public organizations

Tactics:
communicating/empathizing with change targets Gaining targets confidence (social station & attitudes) Working through the targets opinion leaders

Structural Conditions
2nd assumption on change agents role
Advocates are line managers Mandate and enforce changes do not work Applying behavior modeling, changing organizational symbols, displaying of power Problems:
Lack of line mgmt authority Lack of direct authority over users and the managers who funded the project Require Senior executive to initiate and support the change project

Implications
IS specialist have different levels of skill in client contact & involvement in bringing organizational change Suggestions:
Intellectually familiar with, behaviorally skilled in, and highly adaptable to the 3 models To increase credibility and contribute to organizational success with IT

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.

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, interviewing techniques. 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.

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 build interest in others in attending subsequent trainings.

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.

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 effective

change advocates Voluntary efforts on the part of IS departments to relinquish or share the control that their clients resent.