learning objectives chapter 4 digital systems and the...

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John Wiley & Sons, Inc. & Dr. Chen, Information Systems – Theory and Practices

Chapter 4

Digital Systems and the

Design of Work

Jason C. H. Chen, Ph.D.

Professor of MIS

School of Business Administration

Gonzaga University

Spokane, WA 99258

[email protected]


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Learning Objectives

• Understand how IT has changed the nature of work.

• Define virtual organizations and how they work.

• List the technologies that are used to support communication and collaboration.

• Explain telecommuting and the technologies that support telecommuting.

• Discuss how managers need to manage virtual teams, and the challenges this creates.

• Understand how attitudes impact technology acceptance in organizations.


Opening Case - American Express (Q/A)

1. What is the “Blue Work” program?

It represents a flexible workplace: staggered hours, off-site

work areas (such as home), shared office space, touch-down

space (laptop-focused, temporary), and telecommuting.

2. What was the impact of Blue Work?

American Express saves $10 million annually. Productivity

improvements, office expense savings, employee satisfaction

are all up. Managers are happy too.

3. What was the strategic thrust behind the Blue Work

program?

American Express viewed workplace flexibility as a

strategic lever. Also, AmEx had a corporate focus on results

rather than hours clocked.

3John Wiley & Sons, Inc. & Dr. Chen, Information Systems – Theory and Practices

Opening Case - American Express (cont.)

4. What are “hub,” “club,” “home,” and “roam”

employees?

Hub: Work in the office;

Club: Share time between the office and other

locations;

Home: work at home at least 3 days a week;

Roam: Are on the road or at customer sites

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INTRODUCTION

• Chapter 3 explored how IT influences the

design on organizational level issues, and

manager's issues both physically and virtually.

• Chapter 4 looks at the impact of IS on the

way work is done by individual workers.

• It explores:

– the changing nature and design of work,

– IT’s impact on different types of workers, and

– the rise of new work environments

N5John Wiley & Sons, Inc. & Dr. Chen, Information Systems – Theory and Practices

Chapter Overview:

Approach to Work• Technology has now brought the approach to work

full circle:

– Time and place of work are increasingly blended with

other aspects of living

– Combined with newer collaboration, social and mobile

technologies, and cloud computing.

• People now can do their work in their own homes

at times that accommodate home-life and leisure

activities.

• They are able to enter cyberspace

working remotely and on virtual teams

the impact of IT on collaboration and communication6

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MEASURES OF IS SUCCESS

1. HIGH LEVELS OF USE

2. USER ______________

3. FAVORABLE ____________

4. ACHIEVED ______________

5. __________ PAYOFF

SATISFACTION

ATTITUDES

OBJECTIVES

FINANCIAL


Question

• What is TAM?

– Technology Acceptance Model

• What is the acronym of MIT

– Massachusetts Institute of Technology

– Made In Taiwan

– Managing Information Technology

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Two Important Models

• Framework for work design impact

(Figure 4.1)

• TAM (Figure 4.9)

– Technology Acceptance Model (Figure 4.9)

– CUSTOMER PERCEIVED VALUE

– Gaining acceptance for IT-induced Change


WORK DESIGN FRAMEWORK

• A simple framework can be used to assess how emerging

technologies may affect work.

• Increasingly, places are being constructed in cyberspace using

Web 2.0 tools that encourage ____________.

• Employees can work at home via cyberspace and at times that

accommodate home-life and leisure activities

• This framework is useful in designing key characteristics of work

by asking key questions (see figure 4.1). Such as:

– What work will be performed?

– Who is going to do the work?

– Where will the work be performed?

– When will the work be performed?

– How can IS increase the effectiveness of the workers doing the

work ? (How can IT support collaboration?)

collaboration

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WHAT:

Figure 4.1 Framework for work design

WHERE: WHEN:WHO:

HOW:

What will be performed?

(e.g., operations, sales,

management)

Who is going to

do the work?

(e.g., individuals, groups)

Where will the work

be performed?

(e.g., at the office, at

home, on the road)

When will the work

be performed?

(e.g., 9-5, 24/7, flexible

scheduling)

How can acceptance of IT-Induced

change be increased?

(e.g., unfreeze-change-refreeze,

Kotter’s 8 steps to managing change,

technology acceptance model)

How can IT enhance the

effectiveness of the

group Doing the work?


efficiency/satisfaction of

the worker Doing the

work?


Figure 4.1 (Revised) Framework for work design

What work need to be performed?

(e.g., Operations: service, manufacturing; sales, management, KM

What is the best way to have these tasks done?

Automate the tasksWho is going to do the work?

Where is that person,

Where is the work performed

(Office, Home, On the Road),

When doing the work?


efficiency and satisfaction of the

worker doing these tasks?

Done by person Done by computer

Individuals Groups

Where is the group doing

the work? (together or

Geographically dispersed)

When doing the work?


Effectiveness of the group

Doing the work?

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When will the

work be perform?

9-5, 24/7 or

Flexible scheduling

Who?

Where?

When

How

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HOW INFORMATION

TECHNOLOGY CHANGES

THE NATURE OF WORK


IT Has Changed Work

IT has:

• Created _____ _____ of work

– Bureau of Labor Statistics: IT employment in the USA is at

an all-time high of 4.9 million

– New jobs such as:

Data scientists/data miners

Social media managers

Communications managers

– IS departments also employ:

Systems analysts, database administrators, network

administrators, and network security advisors.

• Enabled new ways to do __________ work

• Supported new ways to manage _____________ 14

new types

traditional

people/talent


How IT Changes Traditional Work

• Changes the way work is _____

– Broadens skills; faster but more tasks

– Sometimes IT disconnects us from the tasks

– Sometimes people can perform more strategic tasks

– Few staff are engaged in order entry any longer

– Crowdsourcing is now possible at very low cost

(M.Turk)

• Changes how we ___________

– More asynchronous and more irregular

– Social networking has provided new opportunities for

customer interaction

– Collaboration allows a firm to look “big” with new tools15

communicate

done


How IT Changes Traditional Work (cont.)

• Changes _______ _______

– Real-time information; more information available

– Data mining can identify new insights

– Ideas can be gleaned from social networks

– Middle management ranks have shrunk as

Leavitt/Whisler predicted

• Changes __________

– Work is now more team oriented; more collaborative

– Sharing is easier than ever, using multiple methods

– Crowdsourcing can now provide quick answers from

tens, hundreds, or even thousands of people

– We now can disconnect PLACE and TIME (Figure 4.2)16

decision-making

collaboration


Figure 4.2 Collaboration Technologies Matrix:

Examples of key enabling technologies

Team Works at the Same Time

Team Works at Different Time

Team Works in the Same Place

- Face-to-face meetings

- Meeting room

technologies

- Document sharing

systems (wikis)

- Electronic bulletin

boards

- Document sharing

systems (wikis)

Team Works in Different Places

- Video conferencing

- Chat rooms

- Texting (SMS) and instant

messaging (IM)

- Document sharing

systems (wikis)

- E-mail

- Microblogs (e.g.,

Twitter)

- Texting (SMS) and

instant messaging (IM)

- Document sharing

systems (wikis)


How IT Changes Traditional Work (cont.)

• New ways to ________

– Many employees are always connected

– Lines between work and play are now blurred

– For many, home technologies are better than work

technologies

• New ways to manage __________

– Behavior controls – direct supervision

– Outcome controls – examining outcomes not actions

– Personnel controls – pick the right person for the task

– The digital approach provides new opportunities at any of

those three levels (Fig. 4.3)

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connect

people

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Figure 4.3 Changes to

Supervision/Evaluations/Compensation/Hiring

Traditional Approach: Subjective Observation

Digital Approach: Objective Assessment

Supervision It is personal and informal. Manager is usually present or relies on others to ensure that the employee is present and productive.

It is electronic or assessed by deliverables. As long as the employee is producing value, he or she does not need direct formal supervision.

Evaluation Behavior controls are predominant. Focus is on process through direct observation. Manager sees how employee performs at work. Subjective (personal) factors are very important.

Outcome controls are predominant. Focus is on output by deliverable (e.g., meet a sales quota). Fewer subjective measures are used.

Compensation and Rewards

It is often individually based. It is often team based of contractually spelled out.

Hiring Hiring is done through meetings with HR personnel with little concern for computer skills.

It is often electronic with recruiting Web sites and electronic testing for more information-based work that requires a high level of IT skills.

19 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. & Dr. Chen, Information Systems – Theory and Practices

Where Work is Done: Mobile and

Virtual Work

• Much work can be done anywhere, anytime

• People desire the ___________

• Telecommuting = teleworking = working from home

or even in a coffee shop

• Mobile workers work from anywhere (often while

traveling)

• Remote workers = telecommuters + mobile workers

• Virtual teams include remote workers as well as those

in their offices, perhaps scattered geographically

– Virtual teams have a life cycle (Figure 4.4)20

flexibility


Figure 4.4 Key Activities in the Life Cycle of Teams

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Phase Preparation LaunchPerformance Management

Team Development

Disbanding

Key Activities Mission statement

Personnel selection

Task design

Rewards system

Technology selection and installment

Kick off meetings

Getting acquainted

Goal clarification

Norm development

Leadership

Communication

Conflict resolution

Task accomplishment

Motivation

Knowledge management

Norm enforcement and shaping

Assessment of needs/deficits

Individual and/or team training

Evaluation of training effects

Trust building

Recognition of achievements

Re-integration of team members


Telecommuting: Global Status

• A poll of 11,300 employees in 22 countries: 1 in 6 telecommute

• When employees in 13 countries were asked if they need to be in the office to be productive:

– Overall 39% said “yes”

– But specific countries differed in the “yes” votes:

Only 7% in India, but

56% in Japan

57% in Germany

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Fig. 4-5 Drivers of Remote Work and Virtual Teams

Driver Effect

1. Shift to knowledge-based

work

Decouples work from any

particular place

2. Changing demographics

and lifestyle preferences

Workers desire geographic and

time-shifting flexibility

3. New technologies with

enhanced bandwidth

Remotely-performed work is

practical and cost-effective

4. Web ubiquity Can stay connected 24/7

5. “Green/Energy” concerns Reduced commuting costs; real

estate energy consumption;

travel costs


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Fig. 4-6: Some advantages and disadvantages of remote work

Advantages of Remote Work Potential Problems

Reduced stress: better ability to meet

schedules; less distraction at work

Higher morale and lower absenteeism

Geographic flexibility

Higher personal productivity

Housebound individuals can join the

workforce

Informal Dress

Increased stress: Harder to separate

work from home life

Harder to evaluate performance

Employee may become disconnected

from company culture

Telecommuters are more easily

replaced by offshore workers

Not suitable for all jobs or employees

Security might be more difficult

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VIRTUAL TEAMS


Virtual Teams

• Virtual Teams: geographically and/or organizationally dispersed coworkers:

– Assembled using telecommunications and IT

– Aim is to accomplish an organizational task

– Often must be evaluated using outcome controls

• Why are they growing in popularity?

– Information explosion: some specialists are far away

– Enhanced bandwidths/fast connections to outsiders

– Technology is available to assist collaboration

– Less difficult to get relevant stakeholders together

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Challenges Virtual Teams (VT) Traditional Teams

Communications • Multiple zones can lead to

increased inefficiency and

communication difficulties.

• Teams are located in same time

zone. Scheduling is less difficult.

• Communication dynamics (e.g.,

non-verbal) are altered.

• Teams may use richer

communication media including

face-to-face discussions

Technology • Need for proficiency across wide

range of technologies

• Support for face-to-face

interaction without replacing it.

• Automatic creation of electronic

repository to build organizational

memory

• Electronic communication skills

not needed by team members

• Need for ability to align group

structure and technology with the

task environment

• Skills and task-technology fit is

less critical

Team Diversity Members represent different

organizations and/or cultures:

• Harder to establish a group identity.

• Require better communication skills

• More difficult to build trust, norms and

shared meanings

• More likely to have different

perceptions about time and deadlines.

More homogeneous members

• Easier group identity

• Easier to communicate

Figure 4.7 Comparison of challenges facing virtual and traditional teams


Managerial Issues In Telecommuting

and Mobile Work

• Planning, business and support tasks must

be redesigned to support mobile and

remote workers

• Training should be offered so all workers

can understand the new work environment

• Employees selected for telecommuting jobs

must be self-starters

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Managing the Challenges

• _______________ challenges

– Policies and practices must support the work arrangements

– Must prepare differently for meetings

– Slides and other electronic material must be shared beforehand

– Soft-spoken people are difficult to hear; managers must repeat key

messages

– Frequent communications are helpful (hard to “overcommunicate”)

• ____________ challenges

– Provide technology and support to remote workers

– Use high quality web conferencing applications

– Clarify time zones for scheduling

– Information should be available for everyone (cloud storage can

help)

– Policies and norms about use of the technology can be important29

Communications

Technology


Managing the Challenges (cont.)

• _________ challenges

– Concept of time differs throughout the world

• Anglo-American cultures view time as a continuum

(deadlines are important; many prefer not to multitask)

• Indian cultures have a cyclical view of time (deadlines

are less potent; many prefer to multitask)

– Team diversity might need nurturing:

• Communications differences

• Trust building

• Group identity formation

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Diversity

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VIRTUAL ORGANIZATIONS


Virtual Organizations

• A structure that makes it possible for individuals to

work for an organization and live anywhere.

• The Internet and corporate intranets create the

opportunity for individuals to work from anyplace

they can access a computer.

• The structure of a virtual organization is networked.

• Forms are electronic, tech. support through a web interface

• Business processes are also usually through the Web

• Success in a virtual organization is the amount of

collaboration that takes place between individuals 32


Virtual Companies (Portable Computing)

A Virtual Company is an Organization composedof several Business Partners that Uses

Information Technology to Link/Share People, Assets, Ideas, Costs, and Resources

for the purpose of producing a product or service.

Virtual Companies are Adaptable and Opportunity-Exploiting Organizations Providing World-Class

Excellence in Their Competencies and Technologies.


SALES & MARKETING

COMPANY

FINANCE COMPANY

LOGISTICS

COMPANY

DESIGN

COMPANY

MANUFACTURING

COMPANY

VIRTUAL ORGANIZATION

CORE

COMPANY

Dr. Chen, The Challenge of the Information Systems Technology

N

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Characteristics of Virtual Companies

Borderless

Opportunism

Adaptability

Trust-Based

Excellence

Technology

SixCharacteristics

of VirtualCompanies

N 35John Wiley & Sons, Inc. & Dr. Chen, Information Systems – Theory and Practices

Gaining Acceptance For IT-induced

Change

• Many changes might be a major concern for

employees

• Changes might be resisted if they are viewed as

negative impacts

• Several types of resistance:

– Denying that the system is up and running

– Sabotage by distorting or otherwise altering inputs

– Believing and/or spreading the word that the new

system will not change the status quo

– Refusing to use the new system (if voluntary)

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Fig. 4-8 Stages and steps in change management -

Kotter’s ModelLewin’s Stage

Unfreezing Changing Refreezing

Definition Creating motivation to change Providing stakeholders with new information, systems, products, or services

Reinforcing change by integrating stakeholders’ changed behaviors and attitudes into new operations resulting from change

Kotter’s Steps

1. Establish a sense of urgency: Create a compelling reason why change is needed. 2. Create the guiding coalition: Select a team with enough expertise and power to lead the change. 3. Develop a vision and strategy: Use the vision and strategic plan to guide the change process.4. Communicate the change vision: Devise and implement a communication strategy to consistently convey the vision.

5. Empower broad-based action: Encourage risk-taking and creative problem solving to overcome barriers to change.6. Generate short-term wins: Celebrate short-term improvements and reward contributions to change effort. 7. Consolidate gains and produce more change: Use credibility from short-term wins to promote more change so that change cascades throughout the organization.

8. Anchor new approaches in the culture: Reinforce change by highlighting areas in which new behaviors and processes are linked to success.


Customer

Perceived Value

of Products or

Services

Customer

perceived

__________

(tangible &

intangible)

Customer

perceived

________

(tangible &

intangible)

CUSTOMER

experiences

in consuming

the product/

service

CUSTOMER PERCEIVED VALUE

benefits

costs

Customer value could be defined by the benefits and costs that

customer experiences in consuming the product. 38


Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Its

Variants: Gaining acceptance for IT-induced Change

• To avoid resistance to change, system implementers

and managers must actively manage the change process• TAM suggests that managers cannot get employees to use a

system until they ______ to use it.

• Employee attitudes may change if:

– they believe the system will allow them to do ____

or _____ work for the same amount of effort

(perceived usefulness).

– they believe the system is _____ to use (perceived

ease of use).

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want

easy

more

better


Figure 4.9 (Revised) Technology Acceptance

Model (TAM)

Perceived

Usefulness

Perceived

Ease of Use

External

Variables

Attitude

Toward

Using

Actual

System

Use (Use

Behavior)

Behavioral

(Belief)

Intention to

Use

N

• Training,

documentation

• User support

consultants

• Individual

Difference,

• System

Characteristics,

• Social

Influence

• Facilitating

Conditions

Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)

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The new technology adoption curve

Level of

Activity

Time

Readiness Intensification Impact/Mature

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Which stage is the

current e-Business?


The Risks of Information System Success

1. Systems that change the basis of competition to a company’s disadvantage

2. Systems that lower entry barriers3. Systems that bring on litigation or regulation4. Systems that increase customer’s or suppliers’ power to the

detriment of the innovator5. Bad timing6. Investments that turn out to be indefensible and fail to

produce lasting advantage7. Systems that pose an immediate threat to large, established

competitors8. Inadequate understanding of buying dynamics across market

segments9. Cultural lag and perceived transfer of power

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Dr. Chen, The Trends of the Information Systems Technology

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43Copyright 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 43

Summary

• Technology has played a major role in transforming the way work is done.

• Virtual organizations permit workers to work from anywhere.

• Communication and collaboration is becoming increasingly important in today’s work .

• IT affects work by creating new work, and more.

• Hiring and supervising employees is being driven more and more by technology.

• Companies must support and encourage telecommuting to attract and retain employees.

• Virtual teams are becoming more common.


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End of Chapter 4

learning objectives chapter 4 digital systems and the...

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