sim ibm - cis.gsu.edu

© 1995 Society for Information Management & IBM Corporation 1

SIMIBMWorking Group on Reshaping IS Culture


Working Groupon ReshapingIS Culture

SIM IBM

Duane TruexAssociate Professor

Computer InformationSystems Department

Robinson College of BusinessAtlanta, Georgia


• Sim Working Group• Study Method• Key Findings• 7 Stage Model Principles Practices

PresentationOverview

Working Group on Reshaping IS Culture

SIM IBM


CORE TEAM: Chairperson: Janet Caldow, IBM Corporation

Loy Allen SABRE Decision Technologies Barbara Bell-Hawkey Merck & Company, Inc. Fred Faccenda Prudential Asset Management Group Willie Fields Kraft General Foods Jeanne Fraser Integrated Systems Solutions Corporation Ken Jackson Mitchell Titus & Company Jim Love ITT Hartford Ephraim R. McLean Georgia State University James Routh American Management Systems V. Sambamurthy Florida State University James A. Senn Georgia State University Michael Shank Renaissance Vision Stanley Smits Georgia State University Duane Truex Georgia State University

EXTENDED TEAM:

Cliff Hallberg Interpersonal Technology Group Michael Kretsch Diana Bander Associates Jim Lamoin Aetna Life and Casualty John Weathers IBM Information and Telecommunications Systems


The Working Group Developed the Research Design(1)

• Surveyed existing literature

• Identified cultural variables

• Identified leading I/S organizations, as reflected in the professional press - InformationWEEK 500 - Computerworld 100 - CIO 100 - Sim Partners in Leadership Award - Sim Juried Paper Awards Winners


The Working Group Developed the Research Design(2)

• Letter and telephone contacts requesting cooperation - 22 companies - 7 participated

• Structured interview guide - Individually - Small groups

• One-to-two day on-site visits using two-person teams


Research Objectives

• At the level of organizational culture

• How do the IT Unit, Business Unit, and Parent Organization interact?

• Are they the same or different?- coexist- submit- subsumed

• Are the cultures ‘aligned’?


OrganizationalCulture

• NOT ‘Societal Culture’- too big and inclusive a concept

• Organizational Culture- That which makes us ‘we,’ ‘insiders,’ an identifiable group with shared values

• A Social Construct- shared values and ways of...- meaningful orders to group members- common beliefs


SIM IBM


•On hours•Stress•Reengineering•High performance•Virtual organizations in time and space

•Unrelenting Competition•Downsizing•Fast Growth while downsizing•Running Scared•No more employement paternalism•Cycle time reduction

It's Monday... 7 Days a Week


SevenElementFramework

BusinessLinkages

ManagmentSystems

Structures

ManagingChangeHuman

ResourcesPeople (I/T

professionals)

SEVENELEMENTFRAMEWORK

BusinessLinkages

ManagmentSystems

OrganizationalStructures

ManagingChange

HumanResources

People (I/Tprofessionals)

New TechnologyAdoption


Key Principle

IS Unit:

get closer to thebusiness


Form, in itself, is not an indicator of high performance.

The study group fell into four different categories.


Characteristics• All IS activities distributed to /belong to the business unit - each site directly serves customers• All employees are culturally similar• IS skills not shared across sites• Corporate standards may exist

FormRadically Decentralized;

Culturally Indistinguishable(Hologram)


FormCultural SeparatistCharacteristics

Wholly centralized I/S, and wholly centralized corporate management Separate but unequal - existing in separate locations - no career track from IS to corporate Individual, identifiable cultures; not co-mingled Shared business mission and strategy (culture is not glue, strategy is)


Characteristics Leverages both centralized and decentralized worlds Centralized architecture, standards, cross business unit development projects Decentralized ownership andcontrol: - development, projects, and staffing move to business units Mixed bag of cultures where IS may serve as buffer

FormFederalist Model


Characteristics Identifies key skill sets within an entire organization which become the inventory of competency centers As needed, assembles and deploys ‘strike force’ teams from competency centers to business units Strike force composition is dynamic May share elements of culture, but will be perceived as ‘friendly outsiders’ by business units

FormVirtual Technology

Network


Competency Models Demand 'Virtual Structures' in the Dynamic Deployment of People and Projects

Competency CentersObject Oriented

Coach

Coach

Coach

Coach

COBOL

Networks

UNIX

Phase I Team

Phase II Team

Phase III Team

Business UnitPeople ProjectTeams Teams

Project Team Leader

Reports to BU

LeaderResponsible for

project,

not people

management

CoachesResponsible for competency center members

•Career growth•Skills development•Knowledge sharing•Performance appraisal•Compensation


High Performance IS OrganizationsTrack Business and Technical Skill Development ofthe IS Professional

Knowledge of theBusiness

High value is placed on the IT individual who is both a business expert(e.g., specific insurance) and a technical expert (e.g., Object Orientation)

-Knowledge of Technology-

General

General

Specialized

Specialized

Systems Integrator Bus-Tech Laison

Business Expert Line Manager

IT ‘Expert’ Technical Guru

The ‘IDEAL’A business &Systems Architect


Outsourcing/Subcontracting: High-Performance

Organizations Conceptualize and Manage Intellectual Capital at Three Levels

Strategic

TacticalOperational


Organizational knowledge isseen as intellectual capitaland treated as a strategicresource.

Thus high-level Outsourcingis seen as a loss of capital.

Strategic


Applications leveldevelopment may be jobbedout as long as ownership ofdata and organizational-specific knowledge is retained.

Tactical


External expertise ispurchased tomanage coreorganizational skillsand to fill skill setsas needed.

Operational


Forge of oldlarge-scaleproject development

Projects

Qualitybegetsquality

The skillstemperedin the forgesof oldlarge-scaleprojects arestill relevant

Skills

© 1995 Society for Information Management & IBM Corporation


Cultural Karma

Old World New World

Cultural Karma

Old World New World


PrinciplesandPractices

BusinessLinkages

ManagmentSystems

OrganizationalStructures

ManagingChange

HumanResources



PRINCIPLESANDPRACTICES


Composite Profile of Seven High PerformanceIS Organizations: Principles and Practices

Business Linkages Create and communicate the ‘vision’


• Make the IT/Business ‘vision’• explicit and clear• Vision: oriented toward• partnerships, collaboration,• and co-ownership• Job rotation to solidify• relationships• Hiring:• - fit cultural characteristics,• not just skills• - ideal: some business unit• and IS people to become• indistinguishable•- direct line of sight to the• ultimate customer

BusinessLinkagesP

RACTICES



Management Systems Match capabilities

(people, technology andprocesses) towardmeeting the businessneed

CreatingVision

BusinessLinkages.Create and communicate the ‘v ision’


• Leaders communicate well and• often• Leaders create ‘buy-in’• Three stage leadership

•- Visionary•- Implementor•- Consolidator

• Risk taking is encouraged• within limits• Mistakes are OK if the• organization learns• Decision-making is• collaborative• The performance bar is raised• often• Financial responsibility for unit-• specific systems andoperations• is held in the business unit

ManagmentSystems

PRACTICES


Implementing and Enabling the VisionCreatingVision


ManagementSystems.Match capabilities (people, technology and processes) toward meeting the business need


Organizational Structures

Find the ‘right’ solution - Not in structures but structuring

Organizational Structures

Find the ‘right’ solution - Not in structures but structuring


• Experiment: if anorganizational form doesn’t fit then change it• (IRM) Information Resource Management is a strategic competency• Core IS: organize like a• consulting group• Assemble special ‘strike forces’

•- build virtual teams•- change team assignment• AND team composition as• warranted

• Corporate IS center is the• ‘home room’ and the work is• performed in the business units• Enable coaches to provide ongoing career feedback

Organizational

Structures

PRACTICES





Organizat ional Structures.Find the ‘right’ solution - Not in structures but structuring


Managing Change

Embrace a revised viewof change where stabilityis the exception andchange is the rule


ManagingChange

• Driven by threat of outsourcing• Fear lack of critical skills in• emerging technologies• Organizational knowledge seen as• capital asset• Organizational learning is critical and is seen as building competence

PRACTICES






ManagingChange.Embrace a revised view of change where stability is the exception and change is the rule


Human Resources Build organizational competency and

flexibility Create a new employment covenant

promoting accountability - employee: - maintains his own skills portfolio - employer: - defines the requirements - provides opportunities and incentives - gives frequent feedback


• Compensation increasingly tied to:• - Business performance• - Team performance• - Individual skill development• The ‘at risk’ part of compensation is• growing• 360 degree review applied to all• employees• Tracking and managing of employee• 'skill sets’• Recognition is little and often• High-profile project assignments are• used for reward/recognition• Move away from Hay Point classes• to competency ‘bands’• Use skill profiles vs. job• descriptions

HumanResources

PRACTICES







Human Resources

.Build organizational competency and flexibility

.Create a new employment contract promoting accountability where the -employee: -maintains his own skills portfolio -employer: -defines the requirements -provides opportunities and incentives -gives frequent feedback



Match employee skills tochanging business needs


• Survival = flexibility and ability to change• Must work effectively in the• business arena• Trend toward technical• specialization in• addition to good generalized IT• knowledge• Increased emphasis on ‘soft’ skills• e.g., negotiating skills; the ability• to work in teams; and a tolerance• for ambiguity and uncertainty


PRACTICES







Human Resources



People (I/Tprofessionals).Match employee skills to changing business needs


Design collaborative,distributed electronicenvironments

independent of time and space



• Increasingly•- Client server•- Network centric•- Distributed•- Object-oriented

• Building virtual networks and• virtual teams via competency• centers• Technology integrators vs.• builders from scratch• Old technologies and skills: - remain a vital piece of• organization competence - are a launching pad• for discipline in• distributed environments

NewTechnology

Adoption

PRACTICES


Implementing and Enabling the Vision


•

CreatingVision





Human Resources



People (I/Tprofessionals).Match employee skills to changing business needs

NewTechnologyAdopt ion.Design collaborative, distributed electronic environments independent of time and space


Computer Information Systems DepartmentCollege of Business AdministrationAtlanta, Georgia

Produced by:Karen Bauder Hays of the


Framework of Seven Cultural Elements

Business Linkages

Vision

Business value

Strategic direction

Relationship to customer

Relationship with business units

IS/Company/ Industry alignment

Management Systems

Leadership models

Decision making

Risk management

Communication strategy

Measurement systems

Financial management systems

Control systems

Learning systems

Structure

Degrees of centralization/ decentralization

Geographic location

Work structures

Networks

Teams

Hierarchies

Alignment with or located in business units

Human Resources

Rewards

Recognition

Skills management

Diversity

Compensation

Measurement systems

Recruitment

Succession planning

Career development

Competencies

Attrition

People

Personal attributes

Work ethic

Team ethic

Technical skills

Business skills

Soft skills

Managing Change

Drivers

Process for change

Sponsorship

Change agents

Attitude

Behavior

Stories, heroes

Values

Status

Technology

Technology architecture

Standards

Platform choices

Absorption rate of new technology

Penetration and pervasiveness of technology

Development environment/ operational environment

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