Title: Automating Land Management: An Analysis of Information Technology Management Challenges at the Bureau og Land Management
Abstract: ABSTRACT Given society's massive investment in information technology and the potentially catastrophic consequences of information technology (IT) failures, understanding how IT management policies influence IT management practice and, ultimately, organizational success in implementing and employing information technology is becoming increasingly crucial. This paper describes a study that took place in a large government agency and sheds some light on the interaction of IT policy, practice and success (or, in this case, failure). Following an exploratory case-study research design, the study employed both interpretivist- and positivist-oriented perspectives to develop a descriptive model that identifies significant factors influencing levels of policy compliance. The model describes the central roles that organizational culture and knowledge play in mediating the effects of information technology, organizational resources and IT management policies on IT policy compliance, implementation and use. The model reflects study participants' common-sense understanding of how IT policies work and why they sometimes fail to work. While the factors identified in the model may not be surprising, the manner in which they interact provides provocative insights into why organizations often fail to achieve desired levels of policy compliance and how focusing on policy compliance might lead to unanticipated consequences. INTRODUCTION Society's ever-increasing reliance on information technology dramatically raises the consequences of IT failure in human and financial terms. IT failures can result in losses exceeding hundreds of millions of dollars and adversely impact the health and safety of the world's population (Cohen 1994; Endoso 1995; Stanglin and Chetwynd 1996; Tillett 1999). IT project failures typically reflect management weaknesses rather than problems with underlying technology. Accordingly, academicians and practitioners have invested considerable energy in developing policies and prescriptions to strengthen IT management practice to help organizations more effectively employ information technology (Van Schaik 1985; Sambamurthy and Zmud 1994; General Accounting Office 1994; Rockart, Earl and Ross 1996; Strassmann 1995; Lewis 1999; Luftman 2004). These recommended practices are grounded in empirical investigations and practical experience and have informed the development of IT management policies and practices within a variety of organizational settings. Much of the prescriptive IT management literature reflects a rationalist view concerning the expected benefits to be derived from adhering to recommended practices. An organization has resources, described in terms of data, technology, and business and IT knowledge, and it faces a specific set of threats and opportunities. As depicted in Figure 1, organizations possessing appropriate IT management competencies establish processes that support converting the resources into IT impacts valuable to the organization (Sambamurthy and Zmud 1994). Whether these are referred to as best practices (General Accounting Office 1994), imperatives (Rockart, Earl and Ross 1996), IT assets (Ross, Beath and Goodhue 1996) or core capabilities (Feeny and Willcocks 1998), the logic remains roughly the same. By establishing these practices, managers will greatly improve their chances of achieving success in employing information technology. As an IT executive might hope, the IT management literature, at least at a macro level, tends to identify a consistent set of prescribed practices. Certainly wording and nuances vary, but four common principles regularly occur in the prescriptive literature. These include the need to: (1) align IT strategy with the business vision; (2) establish effective working relationships among business and IT managers; (3) develop an IT architecture capable of supporting current and future business strategies; and (4) improve the technical and business knowledge and skills of organizational members. …
Publication Year: 2005
Publication Date: 2005-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 4
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