Information Technology Management

1. Information Technology Management Perspectives, Focus, and Change in the 21st century

2. Paradigm shift • The models for managing IT strategy, the IT function, and IT projects are changing in the twenty-first century. • The past is inadequate for fitting the environmental turbulence .

3. Environmental scanning • External IT fundamental changes • High computing power • Network-oriented processing • Wireless-oriented accessing • Organizational behavior/structure adaptation for searching fitness • The computer-literate & network-centric knowledge worker

4. Five eras of IT evolution • First era: pioneers, penetration, and chaos (1954-1963) (the proud age of transistor) • Second era: gaining control-centralization and a technical monopoly (1964-1976) (after the IC breakthrough against the tyranny of numbers) • Third era: letting loose-distribution and decentralization (1977-1984) (the dominant age of IBM) • Fourth era: distribution-a free market with issues of architecture and management (1985-1996) (the frog-leap of Wintel ) • Fifth era: the worldwide web and anytime/anyplace computing (1997 into the 21st century) (the Internet era)

5. First era • The first commercial computer was installed in a General Electric Plant in 1954 • Univac I machine was once a leader in the market place. • Scientific applications were dominant in the age of Cold War. • FORTRAN and COBOL did not emerge as the popular programming languages until the late of this era.

6. First era (Cont.) • Computing: isolated machines • Applications: Scientific and engineering; machine-specific programs • Management: in-house training of technical staff • Organization: unplanned, chaotic • Key issues: few concerns; computing is a mystery, scattered and hidden from top management view

7. Second era • Technological advances: • IBM system 360 series—a modularized design ignited the dramatic growth of computer industry and brought consolidation of organizational computing resources • direct-access storage devices (DASD), telecommunication, Multiple access computing • Beyond the function of accounting: included several efficiency-enhanced transaction processing systems, e.g., inventory control, banking, airline, taxing, healthcare, etc.

8. Second era (Cont.) • Computing: Distributed access to mainframes; compatible product lines • Applications: accounting, inventory, and business transactions • Management: standardized programming languages, early database technology • Organization: consolidation of control within the data processing function • Key issues: rising cost, unmet user expectations

9. Third era • Minicomputer emerges: DEC VAX series, Wang, and equipments of Japan’s electronic firms • Increasing demands of IT processing services • Focusing on the effective & efficient IS development methods—SDLC & User involvement • Externally-developed software packages were available (the spill-over effect of IBM) • IT organization and management in a advisory, service-oriented role • IT as a source of competitive advantage in the marketplace (focus on efficiency)

10. Third era (Cont.) • Computing: midrange computers, easy-to-use interfaces • Applications: commercial and user-developed applications complement internal systems development efforts • Management: systems development life cycle procedures; distributed IT development • Organization: greater business unit control of IT • Key issues: coordination of centralized and business-unit IT efforts

11. Fourth era • PC innovation and widely uses of software packages • The Wintel standard move the computing infrastructure forward • Network technologies connected the legacy systems and the current PCs • A harmonious IS settings with flexibility • Emerging inter-organizational data exchange applications: ERP, SCM, etc.

12. Fourth era (Cont.) • Computing: personal computers, LANs, Internet and extranets • Applications: user-friendly applications, desktop systems followed by groupware and workflow system • Management: user-driven systems management; everyone is an IT manager; project control techniques • Organization: federated or free market approach to IT, including centralized, decentralized, and outsourced IT operations • Key issues: incompatible systems, integration difficulties, Y2K

13. Fifth era • This is a dotcom era contributed greatly after Netscape IPO • The business model of click-and-mortar integration • N-generation & M-generation workers • The new economics of information

14. Fifth era (Cont.) • Computing: PDA, mobile technology, Internet as primary platform • Applications: electronic commerce systems • Management: professionalism and team skills are paramount; flexibility is added to project control • Organization: downsizing of corporate IT, integration of business and IT operations • Key issues: embracing both old and new models of IT management

15. IT advantage transformation • From transaction processing to business relationship exploration • From IS scalability to IS mobility & agility • From the alignment with business strategy to the reach beyond the traditional business scopes

16. IT management transformation • Centralization & decentralization • A total business approach around IT • In-sourcing & outsourcing (the make-or-buy decision) • Top management engagement—active participation

17. Project management transformation • Project management team may change along with shifts in business needs • Rapid everything and virtual many things (the object-oriented programming project) • Trust & innovation rather than control • Action and risk assessment more than system analysis (standard betting & selection) • Up-to-the-minute clarity of information

18. Extending readings • Malone, Thomas W,. Robert Laubacher, and M. S. Scott Morton, ed., (2003), Inventing the Organizations of the 21st Century, MIT Press. • Evans, P. and T. Wurster (1997), “Strategy and the New Economics of Information,”Harvard Business Review, 75(5), Sept.-Oct., pp.71-82. • Thomas, J. Allan, and M. S. Scott Morton, ed., (1995), Information Technology and the Corporation of 1990s: Research Studies, Oxford University Press. • Scott Morton, M. J., ed., (1991), The Corporation of 1990s: Information Technology and Organizational Transformation, Oxford University Press. • Nolan, R. L. (1979), “Managing the Crisis in Data Processing,”Harvard Business Review, 57(2), pp.115-26.

19. Referred papers • Lyytinen, Kalle and Gregory M. Rose (2003), “The Disruptive Nature of Information Technology Innovations: The Case of Internet Computing in Systems Development Organizations,”MIS Quarterly, Volume 27, Number 4. • Rogers, E.M. (1995), Diffusion of Innovations, 4th ed., The Free Press, New York. • Henderson, R.M. and K.B. Clark (1990), “Architectural Innovation: The Reconfiguration of Existing Product Technologies and the Failure of Established Firms,”Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 35, pp.9-30. • Teece, D. J. (1986), “Profiting from Technological Innovation: Implications for Integration, Collaboration, Licensing and Public Policy,”Research Policy, 15(6), pp.285-305

20. Referred papers (cont.) • Keil, Mark, Joan Mann, and Arun Rai (2000), “Why software projects escalate: An empirical analysis and test of four theoretical models,”MIS Quarterly, Vol. 24, Iss. 4. • Kahneman, D. and A. Tversky (1979), “Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision Under Risk,”Econometrica, vol.47, pp.263-291. • Jensen, M. C. & W. H. Meckling (1976), “Theory of the Firm: Managerial behavior, Agency Costs, and Ownership Structure,”Journal of Financial Economics, vol.3, pp.305-360.

21. Referred papers (cont.) • Reich, Blaize Horner and Izak Benbasat (2000), “Factors that influence the social dimension of alignment between business and information technology objectives,”MIS Quarterly, Vol. 24, Iss. 1. • Cohen, Wesley M. and Daniel A. Levinthal (1990), “Absorptive Capacity: A New Perspective on Learning and Innovation,”Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 35, pp.128-52. • Yin, R. K. (1989), Case Study Research: Design and Methods, 2nd ed., Sage, CA. • Wastell. David G. (1999), “Learning dysfunctions in information systems development: Overcoming the social defenses with transitional objects,”MIS Quarterly, Vol. 23, Iss. 4. • Argyris, C. (1990), Overcoming Organizational Defenses, Allyn & Bacon, Boston. • Beer, S. (1994), Decision and Control, Wiley, Chichester, England.