Information System and Business Management Dissertation

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Creating Organizational Value through the Integration of Information Technology: A Management Perspective

Change Management and the Construction of a Receptive Organization

Transformational and Participative Leadership

A Decentralized Organizational Culture

Effective Utilization of Resources

Simulations

Performance Monitoring Systems

Risk Management and Support Strategies

When considering the ever-changing and highly competitive global landscape of business today, firms must stay at the cutting edge of their respective fields in order to sustain profitability in the long-term. With the current exponential growth of technology and the computerization of business and learning, consumers and investors have become much more connected to the businesses they patronize (Kurzweil, 2001). Accordingly, companies are faced with the continuous task of finding new ways to understand and subsequently accommodate the needs of those customers and shareholders, while simultaneously securing lucrative business models and job environments. In doing so, businesses must be able to efficiently integrate and utilize various sources of new and innovative information technology. Firms can no longer solely rely on the corporate tactics and pre-existent systems of their executives to carry them into a profitable future (Vancouver, 1996). The potentialities that accompany these new and vital technological assets span across the entire spectrum of any organization's structure and culture. And while critical information technology can be an extremely useful resource in adding value to a firm, its efficient incorporation can be quite hazardous . Therefore, the executive body must be continuously aware of all available strategic information and how this information can be implemented in accordance with the firm's ultimate goals. Leaders must take generally participative roles in company activities prior to and during the implementation process. Being that this process involves a great deal of change throughout the corporate ladder, it is critical for leaders to be able to effectively align, motivate and mobilize their subordinates in accordance with the ultimate goals of the technological undertaking. In many cases, efficient change management results in the relative decentralization of the firm's pre-existing organizational culture. This type of organizational dynamic has been shown to be a directly positive factor in the collective embracement of change . In addition, upper and middle management teams are also responsible for effectively exploiting all managerial information systems data regarding the most proficient use of resources, budgeting and logistics. This also involves management's active role in the process of planning and organizing data into actionable formats. In effectively achieving these aforementioned objectives, many firms have turned to helpful technological simulations as a means of ensuring the future success of the proposed information system. This tool has been particularly effective in managing risk, assuring sinuous company-wide adoption, overcoming potential implementation obstacles and testing the firm's reactive nature in response to change . By preemptively assessing the company's cumulative capacity and readiness to adapt, executives can more easily predict the future outcomes associated with the eventual implementation of the proposed information technology. Even after the actual technology is implemented on a grand scale, it is also important for firms to maintain effective means of assessing the improvements garnered from the new system. Prior to the final implementation, directors must ensure the presence of reliable support strategies and effective performance monitoring systems. These tools can help firms to gauge the post-change environment and accurately determine the operational benefits of the information technology system . And being that leadership's ultimate goal is to create a genuinely receptive organization, the amalgamation of several effective change management approaches, organizational settings and strategically useable tools allow firms the ability to amend implementation timelines and invest in further changes that will better poise the business for future success. The construction of this type of company-wide receptiveness is absolutely essential in the production of value through information technology.

Aims and Objectives

The aim of this report will be to elucidate the link between the successful implementation of information technology and the necessity of effective change management skills. This investigation will involve in depth analyses of all organizational changes accrued from the new integration of technology. By specifically examining the applicable managerial and structural frameworks necessary for the creation of an adoptive and genuinely receptive organization, this report will tactically outline all of the vital factors in successful technological implementation. Using several case studies from various industries, this report will idyllically illustrate the proven paths to integrative profitability. Additionally, this article will highlight several commonly used resources in assuring sinuous adoption of new technological systems. These tools will allow companies to increase their preemptive readiness as well as providing means of assessing risk areas and post-implementation performance.

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Therefore, the wide range of material covered in this report should make the often daunting task of technological change much more palatable for any firm.

Change Management and the Construction of a Receptive Organization

Transformational and Participative Leadership

Charismatic leaders have become increasingly valuable assets to the futuristic and progressive firms that lead global business today. Though while such transformational and participatory leadership approaches continue to be utilized in contemporary business, this style actually originated in the late 1970s when Dr. James MacGregor Burns first described this leadership methodology with reference to its necessity and benefits in the political arena (Hunt, 1999). Especially considering the change-invoking and contemporarily popular scenario in which firms must embrace new technological networks and systems, this type of managerial methodology has become highly advantageous. When an organization attempts to add value through information technology, it is often difficult to supervise and control the assorted cooperative and operational outcomes birthed from the wealth of new variables introduced. Systematic and structural changes need to be immediately acknowledged in order to best accommodate the needs of clients, stakeholders, creditors and internal staff members. With the infusion of new technological software possessing a presumably wide range of new business apparatuses, the pre-exiting culture of the firm will certainly be altered and revitalized. Moreover, in order to successfully achieve this vast sum of objectives, directors must be able to apply the various attributes of the participative leadership techniques and subsequently motivate their workforce into reaching the desired level of productivity and profitability. For by becoming highly involved in the various business processes associated with this type of massive change, leaders can inspire their subordinates and ease their apprehensions by opening direct and reliable lines of communication and illustrating a clear and understandable vision.

Transformational participative leaders are normally those who focus all of their efforts on creating a congruous and encouraged work environment in which the entire organization is working to achieve a common goal. In fact, according to recent literature on the subject, "The transformational leader's focus is directed toward the organization, and his or her behavior builds follower commitment toward organizational objectives" (Stone, Russell, & Patterson, 2004, p. 349). Subsequently, a company that hopes to achieve increased profitability through the implementation of information technology provides the perfect Petri dish for examining the duties, effects and organizational outcomes that accompany this means of administration. This is primarily because the conditions present in this type of workplace mandate alignment, inspirational and organizational restructuring all to be initialized at the executive level (Aladwani, 2001). While transformational leaders have been historically labeled as the catalysts that drove companies (along with the leadership field itself) out of the "doom and gloom period" of the 1970s and early 1980s, these tactics have since been utilized in corporate atmospheres riddled with uncertainty as well as struggling firms prayerful for value-adding change (Hunt, 1999, p. 130). A perfect example of such a firm is Apple. This corporation was "treading water" until their progressive and charismatic CEO Steve Jobs returned to the company ten years ago (Anthony, 2010). Upon his arrival, Jobs became increasingly participative in the innovation and design processes and proceeded to partake in all the traditional areas of transformational leadership: (Peters, 2006)

Following the implications of the above diagram, Mr. Jobs instilled several revolutionary initiatives that have since made Apple the third most valuable company in the world (Anthony, 2010). He was directly involved in aligning the firm's shift away from focusing solely on the actual creation of great products and towards the creation of better business models. Consequently, Apple designers began to concentrate more on the origination of new ways to create and deliver such products, while also precisely capturing their ultimate value (Anthony, 2010). In knowing the great benefits that one compelling individual had on this massive organization through his generically proactive and participative approach, one can better understand the importance of such techniques. And while the transformational leadership approach taken by Steve Jobs helped to bring his organization out of the financial basement, the same benefits can be realized when integrating transformational schemes in other types of changing workplaces.

The Apple Corporation undoubtedly illustrates the many benefits of this leadership style, though using a firm that is undergoing a massive technochange as a template allows for a more comprehensive examination of the four critical elements of the transformational leadership theory as described by leading researchers Dr. Bernard Bass and Dr. Bruce Avolio of.....

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