Business Solutions, Change, and the Solution Professional: Challenges and Opportunities

1
Chapter 9

• Business Solutions, Change, and the Solution
  Professional Challenges and Opportunities

2
Chapter Objectives

• Explain the nature of integrated business
  solutions.
• Explain the principles of managing change.
• Describe the opportunities confronting todays
  accounting and IT professionals.

3
The Nature of Business Solutions

• Successful business solutions adhere to the
  following principles and characteristics
• First, solutions must integrate 5 key components
• Business processes and events
• Business strategy
• Organization structure and individual stewardship
  responsibilities
• IT architecture
• Measurements
• Second, the solution must be aligned with the
  organizations culture.
• Third, solutions must constantly adapt to a
  complex, changing world in real-time.

4
Business Solution Framework
Culture

S1
Business Processes/ Events
5
IT Application Architecture Record, Maintain and
Report
Business Information Warehouse
6
Organization Structure Based on Business Processes
Solution Support Professional
Multiple Process Owner
Process Owner
Process Owner
Process Owner
Business Event Owners
Salesperson
Shipping Clerk
Customer Payment Clerk
7
Traditional View-Driven IT Application
Architecture
8
IT Application Architecture Record, Maintain,
and Report
Operating Events
Reporting Facility (instructions for generating
outputs)
Business Event Processor
Business Data Repository
Useful Information
Operating Event (and other decision support) Data
Enterprise-wide Information Customers
9
Systems Development Process
Business requirements statement
10
Types of Organizational Change

• Organizational change can be classified according
  to its scope and depth.
• Developmental change is the improvement of an
  existing system
• Transitional change is the implementation of a
  known new state
• Transformational change is the emergence of a new
  state.

11
Types of Organizational Change

• Some important questions to ask when determining
  the type of change best suited for an
  organization include
• How far do we want to go? Is it too far or not
  far enough?
• What type of result do we want short term or
  long term?
• How much change can the organization absorb in on
  change and cumulatively?
• Can the changes contemplated be presented
  positively? If not, why?
• What happens if we dont change?

12
Deciding When to Change

• The decision about when to change is as important
  as what to change and how much to change.
• Change when things are going well.
• Change when results are mixed.
• Change demanded by a full-fledged crisis.

13
Managing Change and Creating a Common Vision

• Organization Culture
• Participation
• Performance Evaluation
• Dysfunctional Human Behaviour

14
Organization Culture

• Each organization has a unique culture that
  distinguishes it from all others.
• Changes should support rather than challenge the
  organizations culture.

15
Participation

• Allowing people to participate in identifying the
  problem, the solution approach, and the final
  product is the most powerful technique for
  creating a common vision and the support to
  achieve it.

16
Performance Evaluation

• Because changes often alter peoples
  responsibilities, organization and system changes
  often impact the way individual performance
  should be measured and evaluated.
• Unless the performance evaluation process is
  updated, changes may obscure personal
  performance, thus creating disincentives for
  supporting the proposed changes.

17
Dysfunctional Human Behaviour

• Most dysfunctional human behaviour is manifest in
  one, or more, of three ways
• Aggression involves any attempt by an individual
  or group to damage the organization or its
  information system.
• Projection involves any effort to blame the
  system for problems that people face.
• Avoidance involves any attempt to avoid using the
  system.

18
IS Professionals Provide Integration and Structure
Culture
S3
Culture
S2
Culture
S1
Strategy
Business processes/ events
People and structures
Information technology
Measurements
19
Responsibilities for Managing Change

• Management should
• Openly support efforts to continually improve all
  aspects of the organization.
• Determine timing for enterprise-wide changes.
• Approve suggestions for improvement.
• Monitor progress of approved changes and insure
  that measurement systems are adjusted quickly.
• Assist in resolving problems resulting from
  change.

20
Responsibilities for Managing Change

• Employees should
• Commit to continual individual and organization
  improvement.
• Actively participate in suggesting and
  implementing changes.
• Demand creative solutions to business and
  information problems.

21
Responsibilities for Managing Change

• Change agents (those who guide or develop the
  business solutions) should
• Understand the impact of IT as a change agent.
• Deal with problems in a timely and effective
  manner.