Organizational Environment and Information Systems

Abstract

The convergence of information technologies has opened new vistas of opportunities as well as risks for organizations. Organization structure, controls, and management have all witnessed a sea change with their information systems (IS) becoming technology driven. IS is seen as a strategic tool that must be watched carefully in order to lead to corporate vision. For the first users, IS may bring competitive advantage but, for most, it becomes a need for survival. To sustain in this dynamic environment, executives need to be on all- time-alert to make sure that they do not lag behind competition. A study of best-run organizations indicates that to keep business and IS aligned, they have highly collaborative behaviour as well as well-defined policy for evaluating IS. This paper suggests an ACE Model – a 3-ring model, comprising of processes to (A)dapt, (C)ollaborate and (E)valuate, in order to establish and evaluate organizational effectiveness for improved IS effectiveness in the organizations. At the core is the need to cultivate a culture to adapt the latest tools and techniques for higher end use. Next, the people must collaborate and work in teams for faster and beneficial plans and implementation. Finally, a well-defined process for constant monitoring and refinements of the plans is required. The rings signify continuity of the three processes. These processes should not be triggered at specific intervals. Rather, these must be imbibed in the culture of the organization so that the employees breathe in and breathe out the same thoughts and execute them together. The model offers a simple, flexible, and modular approach to assess organization's environment for IS effectiveness on a 5-point scale. This paper highlights the following issues: There is a need for IS evaluation vis-a-vis organizational environment. In order to realize value from IT, it is worthwhile to analyse and ensure an effective environment in the organization that is conducive to change of technology and systems. This can ensure alignment of organization, its purpose, employees, functions, and stakeholders. Irrespective of the technologies in use, organizational evaluation process must be an indicator of contribution of IS towards growth or sustenance of business though the opponents of IS evaluation may like to conclude this as infeasible on the ground that IS benefits are largely intangible and hence unquantifiable. The findings of this study can help the business organizations in identifying and improving the environment for cultivating IS in their organizations. It is recommended to have more software tools for decision-making and information analysis so that the spending on IT can be utilized better. Decision makers can deploy the suggested model on their intranets to keep a constant watch on the culture of the organization and act accordingly in order to keep the effectiveness index to the highest level.