Organizational Development for Knowledge Management at Water ...

44 | Organizational Development for Knowledge Management at Water Utilities
Table 6.1
Core planning processes support of the utility’s mission
6 Items N Mean Min Max SD Median
Q6A Strategic business planning 187 3.60 1 5 .851 4.00
Q6B Operational planning 199 3.79 1 5 .740 4.00
Q6C Capital improvement planning 202 3.94 1 5 .818 4.00
Q6D Human resource development 196 3.18 1 5 .800 3.00
Q6E Life cycle planning 177 3.09 1 5 .861 3.00
Q6F Information technology master planning 185 3.19 1 5 .975 3.00
Source: Project 4003 survey process.
Table 6.2
Information systems in drinking water utilities
Statement N Yes No N/A
(A) Systems are considered mission critical to the organization 193 171 22 14
(B) The Information Technology Department (ITD) is heavily involved 190 * 119 69 17
with and understands the business mission
(C) ITD is viewed as a solution provider for business problems 189 * 102 86 18
(D) ITD is viewed as the technical help desk, and not helpful in solving 185 * 85 100 22
business problems
Source: Project 4003 survey process.
*Two responses for B above were “both yes and no,” one response for C was “sometimes,” and one response for D
was “neither.”
The data for Q6F in Table 6.1 indicates that information technology master planning has
the second lowest response rate, the second lowest mean (by .01), the lowest standard deviation
and the median falls in the 3.0 range (medium). These indicators can now be combined with the
responses to question 10: “The following statements relate to the information systems in your
organization” to build a deeper understanding of the perception of the role of information technology
(and by extension information technology master planning) and the mission of the utility. See
Table 6.2.
Note that while the data presented in Tables 6.1 and 6.2 is from the same group of utility
leaders/managers, only 185 responders provided an opinion on the strength of information technology
master planning and the organization’s mission. In contrast, the statements labeled A, B
and C in Table 6.2 drew a larger number of responses. Here are some key percentages:
• 88.6% of 193 responders agree that systems are mission critical to the organization.
• 62.6% of 190 responders agree that ITD is heavily involved with and understands the
business mission.
• 54% of 189 responders agree that ITD is a solution provider for business problems.
• 45.9% of 185 responders agree that ITD is not helpful in solving business problems.
The last two bullets above represent the same question looked at from two different directions.
While there is a larger perception (62.6%) that ITD is involved with and understands the
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