cameron and green making-sense-of-change-management

IT-based process changeCHANGING THE INFORMATION CULTUREOne of the difficulties with implementingnew IT systems is getting people to use themin the manner intended. There are manyhorror stories of expensive IT investmentsthat are never fully incorporated into dailyorganizational life.Does the introduction of technology automaticallychange behaviour? Our experiencesays that this does not happen. In the worstcase the new technology reinforces the habitsand attitudes already present. (See theexample in the box.) Organizations need to domore than simply change the IT equipment and systems available if theywant to experience a radical shift in behaviour. A culture change may berequired to create the shifts in information sharing required, because theintroduction of new IT systems alone will not achieve this, suggestsDavenport (1994). He says, ‘It shouldn’t surprise anyone that humannature can throw a wrench into the best-laid IT plans, yet technocrats areconstantly caught off-guard by the “irrational” behaviour of “end-users”’.He says that what is important is how people use information, not howthey use technology.IMPROVING THE SALES PROCESSTHROUGH THE USE OF IT?We recruited George in January. He was a dynamic salesman, brought in toboost our capacity to develop major accounts. George had used this great ITsystem in his old company, and encouraged us all to come to a presentationabout what this type of system could offer.The proposed system would allow sales people to share information aboutcustomers and contacts. He said this would boost our capacity to plan oursales visits, and partner with each other to work more creatively with existingand potential clients. It sounded good.303