Managing Computers in Large Organizations

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Managing Microcomputers in Large Organizations http://www.nap.edu/catalog/167.html About this PDF file: This new digital representation of the original work has been recomposed from XML files created from the original paper book, not from the original typesetting files. Page breaks are true to the original; line lengths, word breaks, heading styles, and other typesetting-specific formatting, however, cannot be retained, and some typographic errors may have been accidentally inserted. Please use the print version of this publication as the authoritative version for attribution. VISION AND VALUE GETTING THE MOST OUT OF MICROCOMPUTERS 9 culture and change the organization. At another level, the functional managers need to develop an intuition about the business—about what works and what doesn't work. By and large, they are the people who achieve the operating results of the organization. At a third level, there are analysts who are clearly the prime target for the new tools of the technology. How are we to derive value for these three defined users of microcomputer technology? Do we rely on some sort of invisible hand? Should we merely give them the tools and say, “Go do something useful with this elegant technology?” To what extent should we focus on data management, on security, on controls, on education concerning what the tool can do? We are left with many unanswered questions. However, I would be amazed if they were answered at this stage because I do not think that we yet know where we are going with the technology. And if you don't know where you are going you can get there any way you like. These papers reflect the candor of informed experts in the field who are not afraid to admit that “we don't know where we are going.” There's an old Zen saying: “In the mind of the beginner, there are infinite possibilities; in the mind of the expert, there are very few.” Right now, we should beware of experts who claim to have all the answers; at this stage we really can't know what we are getting into. Perhaps one word we need to hear more often is “vision.” Organizations must have a strategic purpose for this technology. They must head toward some goal. As a whole, the papers in this volume may present what appears to be a dichotomy between two broad themes. On the one hand, there is the very clear theme of using automation to increase productivity. This goal raises very familiar management issues of planning, organization, and control. The response is relatively straight forward. We can apply the tools of planning and management that we have learned over the last several decades, and they ought to stand us in good stead. We will manage our way through it, if that is where we are going. On the other hand, some of these authors suggest that our goal has to do with unleashing capability, with leveraging a person's mind, with innovation and creativity. If this is the goal I am not at all sure we know how to manage. Perhaps it is appropriate at this point to hand out tools and say, “You figure out what to do with them.” Perhaps this is a time of intelligent experimentation, a Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Managing Microcomputers in Large Organizations http://www.nap.edu/catalog/167.html About this PDF file: This new digital representation of the original work has been recomposed from XML files created from the original paper book, not from the original typesetting files. Page breaks are true to the original; line lengths, word breaks, heading styles, and other typesetting-specific formatting, however, cannot be retained, and some typographic errors may have been accidentally inserted. Please use the print version of this publication as the authoritative version for attribution. VISION AND VALUE GETTING THE MOST OUT OF MICROCOMPUTERS 10 “seed time,” a period of learning. Or perhaps both approaches should be followed together to see what happens if we unleash the creativity of a million computer-literate people. Most importantly, I believe we must pause for a moment to examine what we are trying to accomplish with this technology in our individual organizations, that is, where we want to go. Clearly, something very important and very fundamental is going on that we do not yet fully understand. It is an extraordinarily interesting, stimulating, and exciting time. I am only uncomfortable when I hear people predicting their future instead of choosing it. This is my argument with the concept of technology push. We must be sure to confront the dichotomy between productivity and creativity. Do we want one or the other? Or do we want both? And what does that mean? We must choose what we want, not just predict what we might get. Depending on our choice, there are fundamentally different implications for different management styles, the changing role of the IS manager, data, security, value, and how to manage in an era of intelligent experimentation. The attributes of success that many of the contributors to this volume discuss have some common themes. There is the concept of marketing to users. There is the concept of users and the need to provide education and other support systems for them. There are the operational issues of security and data management. There are the finance issues and questions of cost justification. There are some issues of administrative responsibility. Further, there are human resource issues: how do we educate people and what kind of people do we need for this new era? These are, in fact, the major headings for a business plan: marketing, operations, finance, administration, human resources. But this is a plan for a business within the business. It is the business of making microcomputers or any personal computing technology work to support the people within the organization. Like any business, its primary objective is getting business value. This must be the ultimate objective for us all. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Page 1 and 2: http://www.nap.edu/catalog/167.html
Page 3 and 4: Managing Microcomputers in Large Or
Page 17: Managing Microcomputers in Large Or
Page 69 and 70:
Managing Microcomputers in Large Or
Page 71 and 72:
Page 73 and 74:
Page 75 and 76:
Page 77 and 78:
Page 79 and 80:
Page 81 and 82:
Page 83 and 84:
Page 85 and 86:
Page 87 and 88:
Page 89 and 90:
Page 91 and 92:
Page 93 and 94:
Page 95 and 96:
Page 97 and 98:
Page 99 and 100:
Page 101 and 102:
Page 103 and 104:
Page 105 and 106:
Page 107 and 108:
Page 109 and 110:
Page 111 and 112:
Page 113 and 114:
Page 115 and 116:
Page 117 and 118:
Page 119 and 120:
Page 121 and 122:
Page 123 and 124:
Page 125 and 126:
Page 127 and 128:
Page 129 and 130:
Page 131 and 132:
Page 133 and 134:
Page 135 and 136:
Page 137 and 138:
Page 139 and 140:
Page 141 and 142:
Page 143 and 144:
Page 145 and 146:
Page 147 and 148:
Page 149 and 150:
Page 151 and 152:
Page 153 and 154:
Page 155 and 156:
Page 157 and 158:
Page 159 and 160:
show all

Managing Computers in Large Organizations

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?