Proceedings

is designed. But not all issues are solved in the traditional way. Line managers use
their computers depending on the activity they need to undertake, if it is either to
create reports, to analyze results of different projects or tasks. Some of them have
assistants who perform this work for them, but it depends again on what kind of
information is needed or what kind of analysis has to be done.
Even though they benefit of a lot of IT support, there is still the feeling that
information is spread all over the place (Malmqvist, 2008: 25). This may lead to
creating difficulties in finding information in a timely manner, and also having access
to the right kind of information mainly because there seems to be a lack of
effectiveness in the structuring process. The company has tried to adapt all other
information systems they introduced which were basically created for the general
management purpose, like SAP, sometimes even to the needs of the line managers, in
order to make available the right information to certain categories of users.
Interviewees agreed that they had problems using all the applications and in getting
the requested information from the systems, partly because these applications were
very difficult to work with and it took a long time to learn it, but they pursued because
they acknowledged that in this way their effectiveness will increase considerably.
The challenge for line managers is and will continue to be the overall picture and how
to get a general overview of the situation in your area of interest with so much
information that one has access to. Putting together data from the financial reports,
inventory systems, HR system, demand forecasts etc. is not enough. Learning how to
manage information and how to make better use of information systems helps only in
theory; in practice, we all have the same behavior and instead of reading the
instructions manual, we simply try to see how a device works. In reality, the
advantages of these systems are far beyond one’s acknowledgement. They have a lot
of functions that could make easier a line manager’s work, but they cannot spend too
much time in seeing how all these things work, they are trying to prioritize and time is
not really their best friend. The systems are not by far used at their full extent, a lot
more could be done with them, but it is user’s choice to how much he/she can
dedicate to learning all the functionalities and relationships beyond the interface and
his/her background that support or impedes the learning process.
Another gap in implementing information systems and making them accessible to
employees is the approach of the training that needs to be done. This is the case for
many companies worldwide, when the experts provide the users with some basic
training, but as things get more and more complicated, there are still questions left
without answer. It’s the “now you have the application, here is your password, ask if
there is anything you need to know” (Malmqvist, 2008: 28) type of approach, as one
of the interviewed line managers states. Since line managers have a lot of crossfunctional
responsibilities, they should probably receive a more in-depth training
which should be done on a continuous basis. With all the many tasks they are
requested to perform, they are entitled to have the necessary conditions to do that.
And as previously mentioned, the solution to this issue would be to develop training
for general purpose and then to allocate each line manager and each decisional staff a
training that is focused on the particularities of his/her work, to adapt it to the needs of
the user.
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