The Impact of Technology Insertion on Organisations

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HFIDTC/2/12.2.1/1 Version 3 / 21 November 2007 11.2 Identifying and Training the <strong>Technology</strong> <strong>Insertion</strong> Practitioners <strong>The</strong> literature, case studies and SME evidence suggest that technology insertion risks occur at various stages <strong>of</strong> any technology insertion programme. Engineers selecting components to upgrade military platforms may be familiar with selecting equipment based on capability and cost, but must also consider the implications that changes may have on overall platform performance. How important is component performance when compared with its ruggedness, international restrictions, reliability or number <strong>of</strong> suppliers? At a higher level <strong>of</strong> decision maker, there are risks in selecting the wrong technologies and platforms to develop. Are major platforms relevant for asymmetrical warfare? Will a new IT system be compatible with existing systems or coalition systems? <strong>Technology</strong> insertion decisions can have implications for the number and type <strong>of</strong> personnel needed in the organisation as well as for recruitment and retention policies. This scoping study suggests that in terms <strong>of</strong> the military, TI practitioners include: • Customers; • MoD Integrated Project Teams (IPT); • MoD DECs (Director <strong>of</strong> Equipment Capability); • Contractors; • Training Organisations. Given the number <strong>of</strong> people responsible for TI and the uncertainty and risks surrounding TI decisions, it is clear that TI practitioners need either training, guidance in selecting effective techniques or support in decision making. Weaknesses in the acquisition process have been identified in this report, but it is beyond the scope <strong>of</strong> this study to recommend changes to this aspect <strong>of</strong> military organisations. 11.3 Are there any common lessons? Given the challenges in managing technology insertion programmes, it seems likely that practitioners need to be well trained in identifying and managing project risks. Practitioners may need to be trained to take a systems view <strong>of</strong> technology projects, so they are able to not only identify technology capabilities, but also assess overall system impact, and identify organisational risks, before they commit to insertion decisions. It is also apparent that the tools available to support practitioners are lacking in efficacy. If risk assessment tools are failing to help practitioners identify the key risks, then it seems reasonable to suggest that more effective or task-appropriate tools are required. So, to summarise: • Practitioners may not always have experience <strong>of</strong> the likely risks <strong>of</strong> technology insertion or the impacts <strong>of</strong> these new technologies upon the user and organisation. This issue is especially likely where the impacts occur beyond the practitioners’ area <strong>of</strong> expertise, e.g. impacts on productivity, morale, 63
HFIDTC/2/12.2.1/1 Version 3 / 21 November 2007 organisational structure. Practitioners may need to be trained to take a systems view and to understand the importance <strong>of</strong> domain experts, such as human factors pr<strong>of</strong>essionals, who are required to identify likely impact and organisational risks throughout project lifecycles. • Currently available tools lack effectiveness. Risk assessment tools do not help with identification <strong>of</strong> identify unexpected risk, nor do they take into account changing project conditions. More effective, task appropriate tools are required to support practitioners. 11.4 Can we predict whether TI will succeed or fail? One <strong>of</strong> the questions this scoping study sought to answer was whether or not it is possible to predict whether insertion <strong>of</strong> a technology will succeed or fail. <strong>The</strong> answer is that it is probably not possible to predict success or failure outright, for the simple reason that there are too many interacting variables during technology insertion within organisations. Similarly it is difficult to envisage being able to predict the impact that a new technology will have upon an organisation. As Eason put it: ‘computing technology has been a major force for change in organisations for over 30 years and throughout that time there has been little evidence that developers <strong>of</strong> technologies are able to predict or plan organisational outcomes’ [24]. Perhaps a more valuable focus <strong>of</strong> effort would be upon attempting to develop better tools to help identify and manage the many risks to technology insertion projects. 11.5 A Toolkit to Support Practitioners A review <strong>of</strong> the toolkits that have been developed to support practitioners in managing technology insertion programmes indicates that several approaches may be feasible. <strong>The</strong>re are two major challenges to technology insertion practitioners that could be supported by a toolkit. <strong>The</strong> first is aiding the identification and management <strong>of</strong> risks and the second is in supporting decision making under uncertainty. 11.5.1 Identifying Risks It is the opinion <strong>of</strong> the author, based on the literature reviewed for this study, that existing risk assessment and management tools do not provide sufficient support to technology insertion practitioners in identifying risks. Although existing tools are designed to support the identification <strong>of</strong> all possible risks, they currently allow users to ignore key organisational, contextual and systemic factors. It seems that these tools rely heavily on the practitioner’s insight and experience. Indeed, research has shown that risk assessment tools support users in identifying and quantifying risks that they are already aware <strong>of</strong>, but do not effectively support the identification <strong>of</strong> unexpected issues. A toolkit designed to alert the practitioner to a broader range <strong>of</strong> issues may be a valuable development in supporting practitioners. Most standard texts on risk propose that you decompose risks into two components: • Probability (or likelihood) <strong>of</strong> the risk and 64
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The Impact of Technology Insertion on Organisations

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