The conundrum of IT management
- PDF / 135,128 Bytes
- 10 Pages / 595 x 794 pts Page_size
- 7 Downloads / 208 Views
OPINION PIECE
The conundrum of IT management* Joe Peppard1 1 Information Systems Research Centre, Cranfield School of Management, Cranfield University, Bedford, U.K.
Correspondence: Joe Peppard, Information Systems Research Centre, Cranfield School of Management, Cranfield University, Bedford MK43 0AL, U.K. Tel: þ 44 (0)1234 751122; E-mail: [email protected] *This paper is based on a keynote presentation, delivered at the Australasian Conference on Information Systems, Adelaide, Australia, December 2006.
Abstract This paper presents a robust argument as to why it can be difficult for chief information officers (CIOs) to generate business value from investments that their organizations make in information technology (IT) with contemporary organizational structures, authority patterns, processes and mindsets. This argument is built on the subtle premise that organizations should not seek to merely manage IT but to manage the delivery of business value through IT. It takes the view that this latter quest is knowledge-based and that the knowledge resources to successfully deliver this value are distributed throughout the organization. Crucially, this knowledge is not located solely within the IT function, presenting a challenge for the CIO for its integration and coordination. With the CIO having little or no jurisdiction over all required knowledge, its deployment will therefore be fragmented. The conundrum of IT management is how to generate value through IT without having access and authority over necessary resources. Research and practitioner implications of this analysis are highlighted. European Journal of Information Systems (2007) 16, 336–345. doi:10.1057/palgrave.ejis.3000697 Keywords: IT value; competencies; knowledge; social capital; IT management
Introduction
Received: 6 April 2007 Accepted: 2 August 2007
One of the great blunders of history was the belief that California was an island floating off the western coast of North America. Indeed, this view was widely accepted until well into the late 18th century. The error was a result of sound Cartesian reasoning. Spanish explorers coming from the south had encountered the tip of the Baja Peninsula; voyaging further north they sailed into the Straits of Juan de Fuca. When they connected the first point to the second they created the Gulf of California. Yet, for many years, strong evidence to the contrary did not sway this dominant belief. When Father Eusebio Kino and his missionaries crossed over to the peninsula of California in the late 17th century he found, much to his surprise, that he did not need a boat to get to New Albion! Kino published his map in 1705 and sparked a barrage of criticism. The missionaries were even told that they must have been in the wrong place! Renowned Dutch cartographer Herman Moll added his weight behind this position proclaiming that ‘California is undoubtedly an island. Why, I have had in my office mariners who have sailed round it’. It was only when missionaries rose high enough in the Church were they in a positi
Data Loading...
