Final Project on Factors Affecting IT Implementation Research Project

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Chapter 1: Introduction

There is no single definition of information technology today that is universally accepted. Often the term is applied to computers and computer-based systems. However, the roots of the word technology suggest that it is a "means to an end." For example, using a book of matches is a means to creating a fire. The end is fire itself. A bicycle is a means of transportation. The goal of bicycle riding is to reach a destination, and perhaps also to get some needed exercise.... Consequently, when we talk about the use of technology, we must always remember that it is a means, not an end in itself. Technology in the broadest sense is the application of modern communications and computing technologies to the creation, management and use of knowledge. The revolution in information technology (IT) has been likened to the industrial revolution in terms of its potential scope and impact on society. Few other modern advances in technology have had the capacity to affect so fundamentally the way people work, live, learn, play, communicate, and govern themselves. As IT extends human capabilities and takes over other functions previously performed by humans, it can even affect what it means to be human It is far from clear what the total effects of IT on society will be. More than 50 years ago, "The world has arrived at an age of cheap complex devices of great reliability; and something is bound to come of it." The question is, what has become of it? As with automobiles and television earlier in the 20th century, information technologies can be expected to have diverse and far-reaching effects on society-some good, some bad, and many unanticipated. The information revolution is not new. The United States began moving toward an informationbased economy in the 1960s, as information intensive services began to grow. At that time, computers were used mostly in the research and development (R&D) community and in the offices of large companies and agencies. In the past 20 years, however, IT has become increasingly pervasive in society. It has spread to the point that nearly everyone uses some form of IT every day. It has become common in schools, libraries, homes, offices, and shops. Corner grocery stores use IT for sales and electronic transactions; automobile repair shops use IT to diagnose failures and search for parts. In the past few years, the Internet and the World Wide

Web in particular have contributed to the rapid expansion of IT. Innovations in IT now directly affect nearly everyonenot just the few in computer-intensive jobs. Our society is being transformed by continuously evolving technologies that are changing the way we do things at the most fundamental levels. This transformation is precipitated by a number of trends: a shift from manufacturing to a service economy; the usage of information as a resource, factor of production, and commodity; and the propulsion of our economic growth through technical innovation and scientific discovery. On an individual level, every aspect of our daily lives is subject to technological innovations. We have become dependent on the flexibility, access, and services that they provide us. Computers, fax machines, networks, cable television, fiber optics, and ATMs have all played a pivotal role in the way we communicate, work, play, and do business. As the information age progresses we increasingly owe more of our economic and technological progress to the free flow of ideas and knowledge. Consequently, it becomes more important that we have access to superior and timely information. As a nation our toehold in the information age relies heavily on technological progress and scientific and technical information. From an organizational standpoint, the information age is in full swing and both public and private institutions are experiencing an increase in the use of a variety of information technologies (ITs). Realistically, it has become nearly impossible for an organization to operate without the use of one or more ITs. Since their inception, ITs have been held up by many people as the cure-all for a variety of organizational ills, and in many cases viewed as an antidote to poor performanceefficiency through the miracle of automation. What is too often ignored or forgotten amidst all the discussion is that although ITs can provide a number of solutions and benefits, they also introduce their own special problems and concerns into the organizational setting. The implementation and subsequent use of ITs is a process of interrelated steps. Faltering or mis-stepping at any of the implementation stages may actually increase inefficiency, ineffectiveness, and promote any number of additional uncertainties. ITs, in and of themselves, cannot solve all our problems (organizational or otherwise), nor will they magically remove the variety of organizational and managerial ills that plague us. It is only through careful design planning, acquisition, and implementation of ITs that we may benefit from more effective operations and solutions to problems. Research Questions To get command of the many of issues surrounding the problem of IT implementation in organizations, this study breaks down the development and deployment process into three separate areas: IT planning; IT procurement; and IT implementation, each with its own set of issues. Although a number of them may prove to be similar in nature, they must be addressed in the context of that part of the process to which they are related.

The actual research questions for this study are broken down into three distinct questions, which are based on the three levels involved in successful implementation of information technologies. What are the most problematic issues facing organizations with

regard to IT planning? What are the most problematic issues facing organizations with regard to IT procurement? What are the most problematic issues facing organizations with regard to IT implementation? Problem Statement The problems facing organizations in their efforts to implement ITs are extensive and varied. One of the ultimate and overriding problems is that there is no model for these organizations to follow or consult that is tailored to their specialized issues and needs. One of the first questions that comes to mind in relation to this problem is Why is a model for IT implementation is so important? Obviously, no model can completely address all of the issues each individual organization faces. Organizations are each subtly different even from those in the same arena. What a model provides is a framework designed to address the issues and needs of a particular process which are related across organizations of comparable circumstance. for all types of organizations across one particular sector, it is doubly unwise to generalize a model for use in a different sector entirely. The time is right for the development of an IT implementation model for organizations. These organizations have reached a point where information technology use has become widespread and integral to almost all operations. IT knowledge levels are increasing within these organizations, and the demand for efficient and effective use of ITs is high. Organizations are more frequently making use of multiple ITs in their operations. Hardware and software costs have decreased substantially, making it easier and more feasible for organizations to afford superior ITs in greater quantity. This dissertation focuses on Pharmaceuticals and banking sector and the myriad of issues they are facing with regard to IT implementation. At the organizational level, the specifics of how we will function in the information age and what direction we will take have become increasingly important. At this time we are at the crossroads of information technologiesso many choices, so little money, so much confusion. Over the last decade and a half, competition and innovation have led to a development that is somewhat unique to the area of information technology. IT has improved exponentially while at the same time prices for technologies have continued to drop.. Unfortunately, some of the same factors that have made this particular situation possible have also produced an even greater problem the rapidly changing nature of the technologies themselves. Information technologies become affordable quickly but the rapidity of change in the environment keeps small and medium sized organizations a step behind. In essence, they can afford really great obsolete ITs. In light of this and a number of other situations in the information technology arena, all organizations who make use of ITs must pay special attention to the planning, acquisition, and implementation of these technologies. They must be acutely aware of the copious number of

issues which play a part in the ability of the organization to effectively implement ITs. The view of this study is that to do this effectively an in-depth knowledge of the issues affecting IT implementation must be reviewed with regard to organizations. The problem that this study will specifically address is the rationale that numerous and varied issues exist across multiple levels of the process of implementation which are problematic to the IT development and deployment process as a whole. In most cases, IT implementation problems can be viewed in layers corresponding to each stage in the overall process. One thing that all of the layers appear to have in common is that they are all comprised of multiple issues that create or aggravate the problem. This particular study will focus on these issues in order to determine which are the most problematic for organizations with regard to the implementation of ITs. Furthermore, these issues will be examined from the standpoint of their relationships and impacts. In addition it will explore how the issues are perceived by the executives who must manage them in their attempts to lead their organizations to effective implementation of ITs. Ultimately, the information gathered here should prove useful to the development of an effective and usable IT implementation model for organizations. Description of the Issues Organizational and management process issues encompass those factors that affect control over planning, procurement, and implementation of information technologies. In general these kinds of issues provide a window for viewing a variety of organizational operations with regard to IT. For example: What degree of centralized or decentralized control exists in the organization? Are different technologies controlled at different levels or areas of the organization? Are technological distinctions relevant or is standardization called for? How has the organization structure developed, by design or default? These are just a few of the kinds of questions that are spoken of within the contexts of organizational and managerial issues. At the outset it appeared that the broad umbrellas of management processes and organizational processes were ideal for categorization of the issues to be discussed. However, after careful review of the literature, it became clear that more specific categorizations were necessary as a basis for better understanding of the issues. To that end, this study will make use of the following issue types: management process issues, organizational environment issues, leadership issues, technical systems issues, and personnel issues. Those characterized as management process issues speak to the functional operations of organizations, such as: budgeting, personnel, and general management. Issues characterized as organizational environment will be broader, addressing factors which are less tangible and more difficult to define such as: organizational culture, change, and behavior. Leadership issues refer to those areas which require the interaction and direction of the organization executive such as: interdepartmental coordination and administrative support. Technical systems issues are primarily those related to the hardware and software considerations of information technologies. Finally, personnel issues are those issues surrounding each individual in the organization such as: individual expertise levels, staffing levels, and resistance to change. IT Issues, Initial Categorizations

Leadership Issues

Management Process Issues

Organization Environment Issues

Technical Systems Issues

Personnel Issues

Interdepartmenta l Coordination Individual Support Organizational Support Timeframes and Scheduling

Strategic Planning Budgeting

Organizational Culture Internal and

Existing Systems Standardizati on Compatibility

Organizational Expertise

Organizational Directives Written Guidelines

External Politics Contracts Changing Technologies External Consultants

Individual Expertise Internal Leadership Staffing Resistance to Change Training

As discussed previously, the issues relevant to this study are broken down by issue type and the specific part of the IT development and deployment process, which they affect. A number of the issues are important factors in more that one part of the process. Significance of Study An in-depth understanding of the specific issues related to IT implementation is essential for the establishment of appropriate principals and effective approaches with regard to the management of information systems in an organization. Each individual issue is important in its own context as well as producing multiple impacts which affect the organization and implementation of ITs within it. Subsequently, effective management of ITs across the board can only take place when a more comprehensive understanding of the myriad of issues is achieved. This study is significant because it provides discourse on an area that is too often glossed over or addressed with a standard formulaic approach. While many of the issues represented in this study have been addressed individually they have not been adequately viewed in the context of IT development and deployment processes, especially with regard to the question of the needs and

perceptions of professionals from the different organizations. In response to these shortcomings, this study will provide an exploratory look at the problematic issues surrounding IT implementation and how professionals perceive them. More specifically, this study will provide the issues that have a direct relationship to IT and organizational implementation needs;

Chapter 2: Literature Review

General literature on factors affecting Information technology implementation

Information technology is gaining more and more importance in the working of organization Management information system is any system that provides people with either data or information relating to an organizations operations. Management information systems support the activities of employees, owners customers and other people in the organizations environment either by efficiently processing data to assist with the transaction work load or by effectively supplying information to authorized people in a timely manner. The new form of information technology used in organization is knowledge based system Because knowledge based systems have become day parts of an organizations sub systems they are not considered to be in a separate subset of MIS systems that mimic human decision making processes. (Parker C, Case T (1998)) Due to the importance of information systems in organization it is necessary that the information system should be implemented properly with in the organizations. the purpose of my research is to identify the factors which effect the implementation process of information technology with in the organization . Literature is full of factors identified which effect the implementation of information technology. Cooper and Zmud defined IT implementation as an organizational effort directed toward diffusing appropriate information technology within a user community. They developed a sixstaged model of IT implementation based on Lewins work:

Initiation: Active and /or passive scanning of problems/opportunities. Adoption: Negotiations for backing IT application implementation. Adaptation: IT application and organizational procedures are revised. Acceptance: Organizational members are induced to commit to IT application Routinization: Usage of the IT application is encouraged as a normal activity. Infusion: Increased effectiveness obtained by using the IT.

They also described five major contextual factors that impacted each stage in the process:

User community (job tenure, education, resistance to change) Organization (specialization, centralization, and formalization) Technology being adopted (complexity) Task to which the technology is being applied (task uncertainty, autonomy) Organizational environment (uncertainty, inter-organizational dependence). (Zolla G (1998))

The need for improved implementation of information technology strategy has been emphasized in both empirical and prescriptive research studies. Researchers have discussed various studies which effect the implementation of information technology in an organization Gottschalk P (1998) has identified, ten content characteristics of formal information technology strategy from the research literature as potential implementation predictors. These are descriptions of: i) resources needed for the implementation; ii) user involvement during the implementation; iii) analyses of the organization; iv) anticipated changes in the environment; v) solutions to potential resistance during the implementation; vi) information technology to be implemented; vii) projects relevance to the business plan; viii) responsibility for the implementation; ix) management support for the implementation; and x) clarity of the documentation. To have a successful IT implementation organizations should identify different variables, which effect the implementation of IT in an organization. Enns H et Huff S (1999) suggested that studies of the success of Global information technology (IT) should seriously considered the inclusion of broad categories of independent variables. These include consideration of the economic, Technological, cultural, and political/ regulatory Environments. Several additional key elements have been repeatedly identified in the literature: "Buy-in" of the organization is important. All users must clearly see the need for the change if they are to support it. There must be a clear understanding that significant change occurs in multiple stages, and that errors in any of the stages can have devastating consequences Local champions must actively and enthusiastically promote the system, build support, overcome resistance, and ensure that the system is actually installed and used . Senior management must be able to understand and address the challenges ahead and capitalize on opportunities for quality improvement and cost reductions.

It must be recognized that it can take at least 6 months of CIS usage before any decisions about the success of the technology introduction (particularly in terms of individual worker productivity) can be made. (Dr. Anderson L (1996)) Lewin created a three-step sequential model that describes how processes are changed. The present behavior is unfrozen, and then it is changed to develop a new behavior and finally refrozen to reinforce the new behavior. He also identified multiple forces for change and for maintaining the status quo. Forces for change:

New technology Better raw materials Competition from other groups - survival Supervisor pressures Forces that inhibit change: Group performance norms Fear of change Few external threats - member complacency Well-learned skills. (Zolla G (1998))

The importance of these factors is not same in all the organizations or even within the same organization, the importance differ from time to time also organizations past experience effect the implementation strategy of an organization After conducting the case study in different organizations Caroline Chan had reached following conclusions Understanding IS implementation is an enormous task, due to the complexity of the process. The factors involved in IT implementation have varying degrees of influence on the implementation Process. This depends on the type of organizations involved, as well as on their initiatives. For example in manufacturing and retail organizations, customer and supplier interrelationships are crucial for the uptake of the initiative. In government organizations, by contrast, the issue of public concern and the associated political issues related to elections and party politics play important roles in the implementation process. Although there were similar responses from all case participants (that is, business must drive e-Commerce implementation) on the organizations future approaches to e-commerce initiatives, the organizations own experiences have formed their attitude Toward their next initiative. For example, those organizations involved with EDI Implementations tended to compare their EDI initiative(s) with their Internet-based Initiatives and were rather more cautious in their hopes for the future. Achievement of successful system implementation is not an easy task according to Grimes J et al Zingg P, Hanley J (1999) the responsibility of meeting the implementation of instructional information technology requirements of an institute is much like the responsibility of exploring a

new frontier. It is exciting; there are unknowns; there are hazards, and success brings an adrenaline surge to advance the frontier even further There is growing concern about the apparent widespread failure of information systems (IS) and information technology (IT) to deliver real organizational and business benefits. (Maguire S (2000)) Trade surveys have estimated that from 30% to 65% of IS development projects become 'runaways' runaway projects are those which 1) fail to produce an acceptable system, 2) grossly exceed initial budget/time estimates and, 3) seem to take on a life of their own (Dr. Anderson L (1996)) Laudon and Laudon (1995) have tried to explain the failure of system development by identifying major weaknesses in the system development life cycle. The conventional development cycle is very costly. The time needed to develop a system through the life cycle is often lengthy and prolonged;

Life cycle methodology is relatively inflexible; Life cycle methodology discourages change; Life cycle methodology is ill suited to decision-oriented applications

``The IS community faces a paradox: despite impressive advances in technology, problems are more abundant than solutions; organizations experience rising costs instead of cost reduction; IS misuse and rejection are more frequent than acceptance and use'' (Lytinen, 1987).The use of accepted methodologies for system development have not guaranteed the successful implementation of information systems. There are still weaknesses in the traditional methodologies. (Maguire S (2000)). According to Sittig D (1999) Implementing an information system is always difficult. The requirements to balance the multitude of trade-offs between the various factions involved in the process puts senior leadership in a vital, but unenviable, position. One of the most important lessons that pioneers in this field have learned is that people-based skills such as cooperation, leadership, and creative thinking are just as important as the technology itself. Finally, one should keep focused on the overall goal of IS implementation: improving the quality of care delivered while lowering its costs. It is worth the effort various evaluations of both successful and unsuccessful IS implementations conclude that in order to be successful the IS must "match" the organization in relation to a variety of technical (e.g., does the new IS work on the currently installed hardware?), social (e.g., does the IS provide all the features and functions required to replace the current elaborately designed formal and informal communication networks?"), and organizational (e.g., does the IS support the mission of the organization?) factors, including the perceptions of key stakeholders (i.e., the clinical users of the system) and organizational leadership.

Historically, IS developers have attempted to reduce the complexity of this organizational change by primarily concentrating on the technical issues involved within the process. System developers may need to widen their perspective on implementation to encompass Lucas's (1994) wider definition, which includes: implementation terminates when the system has been successfully integrated with the operations of the organization. Three conditions can be identified to moderate the extent of social control on system development: dependence on constraints imposed by external institutions having control over an organization's resources; unclear performance standards for the process of system development; and interaction patterns during the development process. These conditions set the context within which the process of system development operates and decisions about system development are made. (Nicolaou A (1999)) In next sections literature regarding various factors is compiled, I have divided this literature into three main sections, environmental factors, and technical factors and inter organizational factors. Each section is then divided into subsections according to the availability of literature on each subject.

Effect of environment on implementation. Economy external environment

The external environment of an organization involves both a general culture (technological, sociological, Economic, political and so on and a particular set of groups with which the organization must interact. These groups usually include customers, suppliers, competitors, labor supply, labor unions and governments. The external environment is a major contingency variable for many reasons in order to survive and evolve, an organization must adapt effectively to changes that take place in its environment. The inability to adjust to environmental changes can erode the effectiveness of an organization and threaten its continued existence. .( Parker C , Case T (1999)) Nicolaou A (1999) shows the importance of environment on the development of system according to him Frameworks external to organizations provide models of organizational arrangements from which organizational participants choose or to which they are subjected. Organizational participants are viewed as being subjected to normative pressures and cognitive constraints to embrace forms regarded as appropriate or legitimate for organizations of the type to which they belong. From this perspective, executives may not be designing their own governance Structures in the light of the particular problems confronted but rather choosing a structure from a menu providing a set of options ... [a structure] is imposed on them. Also economic environment of a country effects the implementation of information system the economic environment of a nation has a clear impact on the short term and long term success of IT implementation. The economy determines such things as the availability of funds to pay for

hardware, software, and technical support. The economy also impacts the demand, in terms of a sustainable customer base, for new IT products and services. Enns H et al Sid L.Huff (1999) also discusses the effect of environment in developing countries according to them in developing nations; the costs associated with IT investments are typically very high, as compared to the cost of labor. This encourages the use of more traditional, laborintensive methods rather than the use of computer-based systems. Governments in developing countries have been encouraged to invest in IT infrastructure in order to contribute to economic growth and participate more fully in global trade Of course even with high IT planning can not always guarantee higher business performance, extended external shocks outside a companies realm of influence can have a negative effect on business performance despite a high information technology orientation. For example the Asian financial crisis had a devastating effect on the business of one European specialty chemicals company despite its high information technology orientation Enns H et al Sid L.Huff (1999) analyzed the effect of economic factors on a Mongolian company named Datacom Mongolias economic conditions posed a large barrier to Datacoms ability to provide the Internet services desired by its customers. The Mongolian economy was not strong in 1994. The Mongolian government initially had limited capacity to assist Datacom in its quest for Internet access. Nor was the emerging private sector in Mongolia able to commit investment in the project. Access charge also the some of the economic factors had a positive effect on datacoms information system implementation Initially, competition was virtually non-existent. This allowed Datacom some time to become firmly entrenched as an ISP, and provided some first mover advantages. When competition appeared in the form of MONTEL, Datacom leveraged their first mover advantages. External dependencies can also effect the implementation of information system with in an organization when dependencies exist on other organizations for critical resources, the dependent firm experiences a constraint to conform to the norms and values advocated by the dominant partners (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983, p. 154). For example, the implementation of information systems to support efficient interchange of order and invoicing data between an organization and a supplier can result in a significant commitment of capital and human resources (Borthick and Roth, 1993). This relationship can limit the gathering of information about alternative system solutions to those offered by the existing supplier of such systems (Nicolaou A (1999)) Information technology affects the community in which organization works. The strategic planning process is an essential vehicle for dispensing information to the community about current operations, achievements, and constraints of the information technology enterprise. There is likelihood that members of the community will pay greater attention to this kind of information during a planning exercise because it is provided in the context of goals that are important to them. CAUSE/EFFECT 1998 Volume 21, Number 1, pp. 18-23 Social factors

The increasing concentration on social issues with regard to IS development may lead to a different focus in the future. The writer contends that their needs to be a further realignment whereby methodologies become even more business-led and a situation is created where information systems are introduced rather than implemented within organizations. Unfortunately some authors still have a narrow view of what is entailed in the system development process referring to it as the structuring of hardware and software to achieve efficient processing this thinking leads to decreased productivity of information systems (Maguire S (2000)) It is necessary to distinguish the social part of planning from technical one it is our contention; there are two distinct aspects of strategic technology planning. One is socioeconomic and the other is pragmatic/technical. The traditional focus on the creation of a planning document tends to merge these aspects and obscure the distinction, often leading to confusion and frustration. The differences between socioeconomic objectives -- which are essentially strategic -- and technical goals -- which are primarily operational -- are non-trivial: while the former need to be stable and comprehensive, the latter need to be agile and responsive to rapid changes in technology and in users' needs. We believe strategic planning for technology is not an oxymoron, yet a failure to appreciate the dual character of technology planning can make it seem that way. Many technology officers with whom we spoke intuitively recognize the essence of good planning and achieve impressive outcomes with a minimum of frustration (CAUSE/EFFECT 1998 Volume 21, Number 1, pp. 18-23) Fish M et al Jon A. Turner (2000) has conducted the study of implementation of information technology in five settlement houses in New York City. Settlement houses are the primary way that social services are delivered to community members of inner cities. The goals for the IT implementation are to enable the settlement houses to improve the efficiency of their administrative operations and to provide better service to their clients. To increase efficiency, to lessen the burdensome information processing. Their observation regarding the social aspect of the implementation are as follow. Their observation concerns the change in emphasis among technical and social aspects of the IT implementation as the project progressed. In the early stages of the project, the implementation team focused its efforts almost exclusively on technical aspects of the IT implementation. For example, the team initially focused on such tasks as evaluating alternative WAN architectures and technologies, evaluating PC software and devices, and analyzing the existing LANs in the houses. There is little doubt that this work was necessary to design a technically efficient and cost-effective IT infrastructure. However, little systematic thought was given early in the project as to how the IT infrastructure might affect the existing work procedures, job responsibilities, employee satisfaction, and organizational structures in the settlement houses. This lack of emphasis on the social aspects of IT is somewhat ironic considering that the settlement houses are essentially social service organizations. According to Nicolaou A (1999) the choice, design and development of an information system. The process itself may be affected by concerns for legitimacy as well as by concerns for effectiveness in supporting organizational tasks.

Social control is exerted by social institutions in a firm's context and is manifested through symbolism and the institutionalization of the system development process as well as its outcomes. Technical/rational goals are therefore not the sole controlling factors in organizational processes, but are complemented by institutional forces and symbolic means of control in a firm's environment Nicolaou A (1999) has tried to explain the effect of social institutions by dividing the influence into three different categories The symbolic functions of institutions are imposed upon organizational form and action through three regulatory mechanisms and/or processes. These regulatory mechanisms and processes have been identified by institutional theorists as coercive isomorphism, mimetic isomorphism and normative isomorphism (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983). These mechanisms aid in explaining why institutionalized procedures and practices across organizations tend to become similar over time. Coercive isomorphism The first mechanism promoting similarity is called coercive isomorphism. Coercive isomorphism refers to the external pressures placed on an organization to conform to rules and practices that are considered important within an industry. Mimetic isomorphism The second mechanism that encourages similarity has been labeled mimetic isomorphism. Mimetic isomorphism, or ``follow the leader'', is driven by the desire to reduce uncertainty, minimize risk, ensure survival and gain legitimacy by choosing to select and implement systems used by the most prestigious, visible members of an industry. Normative isomorphism The third and final mechanism fostering similarity is known as normative isomorphism. Normative isomorphism or ``learning'' refers to the complex network of educational institutions and professional associations by which Information organizational participants learn ``the ropes to know'' or acceptable norms of practice (Nicolaou A (1999)) Social implication of implementation should be kept in mind before planning for information technology implementation. The motivations for strategic technology planning that are most frequently mentioned are the socioeconomic ones of:

Aligning technology with other institutional priorities; Disseminating knowledge about technology needs and constraints; Building alliances with key decision-makers;

Lobbying for (and obtaining) financial and other resources; Addressing existing technology needs; and

Keeping an eye on the leading edge (CAUSE/EFFECT 1998 Volume 21, Number 1, pp. 18-23) Government Government agencies might often require specific forms and content of reporting; imposing specific IS structures that are required for compliance. Trade and industry associations as well as major trading partners of an organization might also impose certain information processing requirements, data access, and set standards for inter organizational communications and external reporting of information. (Nicolaou A (1999)). Fish M (2000) after conducting the research study of information technology implementation in settlement houses had following observation regarding the effect of government on implementation practice. Influences from the environments of the settlement houses have significantly impacted IT implementation efforts. For example, the social service programs in the settlement houses are funded in large measure by government contracts. Just prior to the initiation of implementation efforts, a shift to Republican leadership occurred in the U.S. Congress, as well as in New York State and New York City governments. As a result, the funding for social service programs was curtailed by all three levels of government which seriously effected the implementation of information system (Middleton C (1996)) Technological Technological factors, such as the sophistication, or even the very existence, of needed IT infrastructure, are important considerations in the implementation efforts of information technology. ( Sakaguchi C (1998))

Caroline Chan (1999) conducted case study of nine organizations and the findings indicate that compatibility is the major technological issue and that it is a critical variable for successful information technology implementation. In one of his case studies Trading partners (both within Australia and overseas) were currently using a variety of different standards and platforms, which increase not just the cost of the implementation but also the complexity of the process to overcome this issue Caroline Chan has suggested two possible solutions, which currently being used by cases:

Ensuring that right decision is made on technology, so that there is no difficulty with later Integration issues (integration of the new technology with prior initiatives) Multiple ways to interact with and service a range of different technologies.

For many reasons, over emphasizing on technical details in a strategic planning process can be counter-productive. As mentioned above, it dampens the interest of vital participants; it tends to obscure, rather than illuminate, genuinely strategic issues; and its relevance diminishes quickly when the planning process looks at a horizon of more than a few months. The issue of whether to provide network access to residence halls is strategic; the decision of whether to achieve this by installing copper, fiber, or wireless transponders is not. (CAUSE/EFFECT 1998 Volume 21, Number 1, pp. 18-23) Culture Culture is also an important element in implementation success. Enns H (1999) differentiated between national culture and organizational culture, and noted that both are relevant to implementation studies. They suggested that national culture is an important moderator of the relationship between organizational culture and characteristics of the technology on one hand, and the effectiveness of technology transfer on the other hand. The way in which people think and behave is strongly influenced by the social environment or culture to which they are accustomed. Thus an information system that worked successfully in New York or Toronto may not be as effective in Mexico City or Tokyo. Cultural factors and values should not be overlooked in MIS design and development. (Roberts T (1995)) According to Marchand D et al Kettinger W, Rollins J, (2000) in an organization characterized by integrity, people believe in and share a set of key principles that outline appropriate conduct in the company they feel they have a duty to act within the accepted boundaries of ethical and appropriate behavior. People with integrity will present what they know about reality candidly and fairly by not hiding bad news or glossing over important but discomforting facts or concerns. Lind argued that computer applications are culturally bound, and that national culture has a direct impact on implementation failure. Lack of sensitivity to national cultural issues is likely to increase project failure risk and lead to ineffective utilization of IT. National culture was also an important success factor in the Mongolian context. Mongolia was the first among the former Council on Mutual Economic Assistance to moves towards a free market economy. In addition, Mongolia was the first country in the region to establish free trade with all of its trading partners. Thus, the Mongolian culture was open to other Westernoriginated innovations, such as the Internet and this made the implementation practice successful in Mongolian organizations. (Enns Harvey et al Huff S (1999)) According to Scott (1994), institutions are social constructions made up of three elements: meaning systems and related behavioral patterns; symbolic elements, including representational, constitutive and normative rule systems; and regulatory processes that are used to enforce reified and legitimated actions. Systems of shared meaning are indispensable for collective activity in a social context. In their seminal article, Meyer and Rowan (1977) emphasized the role of rationalized belief systems in providing a structure for meaningful interactions and acceptable patterns of behavior. Symbolic

elements of institutions are contained in socially constructed systems of shared meaning and it is through these elements that social control is exerted on organizations The existence of social expectations, norms and dependencies, bridges the individual and organizational levels of analysis. Social context is not determined by individual needs and wants but is determined by what people take for granted, and consider legitimate (Nicolaou A (1999)) Culture defines the way in which communication will take place in the organization. The components of an environment that encourages participatory and strategic governance include a culture of trust and communication, and widespread agreement with the principle that teaching and learning processes must drive technology planning (Grimes J et al Zingg P, Hanley J (1999)) Enns Harvey et al Huff S (1999) found in their case study that Datacoms organizational culture, which centered on enthusiasm for technical work, and persistence in the face of obstacles, was consistent with the Internet and VSAT initiatives. The cultural factors helped them to become first to establish such services as the countrywide PC-Mail network. And due to cultural effect they showed a great deal of persistence in training themselves in the necessary hardware and software technologies and make the implementation of Internet successful Political environment The political environment of a developing country is also important from an implementation perspective. If the countrys government severely restricts an organizations operations, this has negative implications for successful implementation of IT. On the other hand, government policies can create a positive environment for implementation. For example, Indias commitment to develop its telecommunications sector provides an environment conducive to successful implementation efforts. At the same time the regulatory environment impacts the amount of competition in sectors such as telecommunications. Deregulation leads to increased competition, increased services, and decreased costs for consumers in many countries. Enns Harvey et al Huff S (1999) in their analysis of Datacom Company of magnolia the political environment in Mongolia facilitated successful IT implementations. The Mongolian governments move towards a market economy, the institution of democracy, and privatization laid the groundwork for success. Also, the deregulation of the telecommunications industry allowed Datacom and the Pan Mongolia initiative the latitude to operate relatively unencumbered.

Technical factors Training

Prior training, whether formal or on-the-job, of individuals involved in an IT implementation project is also seen as a critical element for success. Enns Harvey et al Huff S (1999) found this to be a significant factor in the successful implementation of an IT system in Sudan. Furthermore, Roche indicated that inadequate technical skills in host countries are significant barriers to implementation in developing countries. Proactive behavior is not an accident: high information oriented companies build it up systematically over years onto only though training but by reinforcing the behaviors and values that lead to this disposition in people integrity reality control transparency and sharing.Training must be continued to encourage user inputs for changes that can be made. Rewards must be given to those who significantly contribute to the successful implementation of the innovation (Roberts T et al Middle Jr (1995)) What training is required for technical staff and users? You must factor this effort and cost into your decision. Dont forget that training also includes post-installation coaching, training manuals, and support. Find out whats included in the offer. (Gadwall Group (2000)) How people learn is an important consideration when building or upgrading computer systems. Many organizations have found that training people on hoe to use new technologies is gobbling up an increasing share of the computing dollar for this reason training may become a high priority. (Parker C , Case T (1999)) Infrastructure The availability of infrastructure is very important for the successful implementation of information system. The existing infrastructure could enhance or hamper the efforts for system implementation. Enns Harvey et al Huff S (1999). Conducted the case studies in Mongolian organizations. Mongolias climate hinders certain wireless Mongolias existing infrastructure was unable to support the Internet and VSAT network initiatives. The Mongolian government did not have the financing or capacity to install better land-based infrastructure within the time frame that Datacom faced. So lake of proper infrastructure produced many problems for system implementation in Datacom technical complexity of a system can also affect the acceptance of system within the organization people are more prone to reject the systems, which are more difficult to use and understand. Zolla G (1998) found the same problem in Naval Postgraduate Schools. The Naval Postgraduate Schools initial application was a complex, technically sophisticated system that was resisted by some users because it replaced a legacy system that was well liked. It did not create the broad base of user support for future intranet applications. NPS has improved their enterprise telephone and email directory program, responded to users suggestions and is moving closer to achieving the critical mass needed for enterprise-wide intranet development. Expertise

Organization behavior researchers who study the factors that influence the work behaviors of individuals and groups have recognized that many on the job behaviors are affected by the skills and abilities that workers possess. These skills and abilities are usually described as being relatively stable physical and intellectual characteristics that determine an employees capability to perform job tasks. Lack of appropriate abilities and skills can limit workers productivity. For example if a clerk typist does not have the manual dexterity to master the fundamentals of typing or keyboard entry, his or her performance is likely to suffer. . ( Parker C et al Case T (1999)) Employees skills helped the Mongolian based organization in the implementation of information system. Enns Harvey et al Huff S (1999) conducted the cases study in Datacom a Mongolian based organization. Datacom had developed important skills in handling the poor telecommunication infrastructure in Mongolia. The domestic electronic mail system PC-Mail was designed to transfer messages over poor quality telephone lines. Due to the skills developed for working with the poor infrastructure Datacom was able to develop other initiatives, which further enhanced their expertise, such as their approach for transmitting international faxes via the (SITA) network.

Inter organizational factors Business strategy One of the most important tasks in managing any organization is strategic planning, the act of plotting the general long-term direction of the firm. Strategic plans often determine the context or back drop for other managerial decisions that are they are one o the factors that influence daily decisions that managers must make. In general managerial decisions should be consistent with a nod supportive of the organizations strategic plans thus while strategic planning is most identified with top level executives knowledge of the strategic plan and the strategic planning process can be useful to mangers and workers at any level. ( Parker C et al Case T (1999)) Information strategy could not be formulated in isolation. For information technology to be effective in significantly transforming higher education at the institutional level, it must be seen as merely one parameter, albeit an important parameter, within a more comprehensive academic planning process. (Sakaguchi T (1998)) Office of management and budget emphasizes the importance of organizational strategy in the development of successful system development according to them organization should:

link strategic planning to the organizations mission goals and customer needs. This includes developing long-term general goals, setting specific annual performance targets, and annually evaluating actual performance against these targets.

develop mission-related IT measures that link the IRM strategic plan with the organizations strategic plan. For example, mission goals should be translated into objective, results-oriented measures of performance, both quantitative and qualitative, which can form the basis for measuring the impact of information technology investments.

Determine whether the function to be supported by the investment should be performed in house or outsourced.

Determine whether the agency proposing to perform the function is the most appropriate agency.

Examine the work processes involved to ensure they are efficient, effective, and will take full advantage of the proposed automation.

Use mission benefit, not project completion on time and within budget, as an important measure of success for any IT project.

Identify all major existing or planned information systems and define their relationship to one another and to the agency's mission. Management And Budget (1995) ) (Office Of

information strategy planning Formal IT strategy was defined as "a written plan comprised of projects for application of information technology to assist an organization in realizing its goals", while IT strategy implementation was defined as "the process of completing the projects". (Galliers, 1996, p.3). Brancheau and Wetherbe (1987), Galliers (1993a, 1993b, 1994b), Galliers et al. (1994a) and Watson et al. (1997) all found that improving IS strategic planning was and is ranked the top issue among key information systems management issues identified as being important and problematic. . Planning of strategic IS does not ensure its implementation (Earl, 1993; Kearney, 1990; Lederer and Sethi, 1988, 1992; Levine and Rossmoore, 1993; Premkumar and King, 1994a, Ward and Griffiths, 1996). Lederer and Sethi have supported this observation in a survey (1988) and in a study by Gottschalk (1995a). (Gottschalk P (1999)) But according to Gottschalk P not only planning of the information technology can be sufficient despite a belief in its importance, in the past decade many organisations have developed perfectly sound IS strategies that have been left to gather dust, or have been implemented in a half-hearted manner. Taylor (1997, p.336), too, found that all too often strategies remain on the page and are not implemented.

Office of management and budget presents following guidelines for the development of information technology strategy. That could help ensure the proper implementation of plan:

Define a portfolio that includes IT projects in every phase (initial concept, new, ongoing, or fully operational) and for every type (mission critical, cross-functional, infrastructure, administrative, and R&D) of IT system.

Develop levels of review, documentation requirements, and selection criteria appropriate to the phase and type of IT system.

Define dollar thresholds that can be used to channel projects to the appropriate agency decision levels to best accommodate organization wide versus unit specific impact. Most important is the use of a consistent set of investment decision practices throughout the organization. Some best practice organizations submit projects to thorough investment reviews when costs exceed between 0.5 and 2 percent of the organization's IT budget.

Develop criteria for identifying projects of a critical nature that fall below the dollar threshold but should be included in the investment review process.

Each attribute contributes to properly implementing the three phases of the investment process. Senior managers and those helping to install the investment process in each agency should keep these elements in mind during review of the details of the selection, control, and evaluation phases. (office of management and budget (1995)).

Performance standards for some types of system development are relatively clear. An example is when a system is developed to support a specific new product or service. This type of system can be evaluated based on well- specified and crystallized outcomes, such as improved profitability or productivity in a specific service area. Here, the choice is driven less by an inclination to conform or imitate and more by a desire to improve specific results. Other types of system development, however, are made in situations where beliefs about cause-effect knowledge are incomplete, decision criteria are ambiguous, decision quality requires a long time to establish, and the success of a decision cannot be evaluated autonomously but depends upon other decisions, the results of which may not be accurately predicted or controlled. (Nicolaou A (1999))

The vast majority of technology officers, however, devote a considerable amount of time and energy to strategic and financial planning. In most cases, their efforts follow the traditional model of institutional planning; that is, a committee or task force gathers information, conducts interminable discussions about what the institution needs, and ultimately drafts a huge document that meets with overwhelming approval by the three people who actually have time to read it.

The relevance of the document to day-to-day operations, the quality of services, and the implementation of new initiatives are often questionable, although, oddly enough, few people seem to be concerned about this. There is something about the development of a strategic plan for technology that makes it worthwhile despite these shortcomings. Technology organizations that enjoy the greatest success are those whose agendas clearly serve the priorities of their institutions. Without a strategic planning process for technology, it may be difficult to identify the connection between technology initiatives and the institutional goals they are designed to support. (CAUSE/EFFECT 1998 Volume 21, Number 1, Pp. 18-23) Some technology officers and a surprising number of chief academic officers believe technology planning fails because technology evolves too rapidly, there will never be enough resources to satisfy technology demands, or users have no way of knowing what they will need in the future. Many of the researchers, however, provided a different set of answers. They blamed, for example: Failure to tie technology to institutional mission and priorities, Failure to get the right people on board, Excessive focus on technical detail, or Lack of suitable leadership.

It's critical to remember that a plan is a statement about priorities and their implementation, given our best knowledge at planning time, and that all kinds of events will cause the unfolding of history to differ from the plan. Kenneth L . Kraemer has tried to generalize the process of information technology planning according to him there are some common practices that contribute to healthy technology planning processes, regardless of the size and type of institution. The following ten-step method is an effort to fuse these practices into a comprehensive approach Step 1 Review institutional objectives. Before initiating any Step 2 Establish a framework of strategic technology objectives Step 3 Prioritize objectives. Even in a small institution, the list Step 4 Invite key group review. Before the framework of strategic Step 5 Disseminate strategic technology framework. The Step 6 Translate objectives into operational goals. In an ideal Step 7 Discuss operational goals with key people. The annual list Step 8 Disseminate operational goals. The list of operational Step 9 Enable continuous input. Members of the community Step 10 Conduct retrospective assessment. Progress toward (Kraemer K et al Talon P (2000)) Behavior And Users Information systems are often referred to as socio technical systems. That is they are composed of technology related products and concepts that can only be fully understood within the context

of the people and organization that use those products systems. developers should make sure that people and behavioral factors carefully considered when designing and implementing information systems. Many systems have failed because implementers overlooked the importance of human and organizational factors. The people component of a management information system is often overlooked or under considered .a long list of cases exist in which on the drawing board it appeared that proposed information systems would work successfully however when implemented these systems failed miserably . ( Parker C et al Case T (1999)) Marchand D et al Kettinger W, Rollins J, (2000) says that companies must do more than excel at investing in and deploying IT. They must combine those capabilities with excellence in colleting organizing and maintaining information and with getting their people to embrace the right behaviors and values for working with information Chan Caroline (1995) has found after conducting the case study in nine organizations that In all cases, commitment has been suggested as the most important factor for implementation success. Two aspect of this commitment refers to the commitment of organizations on system initiatives, which is needed to support the process of implementation (was refer to a more specific way: resource commitment) and trading partners (or clients) commitment. Developing a sound business plan and achieving sign off have been suggested for gaining these commitments. Marks P et al Mccoy S, Polak P (2001) has discussed the knowledge sharing behavior of different individual in organization and their effect on implementation. Knowledge sharing may be considered unnatural in many organizational cultures where holding on to unique and potentially valuable knowledge is a source of power (Goodman & Darr, 1999). In these organizations, simply sharing knowledge with peers utilizing traditional methods (e.g., face-toface, telephone conversations, etc.) can represent a significant challenge., three factors were identified which effect the sharing behavior within the organization, managerial control , social identification, social value orientation. According to Marchand D et al Kettinger W, Rollins J (2000) companies that incorporate a people centric, rather than merely techno centric, view of information use and that are good at all three information capabilities will improve their business performance. Opportunistic and need scanning must be continuous. Individuals should be assigned from a central computer department to continuously conduct opportunistic and need scanning. Active innovation identification will empower the organization to stay at the forefront of innovation, reducing inefficiency and heterogeneity of solutions. Centralized evaluation of innovation leads to standardization and better diffusion. Ensure the end-users are involved in the match between innovation and need. Do not create a match just to experiment with a new technology. There should be a need. User support is the key to adoption. Demonstrate how this solution will benefit the user (easier, better, more fun). If it does not, it is not a good solution. Adequate resources must be committed to training and maintenance of the project. The champion must be visible, creditable and enthusiastic. Network bandwidth and reliability must also be adequate. (Zolla G. (1998))

As Land (1985), points out, ``it is not possible to redesign a robust, effective information system incorporating significant amounts of the technology, without treating it as a social system''. Even though the technology has improved over the last 30 years there are still too many examples of failed system implementations There is a need to appraise critically the way we carry out computer systems development. It should not be seen as purely a series of formalized technical processes. Computer system design appears to have become structured and formalized leading to a problem-solving philosophy accepted uncritically by computer professionals. This philosophy views the system development process as being a purely technical process aimed at solving problems which are then defined in largely technical terms (Mumford and Weir, 1979). This partial and Mechanistic bias within the system development process may be a major factor leading to information system failure (Brooke and Maguire, 1998). (Maguire S (2000))

Management factors e.g. managing change According to Marchand D et al Kettinger W, Rollins J, (2000) good information management should constantly focus on the decision contexts of managers and employees. Because it is people who use information thinking about information needs should be part of every ones job leaving the responsibility for good information management to information specialists or IT staff may give temporary peace of mind. Chan Caroline (1995) has pointed out that one of the important issues during system implementation is related to managing change to as to ensure system acceptance. This issue has often associated with education and training and was recognized as a partly controllable factor (Winston and Dologite 1999). Although the organizations are aware that a broader approach, such as resources allocation planning needs to be used, such a change in approach has been extremely difficult due to the popularity of the current business process with the companys customers. Middleton Catherine (1999) conducted research on implementation of IT in five different settlement houses the project had following observations about co-ordination between the team members during a project Early in the project, implementation activities were being pursued in a disjointed fashion, with little forethought given to the ways in which these activities inform and constrain each other. For example, one of the team members was helping the houses to assess their needs for additional PC hardware and software, while another team member was simultaneously refining budget allocations for PC expenditures. Inadequate coordination between these team members resulted in confusion on the part of settlement house managers concerning the alignment of their computing needs and budget allocations. Maguire S (2000) presents two ways of managing information system development

IMPLEMENTAION

Information system forced into organization

Information system Information system introduced into organization

In the first case information system is forced into the organization and most of the emphasis is on technical aspects of the implementation this is referred to as the hard approach. In the second figure information system is introduced into the organization keeping in mind its effect on users and how this will effect the environment of the organization. Based on data from several specific cases of runaway projects, we believe runaways are a form of organizational decision-making failure. Consider this scenario: a development project encounters some problems, which may be serious enough to cause the project to fail. The decision maker(s) responsible for the project have two choices: continue the project or abandon it (either terminate it or radically redirect it). If the decision maker consciously chooses to continue committing resources to the project or never consciously considers abandonment, the behavior represents an escalation of commitment or escalation, for short the factors identified for escalation are. Independent Variables from Project Management

Poor Planning Poor Monitoring Poor Control Poor Estimation Poor Analysis and Design (Dr. Anderson L (1996))

Leadership The history of the world is rich with examples showing how individual leaders have made a difference. Leadership is important to the study of MIS for a variety of reasons, the changing role of MIS in may organizations is requiring different types of leadership from MIS executives than what was expected in the past moreover since leaders are the people who usually make a difference in an organization it is important for the systems designer to identify leaders among

users .MIS executives who are strong leaders often able to have a significant impact on their organizations strategic plans and the overall corporate perception of the MIS area. Strong MIS leaders can ensure that MIS concerns are reflected in these strategic plans and that the MIS area will be able to help the organization achieve its long term objectives. MIS executives the obvious leadership qualities especially those with a vision for the role that the MIS area should play in the future. Are likely to help develop and maintain a positive image for MIS throughout the organization. (Parker C et al Case T (1999)) Dong L, Neufeld D (1995) propose that implementation effectiveness is determined by implementation climate and innovation values fit, which are affected by transactional leadership and transformational leadership which means that leader ship is the driving factor behind the implementation model. Much research has been done in an attempt to identify the key factors that predict system implementation success. Over 150 factors have been identified, but only two "top management support" and "user involvement" are consistently associated with successful implementations (Sitting D Ph.D (1995) ) Office of management and budget has emphasized the importance of top management support in the successful system development. Organizational processes should include the following elements:

Senior program managers, with authority to make key business and funding decisions on IT projects, are continuously involved in the process.

A disciplined and structured management forum is used to make IT investment decisions, with the authority to approve, cancel, or delay projects, mitigate risks, and validate expected returns.

Program, Information Resource Management (IRM) , and financial managers with clearly defined roles, responsibilities, and accountability for the success of IT projects. Of Management And Budget (1995)) (Office

According to Nicolaou A (1999) institutional pressures will force the leaders to become prominent and drive the process of system implementation.. By virtue of what they deem relevant, institutional pressures also prescribe specific skills and expertise as important, helping to privilege those within organizations who hold such expertise and skills. Thus, institutional pressures help to employ specific groups of individuals as system champions. System champions are at a fairly high level of the organization and take on the responsibility of shepherding a project throughout the whole development process (Beath and Ives, 1988; Beath, 1991). They also can effectively deter resistance from users and promote change (Markus, 1984). The result is an implicit bias in system development that reflects the ``champion's'' expertise and training as well as what they perceive to be important or not important.

The goal of top management must be to provide leadership in the process of defining and meeting campus-wide academic information technology requirements. The leaders must be informed, engaged, and supportive and share a common vision and commitment to assign resources and their personal attention to what the process develops and recommends. It is essential that the leaders integrate planning and implementation in the technology area with those that are occurring in all other areas of discourse relating to the teaching/learning process of the organization. (Grimes J et al Zingg P, Hanley J, (1999) Presidents and provosts must either set their own vision for the future of their institution or they must advocate for a more collectively developed vision. In either case, they must enable their institution to establish a clear understanding of the degree to which the institution should invest in information technology. The purpose of such an understanding is to address transformation and spending (Gurbaxani V et al Melville N, Kraemer K, (2000)) Grimes J et al Zingg P, Hanley J, (1999) has discussed the responsibilities of chief information officer (CIO), in a university context. The CIO responsibilities include defining the information technology vision for the campus, providing the leadership to insure successful implementations, and engaging the campus community in the planning, prioritization, and assessment phases of initiatives and projects. The CIO must help the campus develop, and then, promote a vision for the role of information technologies in supporting the core functions of the University, including the direct use of IT in instruction, the sustenance and improvement of the processes underlying program support, and the development of a community of scholars. Change management is another critical element in the successful CIOs portfolio of responsibilities, both as an agent of change from within the IT profession, and as one of several campus leaders who must articulate how change is to occur, how it is to be funded, if/where resources are a key to the change, and what are the essentials that need to be supported at the professional and personal level from within all the constituent stakeholder groups ( faculty, students, and staff). This is and will be a truly "engaging and empowering role" that is most demanding as progress is made and obstacles to progress intervene Politics can not be eliminated from an organization, a strong leader can help an organization over come the hurdles in implementation created by politics. Political support must be generated for the innovation. A champion must emerge who has the capability to allocate resources and the power to gather support for the new process. If support cannot be gained, drop the project. Adequate resources must be committed to the design team. In radical new technology, create a simple implementation first to create support for later complex solutions. (Zolla G (1995)) A proper balance must be kept in leadership Strategic planning processes can suffer as badly from too much leadership as they can from too little. Anecdotes abound of chief technology officers who assume a mantle of techno-mysticism and exercise near-total control over the planning process Each organization has a number of decision-makers who can play a pivotal role in pushing technology plans forward or making them grind to a halt. Unless such people are brought into the technology planning process in an effective way, the process can be crippled (CAUSE/EFFECT 1998 Volume 21, Number 1, pp. 18-23)

Resources Financial resources are critical to virtually all information technology efforts (information technology is, unfortunately, an expensive business). Except in rare instances, the strategic planning process is the primary way institutions identify their required long-term funding levels for technology and obtain funding commitments. ( CAUSE/EFFECT 1998 Volume 21, Number 1, pp. 18-23) Innovation is a new way of doing things. Mohr (1995) states that an organization must possess and be willing to commit the resources needed to implement a new technology for it to be successful. He writes that Innovation = Motivation times Resources. (Zolla G (1995) In most companies the time attention and expertise of top quality IT people are in short supply companies with high levels of information orientation understand this, they focus their best IT resources on information capabilities that make them distinctive Middleton Catherine (1995) conducted the research in five settlement houses and found that lack of resources could hamper the planning and co-ordination of implementation plan. Due to resource constraints early in the project, the implementation team was not able to formulate a comprehensive implementation plan or institute project coordination meetings. Eventually with the provision of resources coordination improved as team members forged working relationships and adopted coordination mechanisms. Grimes J et al Zingg P, Hanley J, (1999) has concluded in the case study of Cal Poly University that a key factor for a successful process for providing information technology resources is appropriate financial support. This will be realized if the three legged stool of state support, student fees and tuition, and grants and private support is balanced and delivers the critical mass of financial support and resources to advance the agreed to agenda. At Cal Poly is investing considerable effort to insure that the annual budget is "the arithmetic expression of the plan" and that, as such, it is clearly derived from the initiatives which have been agreed to and which are core to the goals and strategies developed within the plan. Accordingly, the budget must be open, available, and thoroughly understood by the Chief Academic Liaison, the Chief Information Officer, and Chief Academic Officer.

Implementation stages or processes In this section I have tried to present different processes of information technology implementation that have been discussed in the literature. National Computing Center in Manchester defined the system development process as a number of stages. Seven were identified: feasibility study; systems investigation; systems analysis; systems design; systems development; implementation; and review and maintenance. These

stages were later revised but are still generally viewed as the key elements of the computer system (Maguire S (2000)) Chan C (1995) has presented the following processes for the implementation of IT According to this model implementation takes place in three stages or processes 1. The change process describes the process of change, which results from the introduction of a new technology or policy. Caroline Chan further divided the change process into four stages.

Initiation describes the initial process of implementation, which often includes experimentation and a feasibility study. This follows the decision to adopt or not to adopt the technology.

Systems development describes the process of installation and development of the systems and includes the systems study, systems design and systems testing.

Routinisation relates to the process of utilizing or using the technology. Diffusion & expansion is the last stage of the process to diffuse the use of the technology into the organizations various business units, as well as expanding the technology externally to trading partners.

2. Growth process describes the maturing use of the information systems within the organization; implementation usually starts with a simple bilateral relationship on a single application and moves toward more complex multi-lateral relationships. 3. Integration process is the process of integrating or incorporating the new business process into existing business processes. The B2B e-Commerce integration process of technologies such as EDI has been discussed in depth by Swatman (1993). This study examined the process of EDI integration within a number of Australian organizations and suggests four stages of the integration process. companies with high information orientation view information as having a life cycle with discrete valuation points. These valuation decision are made continuously as people work and they are reinforced through communication formalization of best practices and on the job training (Marchand D et al Kettinger W, Rollins J, (2000)) According to office of management and budget (1995) the investment process, depicted in below, consists of three phases: selection, control and evaluation. As Figure 2.1 indicates, the

three phases of the investment process occur in a continuous cycle of selection, control, and evaluation. Information from each phase flows freely among all of the other phases with the exception of evaluation. The evaluation component of the process has a unidirectional information flow to the selection component. The evaluation component is used to verify or modify the criteria used during selection. Figure 2.1

Research work in the field of IT implementation in this section I have tried to compile some of the important research work done in the field of information technology implementation in different organization Catherine Middleton, York University, Canada has tried to find the effect of user satisfaction on the success or failure of system implementation author conducted the case study of two universities where information system has been implemented, the purpose of the study was to find out the perception of the primary and secondary user about the system and then to find out the effect of these perception on the success or failure of system implementation the results of the survey are given in the table 2.1.

Evaluation Criterion

Secondary Primary Users' Users' Perspective Perspective No Uncertain Yes Uncertain No Not entirely

Secondary Primary Users' Users' Assessment Assessment Success Success Success Success Success Success Success Uncertain Failure Uncertain Failure Failure

Was the project terminated? No Was it agreed that the project was a failure? Did the users resist the system? Were the users satisfied with the system's scope? No No Yes

Was the system designed to Yes meet users' needs? Was the quality of the information system Yes

acceptable? Was the information produced by the system of acceptable quality? Was the information used? Did the information impact upon management decisions? Did the information impact organizational performance? Did senior management support the system? Was the system able to evolve with a changing organizational environment? Table 2.1 The table 2.1 shows two vastly different assessments of the system. As expected, the system designers and primary users considered the system to be a success on most criteria. In stark contrast, the staff in the faculties and the marketing office viewed the system as inadequate and unresponsive to their needs. From their perspective, the system was a failure. Because users were led to believe that the system was technically complex, they did not demand access to it immediately. The developers allowed users no access to system documentation, thereby perpetuating the myth of technical complexity and discouraging users from learning the true capabilities of the system. The control that the developers exerted over system access is indicative of a faulty design process. By their refusal to accord users the necessary access privileges for effective system use, the systems designers exhibited a Theory X view of the system users (Middleton Catherine (1995)) Dong L, Neufeld D (1999) has tried to develop a model which could be used to find out the effect of effective leadership on the implementation of information system in the organization This research has combined the model of leadership with Klein and Sorras theory of innovation implementation and combination gives us the following model Innovation effectiveness Yes Yes Yes Sometimes Not always Sometimes Lack of info. had a negative impact No Success Success Success Failure Failure Failure

Yes

Success

Failure

Yes

Success

Failure

Yes

Uncertain

Success

Failure

Figure 2.2 The following results were derived regarding the effect of leadership on implementation process. Leadership Strong transformational and strong transactional Implementation climate Strong climate with clear vision Innovation value fit Good Implementation effectiveness Employee enthusiasm committed and consistent innovation use Employees enthusiasm at best., likely exhibit committed and consistent innovation use Employee enthusiasm at best, likely exhibit committed and consistent innovation use. Employee frustration and disappointment, inadequate innovation use Employee frustration and disappointment, inadequate innovation use or no use Employee frustration and disappointment, inadequate innovation use or no use Employee enthusiasm, committed and consistent innovation use Employee

Neutral

Poor

Strong transformational and weak transactional

Weak climate with clear vision

Good

Neutral

Poor

Strong transactional and weak transformational

Strong climate without clear vision

Good

Neutral

Poor Weak transformational and weak transactional Weak climate without clear vision Good

Neutral

Poor

indifference, adequate innovation use Employee resistance, no use Employee frustration inadequate innovation use Employee indifferent, no innovation use Employee relief, no innovation uses.

Table 2.2

Gottschalk P (1999) has tried to find that "What content characteristics of formal IT strategy predict the extent of plan implementation?" Thirty-five organizational practices of importance for IS plan implementation were identified in the research literature. Ten predictor constructs were derived from the these practices (Gottschalk, (1999)). For each of the ten predictors, one hypothesis was formulated stating that the greater the extent of the content characteristic, the greater the extent of plan implementation. Content characteristic as information predictor Resources Users Analyses Changes Resistance IT Relevance Responsibility Management Issues Full regression beta Full regression t_test Stepwise regression beta Stepwise regression t-test

.078 .158 .019 .138 -.065 .015 .048 .189 -.071 .145

.766 1.665 .17 1.407 -.628 .173 .449 1.672 -.599 1.408

.233

2.892

.298

3.692

Table 2.3

However, none of the content characteristics are significant implementation predictors. When stepwise regression (Hair et al., 1995) was applied, two of the ten predictors have significant Coefficients in the multiple regression equation. Firstly, the description of responsibility for the Implementation was associated with the highest explanatory power since it achieved the highest Beta coefficient. Next, the description of user involvement during the implementation proved to be the other significant predictor. The adjusted R-square of the stepwise model is 0.19. None of the remaining eight potential predictors is significant. The most surprising result of this study, both from a theoretical and practical perspective, is the relative lack of importance of management support. Marchand D et al Kettinger W, Rollins J, (2000) has developed a measure of information technology orientation of a company, which was called information technology orientation which measures the capabilities of a company to effectively manage and use information.

Information technology practices (ITP)

Information management practices

Information behaviors and values

Capacity The capability of a company to effectively manage appropriate IT applications and infrastructure in support of operational decision making and communication processes

Capability

Capability

The capability of a company to manage information effectively over its life cycle

The capability of a company to instill and promote behaviors and values in its people for effective use of information

IT for operational support IT for business process support IT for innovation support IT for management support Sensing Collecting Organizing Processing Maintaining

Integrity Formality Control Sharing Transparency Proactive ness

Figure 2.3

Two banks were studied and their Level of information orientation was measured. The comparison of bank A and bank B shows high IO companies excel at building systems that support flexible decision making by managers and employees. Bank As goal for IT systems development has been a straight forward one: provide the people in the branches ( The banks cornerstone) with the necessary tools to improve their decision capabilities by analyzing risk monitoring market position , forecasting changes in business conditions an providing information for proactive marketplace responses .High IO can help companies get better results out of their IT implementation. A customized model was created by Zolla G (1995) which consist of four stages through which the organization passes while implementing its information technology the author conducted case study of two organizations to measure the factors which effect the implementation in each of these stages. The model was designed by modifying Cooper and Zmuds model as well as using an approach adopted by Liu Sheng The four-step process includes:

A. Scanning/Matching Opportunistic and need scanning must be continuous. Individuals should be assigned from a central computer department to continuously conduct opportunistic and need scanning. Active innovation identification will empower the organization to stay at the forefront of innovation, reducing inefficiency and heterogeneity of solutions. Centralized evaluation of innovation leads to standardization and better diffusion. Ensure the end-users are involved in the match between innovation and need. Do not create a match just to experiment with a new technology. There should be a need. B. Fit Political support must be generated for the innovation. A champion must emerge who has the capability to allocate resources and the power to gather support for the new process. If support cannot be gained, drop the project. Adequate resources must be committed to the design team. In radical new technology, create a simple implementation first to create support for later complex solutions. Ensure User involvement is incorporated at all stages of the redesign.

C. Adoption User support is the key to adoption. Demonstrate how this solution will benefit the user (easier, better, more fun). If it does not, it is not a good solution. Adequate resources must be committed to training and maintenance of the project. The champion must be visible, creditable and enthusiastic. Network bandwidth and reliability must also be adequate. D. Diffusion Full-time advocates of innovation change must be assigned to the process. Change agents must be encouraged to review all processes that could be enhanced by intranet technology. Training must be continued to encourage user inputs for changes that can be made. Rewards must be given to those who significantly contribute to the successful implementation of the innovation.

Chapter 3: Research Methodology

Introduction This chapter will provide an overview of the strategy, which will be used to conduct the research and derive the data necessary to answer the following research questions. The three main research questions for this study are as follows: What are the most problematic issues facing organizations with regard to IT planning? What are the most problematic issues facing organizations with regard to IT procurement? What are the most problematic issues facing organizations with regard to IT implementation? The primary objective of this study is to identify and categorize the perceptions of executives regarding which issues were most problematic to the information technology implementation process. This study should assist in the future development of an IT implementation model for organizations as well as provide an essential framework for the future study of IT planning, procurement, and implementation effectiveness. The IT implementation process is broken down into a simple system model for the purposes of this particular study. The implementation process is viewed as a combination of three integral parts, each of which involves a separate set of internal factors and processes. Each part is necessary for the success of the following one yet each encapsulates its own important process. As seen in this representation, IT planning has a direct impact on the procurement process, and vice-versaIT procurement and acquisition capabilities are directly related to planning efforts. Procurement impacts implementation, which has a direct impact on both the procurement and planning efforts.

Simple IT Implementation Process Figure 3.1

This study will address a fundamental problem of IT implementation. Primarily the numerous and varied issues which exist across the multiple levels of the implementation process. Such multiplicity makes the entire process problematic. Due to the nature of the

implementation process, each set of issues must be viewed in layers corresponding to the distinct stages in the overall process. IT planning issues are different from IT procurement issues and yet each individual factor is inherently important to the whole process and must be viewed ultimately in that context. This study breaks down each stage of the process into a separate part to better identify the issues, which are specific to that stage. Until each distinct piece of the process is viewed as a separate unit, it is impossible to understand where the whole process might conceivably break down and which particular issue or set of issues might be to blame. In the implementation process described in this study, planning is listed as the first stage. This is based on standard MIS process models. The planning process provides a basic stepping-stone from which the rest of the process continues. From the planning stage the process moves on to procurement or acquisition processes. This is the first part of the process where the ideas laid out in the planning stage begin to take shape. Once all of the necessary facets of the IT plan have been acquired, the plan can be formalized and implemented. Each stage is intimately related to the othersfailure to plan adequately impacts both procurement and implementation. Conversely, a breakdown in implementation may inform future planning efforts or require review and revisement of the original plan. Without the procurement portion of the process, implementation would be impossible. The acquisition of the proper technologies and budgeting for future acquisitions are integral to effective implementation of IT. Each stage of the implementation process demands careful consideration and foresight as they are all symbiotically related.

Basic Approach to the Research At its most fundamental level this is a cross-sectional study designed to collect descriptive data on the issues surrounding IT implementation. This study represents the perceptions of executives in different organizations. The perceptions detailed here are very important because in the volatile area of IT all involved individuals and organizations are trying to make proactive headway. Public and private sector organizations are involved in improving or changing their IT implementation strategies. A cross sectional study is determined to be especially useful since the purpose is to gather pertinent information on individual attitudes and explore areas for further research. The data produced in this study is essentially a screening for variables, which may prove to be worthy of further study. This study will be conducted in three stages and involved an in-depth analysis and review of the issues, which exist for executives with regard to the IT implementation process in their organizations. In stage onea literature review is conducted to identify the prevalent issues surrounding the development of information technology. These issues were extremely important in that they provide a foundation for current issues. The initial research conducted in the first stage of the study also included the identification and observation of current trends relating to IT implementation. The information garnered from this portion of stage one is reflected in the literature review, description of the issues, and the issues database. Possibly the most crucial portion of stage one involved the creation of an IT issues database which will be designed to accommodate the information derived from a interviews conducted with executives from different organizations. The issues derived from this portion of the study

will be categorized in the database for ease of use and updated throughout the process of the study. This stage also provided the necessary background information to develop a basic set of definitions and concepts which were then reviewed and updated based primarily on responses from the initial interviews with respondents The second stage will consist of interviews with IT professionals to aid in developing shared meanings and terminology, as well as to determine additional concepts, factors, and ideas for the research. The information. Garnered will be used to enhance the database created in stage one as well as to serve as a framework for the design of the descriptive survey in stage three. From the information derived in stages one and two a com preh Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 ensi ve surv ey will be dev elop ed whi ch will then sent to the targ et surv ey gro up

 Design Issues Database.

Define terms and design initial interviews. Interview IT

Develop a comprehensive survey to be sent to IT professionals in different organizations. Identify crucial variables (issues) which impact IT implementation. Second reevaluation of database categorizations, definitions, and issues based on survey information. Collect, analyze, and create reports from the data gathered in the survey .

Design initial Categorization of IT issues for database. variables. Identify as many of the Reevaluation of database problems and factors which affect IT planning and implementation as possible from the literature, general interviews, observation. categorizations, definitions, and issues based on interviews. professionals to determine shared meanings, definitions, measures, and

Research Methodology The overall research design for this study is descriptive in that it made use of interviews and surveys to solicit expert and practitioner opinion. The survey research sought to identify the most problematic issues with regard to the implementation of information technology in different organizations. After some common issues, descriptions, and definitions were identified, a survey instrument is developed to help describe the most problematic of these issues for executives in different organizations.

Stage One The first stage of this study will consist mainly of the design of an issues database. This database serves, throughout the course of the research, not only as an evaluation tool by which to categorize the issues discussed specifically in this study, but also as a continuous working foundation for more extensive research on a broader range of IT issues. The initial categorizations for the issues were derived primarily from a review of the literature pertaining to a number of areas crucial to information technology management. A representative look at this literature can be found in chapter two of this study. The original categorization system is made up of seven issue areas based on interview responses and the initial literature review, these were:

Ethics and legal issues (those issues related to ethical conduct, professional responsibility, and legal mandates/rules);

Architecture--hardware (hardware specific issues like compatibility, standards, and platforms);

Architecture--software (software specific issues like program standardization, data export );

Government records (those issues related to federal, state, and local records requirements);

management issues (issues relating to management styles, contracting, budgets, and strategic planning);

personnel issues (those issues pertaining to staffing, training, internal organizational politics, modernization, and expertise or skill levels);

And value issues (those relating to internal and external value systems, competition and effectiveness).

Each of the issue was reviewed, categorized, and defined to fit appropriately into the database. Over the course of this study the database was adjusted with new, more appropriate categorizations based on subsequent findings. In addition, duplicate records (and any information not related to IT implementation) were removed to make future analysis less cumbersome. The information accumulated in the issues database will be discussed later. Stage Two

The second stage of this project provided a key bridge between the initial gathering of general information with regard to information technology management and the final description of the most problematic and fundamental issues to the specific process of IT implementation. Stage two involved the design and conduct of a general interview. Much of the design for this interview is garnered from the review of the literature, preliminary interviews with interested professionals/practitioners, and issue identifications from stage one. The interviews conducted for the study were, by design, structured and the questions were open-ended. These interviews will used to determine a common ground and basis for communication of terminologies. This set of interviews will be informal and conducted in person . Each respondents answers will be entered into a database for analysis and review.

Interview Questions 1. Information technology is defined as any equipment, services, applications, and basic technologies related to information access, dissemination, collection, and storage. ITs are commonly grouped as computers, multimedia, and telecommunications. Would you agree with this definition, would you add to it or redefine it in any way?

2. What do you perceive as the role of information technology in your organization?

3. IT implementation is defined as a process (via a definite plan or procedure) Employed in getting a new or significantly changed system in use for those for whom it was intended. Would you agree with this definition, would you add to it or redefine it in any way?

4. IT implementation process is broken down into 3 parts: IT planning, IT procurement, and IT implementation. Would you agree with this categorization, would you add to it or redefine it in any way?

5 Information technology implementation planning is broken down into two opposite categories: (1) coordinated and comprehensivewhich refers to a plan that includes more than two departments in an organization, involves most of the functions of organization, and is written down and agreed upon by planning participants, (2) insular-- which is any IT implementation plan made by a single department or individual within a department written or otherwise. Would you agree with these definitions? Would you redefine them in any way?

6. Have you developed a comprehensive plan to develop and implement ITs?

7. Do you have a comprehensive plan with regard to IT in your capital improvements program or plan?

8. What are some of the written procedures and guidelines that you have to follow when implementing ITs in your organization?

9. Do you see your organization as using more (1) coordinated and comprehensive or (2) insular planning methods with regard to IT implementation?

10. Do you perceive your planning approach as being sufficient and effective with regard to IT implementation? If not, what additions do you think would enhance your planning process?

11. Have you done a comprehensive study of your IT needs and desires with the ultimate intention being the development of a plan specific to IT implementation?

12. IT implementation deficiencies (failure issue) is defined as any instances where problematic situations ariseanything from ineffectiveness and inefficiency to complete and catastrophic systems failure. What kinds of instances or situations would make you consider a particular IT implementation not completely successful or deficient?

13. What is the most recent instance of IT planning and implementation you have undertaken?

14. Formal IT implementation model is defined as well defined guidelines which provide for continuous, comprehensive, and coordinated planning and implementation with regard to IT. The model should be duplicable and provide specific directives (similar to a handbook). Would you agree with this definition or would you change it in any way?

15. Does your organization make use of any model (formal or otherwise) when planning or implementing ITs? What made you choose this particular model?

16. Were there any particular examples that you followed when planning for or implementing ITs? What were the sources of the models of planning and/or implementation that you used?

17. How did you decide on your implementation process?

18. Does your organization make use of any consultants or consulting firms to aid in your IT planning and implementation? What kinds of consultants are you using, are they from private sector firms? What made you choose a particular consultant?

19. Did you look to any other governments or public organizations for examples of IT implementation and planning? Did you use examples from the private sector?

20. What are some of the biggest problems you face when planning for IT implementation?

21. What are some of the biggest problems you face with actual implementation of ITs?

22. What things do you see as setting you apart from other organizations in general, with regard to ITs and IT implementation?.

Stage Three The third and final stage of this study consisted of the development and conduct of a survey instrument. The survey is designed to be more specific and detailed than the interview conducted in stage two. The responses and issue information garnered from both of the first two stages will

be used in the production of this survey. This instrument will be designed to provide a descriptive view of the perceptions of executives with regard to information technology implementation in their organzations-- specifically the problematic nature of certain issues in each of the three pre-defined stages of the IT implementation process. The content validity of the questions used for this survey is initially established by ensuring that the definitions and concepts addressed will be grounded in fact or established theory as well as verifying through the stage two interviews that there is a common understanding among this particular respondent group. The survey is broken into two parts--general descriptive information, and process specific issue information. In the first part of the survey respondents will be asked to identify the kinds of ITs of which their organization makes use. In addition they will respond to general questions about IT expertise levels and their IT implementation process. In the second part of the survey each respondent are asked to rank how problematic an issue is with regard to its place in the IT implementation process. Sample and Population Two sectors were selected for this study, pharmaceutical and banking sector, different modes were used for getting the questionnaire filled and getting high return rate. (1) Some of the questionnaires were mailed to different pharmaceutical companies and banks. (2) Rest of the questionnaire were sent through e-mail, An e-mail format was developed which could be filled on line by the respondents and returned back to the sender, this format helped a lot in increasing the response rate. Because there was no complete list available for pharmaceutical and banking sector, I have to use non probability sampling. Questionnaires were sent to 115 pharmaceutical companies and 67 banks. The response obtained from pharmaceutical sector was 30 and from banking sector 20.

Statistical Analysis The sample size employed in this study necessitate the use of descriptive rather than inferential analysis techniques. In addition, the ordinal-level data collected by this study also dictates the use of descriptive analysis. The objective of this kind of analysis: to describein a systematic mannerthe details and characteristics of a given population factually and accurately is clearly laid out by the following points that the purpose of any descriptive research, or survey study is:

To collect detailed factual information that describes existing phenomena. To identify problems or justify current conditions and practices.

 To make comparisons and evaluations. To determine what others are doing with similar problems or situations and benefit

from their experience in making future plans and decisions. This study will make use of all of these purposes to some degree, however items 1 and 2 best describe the primary motivations of this research. For the coding of data, reduction and analysis, different software will be used ( e.g SPSS). The main statistical technique employed involved frequency analysis. Interview and database data will be analyzed using content analysis. Data from survey will be first analyzed for measures of frequency in order to reveal how the issues could be clustered and what is typical about them. This process occurred around both the individual parts of the implementation process as well as the series of all three stages. In addition the analysis also centered on perceptions of the planning and implementation process as viewed by the respondents. Limitations and Assumptions One of the inherent limitations in survey research is the subjectivity of each respondent. No matter how carefully written or completely tested, each survey is vulnerable to differing interpretations of the questions. Because of the descriptive purpose of this survey and because the main focus of this research is to statistically prove relationships between issues but to determine the most problematic ones, this particular limitation is recognized and accepted in this study. In addition, it is possible that some responses will be the result of defensiveness, apathy, or ignorance of a particular respondent. Another limitation may be derived from distortion of the perceptions of individuals about information technologies and their relationship to the given organization. In this particular study it is impossible to assess the influences of organizational environments, the personalities of the administrators, and any external factors. In addition, the utility of the process of IT implementation does not lend itself to specific or accurate measures of effectiveness. Individuals and their closeness or buy-in to the process may bias the responses with regard to the perceptions of effectiveness in terms of IT implementation in a given organization. The stage two interviews consisted mainly of open-ended questions, which in one sense offer valuable insight into why individuals believe the things they do, but the interpretation of those beliefs is at best problematic. This survey is very small and there is a lack of validation of survey responses from a broader sampling across the organizations. In any event, this study is diverse enough to derive some significant conclusions with regard to IT implementation issues at the organizational level. The survey instruments themselves suffer from measurement and sampling problems, which may include: criteria, content, construct validity, and reliability of the instruments themselves. Although there is some data to show that a causal relationship exists between some of the variables, with a study of this size and nature it is impossible to show full elimination of any rival independent variables.

CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS

Introduction This chapter will present the results of the data collected from the executives who responded to the questions surrounding the problematic issues of the IT development and deployment process. This analysis is organized around the descriptive research questions posed in the first chapter and advanced methodologically in chapter three. Analysis of data is provided for each part of this study, which included:

A database of issues relating to IT implementation in organizations General IT related information with regard to respondents Issues specific to IT planning Issues specific to IT procurement Issues specific to IT implementation This chapter will begin with a general discussion of how the issues were categorized in order to facilitate analysis and enhance the understanding of the context of the issues database. Included will be an account of the data collection effort. Following will be a discussion of the data collected from the actual surveys. This chapter should provide a bridge for the reader to chapter 5, which offers the conclusions and recommendations of this study. Issues Categorization As discussed in chapter one, the initial categorization (prior to any in-depth research) of the issues was very broad. All of the issues were viewed within one of two contextseither management or organizational processes. It became apparent, as the literature review and initial interviews progressed, that the originally conceived issue categorizations were insufficient. A more expansive picture of the spectrum of organizational influences based on the issues was obviously necessary. A preliminary version of the issues database provided a secondary group of categorizations that more fully portrayed the arenas of effect for each IT implementation issue. This particular category grouping added the areas of architecture, federal requirements, specific personnel issues, and value added issues. After careful review, a final set of categories was designed whichwhen combined with the issues themselves as a sub-categoryprovides a more complete and usable system by which to organize the multitude of issues relating to the IT development and deployment process. The final categorizations for use with this study are the

issues pertaining to: Leadership, Management Process, Organizational Environment, Technical Systems, and Personnel. Leadership issues reflect those areas that require the interaction, commitment and direction of the organizations chief executive, such as interdepartmental coordination and administrative support. This issue area reflects the premise that organizational change occurs from the executive level down, necessitating the involvement of top management in the IT development and deployment process. In a similar vein, those issues characterized in the management process area relate specifically to administrators and their role in the functional operations of organizations, as in budgeting, personnel management, and general management: In essence, any issues which require specific attention or directives from an administrator. The issues characterized as organizational environment are broader, addressing factors, which are less tangible and more difficult to define, such as organizational culture, change, and behavior. These are essentially issues, which affect or may be affected by environmental factors, both external and internal. Technical systems issues are primarily those related to the impact information technologies have on organizations and individuals based on their specific nature. These issues include hardware and software considerations as well as the compatibility and life cycles of various information technologies. Finally, personnel issues are those factors surrounding each individual in the organization, such as individual expertise levels, staffing levels, and resistance to change. These issues are significantly impacted by the human conditions related to interactions, personal feelings, and perceptions. In addition to the breakdown of issues into the types just discussed, they were also separated by their role in the IT development and deployment process that is, whether they were present during planning, procurement, or actual implementation. Many of the issues impacted two or even all three of these areas. Figure shows a simple model of the integrated nature of these issues on the IT development and deployment process. Essentially, this model adds to the simple process shown in figure 4.1 and adds the surrounding issue areas to the environment in which the process takes place. To better represent this influence across the entire process, a third categorization was developed referred to in this study as dynamic nature. In essence, issues which arose in all three process areas were labeled dynamic. Those impacting two of the three process areas were labeled potential dynamic and those found in only one area have been called specific. As discussed previously, most of the issues have an impact on more than one of the process areas. One of the more interesting findings shown in this table can be seen among the management process issues. This particular issue type has the broadest spectrum of issues impacting more than one process area. The greater portion of which is dynamic affecting all three areas in question. Figure 4.1

The IT Issues Database

As discussed in chapter three, stage one of this study involved the creation of an IT

Issues database, which can be found in appendix. The initial categorizations for the issues were derived from a review of the literature pertaining to a number of areas crucial to information technology management, including but not limited to the following: general management theory, Issue type It planning IT procurement IT Implementation

management of information systems, information systems theory, strategic planning, and systems design. The original categorization system was structured around seven issue areas based on interview responses and the initial literature review, ethics and legal issues, architecture hardware, architecture software, government records, management issues, personnel issues, and value issues. For the purposes of this study, the database was modified and expanded to make the information contained more understandable and useable as a future resource for IT issues study. Contributors to the database were asked to give a general categorization to the issue and then to describe it more completely. For the purpose of this study a content analysis of the database was performed, duplicate entries were removed, and non-IT related issues were deleted. One of the most important findings from the analysis of the data contained in this database was the formulation of a breakdown of IT issue types. These were then used as a primary categorization tool. Sub-categories were derived from the separate IT development and deployment process issues used in this study. (See table for category and issue breakdowns.) The complete database can be found in Appendix.

Leader ship issues

Management process issues

Organizational environment issues

Interdepartmental coordination Individual support Organizational support Time frame and scheduling No strategic/formal plan Fiscal/budgeting issues Lack of planning model Organizational directives Written procedures/guidelines Organizational culture Politics internal/external Rapidly changing technology Contracts Existing system Standardization issues Organizational IT expertise Individual IT expertise Internal leadership Personnel issues

Individual support Organizational support

No strategic/formal plan Fiscal/budgeting issues

Interdepartmental coordination Individual support Organizational support Time frame and scheduling No strategic/formal plan Fiscal/budgeting issues

Organizational directives Written procedures/guidelines Organizational culture Politics internal/external

Organizational directives

Organizational culture Politics internal/external Rapidly changing technology External consultants Existing system Standardization issues Compatibility issues

Technical system issues Personal issues

Adequate staffing Resistance to change Training

Analysis of General IT Data A number of the questions, which the executives were asked for a response to were designed specifically to determine important background information about the information technologies available at the organization and to ascertain some of the more important situations which might shed some light on the issues being discussed. Organizational IT Usage and In-House MIS Department The first of the background questions dealt with what kinds of information Technologies each organization used. This information is very useful in determining at what IT levels the organization is operating at. All of the respondents from pharmaceutical sector reported the use of microcomputers in their organization, 87% had some

form of LAN or WAN, only 20% organizations made use of distributed systems, 12 of the organization are using some form of decision support systems, no one used GIS or GPS technologies, only 2 organizations reported the use of some form of cellular technologies, 26 (93%) had internet connections, 3% used mainframes or minicomputers, 3% of the respondents reported making use of any kind of expert systems. .

Banking sector Type of technology Micro computer LAN WAN Distributed system Decision support system GLS or GPS Cellular Technology Intranet Main frame `Internet Scanner Expert system Percentage usage 100% 85% 15% 40% 0% 40% 40% 45% 80% 85% 0%

Pharmaceutical sector Type of technology Micro computer LAN WAN Distributed system Decision support system GLS or GPS Cellular Technology Intranet Main frame `Internet Scanner Expert system Percentage usage 100% 86.7% 20% 46.7% 0% 6.7% 46.7% 3.3% 93.3% 53.3% 3.3%

The major difference between pharmaceutical and banking sector was that of cellular technology as compared to 0% usage in pharmaceutical sector, 40% respondents used cellular technology in banking sector. Main reason for this is the use of online banking and use of ATMs in most of the banks. Also 45% of the respondents in banking sector used some form of mainframe computer to support their online banking or for the communication of data between different branches where as only 3% of respondents in the pharmaceutical sector used any kind of mainframe computers.

While this is certainly not a complete listing of the possible ITs which could be used in any municipality, it does provide a comprehensive view of the kinds of standard ITs which are being used today in organizations of all sizes. In addition to providing general IT usage information, respondents was asked whether or not their organization had an in-house MIS, IT, or data processing department. 27 of the 30 (90%) had a department formalized around the management of information technologies in pharmaceutical sector. Where as all the banks reported to have some form of IT department.

Strategic Planning for IT

Respondents were asked to address a set of questions with regard to their actual IT planning process. The first of these questions dealt with whether or not their organization made use of any kind of strategic planning process for the use, acquisition of, and implementation of information technologies. 33% (10) of the respondents from pharmaceutical sector stated that they used no strategic planning with regard to IT, while 20 of those surveyed, 66%, responded that they did make use of some sort of strategic plan. Those 20 respondents from pharmaceutical sector who answered yes to the usage of a strategic plan were then asked to respond to whether or not their IT planning process was formal or informal only 5 or 26% of these made use of a formal process while the other 74% or 14 respondents used a more informal approach to planning for ITs.

In addition, respondents from pharmaceutical sector were asked whether or not they made use of any existing IT planning and implementation modelsformal or otherwise. Only one respondent

responded that an existing model was used for this purpose. 96.7% or 29 respondents made no use of any models with regard to IT planning or implementation. In contrast to pharmaceutical sector all the respondents from the banking sector had strategic planning and all of them had formal strategic planning process. This might be necessitated by the minimum setup requirement of a bank, minimum scale requirement for a bank is very high as compared to a pharmaceutical company this large scale investment necessitate the formal planning process for the implementation of information technology. No IT implementation model was used by the banks for the implementation of information technology.

Strategic planning for IT is extremely problematic. As discussed in chapter 1, no exact model exists currently for organizations to follow as they undergo the IT development and deployment process. This leaves these organizations adrift in a confusing and ever-changing environment. Any IT planning that takes place at this level, formal or informal, requires a huge outlay of energy and time in essence reinventing the wheel. Currently, a best case scenario requires organizations to modify an IT implementation model which is designed specifically for much different organizations. In light of the previous data: expertise levels, planning, existing models it would seem that the next best option would be the use of some kind of outside expert. Ideally, this would be an individual or organization who specializes in addressing the IT needs of organization. Respondents were asked whether or not their organization made use of any outside consultants to aid them during their IT planning and implementation process. This question produced almost an even split between the respondents of pharmaceutical sector 40% made use of outside consultants and 60% did not.

In case of banking sector most of the banks (19 out of 20) used outside consultants. This is due to the complexity of technology used in banks as compared to pharmaceutical sector. The inside IT expertise are not sufficient to handle the technicalities of IT implementation. The administrators were then asked whether or not their organization had an IT planning and implementation committee. Twenty-seven (90%) from pharmaceutical sector responded that they did not have any such committee in place. Only 3 (10%) stated that they did have an IT planning and implementation committee, in banking sector no IT committee was identified for planning purpose. Executive IT Expertise All respondents were asked to rate their own IT expertise level on a scale of 0-5: 0 being least proficient, 5 being extremely proficient. For ease of reference this data was

then collapsed into three groups: novice (0-1), proficient (2-3), and experts (4-5).

An equal number of the respondents from both the sectors labeled themselves some where in middle as neither novice or expert users with regard to information technology 22 respondents from pharmaceutical sector, or 73.3%, viewed themselves as more middle-of-the-road, proficient users. Same is the case with banking sector 80% of the respondents labeled them as proficient users. Typically, individuals who labeled themselves proficient users of ITs were primarily focusing on microcomputer skills. It is only within the last 5 years that middle to upper level managers have begun to use other information technologies to a degree where higher levels of proficiency and general competency are being achieved. It is obvious considering the preponderance of microcomputers in our organization, that a relatively high number of executives consider themselves proficient users.

Effectiveness of IT Planning and Implementation In the survey, executives were asked to address three questions related to the effectiveness of their organizations IT planning and implementation process. These questions related to process effectiveness and required all respondents to rate effectiveness on a scale of 0-5, 0 being least effective, 5 being highly effective. For ease of reference scaled data has been collapsed into three groups: ineffective (0-1), somewhat effective (2-3), and highly effective (4-5) The first of these questions asked respondents whether or not they perceived their overall IT planning approach as effective. Most of the respondents from pharmaceutical sector found their planning approach to be some what effective (e.g. 2 or 3) , 24 respondents or 80% rated it to be some what effective. In case of banking sector 65% of the respondent rated their planning approach some what effective and 35% of the respondent rated their planning approach very effective, this high percentage of high effectiveness in banks as compared to pharmaceutical sector might be due to use of more formal planning approach in banks as compared to informal planning approach used in pharmaceutical sector again 73% (22) in pharmaceutical sector view their procurement process as some what effective very few respondents marked it as least or very effective. In case of banking sector 65% respondents marked their procurement process as somewhat effective and 30% respondents marked it as very effective.

The results of executives perceptions of their organizations IT implementation effectiveness: almost 24 (80%) of the respondents rated their implementation process as some what effective,

4% were seen as least effective, and only 2 (6.9%) of the respondents rated their process highly effective. Again in banking sector 65% of respondent rated IT implementation as somewhat effective and 35% rated their implementation process as highly effective again this higher percentage of high effectiveness as compared to pharmaceutical sector is an obvious outcome of effective IT planning and procurement.

As an additional source of information, respondents were also asked how they might improve their organizations existing IT planning approachregardless of its perceived effectiveness. A content analysis was performed on the 26 responses (response rate on this question was very low and only 26 respondents out of 50 , from both the sectors, answered this question . The results of this content analysis are found in table.

How to Improve the IT Planning Process

Improvement Approach Response Create an IT planning committee/group to facilitate and improve the process. Perform an IT needs analysis across the organization Make use of external IT consultants and internal experts when available Facilitate better coordination across departments Creation of a MIS or IT department. Make use of formalized strategic planning for IT.

Frequency 3

4 3

4 3 9

Perceived Role of IT in Organization

Respondents were asked to describe what they perceived to be the role of information technology in their organization. Content analysis of the responses indicates that most of those administrators surveyed viewed information technology as a tool for the enhancement of organizational operations. The most common responses included statements which pointed to enhanced communication across the organization and its external environment as well as increased efficiency with regard to job/task performance. A large number of the responses also included the role of IT as a tool for information dissemination and sharing as well as for the provision of quick, efficient resources. Finally, IT was perceived by many respondents in the role of improving service delivery to customers and as a decision making tool for administrators. Analysis of Primary Data The three key research questions of this study focus on the determination of the most problematic issues with regard to IT planning, procurement, and implementation in organizations For each of the three questions respondents were asked to rate each issue given on a scale of 0-5 with 0 being not at all problematic and 5 being extremely problematic. For ease of reference the scale responses have been collapsed into three categories where Not Problematic represents scales 0-1, Somewhat Problematic represents scales 2-3, and Highly Problematic represents scales 4-5.

Analysis of IT Planning Process Issues Respondents were asked to rate 19 separate issues with regard to information technology planning. Of all of these, the issues of lack of strategic planning, politics, organizational culture and rapidly changing technology were perceived by the largest number of respondents as being highly problematic for planning in pharmaceutical sector lack of strategic planning having a mean response of 3.87, politics having a mean response of 3.63, organizational culture having a mean response of 3.37 and rapidly changing technology having a mean response of 3.07 other issues in this category also received substantial response as being highly problematic lack of planning model received 50% response rate as being highly problematic (having mean response of 3.07 ). Also 30% respondent marked interdepartmental co-ordination as very problematic (having mean response of 2.63 ). In case of banking sector inter departmental co-ordination was considered to be most problematic with a mean response of 3.75, 70% of the respondents considered inter departmental co-ordination as highly problematic. Rapidly changing technology was also considered to be highly problematic by 55% of the respondents (mean response of 3.35), politics was also marked as highly problematic by 50% (mean response of 3.15) of the respondents. High problematic issues were almost the same for planning in the two sectors with some difference of emphasis. It is interesting to note that the high problematic issue with regard to IT planning is the rapidly changing nature of technology. An area, which has only become worse over the last two years. It is probable that this issue exacerbates the problematic nature of the other top issues in this area: lack of a formal plan, budgeting issues, and individual expertise. As technology changes it

becomes more and more difficult to keep up with the other issue areas. Creating a long-term plan, which makes use of technologies, which change as frequently as every six months may prove to be nearly impossible. The likelihood of an executive level organizational administrator keeping up with this technology is equally unlikely. PHARMACEUTICAL SECTOR Issue Inter departmental coordination Strategic planning process Organizational directives Individual IT expertise Written procedure guidelines Budgeting issues Lack of planning model Internal leadership Contracts Time frame scheduling Politics Individual support Existing system Organizational culture Standardization issues Rapidly changing technology Personnel issues Organizational support BANKING SECTOR Not problematic 23.4 Some what Highly Mean problematic problematic response 46.6 30.0 2.63

3.3 46.6 23.3 50.0 43.3 20.0 30.0 60.0 56.7 0 60.0 56.7 3.3 70.0 16.7 63.3 53.3

26.7 46.7 66.7 40.0 50.0 30.0 36.7 30.0 33.3 43.3 36.7 33.3 46.7 30.0 33.4 30.0 36.7

70.0 6.7 10 10 6.7 50.0 30.0 0.0 10 56.7 3.3 10 50 0.0 40.0 6.6 10

3.87 1.87 2.00 1.73 1.87 3.07 2.47 1.17 1.60 3.63 1.40 1.63 3.37 1.33 3.07 1.57 1.80

Issue Inter departmental coordination Strategic planning process Organizational directives

Not problematic 0.0 5.0 25.0

Some what Highly Mean problematic problematic response 30.0 70.0 3.75 75.0 75.0 20.0 0.0 2.90 1.95

Organizational IT expertise Individual IT expertise Written procedure guidelines Budgeting issues Lack of planning model Internal leadership Contracts Time frame scheduling Politics Individual support Existing system Organizational culture Standardization issues Rapidly changing technology Personnel issues Organizational support

75.0 25.0 40.0 10 20.0 20.0 20.0 40.0 0 55.0 70.0 5.0 95.0 0 25.0 35.0

25.0 15.0 60.0 60.0 20.0 35.0 50.0 30.0 50.0 30.0 30.0 70.0 5.0 45.0 70.0 60.0

0.0 60.0 0.0 30.0 60.0 45.0 30.0 30.0 50.0 15.0 0.0 25.0 0.0 55.0 5.0 5.0

1.25 2.95 1.60 3.00 3.05 2.90 2.55 2.20 3.15 1.80 1.30 2.90 1.05 3.35 1.85 2.35

Comparison of both sectors Issues T value Sig. (2tailed) .001 .003 .775 .219 .005 .609 .001 .966 .254 .000 .075 .071 .138 .196 Mean Difference -1.12 .97 -8.33E-02 .25 -.95 .13 -1.13 1.67E-02 -.43 -1.38 -.60 .48 -.40 .33

Inter departmental coordination Strategic planning process Organizational directives Organizational IT expertise Individual IT expertise Written procedures Budgeting Lack of planning model Internal leadership Contracts Time frame and scheduling Politics Individual support Existing system

-3.691 3.121 -.287 1.244 -2.970 .515 -3.469 .043 -1.154 -5.178 -1.823 1.845 -1.510 1.312

Organizational culture Standardization issues Rapidly changing technology

1.638 1.843 -.749

.108 .072 .457

.47 .28 -.28

Cut out value of mean difference >1 is used for this analysis

In case of IT planning the major difference is found in the importance of budgeting, budgeting is considered to be far more important factor in banking as compared to pharmaceutical sector (with mean difference of 1.13 between the responses of two sectors). This difference between the two sectors is understandable. Information technology in banking sector requires far more capital lay out than pharmaceutical sector, this is due to two reasons (1) size of a typical bank is larger than a pharmaceutical company in terms of capital (2) nature of technology used in banks is far more complicated than used in pharmaceutical company. The second major difference was in the issue of inter departmental co-ordination. Number of departments in a typical bank are more than pharmaceutical company e.g cash, foreign exchange, loans, e.t.c. Boundaries between these departments are more rigid so its very difficult to coordinate the requirements and demands of these departments during the IT planning process. Thats why executives in banking sector considered inter departmental coordination more problematic than executives in pharmaceutical sector. Although the largest difference between the means was in case of contracts (1.38) even than contracting did not crossed the threshold of being a problematic issue in either of the sectors surveyed. Analysis of IT Procurement Process Issues In case of pharmaceutical sector all of the issues with regard to this part of the implementation process were viewed as at least somewhat problematic, however the bulk of the executives responding viewed lack of strategic plan as highly problematic (having a mean response of 3.20). Politics is also viewed as highly problematic with a mean response of 2.92. in case of banking budgeting was considered to be most problematic issue , 80% of the respondents marked it as highly problematic (mean response of 3.90) , the second main issue was that of political influence 60% of the respondent marked it as highly problematic (mean response of 3.35 ) rest of the issues where not considered as very important. So the only difference between two sectors was that of budgeting. Budgeting is more important in banking sector because of higher layout of capital in regard to information technology in banks as compared to pharmaceutical sector. It appears from this data that the procurement process is not as problematic as the other areas in the IT development and deployment process.

PHARMACEUTICAL SECTOR Issue Strategic planning process Organizational directives Written procedure guidelines Budgeting issues Politics Individual support Organizational culture Organizational support Not problematic 3.3 50.0 63.3 30.0 13.3 60.0 26.7 46.6 Some what problematic 56.7 46.6 30.0 66.6 50.0 36.7 52.4 50.0 Highly Mean problematic response 40.0 3.20 3.3 6.7 3.3 36.7 3.3 20.0 3.3 1.67 1.47 2.00 2.93 1.53 2.40 1.73

BANKING SECTOR Issue Strategic planning process Organizational directives Written procedure guidelines Budgeting issues Politics Individual support Organizational culture Organizational support Not problematic 5.0 20.0 80.0 0.0 5.0 25.0 10.0 20.0 Some what problematic 65.0 80.0 20.0 20.0 35.0 75.0 80.0 80.0 Highly Mean problematic response 30.0 2.60 0.0 0.0 80.0 60.0 0.0 10.0 0.0 1.80 1.20 3.90 3.35 1.75 2.40 1.85

Comparison of both sectors Issues Strategic planning process Organizational directives Budgeting issues T value 2.233 -.629 -8.977 Sig. (2tailed) .030 .532 .000 Mean Difference .60 -.13 -1.90

Written procedure guidelines Politics Individual support Organizational culture Organizational support

1.289 -1.209 -1.129 .000 -.525

.204 .233 .265 1.000 .602

.27 -.42 -.22 .00 -.12

Cut out value of mean difference >1 is used for this analysis

Again the major difference between the perceptions of executives from the two sectors was found in the issue of budgeting. Rests of the issues were considered to have same intensity of being problematic. Analysis of IT development and deployment process Issues The final data set derived from the studies survey deals with 21 issues surrounding the IT development and deployment process. As with the other two areas, all of the issues were perceived by the respondents as being at least somewhat problematic with regard to implementation. Again internal politics and organizational culture received highest ratings , having mean response of 3.43 and 3.40. 47% respondents (mean response 3.03) marked resistance to change as highly problematic and 43% respondent (mean response 3.20) think of training as highly problematic issue In banking sector the most problematic issue was considered to be resistance to change with 90% (mean response of 4.05) of the respondents labeling it as highly problematic. 70% of the respondents marked training as highly problematic (having mean response of 3.90 ) this might be due to high resistance to change and people resistance to get them self trained. Inter departmental co-ordination also got substantial importance with 60% of highly problematic response rate (mean response 3.85). 85% respondents marked politics as highly problematic (mean response 4.0) and 65% marked organizational culture as highly problematic issues (mean response of 3.90). 75% of the respondent marked adequate staffing as highly problematic (mean response 3.85). 60% marked rapidly changing technology as highly problematic (mean response 3.35) so the only difference between two sectors was that of adequate staffing. This is due to more complex technology used in banks as compared to pharmaceutical companies, which necessitate the hiring of competent personnel to manage this technology

PHARMACEUTICAL SECTOR Issue Inter departmental coNot problematic 13.3 Some what problematic 40.0 Highly Mean problematic response 46.7 2.93

ordination Strategic planning process Organizational directives Individual IT expertise Budgeting issues Internal leadership Time frame scheduling Politics Individual support Existing system Organizational culture Standardization issues Rapidly changing technology Personnel issues Organizational support Compatibility issues Organizational IT expertise Adequate staffing Resistance to change Training External consultants

20.0 50.0 40.0 36.6 20.0 52.4 3.3 60.0 56.7 9.9 62.4 10.0 63.3 53.3 63.3 53.3 70.0 13.3 13.3 56.6

60.0 63.3 46.6 56.7 60.0 33.3 46.7 36.6 42.4 30.0 22.4 43.3 30.0 36.7 32.4 46.7 30.0 43.3 43.3 33.3

30.0 6.7 13.3 6.7 20.0 13.3 50.0 3.3 6.7 60.0 13.3 46.7 6.7 10 3.3 0.0 0.0 43.3 43.3 10.0

2.67 1.83 1.97 2.03 2.73 1.70 3.34 1.47 1.57 3.40 1.63 3.20 1.40 2.00 1.57 1.60 1.40 3.03 3.20 1.67

BANKING SECTOR Issue Inter departmental coordination Strategic planning process Organizational directives Organizational IT expertise Individual IT expertise Budgeting issues Internal leadership Time frame scheduling Politics Individual support Existing system Organizational culture Not problematic 0.0 15.0 25.0 65.0 65.0 55.0 15.0 60.0 0.0 65.0 45.0 0.0 Some what problematic 30.0 80.0 70.0 25.0 25.0 45.0 60.0 10.0 15.0 30.0 55.0 35.0 Highly Mean problematic response 70.0 3.85 5.0 5.0 10.0 10.0 0.0 25.0 30.0 85.0 5.0 0.0 65.0 2.20 1.95 1.60 1.50 1.75 2.80 1.95 4.00 1.40 1.50 3.90

Standardization issues Rapidly changing technology Personnel issues Organizational support Compatibility issues Adequate staffing Resistance to change Training External consultants

80.0 0.0 20.0 25.0 25.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 55.0

20.0 40.0 40.0 55.0 65.0 25.0 10.0 30.0 15.0

0.0 60.0 40.0 20.0 10.0 75.0 90.0 70.0 30.0

1.15 3.35 2.80 2.25 1.95 3.85 4.05 3.90 2.05

Comparison of both sectors Issues T value Sig. (2tailed) .010 .168 .656 1.000 .134 .164 .344 .658 .025 .314 .001 .504 .035 .772 .786 .086 .085 .441 .000 .827 .000 Mean Difference -.92 .47 -.12 .00 .47 -.38 .28 -.15 -.70 -.38 -1.02 -.25 -.57 6.67E-02 6.67E-02 -.50 .48 -.25 -1.40 -6.67E-02 -2.45

Inter departmental co -2.700 ordination Lack of strategic planning 1.401 Organizational directives -.448 Organizational IT expertise .000 Individual IT expertise 1.525 Compatibility issues -1.414 Budgeting issues .955 Rapidly changing technology -.445 Training -2.316 External consultants -1.018 Resistance to change -3.454 Time frame and scheduling -.674 Politics -2.168 Individual support .291 Existing system .273 Organizational culture -1.750 Standardization issues 1.758 Organizational support -.776 Personnel issues -4.323 Internal leader ship -.220 Adequate staffing -11.162

Cut out value of mean difference >1 is used for this analysis

Once the IT development and deployment process reaches the implementation stage the most problematic issues shift to those dealing with personneltraining and resistance to change. At this level the success of implementation relies on the individuals working within the system. Adding to the difficulties surrounding individuals is the overall environment of the organization, which has a major impact on the effectiveness of the deployment process. The major difference between the two sectors was in case of adequate staffing (difference of 2.45 in means of two sectors) personnel issues were also considered to be far more important and problematic in banking sector than in pharmaceutical sector. Banks are normally overstaffed as compared to pharmaceutical sector and its very difficult to get expert IT professionals into the organization or replace those employees whose knowledge regarding IT has become obsolete. So the only option left is to train the old staff each time new technology is implemented. Resistance to change is more is case of bank than in pharmaceutical sector (difference of 1.02 in the means of the two sectors) this is due to the fear that new technology will replace them or decrease their importance. Factor analysis A cutout value of 0.5 or above is used for the factor analysis

Factor analysis pharmaceutical sector Planning Following factor were created from the data collected from pharmaceutical sector.

Factor one Factor one consisted of following components

Weights

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Inter departmental co-ordination Organizational IT expertise Individual IT expertise Internal leadership Politics Personnel issues Organizational support

.604 .588 .718 .616

Factor two Factor two consisted of following components

.615 .701 .680 .

Weights

1. 2. 3. 4.

Inter departmental co-ordination Organizational IT expertise Individual support Organizational culture

-.596 .783 .508

Factor three Factor three consisted of following components Weights Weights 1. Politics 2. Personnel

-.533 .

.565 .781

Factor four Factor four consisted of following components

Weights

1. Lack of strategic planning 2. Lack of planning model

.738 .622

Procurement

Factor one Factor one consisted of following components Weights 1. Organizational directives 2. Individual support 3. Organizational support .869 .529 .649

Factor two Factor two consisted of following components Weights 1. Lack of strategic planning 2. Budgeting .781 .715

Implementation

Factor one Factor one consisted of following components Weights 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Organizational IT expertise Individual IT expertise Compatibility issues Budgeting issues External consultants Time frame Individual support Existing system ` Standardization issues .628 .539 .725 .520 .618 .603 .533 .810 .659

Factor two Factor two consisted of following components Weights 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Individual IT expertise Rapidly changing technology Resistance to change Politics Organizational culture Personnel issues Internal leadership -.607 .533 .619 .562 .581 .547 -.522

Factor three Factor three consisted of following components Weights 1. 2. 3. 4. Lack of strategic planning Training External consultants Resistance to change .631 .696 .615 .573

5. Organizational support

-.642

Factor four Factor four consisted of following components Weights 1. 2. 3. 4. Inter departmental co-ordination Organizational directives Rapidly changing technology Training .601 .651 .667 .532

Factor five Factor five consisted of following components Weights 1. Politics 2. Adequate staffing -.546 .582

Factor analysis banking sector planning

Factor one Factor one consisted of following components Weights 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Inter departmental co-ordination Organizational IT expertise Individual IT expertise Lack of planning model Internal leadership Time frame -.733 -.797 -.612 .538 .904 .803

7. Politics 8. External system 9. Personnel issues 10. Organizational support

.572 .582 .568 .783

factor two Factor two consisted of following components Weights 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Organizational directives Individual IT expertise Written procedures guidelines Budgeting Contracts Individual support Organizational culture .580 .622 -.777 .580 .626 .738 .603

Factor three Factor three consisted of following components Weights 1. Lack of strategic planning 2. Lack of planning model .716 .566

Procurement

Factor one Factor one consisted of following components

Weights 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Lack of strategic planning Organizational directives Budgeting issues Written procedure and guidelines Individual support Organizational support .561 .855 .697 .633 .761 .569

Factor two Factor two consisted of following components Weights 1. Lack of strategic planning 2. Organizational culture .622 .874

Factor three Factor three consisted of following components Weights 1. Written procedure guidelines 2. Politics .666 .670

Implementation

Factor one Factor one consisted of following components Weights 1. Organizational IT expertise 2. Individual IT expertise 3. Budgeting .702 .795 -.89

4. 5. 6. 7.

Training Resistance to change Time frame Individual support

.890 .564 .654 .651

Factor two Factor two consisted of following components Weights 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Lack of strategic planning Compatibility issues Budgeting Time frame Existing system .575 .690 .683 .651 .831

Factor three Factor three consisted of following components Weights 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Internal departmental co-ordination Rapidly changing technology Resistance to change Politics Standardization issues Organizational support .562 .563 .663 .828 .547 .570

Factor four Factor four consisted of following components Weights 1. Organizational directives 2. External consultants 3. Adequate staffing .533 .564 .603

Factor five Factor five consisted of following components Weights 1. External consultants 2. Organizational support .617 .503

Summary This chapter looked at the issues specific to each part of the IT development and deployment process. The data suggests that IT planning and its effective implementation are at least somewhat related. A significant portion of the respondents revealed that their organizations made use of only limited (informal) planning processes if any were used at all. Subsequently, the majority of these respondents also perceived their IT implementation process as being less than effective. Obviously these results do not demand the immediate initiation of long range strategic IT planning for organizations but it does point to a need to further investigate the question of plannings impact on IT implementation. The data reported in this chapter also points to significant problems in the area of implementation with regard to the nature of technology and resistance to change within the organization. As chapter one and two first suggested, individual responses to technology can prove to be problematicespecially on implementation; the respondents to the survey reported this as a primary problem within their organizations. Resistance to change is an individual response intensified by a number of factors, not the least of which include: lack of individual expertise, need for extended training, and the existing organizational culture. This chapter has revealed the perceptions of the respondents with regard to a variety of factors surrounding the IT development and deployment process. Chapter five will expand on the information gathered here and discuss some of the more striking aspects of the data.

Chapter 5: Suggestions and recommendation

Introduction

The importance of information technologies with regard to organizations is undeniable. Within just the past five years, awareness and usage of IT in organizations has increased dramatically. IT has the capacity to change the way organizations operate in the most fundamental ways. Each and every function is impacted by some form of technological innovation. In addition, ITs are changing the ways that executives approach the development of their operations and service deliveries. Finally, information technology provides new ways of approaching the relationships between organizations and the customers that they serve. Considering the role which organizations play in our lives, the significance of these and other impacts must not be ignored. This chapter will provide some conclusions on the most problematic issues with regard to IT planning, procurement, and implementation. Each area will be addressed briefly for the purpose of answering the three main research questions laid out in chapter 1. In addition this chapter will provide a more complete discussion of these issues and their interrelations in the context of recommendations for a holistic view of the IT development and deployment process.

Conclusions The primary focus of this study was to determine what issues executives perceived as being the most problematic with regard to IT planning, procurement, and implementation. Each stage in the development and deployment process was viewed individually with regard to its fundamental issues in order to better ascertain the singular impact of each one on the process. Following is a brief discussion of the findings of this study with regard to the three main research questions.

Issues Related to IT Planning Issues having mean response of 3 or more are considered to be problematic. PHARMACEUTICAL SECTOR Lack of a Strategic/Formal Plan Organizational culture politics Rapidly Changing Technology Lack of a Planning Model

BANKING SECTOR Inter departmental co-ordination Rapidly changing technology Politics Lack of planning model Budgeting Strategic, or formalized, planning is an important process for any organization, regardless of its ultimate goals. The benefits of this kind of planning include: more effective strategies for current and future operations, clear and concise priorities for the expenditure of scarce resources, a high probability of improved decision making based on learned information from the process, improved management of change, a clearer picture of possible consequences, and overall increased performance of the organization. In the end, strategic planning provides a framework for understanding and addressing complex issues in a particular organizational context. The nature of technology plays a key role when viewed in the context of strategic planning for IT. Information technology, in essence, is constantly evolving one of the difficulties is that it does so quite rapidlymaking it very difficult to get a handle on. The issue of rapidly changing technology was viewed as being highly problematic by 40 % of the respondents in pharmaceutical sector and 55% of the respondents in banking sector in this study. Technology by its very nature is in constant flux. New developments are steadily replacing or enhancing previous innovations. The whole reason for the existence of information technologies is to make continual improvements in the way we communicate and function. Change and constant design improvements drive technology and the timeline is very short. The window for opportunity on the new and innovative is extremely short. In another sense, IT is self perpetuatingconstantly generating needs for new hardware, software, and systems. Fundamental breakthroughs in this arena occur at the astonishing rate of 18-24 month intervals. (Brynjolfsson E (1994)) The nature of technology, then, has serious ramifications for long range strategic planning. The primary dilemma being: How does an organization plan for constantly changing and the oftenunknown future of information technologies? One of the top issues of obvious importance to this particular area was the lack of a Strategic plan for information technology. As discussed in chapter 4, 70% of the respondents perceived this issue as highly problematic in pharmaceutical sector and by only 20% of the respondents in the banking sector. This low percentage in banking sector might be due to extensive use of

formal planning in banking sector, which made this issue less problematic in banking sector. As might be expected, the lack of a formalized strategic plan for IT makes the planning process more problematic. The key here is the formalized nature of the plan. The results of the survey showed that while 66% of the respondents did have some sort of IT plan, only 26% of those made use of a formal or strategic plan in pharmaceutical sector, in contrast to this in banking sector all the respondents used formal approach for planning information technology. Lack of a plan or use of a purely informal plan provides little or no concrete directives for the acquisition or implementation of information technologies within an organization. Considering the nature of ITs and the problems, which users and managers face regarding them, it stands to reason that lack of a plan merely aggravates an already difficult situation. Fiscal/budgeting issues are particularly problematic to the planning process, especially in the banking sector 30% of the respondents rated it as highly problematic, from a number of standpoints. To begin, information technologies generate a variety of expenses. At the outset their purchase can prove to be quite expensive, often out of the range of smaller organizations. This necessitates acquiring technology over an extended time-line, which in turn creates a whole host of compatibility, upgrade ability, and standardization issues. In addition, expenses accumulate due to the very nature of the ITs and their learning curve. Two key budgeting issues along these lines are training and maintenance. Considering the complexity and volatile nature of IT planning, it is no surprise that the lack of an existing planning model for this process is perceived as a key problematic issue for the studys respondents. Currently there is no IT planning model for organizations to follow or consult, 96% of the respondent in pharmaceutical sector said that they do not use any IT model and almost 50% of the respondents rated lack of information technology model as highly problematic. In banking sector 100% of the respondents did not used any IT model that is tailored to their specialized issues and needs and 60% respondents rated it as highly problematic. While it is certainly true that no model could completely address all of the issues each individual organization faces, a general model would provide a framework for organizations from which to start without having to reinvent the wheel. (Hinks J (1998)) If nothing else, such a model would provide a viable place from which to ask the right questions about needs, processes, and possible problems. Finally, interdepartmental coordination was rated highly problematic with regard to IT planning by 66 % of the survey respondents in pharmaceutical sector and 30% of the respondent in the banking sector. This issue is especially important to the planning process because of the impact ITs have on the organization as a whole. Strategic planning for IT demands a holistic view of the organization, its IT needs, IT expertise levels, existing systems, and desired technological applications (just to name a few). A lack of interdepartmental coordination could result in any number of ineffective outcomes ranging from duplication of systems to all out incompatibility. Effective IT implementation, which enhances the organizations operations, demands an approach to IT planning which is coordinated at all levels of the organization.

Issues Related to IT Procurement Issues having mean response of 3 or more are considered to be problematic. PHARMACEUTICAL SECTOR

Lack of a Strategic/Formal Plan Politics

BANKING SECTOR Budgeting issues Politics

Most of the issues presented in the survey were not perceived as being highly significant within the procurement stage of the IT development and deployment process. Lack of a strategic plan and internal politics were the only issue seen as being highly problematic in the pharmaceutical sector and, even then, only 40% of the respondents felt strategic planning was a problem. In effect, the key to IT procurement is a solid strategic plan. Once a plan is laid out, the acquisition of technologies should be relatively straightforward. As long as the plan fully considers fiscal and budgeting issues, acquisitions of ITs should not prove to be extraordinarily troublesome. It would appear from the data presented in this study that IT procurement is tied symbiotically to the planning process and derives most of its problematic nature from situations arising from poor or insufficient planning. 36% of the respondents in pharmaceutical sector and 60% of the respondents in the banking sector considered internal politics as highly problematic, this might be due to absence of any proper procurement process as 67% respondents had no proper procurement process, and lack of proper information technology model, 97% respondents had no IT implementation model. The absence of proper process might start a conflict between different individuals or groups for the authority of purchasing information technology equipment and consideration for suitability and performance might be set aside, implementation of proper procurement process could decrease the political pressures by making the procurement process more clean and logical and leave the decision for purchase in the hands of proper people. Budgeting was considered to be highly problematic by 80% of the respondents in the banking sector. It is due to huge outlay of capital for information technology in the banking sector as

compared to pharmaceutical sector and use of complex technology which make the budgeting of information technology very difficult.

Issues Related to IT Implementation Issues having mean response of 3 or more are considered to be problematic. PHARMACEUTICAL SECTOR

Politics Organizational culture Training Rapidly Changing Technology Resistance to Change

BANKING SECTOR

Resistance to change Politics Training Organizational culture Interdepartmental co-ordination Adequate staffing Rapidly changing technology.

The most problematic issues with regard to IT implementation are all interrelated, and with regard to organization, looks as though they are primarily affiliated with personnel issues. Training was listed by 43 % of the respondents in pharmaceutical sector and 70% of the respondents in the banking sector as being highly problematic for IT implementation. Part of the problem with training is that, to be effective it must be a continuous and ongoing process. In addition, individuals within the organization are typically at different levels of individual expertise, thus making the training process difficult to organize. The actual training process is extremely complex, regardless of the size and scope of the organization. In many cases, especially for organizations the size of a typical organization, IT training must be outsourced through external consultants or operations. This adds an additional expense, planning problems, and serious logistical problems for management with regard to timeframes and scheduling. Training is truly the linchpin of effective IT implementation. Without the support and expertise of individual end users, no system can achieve its full potential. Rapidly changing technology is problematic for IT implementation in the same way it is for the planning process. This was viewed as a highly problematic issue for 47 % of the respondents in pharmaceutical sector and 60% of the respondents in banking sector. The crux with regard to this

part of the process is the inevitable time lag between planning for ITs and actual implementation. A typical strategic plan runs the course of a 3-5 year timeline. As discussed previously, this is an eternity in technological termsnew, major developments in IT may occur in 8-12 months. By the time planned-for technologies are actually introduced in the organization, they may be well into their obsolescence. This creates problems not just for physical hardware and software implementation but also for the human side of the processthis issue has a significant impact on training, individual expertise levels, and individual resistance levels. In addition, costs of the technologies themselves change rapidly, thereby making fiscal planning a difficult proposition. While the constantly decreasing prices of ITs is a boon for individuals or private sector consumersa number of public sector organizations continue to find themselves locked into purchasing contracts with specific vendors. Ultimately those organizations that find themselves in a mandated contracting situation end up paying higher, outdated prices for obsolete systems. Resistance to change is an issue, which is particularly problematic with regard to any discussion of information technology. In this study, 44 % of the respondents in pharmaceutical sector and 90% of respondents in banking sector found it to be a very difficult issue for IT implementation. One of the biggest roadblocks in this area is that information technologies often represent completely newin some instances globalchanges for the organization and its individuals. Human beings typically reach a certain comfort level with regard to their abilities and work processes. For most people new technologies represent a daunting learning curve and possible downsizing of their jobs. This perception introduces fear into the implementation process and creates significant resistance to change. Changes as simple as a microcomputer upgrade can cause serious backlash from resistant end users. Effective training and internal leadership are keys to alleviating much of the change resistance inherent in IT implementation. Users must reach new comfort levels and develop the expertise needed to make use of new technologies. Nothing can destroy the implementation process faster than disgruntled users. (Marchand D, Kettinger W, Rollins J, (2000)) After all, most ITs do not function independently of human interaction. Training can serve to increase individual expertise levels if it is approached properly. Just as important as training to this equation is internal leadership. Management must achieve levels of IT understanding and expertise, which will allow them to steer their organizations towards a more complete and effective use of technology. Without a foundational understanding of IT, it is impossible for administrators to understand and deal with the problems and subsequent resistance inherent in technological change. Based on the findings of this study, following figure shows a representation of the IT development and deployment process, its key problematic issues, and the ultimate expected results for the process. The model shows the progression of the process, ending in the expected or desired results. Each part of the process (seen in the first section of the model) provides for a necessary function; these stages exist as part of their own systemthat of the development and deployment process. Once the process begins it feeds into a set of issues, which are problematic and must be addressed within the context of IT development and deployment. If the key issues are successfully addressed the process should yield the expected/desired results. These results, whether positive or negative, should enhance future IT development and deployment activities.

Process

Key Issues

Expected results

Recommendations and interrelations

Pharmaceutical sector Pharmaceutical sector in Pakistan is not very much organized, thats why Information Technology in this sector is used in an in formal fashion. Most of the firms are small with little or almost no IT usage. In most of the cases use of IT is only limited to personal computers, which are mostly, used for data storage and retrieval.

IT Planning The most problematic issue in this phase was found out to be strategic planning. The problem in the pharmaceutical sector is not the absence or presence of planning but whether the planning is formalized or not, as discussed earlier 66% of the respondents had IT planning process in place abut only 26% of them used formal process for planning of IT. To be more effective pharmaceutical sector must adopt a more formalized approach for strategic planning for making their IT implementation more successful. This is why 70% of the respondents in pharmaceutical sector perceive it as highly problematic. Another way to solve this problem is the use of planning model in pharmaceutical sector a proper planning model will guide the executives to follow the formalized path. Politics and organizational culture were perceived to be highly problematic in pharmaceutical sector (with a mean response of 3.63 and 3.37 respectively). Both these variables are highly interrelated, because high political activities in the pharmaceutical sector originate due to the prevailing cultural values with in these organizations where keeping the decision power in ones hands are highly valued. Such a kind of culture should be changed and value for sharing the information should be created. By creating the desired culture political pressure with in the organization will be reduced. Rapidly changing technology is also considered to be highly problematic with a mean response of 3.07; this is because of rapid advances in technology coupled with low resources available in pharmaceutical sector for information technology. Proper need analysis in first place could save the pharmaceutical companies from changing the technology again and again.

IT procurement Again strategic planning and politics were considered to be highly problematic during the procurement of information technology equipment. This is an obvious outcome because once IT planning is not done properly and no proper need analysis is conducted then it is not possible for IT managers to procure the information technology equipment which are desired by the organization. Presence of proper procurement process might solve this problem; data shows that only 33% of the pharmaceutical companies have a defined procurement process. While procuring IT, different suppliers are to be chosen for providing the information technology equipment. So the person, in the absence of procurement process, purchasing the equipment could provide favors to these suppliers and also due to lack of a proper procurement process suppliers could easily put pressure on the officials to tilt the purchasing decision in their favor. Under these circumstances the group who is politically strong could get the decision power for purchase of the equipment.

IT implementation Most of the prominent issues in this category are interrelated. The most problematic issue in this category is politics and organizational culture, which are both interrelated. Implementation of IT in pharmaceutical sector might endanger the power of those who are not good at using this technology. This behavior originates from the cultural value of not sharing the information with others, which is prevailing in our country. This behavior leads to resistance to change; this resistance is worsened with the rapidly changing technology, which makes the learning of new skills more difficult for the personnel working in the pharmaceutical sector. There are two ways of avoiding this resistance to change; one is to change the cultural values prevailing in the pharmaceutical sector, which is difficult, but a permanent solution to this problem. The other one is training, which have also been pointed out by the pharmaceutical executives as highly problematic, having a mean response of 3.20. By conducting the training properly the level of skills of personnel could be increased which will automatically decrease the resistance to change and have long term impact on the cultural values of pharmaceutical sector.

Banking sector IT planning It is surprising to note that strategic planning is not considered as highly problematic issue. This is due to formalized nature of banking sector as compared to pharmaceutical sector the formal nature of banking sector could be imagined from the fact that 100% of banks had strategic planning and all of them are having formal strategic planning process. Under these circumstances

strategic planning could not produce any kind of problem for the banking sector. But even than it is being perceived by the respondents, from pharmaceutical sector, that IT planning model could further enhance the performance of the bank (IT planning model having mean response of 3.05). Because there are large number of departments in a typical bank as compared to pharmaceutical sector e.g. cash, foreign exchange, loans e.t.c, an obvious problem is that of coordinating all the departments together while planning for IT implementation. Thats why inter departmental co ordination had a mean response of 3.75. All the departments should be involved in planning process to reduce co ordination problem. Rapidly changing technology produces same kind of problem for banking sector as it produces for pharmaceutical sector. The rapid technological advances like online banking could produce problem for small banks due to huge amount of capital outlay reqired for banking technology as compared to pharmaceutical sector technology. This problem is more important in banking sector. Because banks are becoming more technology oriented, having latest technology e.g. online banking, ATM e.t.c are becoming symbol of success, in this situation banks are forced to compete on the basis of advanced technology adaptation. In banking sector politics scored a mean response of 3.15. The nature of political pressure in banking sector is different from the pharmaceutical sector. Pressure might not be exerted from external suppliers because of the complex technology used in banking sector and limited number of suppliers for this technology. But political pressure is exerted from groups internal to the organization; this pressure is exerted to retain the powers they had before the implementation of information technology. An obvious issue in the banking sector is that of budgeting which was not present in pharmaceutical sector. This issue is more important in banking sector because of heavy lay out of capital for IT as compared to pharmaceutical sector. Because of this huge outlay of capital budgeting becomes an important part of IT planning. Special emphasis should be given to decide the sources and use of funds, which are allocated for IT implementation; other wise planning efforts will never reach their goal.

IT procurement Politics was marked as highly problematic with a mean response of 3.35, this political pressure is not due to choice of supplier or giving some vendors a benefit as is the case with pharmaceutical sector but political pressure is exerted by internal groups because of the fear that new technology will replace them or in some way reduce their importance with in the organization. So most of employees will favor the purchase of technology, which they are more comfortable to use regardless of its utility for the organization. Budgeting is an obvious concern, having mean response of 3.90, when actually purchasing the technology. Now is the time for the banks to actually use the sources of funds, which have been decided in the planning phase, it might not be possible to get the same amount of funds from

planned sources and lack of funds might hamper the implementation efforts of the organization. To overcome these problems sources of funds should be carefully chosen and evaluated before time, so that any inconvenience at the time of procurement should be avoided.

Implementation Like pharmaceutical sector most of the issues which emerge while implementing IT are interrelated. Resistance to change was marked as most problematic issue with a mean response of 4.05, as explained earlier this resistance originate from the fear that new technology is going to replace them. This fear gives rise to political behavior with in these banks. Organizational culture, having a mean response of 3.90, also alleviate this fear of replacement with technology. Organization culture poses same kind of problems to banking pharmaceutical sector because culture of both the organizations is influenced by the national culture in which they are working. So like in pharmaceutical sector to over come this resistance cultural values of the bank should be changed, so that people become more receptive to changes that are taking place in their organization. One way to reduce this resistance to change is to train the employees in the use of new technology. Employees can easily accept the technology, which they can use comfortably and dont fear to be replaced by more adept IT professionals. Training was perceived to be very important by most of the respondents from the banking sector (mean response of 3.90). Inter departmental co ordination (mean response of 3.85) was also perceived to be important for making IT implementation successful. One factor that elevates all the above-mentioned factors is rapidly changing technology. This factor makes the implementation of all the above-mentioned suggestions very difficult. Rapid advances in technology make it very difficult to train employees for the use of new technology. Lack of training shows it self in increased resistance to change for accepting the new technology and increased political pressure. Unfortunately this factor is out of control of IT professional with in the organization and not much could be suggested to solve this problem. This is some thing on which executives should keep a close eye, other wise their organization will become technologically obsolete. One factor that does not emerge in the pharmaceutical sector is adequate staffing (mean response 3.85), banks in Pakistan are normally over staffed as compared to pharmaceutical sector. This makes the implementation very difficult because IT will force the organization to reduce the staffing level. Executive should check the staffing level before the implementation of any technology is undertaken. Checking the staffing level or changing it at the time of implementation will increase the resistance for the new technology.

In the information age the manager must understand the thrust of technology and devise effective strategies for adapting the organization to it Brynjolfsson E (1995) proposes that a paradigm shift is necessary to enable managers and organizations to meet the highly competitive challenges of the future

Table shows a typical approach to the management of IT and a new updated approach.

Old Approach

New Approach

IT operations/processes are a backroom function. IT personnel are techno-geeks with little knowledge of public administration operations. Each department owns its own data and ITs. Users receive training for new specific applications.

IT is an integrated part of organizational operations and planning. IT personnel are technically proficient and posses an understanding of the operations of local government. Data is an organization wide resource and ITs are designed with the whole organization in mind. Users are trained to make better use of IT.

Recommendations for Further Study

The research model used in this study has proven to be extremely helpful in determining the primary issues which are problematic to the IT development and deployment process. In addition it has allowed for the creation and future use of an IT issues database which may serve as background material for subsequent research in this area. However, further refinement or redesign of this model in future research might allow for additional important insights regarding the implementation of information technologies in different organization. Based on the research completed for this study, the following questions have been generated for future research possibilities. What is the best approach to strategic planning for information technologies in organization What is the impact of training on IT implementation effectiveness? What is the impact of strategic planning on IT implementation? Does the use of a model enhance the effectiveness of IT implementation? What should an IT implementation model for organization look like? Does individual expertise level has an impact on IT implementation effectiveness?

In addition to the questions proposed above, some technical differentiations might be useful in making this kind of study more representative and generalizable. During the course of this research it was determined that better definitions needed to be developed for the problem areas. For example, the question of novice, proficient, and expert user proved to be much too open to individual interpretation. An extension of this would be expanded discussions (and possible terminology specific) of concepts like effectiveness of implementation and successful IT planning. Finally, for future study, it might prove preferable to engage in individual interviews with each respondent as opposed to a standard, mailed survey. The nature of the information seems to require detailed explanation and a degree of drawing out the respondent.

Summary The area of IT development and deployment is extremely problematic and complex. It is a process that involves all the individuals who make up the organization, from top level administrators to clerical staff. In addition, it requires a significant portion of the resources available within the organization, from human to fiscal. Any approach to IT development and deployment, which hopes to be ultimately successful, must take into account both the technical and social systems, which make up the organization. This study has addressed a number of the dilemmas that are ingrained in IT implementation and management. It has been shown that a multitude of integrated issues exist which have an impact on organizations ability to effectively plan for and implement information technologies. These issues must be studied individually

within the context of IT development and deploymentin order for organizations to meet the technological needs of their customers. APPENDIX

Selected references

[1] Chan Caroline (1995) Management And Business Issues For B2B E-Commerce Implementation . Deabin University , School Of MIS, Australia. [2] Enns Harvey, Huff S (1999) Implementation Of Information Technology In Developing Countries Experience Of Mongolian Internet Service Provider Ivey School Of Business , The University Of Western Ontario 1999 [3] Middleton Catherine, A Tale Of Two Systems? Success And Failure In A Single Information System Implementation , York University , Toronto, Canada. [4] Fish M And Turner J Understanding The Process Of Information Technology Implementation Center For Research On Information Systems, Stern School Of Business ,New York University [5] Marks P, Mccoy S, Polak P (2001) Contributing Valuable Knowledge To A Dnowledge Management System. Seventh American Conference On Information System. [6] Dong L, Neufeld D Modeling Top Management Influence On Information Technology Implementation Effectiveness Seventh American Conference On Information System. [7] Gottschalk P (1999) Content Characteristics Of Formal Information Technology Strategy As Implementation Predictors In Norwegian Organizations, Norwegian School Of Management Department Of Information Management, [8] Zolla G (1998), Information Technology Diffusion : A Comparative Case Study Of Intranet Adoption , Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey. [9] Sitting D, Ph.D. The Importance Of Leadership In The Clinical Information System Implementation Process [10] Evaluating Information Technology Investment. Office Of Management And Budget [11] Nicolaou A (1999), Social Control In Information Systems Development. University Of Piraeus, Department Of Business Administration, Greece [12] Gadwall Group (2000) Information Technology Procurement The Successful Acquisition Of Products And Services. [13] Jackson M, The Computerization Of Work: A Communication Perspective Reviewed.

[14] Marchand D, Kettinger W, Rollins J, (2000) Information Orientation :People Technology And The Bottom Line. Sloan Management Review. [15] Grimes J, Zingg P, Hanley J, (1999) User Empowered Process For Information Technology Planning And Implementation Educause Conference. [16] Gurbaxani V, Melville N, Kraemer K, (2000) The Production Of Information Services , A Firm Level Analysis Of Information System Budget. Information System Research , Vol 11, Pp 159-176 [17] Maguire S (2000), Towards A Business Led Approach To Information System Development. Information Management And Computer Security 8/5, Pp 230-238. [18] Hubona G, Kennick E A Re-Examination Of The Technology Acceptance Model [19] Ringle M (1998) Is Strategic Planning For Technology An Oxymoron? CAUSE/EFFECT Volume 21, Number 1, Pp. 18-23 [20] Dr. Anderson L (1996) Guidebook For Developing An Effective Instructional Technology Plan Mississippi State University. [21] Gupta M , Mustafi S, Assessing Return On Information A Framework And Case Study, South Asian Journal Of Management , Vol 6, No 3&4. [22] Hinks J (1998) A Conceptual Model For The Interrelationship Between Information Technology And Facilities Management Process Capacity , MCB University Press, Facilities, Vol 16, Pp 233-245. [23] Brynjolfsson E (1994), The Procuctivity Paradox Of Information Technology : Review And Assessment, Center For Coordination Science MIT Sloan School Of Management Cambridgem Massachusetts, Japan Management Research. [24] Karake Z (1994) Relative Information Technology Index (RITI): It Performance , Company Control. And Governance. Logistic Information Management, Vol 7, Pp 6-14. [25] Dasgupta S , Sarkis J (1999) , Influence Of Information Technology Investment On Firm Productivity : A Cross Sectional Study. Logistic Information Management , Vol 12, Pp 120129. [26] Gurbaxani V, Kraemer K (1996) An Economic Analysis Of Information Systems Budgets, Center For Research On Information Technology And Organizations University Of California, Irvine. [27] Sakaguchi T (1998) Measurement Of The Intensity Of Global Information Technology Usage: Quantitizing The Value Of A Firms Information Technology Industry Management And Data System Vol 8, Pp 380-394.

[28] Michalak S, Facelli J (1999) Decentralized Information Technology Requires Central Coordination Cause And Effect , Vol 22. [29] Kraemer K, Talon P (2000) Performance Benchmarks For Information Systems In Corporations. University Of California , Irvine. [30] Roberts T, Middle Jr (1995) Training During SDM Implementation Tennessee State University.

Glossary

The field of information technology is full of terminology, which may be unfamiliar to the layperson. The rapidly changing nature of IT makes the task of keeping up with the jargon very difficult. The use of acronyms to describe everything from specific hardware to integrated systems makes the task even more complex. In addition many of the terms and definitions vary widely depending on the nature of the literature or source and the time period in which they are discussed. Following is a list of the terminology and acronyms as they are used in this proposal. Action Research Action research is a methodology that allows the researcher to develop knowledge and understanding as part of on-going practice. In situations where other methods fall short, action research provides new and innovative ways of approaching problems. Automation Viewed as a trend of the 60s and 70s, which entailed redesigning clerical work to be accomplished via computer. This included the use of databases and data entry. Automation was not just about moving everything from paper to computer but also entailed consolidating some work process to be done more efficiently by the computer. Chief Information Officer (CIO) A title most commonly used in the private sector to identify the manager of an organizations information systems. In one sense the title of CIO stands as recognition of the importance of information technologies as a major resource requiring a special type of executive. On the other hand, the introduction of a CIO into an organization requires significant changes in the existing management processes in order to make the addition effective and meaningful. Decision Support System (DSS) An information system and/or analytical model which is designed to aid managers and administrators in making more effective decisions. Normally based on personal computer software that accesses databases of information related to a specific topic or organizational area. DSS is not generally about specific technology: instead emphasis is placed on the exploitation of all-available technologies and resources. Distributed Systems A distributed system within an organization links a central or host computer to decentralized personal computers or workstations, many of which may be off-site locations. A system of this sort distributes the processing workload.

Host Computer Often used instead of mainframe or server to describe the computer, which provides services to a number of workstations. Implementation A standard dictionary definition of implementation states that it is a means employed to achieve a given end, to provide a definite plan or procedure to ensure the fulfillment of.... Implementation of information technology is more complicated because the implementation process may be long and drawn out, and in many instances may have vague boundaries. In the most simplistic sense, implementation is the process of getting a new or significantly changed, system in use for those whom it was intended. Information Age A term generally used to describe a future state where information will be readily and universally available electronically. Currently this term has proven to be very vague, as there is much disagreement over what future conditions are being described. Information Systems (IS) Another term for management information systems (MIS). Information Technologies (IT) Up until the 1980s computers made up almost all of what was considered information technologies. Currently information technology has become an umbrella term used to describe a rapidly expanding group of equipment, services, applications, and basic technologies. Often ITs are grouped as computers, multimedia, and telecommunications. For the purposes of this proposal information technologies are any of the above. Management Information Systems (MIS) A term used to describe an integrated system which makes use of any number of varied information technologies. It is common for MIS to be referred to as information systems or in the public sector: information resource management (IRM); or public management information systems (PMIS). Management Processes Regularized cycles of activities (formal or informal) which bring people within organizations and between organizations into interaction in order to work through the performance of some function or the solving of some problem.

Planning A standard dictionary definition of planning states that it is any detailed scheme, program, or method worked out beforehand for the accomplishment of an objective. A proposed or tentative project or goal. A systematic arrangement of details, in most cases (and for purposes of this project) a drawing, diagram, or written representation which shows the structure or arrangement of a specific aim or purpose. Strategic Planning In its simplest form strategic planning is described as a process by which an organization attempts to control its destiny rather than allowing future events to do so. More specifically, it is a systematic and formal process wherein an organization anticipates and plans for its future. Strategic planning is really a process and a product, in other words, it provides a well-organized way of examining organizational processes and then facilitating decision-making. Telecommunications Electronic movement of information no longer just refers to phones, telex, and fax. Now it includes not only voice but also digital (computer generated data) and analog (modems convert digital data to analog so that it can be transmitted over telephone networks) communications as well.

Description of issues Interdepartmental Coordination This issue relates to the degree an organization is able to coordinate its IT implementation process across departments. With the rise in use of microcomputers, information systems management has become increasingly decentralized. In organizations this often means that IT planning, procurement, and implementation may not be coordinated across departments thus perpetuating duplication, lack of standardization, and difficulties with formalized planning, among other problems. Interdepartmental coordination is related to organizational structure, planning, standardization, duplication of work/resources, and internal leadership. Lack of a Strategic/Formal Plan This issue has become one of the more problematic with regard to IT implementation. Pressure for quick solutions to very complex IT problems has only served to work against strategic planning in organizations. Strategic planning is viewed by many as the heart of effective IRM. The successful implementation of nformation technologies in an organization depends heavily on the strategic analysis of organization needs and objectives. Organizations, which do not make use of formalized planning with regard to IT, may find themselves without direction in a rapidly changing environment. Lack of a strategic/formal plan issues is related to organizational

directives, organizational support, internal leadership, interdepartmental coordination, standardization, and planning models. Lack of a Planning Model This issue speaks to the availability and use of standardized models with regard to the planning and implementation of ITs. There has been many debates on the ability of planning models to enhance the success of project implementations. Currently, no organization have an IT implementation model that addresses their specific needs and issues. Lack of a planning model relates to strategic planning, written procedures and guidelines, and rapidly changing technology. Organizational Directives This issue refers to the missions, objectives, and plans which a particular organization may possess for the implementation of IT. Directives serve as guidelines for future plans and actions of the organization. These directives must be strategic and well defined in order to facilitate effective IT implementation throughout the organization. Organizational directives relate to planning, organizational support, organizational IT expertise, fiscal concerns, and rapidly changing technologies. Organizational IT Expertise This issue refers to the overall technological savvy of the organization. In addition, it could also refer to how progressive in its nature the organization may be. That is, whether or not this is an institution that has focused resources to enhance ITs ability to stay on the cutting edge of technological developments. Organizational IT expertise is related to organizational support, organizational culture, individual IT expertise, individual support, existing systems, and rapidly changing technology. Organizational Support Successful and effective implementation of ITs relies on the ability of an organization to change and adapt in order to exploit the uses of advanced technologies. This issue refers to an organizations predilection toward supporting strategic vision and planning at all levels--which in turn will allow it to make use of rapidly changing technologies. The organizational support issue includes: fiscal concerns, organizational directives, organizational culture, and individual support. Organizational Culture This issue is particularly hard to explain because the culture of an organization is mainly a perception. However, for IT implementation to be effective the right kind of culture or environment is required. In most cases this means an organization must consistently find a common ground between individuals and systems within the organization. Organizational culture issues include: organizational support, politics internal/external, organizational directives, and organizational IT expertise.

Individual IT Expertise The issue of individual IT expertise speaks to the technological savvy of each person within the organization. It is typical for a locality to employ individuals with a very diverse range of IT competence. It is also typical that some of these individuals will have a willingness and desire to learn more about technology and how to use specific ITs, and others will be quite resistant to adapting to new technologies. This issue is related to training, resistance to change, organizational support, and internal leadership. Written Procedures/Guidelines This issue refers to any mandates which affect organizations with regard to information technology and its planning, procurement, and implementation. In addition it may also refer to any written procedures specific or internal to the organization This issue includes fiscal concerns, contracts, outside consultants, and politics. Fiscal/Budgeting Issues Information technologies are expensive at a number of levels. This issue refers to the myriad of problems facing administrators with regard to budgeting and the fiscal impact of ITs. Fiscal concerns for IT require definition and measurement of operating costs, investment costs, and the possible/achieved benefits of technologies. This issue includes organizational support, rapidly changing technology, existing systems, standardization, and planning. Rapidly Changing Technology This issue refers to the difficulties of managing technology due to its rapidly changing nature. ITs are developed and enhanced so swiftly that an organization may find their planned--for acquisitions are obsolete before the ink on the purchase orders are dry. The nature of technology in general is a primary cause of a multitude of IT management conflicts from development to implementation. Rapidly changing technology issues are related to fiscal concerns, timeframes, standardization, existing systems, training, individual and organizational IT expertise. Timeframes and Scheduling Timeframes and scheduling are very important to the effective implementation of ITs in an organization. Most IT-related planning in organizations must take place in a multi-year framework due to a variety of factors, not the least of which is financial resources. IT implementation also carries with it varying degrees of post implementation lag times necessary for training and burn-in of the equipment. Scheduling difficulties are expounded by the rapidly changing nature of the technologies themselves. This issue is related to rapidly changing technology, internal leadership, organizational support, individual support, training, and IT expertise. Politics, Internal/External

This issue is inherent in any organizational activity and IT implementation is no different. executives and IT professionals alike must recognize and address the political ramifications of IT implementation within their organization and the external environment. Technological activities in general are political by nature (i.e. privacy, security, confidentiality, and data collection). This issue includes personnel issues, interdepartmental coordination, organizational culture, and external consultants. Individual Support This issue refers to the support of key individuals within the organization whether in favor of IT planning and implementation or against. Ordinarily this issue refers to those individuals in top management positions. However, people at all levels of the organization have an impact on IT planning and implementation--the more support available throughout the ranks, the more effective the implementation process will be. Individuals can hinder progress at a number of junctures in the process. It is therefore, essential to recognize the importance of this issue with regard to IT implementation at the outset. The individual support issue includes resistance to change, training, politics, leadership, and support. Existing Systems The existing information systems within an organization may have a profound impact on the ability of an organization to plan for, acquire, and implement new technologies. Systems already in place may require upgrades or may not function in connection with new systems at all. In many cases the stakes are very high with regard to existing systems. An organization often has a significant investment in hardware and software. In addition, these systems may be storehouses of irreplaceable data, which for compatibility reasons cannot be transferred to new systems without incurring extensive costs. The issue of existing systems is related to standardization, computability, resistance to change, rapidly changing technologies, and interdepartmental coordination. Standardization Without some standards across information technologies, planning for future uses and acquisitions would prove nearly impossible. Setting standards within an organization can be problematic enough--standardization between organizations can prove impossible. Standards make communication possible and lend consistency and efficiency to information systems. Standardization is made substantially more difficult due to the technology industry itself and its own standardization problems. Standardization issues are related to existing systems, computability, politics, and rapidly changing technology. Compatibility Issues Compatibility issues refer to the ability to interact, communicate, and share information across networks and between software. Without systems and software compatibility data exchange would be impossible. It is very important that newly proposed systems be compatible with existing systems and that compatibility be addressed early on in the planning process.

Compatibility issues are related to existing systems, politics, standardization, contracts, and personnel issues. Personnel Issues These are issues related to the management process of human resources. It does not matter how well designed an organization is or how well developed general procedures are if the institution in question does not have the personnel it requires to fully develop, manage, and ultimately use ITs. This is one of the most important issue areas and in many cases one that is chronically ignored. Personnel issues include resistance to change, fear of technology, training, recruitment, and retention of quality employees. Adequate Staffing In one sense, this issue is tied to general personnel issues in that it requires the recruitment and training of individuals for IT and support staff positions within the organization. More specifically, it deals with the need for enough of these types of employees to make IT implementation feasible and effective. Adequate staffing is a quantity and quality issue. Adequate staffing issues relate to number of qualified staff, employee/individual IT expertise, recruitment, and training. Internal Leadership This issue relates to various levels of leadership within the organization with regard to IT implementation. One of the problems with technology and the workplace is that not everyone is ready or willing to become part of a technologically based workforce. In many situations, leadership from managers and co-workers can help to enhance effective implementation of ITs. Managers especially can promote IT implementation by example. Internal leadership issues include training, individual expertise, organizational support, personnel issues, and resistance to change. Contracts This issues refers mainly to the acquisition of ITs in an organization. In some organizations specific requirements exist with regard to available and accepted hardware and software vendors. Some organizations must adhere to state sanctioned contracts for purchase of supplies and equipment. Others may have entered into long term contracts for equipment and services. The contracts issue is related to external consultants, adequate staffing, written procedures/guidelines, fiscal/budgeting, internal/external politics, and individual/organizational expertise. Training This issue is of particular importance regardless of the level of technology currently existing within an organization. As ITs become an even greater part of our operations, it has become crucial to make sure that adequate training is provided for all employees. Lack of training can act as a powerful restraint to effective IT implementation and overall organizational success.

Training issues include: resistance to change, fear of technology, rapidly changing technology, retaining quality employees, decision-making and individual/organizational IT expertise. Resistance to Change This issue is generally seen as a human resources issue. Part of resistance is couched in fear: fear of the technologies; fear of being displaced by technology; and fear of the unfamiliar. Many individuals (especially those in support staff positions) have a pervasive fear that automation of their particular work process will render them unnecessary to the organization. Even more predominant in todays organization is the fear of change. Individuals are often put off by the extra work and effort required in learning new software or a whole new operating system. Resistance to change includes training, individual expertise, standardization, existing systems, individual and organizational leadership. External Consultants This issue has become particularly important to organizations who often do not have the adequate and expert staff to address IT issues within their organizations. Outside consultants are typically hired to act as advisors on various issues as well as to provide the hardware and software for the organization. An important factor to consider in the use of external consultants is what the role of that consultant will be. In other words, will the individual or firm in question be asked to act as an advisor or a complete IT service provider. The use of external consultants must be reviewed in the context of the whole organizations directives as well as the planning of ITs and their implementation. The external consultant issue is related to individual/organizational expertise, organizational directives, IT planning, IT implementation, existing systems, and standardization.

List of companies surveyed

List of Pharmaceutical companies surveyed

COMPANY NAME

CITY

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Abbott Laboratories (PAK) LTD Arsons Industries Albro Pharmaceuticals Remington Pharmaceuticals Pulse Pharmaceuticals

Karachi Lahore Lahore Lahore Lahroe

6. Basic Pharmaceuticals 7. Don Valley Pharmaceuticals 8. Brookes Pharmaceutical Laboratories 9. Farhat Ali Pharmaceuticals 10. Epoch Pharmaceuticals 11. Aventis Pharmaceuticals 12. Scharper Pharmaceuticals 13. Harman Pharmacetical Laboratories 14. Consolidated Chemicals 15. Ideal Pharmaceutical Industries 16. Bio Fine Pharmacueticals Pvt Ltd 17. Fiza International Pvt Ltd 18. Humza Pharmaceuticals 19. Himont Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd 20. Highnoon Labortaries Ltd 21. Consolidated Chemicals 22. Geofman Pharmaceuticals 23. Novarits Pharmaceuticals 24. Glaxowellcome Pakistan Limited 25. Ashraf Laboratoreis (Pvt) Ltd 26. Life Pharmaceutical Company 27. Pfizer 28. Mular & Phipps Pakistan Pvt Ltd 29. Babar Medicine Company 30. Efroz Chemical Industries

Rawalpinidi Lahore Karachi Lahore Karachi Karachi Lahore Lahore Lahore Lahore Multan Lahore Multan Lahore Lahore Lahore Karachi Lahore Lahore Multan Multan Karachi Lahore Lahore Lahore

List of banks surveyed

1. Habib Bank (Pvt) ltd 2. Sonnery Bank 3. Standard Chartered 4. UBL ( United Bank Limited ) 5. Union Bank Limited 6. Platinum 7. Bolan Bank 8. Askari Commercial Bank 9. City Bank 10. MCB 11. Prudential Bank 12. ANZ Grindlays 13. ABN Amro Bank 14. Allied Bank Limited

15. Bank Of Punjab 16. Prime Bank 17. National Bank Of Pakistan 18. Faisal Bank 19. Metropoliton Bank 20. Doha Bank Interviews

Coca-Cola Beverages

1. Totally agreed with the definition find categorization of IT 2. IT is basically used communication e.g. local area and wide area networks, data storage, control of user access level, reporting of data in different forms, integration of information between different department. 3. It is not to change the existing system entirely but to enhance the existing system, which has been previously done manually. 4. After procurement stage, another stage, testing stage should be added also called prototyping 5. Totally agreed 6. Yes 7. To a very limited extent. 8. Software documentation SCALA 9. No documentation is used for implementation purpose, co-ordinated and comprehensive 10. Sufficient because of the use of co-ordinated approach, no need of written procedure and guidelines 11. Yes, last year when we were implementing mail server, LAN and SCALA. 12. Inefficiency and lack of effectiveness will make me consider a system as complete failure. 13. SCALA module has been implemented, stock control and purchase control 14. Totally agreed 15. No 16. Cokes own internal experiences regarding the implementation of IT. 17. Through co-ordinated efforts. 18. Three types of consultants are used hardware; software and networking consultants are used. Outsourcing is used when implementation is done. 19. No, internal models are used. 20. Departmental co-ordination 21. Lack of individual support and politics. 22. We dont have to look at our plant, but have to see the worldwide network.

Beacon house

1. Yes I totally agree with your definition, because it covers all the aspects of information technology. 2. Information technology helps the managers and employees in the following ways. Provides the email service through lotus notes. It is also helpful in scheduling the meetings. Provide the Internet access to search the material in order to search the material for completing the day-to-day jobs especially for the academics department.

3. No, basically IT implementation is a process to save your time, to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of your human resources and provide ease to work for them. 4. Totally agreed with this classification. 5. These two classifications can be further subdivided into intermediate categories. 6. To some extent but still this plan is not new because the project is new. 7. No not yet. 8. Guidelines

Mentally prepare the employees for automation. Provide the training to use new technology. When they are able to adopt and work then implement.

9. More co-ordinated and comprehensive. 10. No, but if proper budget is allocated to the department empowered then it would be better. 11. Need analysis is still in process, but a comprehensive analysis will be done. 12. Following condition will cause the failure

Not properly persuaded the user. If Users were not properly trained. If the advantages expected form IT are not clearly defined.

13. Trained the users about the lotus notes. 14. Yes this definition of IT model is right. 15. No formal model is used 16. . 17. I have discussed it with the key departments and also with the CEO to decide the process of implementation. 18. Yes, we are contracting with private sectors firms to implement corporate level information system. 19. No 20. The biggest problem is to persuade the people about its utility. 21. Limitation of resources 22. We are implementing lotus notes email that is very safe and fast.

High Noon

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Yes I agree with this definition of IT. Providing basic information to the internal customer of the organization. Totally agree with the IT implementation definition. There should be sub categorization of IT implementation process. Yes this classification is right. Yes Yes IT expenditures are considered when capital budgeting is done. Guidelines Feasibility study. Cost Benefits Requirements Improvement in system 9. Have coordinated and comprehensive plan. 10. More efforts are required for training of employees. 11. Yes comprehensive need analysis of the IT is done. 12. Either of the two, inefficiency or ineffectiveness would cause me to consider implementation a failure. 13. Installation of intranet and mail server. 14. Its not necessary to for a model to give specific directions. Successful model should provide general guidelines. 15. No particular model is used. 16. Past experience of IT professionals in other organizations were used as examples. 17. No specific implementation process is there different kinds of implementation need different kind of process.

18. Yes consultants are used for the purpose of software development, which are from private sector. 19. No examples from other organizations were taken, but experience of employees was used. 20. It is very difficult to plan before hand the purpose of using the technology. 21. Its very difficult for the employees to accept the new technology, also cost is a consideration. 22. Comprehensive database of the doctors is developed. Olympia textile

1. IT is not so bound. Its area of concentration is more than that. Along with these. IT deals with virtual management as well. 2. IT is working as change agent in my organization. 3. IT is process of change; its a sequential process, which ultimately leads towards automation. 4. Its basically management process, planning, organizing, leading, monitoring. 5. I totally agree 6. Yes. 7. Yes. 8. Implementation process consists of some formal procedures you have to follow. -Analysis -Designing and development -Testing -Quality assurance -Review and feedback -Deployment 9. More coordinated and comprehensive. 10. Ok, its not optimal but satisfactory. There is always room for improvement, secondly technology changes at a very fast pace.

11. Yes you can say up to some extent we try to find out where we are and where we should be. 12. Inefficiency and ineffectiveness both will cause me to consider IT implementation a failure. 13. We are now establishing our own mail server and website. 14. I totally agree with this definition. 15. We have no model but we have proper system for IT, you can say its Think Tank and before going to deploy, we review its pros and cons. 16. Yes we do benchmarking, take a few examples of industry leader and other published sources and further consult with IT consultants. 17. After brainstorming, IT authorities finalize that what alternative is feasible. 18. Yes we consult with firm as well as individual consultants. According to our requirement. 19. Its a right approach to move forward, we make comparative analysis with public and private both, we see what new implementations are taking place and are they feasible for us.

20. In Pakistan there are two main constraints. IT market is not so much developed, Linkages are weak, mean and end problem integration problem. 21. People are not aware of the benefits IT could provide Issues Database