SYSTEM SUCCESS AND

FAILURE:
IMPLEMENTATION

What do we mean by information

system failure?
An information system "failure" may mean
that a system falls apart, but it usually
means that the system is under-utilized or
not used at all.
This is because the system does not
perform the functions for which it is
intended or does so in a way that is too
difficult or time-consuming to use.
Users may have to develop "parallel"
manual procedures to make the system
work properly or rely on manual procedure
entirely.

What kinds of problems are evidence

of information system failure?

Information system failure is indicated

by the following problems:
reports that are neglected or never
read;
automated systems that are not used;
data within a system that is not
trusted;
high operational costs;
processing delays;

How can we measure system

success?
The following are recognized as measures of
system success:
High levels of usage of the system.
User satisfaction.
Favourable user attitudes about information
systems and the IS department.
Achieved objectives: the extent to which
the system meets its specifiedgoals.
Financial payoff. This measure may be of
limited value because not allsuccessful
information systems have tangible benefits.

Define Implementation.
Implementation refers to all of the
organizational activities involved in
the adoption, management and
routinization of an innovation.
For IS, implementation is the
entire process of introducing,
building and installing the system
and can be considered a complex
process of deliberate organizational
change.

What are the major approaches to

implementation?
There are three major approaches to
implementation in scholarly literature:
A focus on actors and roles,
suggesting that organizations should
promote actors with innovative
characteristics and develop
organizational roles championing
innovation.

 A focus on strategies of innovation,

believing that successful
innovations must have support
from top-down and/or bottom-up.
A focus on general organizational
change factors supportive of longterm routinization of innovations.

Why is it necessary to understand the concept of

implementation when examining system success and
failure?

One of the most important determinants in

system success and failure is the pattern of the
implementation process. Especially critical
facets of the implementation process are:

Conflicts between the technical or

machine orientation of
informationsystems specialists and the
organizational or business orientation
of users.

 The impact of information systems

on organizational structures, work
groups and behaviour.
The planning and management of
systems development activities.
The degree of user participation in
the design and development process.

What are the major causes of

implementation success or failure?

System failure may be due to factors

outside the organization. An
organization may be faced with
external "environmental" pressures
which it cannot meet because to do
so would run counter to its inherent
characteristics.

However, many instances of system

failure and negative implementation
outcome are caused by factors within
the organization.

The role of users in the implementation

process.
The degree of management support for
the implementation process.
The level of risk and of organizational
and technical complexity in
animplementation project.
The quality of management of the
implementation process itself.

While business reengineering

failures are often the result of the
failure of management to identify
the critical problems to be solved,
in many other cases failure is the
result of poor implementation and
change in management practices
and so are much the same as
causes of systems implementation
failure.

What is the user-designer

communications gap?
The "user-designer communications
gap" refers to the conflict between
the "technical" orientation of IS
specialists and the "business"
orientation of end-users.
Often the objectives, priorities and
language of communication between
these groups is so different that they
have entirely divergent goals.

 If serious, the "user-designer

communications gap" prolongs
implementation time.
Users and IS specialists must spend
additional time and effort trying to
mutually understand one another.
Users often forfeit their control over
implementation to technical
specialists.
The result is an information system
that makes sense to the technicians
but doesn't meet users' business
requirements.

Implementation problems at
different stages of the life cycle :
Analysis:
Inadequate resource allocation.
Poorly defined problem or objectives.
Promises that are impossible to meet.
Incomplete documentation.
Users won't provide the requisite
information.
IS specialists can't interview users
properly and understand their
requirements.

Design:
Users don't participate sufficiently in
the design process. The design
reflects the biases of technicians.
The system is designed only to serve
current needs.
No organizational impact analysis for
drastic clerical procedure changes.

Programming:
Programmers receive
incomplete specifications.
Programs are not fully
documented.
Too little time is spent on
developing program logic.

Testing:
Insufficient time is allocated to
testing.
The project does not develop
organized test plans.
No development of appropriate
acceptance tests for
management review.

Conversion:
Training begins too late. Users are
unprepared for the new system and
procedures.
Insufficient time and dollars are
budgeted for conversion activities.
Inadequate user and system
documentation.

What dimensions influence the level of

risk in each systems development project?

Influencing the level of project risk

are:
Project size.
Project structure.
Project technology level.

What project management

techniques can be used to control
project risk?
External integration tools help solidify the
relationship between implementation activities and
end-users at all organizational levels.
Such tools are most useful for projects that are not
well-structured and which require heavy user
involvement and commitment.
Internal integration tools promote cohesion and unity
within the implementation team. They are most
useful for projects with high technical complexity.
Formal planning and control tools help structure and
sequence tasks and monitor progress towards goals.
They are most valuable for managing projects that
are large and/or well-structured.

What strategies can be used to

overcome user resistance to systems
development projects?
End-user resistance to IS projects can be
overcome by the following strategies:
A "people-oriented" strategy focuses on
ways of overcoming resistance
stemming from factors inherent to
individuals or people as a group. It can
consist of education, coercion through
edicts or policies, persuasion or building
commitment through user participation.

 A "system-oriented" strategy focuses on

overcoming resistance stemming from
factors inherent in system design. Such a
strategy might include user participation in
system design, a design that is highly
sensitive to human factors, package
modifications to conform to organizational
procedures, and user education.
A strategy to counter the conflict of people
and system factors could consist of
restructuring the user-designer relationship,
encouraging user participation, and
attempting to fix organizational problems
before introducing new systems.

What organizational considerations

should be addressed by information
system design?
Information system design must
consider careful planning and
orchestration of organizational change.
Changes in job functions,
organizational structure, power
relationships, procedures and behavior
will have to be addressed.
Technical solutions must be developed
around an appropriate "social design"
for an information system.

QUIZ:
1. ________ refers to all of the organizational activities
involved in the adoption, management and routinization of
an innovation.
2. ________ may mean that a system falls apart, but it usually
means that the system is under-utilized or not used at all.
3. One of the most important determinants in system
success and failure is the pattern of the ___________.
4. Users may have to develop _______ manual procedures to
make the system work properly or rely on manual procedure
entirely.
5-6. Measures of system success.
7. _______________ refers to the conflict between the
"technical" orientation of IS specialists and the "business"
orientation of end-users.
8-10. Dimensions influence the level of risk in each systems
development project.

ANSWERS:
1. Implementation
2. IS failure
3. Implementation process
4. Parallel
5. *
6. *
7. User-designer communications gap
8. Project size
9. Project structure
10.Project technology level

reference
http://www.mis.boun.edu.tr/tanrikulu/
qa13.htm