Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
INTRODUCTION
Today's systems analysts serve as leaders in ways that they may not realize. By
controlling access, form, and distribution of information in organizations, analysts provide
frames for people to organize and interpret many organizational issues and events. In their
roles as “framers,” analysts help to shape the perceptions of people in the organization and
help to direct their ways of thinking. Information systems serve as tools for the management
of meaning. Managers may give analysts the authority to decide what a set of reports from
a system will look like, which interfaces will be used, what data will be collected and maintained
in a database, who will be provided with access to the data, how access will be implemented,
which information will be protected, how it will be protected, and how well. Perhaps more
importantly, systems developers may decide which data will not be collected, disseminated,
stored, or secured. Delegating such tasks has far-reaching implications within organizations.
Systems analysts and developers need to be cognizant of their leadership roles in modern
business. They must realize how their “framing” of information affects decision making and
shapes organizational cultures. Information technology
education must include this topic for
prospective system developers.
Curriculum for MIS (Management Information Systems) or CIS (Computer Information
Systems) programs can and should be adapted to include discussions and projects that take
students beyond merely a basic understanding of traditional managerial roles and skills.
According to Alvin Toffler, the advanced global economy and workplace are incapable of
functioning without computer systems (Toffler, 1990). In contemporary organizations with
intranets, telecommuters, online reporting mechanisms, virtual hours, instant feedback, and
email conversations, systems developers as well as the managers they develop systems for
need to understand how to use information systems to communicate and to lead. Students
who expect to develop computer systems need to understand what leadership is and how it
can be facilitated through the purposeful design and use of information systems.
BACKGROUND
Theories of leadership have not traditionally been joined with the implementation and
design of information systems, although the control of information and the control of
technology were considered potential sources of power, even before computer systems were
commonly used by most organizations (Crozier, 1964). Additionally, most leadership theories
stressed the importance of excellent communication skills as characteristic of leaders. Leaders
communicate vision (Smith, 1997, p. 114). To the extent that computer information systems
have become the primary means of communicating in many organizations, traditional theories
of leadership might provide support for those who wish to lead through the use of these
systems. However, current authors observe that the leaders of today will need to develop
different skills than leaders of the past, including “an ability to develop and convey a shared
vision, …comfort and confidence with technology, (and)… competence in systems thinking”
(Marquardt & Berger, 2000, p. 1).
Current topics on effective management techniques require leaders to manage informa-
tion as well as people, presumably through the ubiquitous computerized information systems
found in most contemporary organizations:
As more companies realize that the key resource of business is not capital, personnel,
or facilities but rather knowledge,
information
and ideas, many new ways of viewing the
