Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
focus exclusively on data that is easy to collect, tracking transactions in great detail and
overemphasizing numerical analysis. These systems may provide information more suited for
operational managers than strategic ones. They may discourage innovative applications
designed to help managers lead subordinates.
Managers, on the other hand, are not always sure what computers are capable of
accomplishing. They may wait for the technical experts to tell them what a system can or
cannot do. They may be reluctant to force development of computer systems to do things
in ways that they really would prefer but do not know how to explain. Many of them have
not learned how to use the computers particularly well, let alone how to create systems
themselves. Some managers have realized the problems that their lack of expertise creates.
Ricardo Semler, considered a global leader and the world's “leading maverick” for his
demonstrated leadership abilities at Semco, is quoted as saying that computers are “drowning
us in (data)” rather than helping us to organize it. He felt that leaders who have limited
understanding of technology have been “wrapped around the fingers of computer profes-
sionals, who have leveraged their special knowledge into a sort of priesthood” (Marquardt
& Berger, 2000, p. 55).
Consequently, as organizations steadily grow more reliant on computer systems to
control information flow and presentation, managers may increasingly abdicate their leader-
ship function to system developers. The systems analyst may sometimes become the entity
who frames WHAT organizational information will be provided to WHICH employees, as well
as HOW and WHERE the information will appear. The system developer may determine what
information will be collected and how, who will have access and how they will gain that access,
who will have the right to alter the information, and how important the information will be
considered for security purposes. Obviously, any well-educated systems analyst will attempt
to implement what the decision makers in charge of the project view as the goals and
objectives of the system. They will ask questions to determine how the system can best be
created to assist the organization in attaining strategic goals. Certainly, the system developer
should not make all of the decisions regarding the information collection, usage, and storage
of any system. However, if managers take passive roles, systems analysts must fill in the
necessary details to create a functioning system within the time limits given.
Communications often take place over and through office information systems. Presen-
tations and calculations, strategic plans, and visions are framed through the software and
hardware of management information systems. Systems analysts who create the frames
through which the information travels must develop more than technical expertise. To create
a system that may be used by leaders to lead, the analysts must be able to lead, and they will
likely have little experience with leadership. The ability to lead people differs significantly from
technical expertise:
…technical expertise does not transform a successful IS professional into an
effective leader.… exclusive focus on technical expertise and preoccupation
with technological currency interfere with attention to the interpersonal and
analytical competencies necessary for effective leadership. (Klenke, 1998)
Systems analysts must understand the big-picture perspective to frame effectively.
They must also understand the human side of information technology to understand how
to assist managers to use systems to lead. How will the information they are presenting and
the way it is presented influence the people who receive it? Rex Mitchell, at CSUN, points
out that “Framing requires…a thorough understanding of those we are trying to influence”
