Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
their feet' by refusing to use poor systems and products. Despite this
prevalence of evidence of problems, senior people in positions of leader-
ship and influence in government and in industry (with some notable
exceptions), have not generally sought to publicise the difficulties and
limitations of current ICT design practices until expensive problems or
failures force their hand. An important objective of this topic is therefore
to help to promote awareness of the need for urgent change and to make
the reasons and the benefits very clear. Chapter 10 will pick up this theme
again. To illustrate application of the formula to devise a change strategy,
the components of such a strategy are described below.
7.3.1 Dissatisfaction with the Status Quo
Change often tends to be stimulated by dissatisfaction on the part of key
stakeholders with one or more aspects of the current state of affairs - or with
anticipated and unwelcome proposed changes to the status quo. For exam-
ple, in work organisations, many changes are triggered by management or
shareholder dissatisfaction regarding the performance of particular individu-
als, departments, or with the organisation as a whole. In the community, the
situation is somewhat different in that dissatisfaction that prompts action for
change is most likely to relate to proposed changes in the locality (such as a
new housing estate in a rural area) which are perceived as a threat to estab-
lished lifestyles or quality of life.
Common to both situations, achieving a groundswell of support for
change generally requires that a critical mass of individuals feel sufficiently
well-informed and concerned about the problems (current or projected) to be
motivated to act to individually or collectively. The first stage in achieving
such support is to promote widespread understanding of the nature of prob-
lems experienced (or anticipated) with the status quo and their implications
for different stakeholders.
In both contexts, sharing this awareness and understanding is necessary
to create recognition within a wider constituency of the reasons why
change is required. For example, employees may need an understanding of
the real nature of the problems that their host organisation is facing, if they
are to accept and contribute to changes necessary to addressing the prob-
lems. Similarly members of a community may need to be convinced that
there is good reason for them to become involved in local action. It is of-
ten the case that one individual or small group of stakeholders becomes
motivated to achieve change by their strength of feeling and concern about
an issue. For instance, a key trigger
for the K-Net
project in 1993-94 was
the lack of any telecommunications facilities in many of the villages in the
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