Title: Business Solutions, Change, and the Solution Professional: Challenges and Opportunities
1Chapter 9
- Business Solutions, Change, and the Solution
Professional Challenges and Opportunities
2Chapter Objectives
- Explain the nature of integrated business
solutions. - Explain the principles of managing change.
- Describe the opportunities confronting todays
accounting and IT professionals.
3The Nature of Business Solutions
- Successful business solutions adhere to the
following principles and characteristics - First, solutions must integrate 5 key components
- Business processes and events
- Business strategy
- Organization structure and individual stewardship
responsibilities - IT architecture
- Measurements
- Second, the solution must be aligned with the
organizations culture. - Third, solutions must constantly adapt to a
complex, changing world in real-time.
4Business Solution Framework
Culture
S1
Business Processes/ Events
5IT Application Architecture Record, Maintain and
Report
Business Information Warehouse
6Organization Structure Based on Business Processes
Solution Support Professional
Multiple Process Owner
Process Owner
Process Owner
Process Owner
Business Event Owners
Salesperson
Shipping Clerk
Customer Payment Clerk
7Traditional View-Driven IT Application
Architecture
8IT Application Architecture Record, Maintain,
and Report
Operating Events
Reporting Facility (instructions for generating
outputs)
Business Event Processor
Business Data Repository
Useful Information
Operating Event (and other decision support) Data
Enterprise-wide Information Customers
9Systems Development Process
Business requirements statement
10Types of Organizational Change
- Organizational change can be classified according
to its scope and depth. - Developmental change is the improvement of an
existing system - Transitional change is the implementation of a
known new state - Transformational change is the emergence of a new
state.
11Types of Organizational Change
- Some important questions to ask when determining
the type of change best suited for an
organization include - How far do we want to go? Is it too far or not
far enough? - What type of result do we want short term or
long term? - How much change can the organization absorb in on
change and cumulatively? - Can the changes contemplated be presented
positively? If not, why? - What happens if we dont change?
12Deciding When to Change
- The decision about when to change is as important
as what to change and how much to change. - Change when things are going well.
- Change when results are mixed.
- Change demanded by a full-fledged crisis.
13Managing Change and Creating a Common Vision
- Organization Culture
- Participation
- Performance Evaluation
- Dysfunctional Human Behaviour
14Organization Culture
- Each organization has a unique culture that
distinguishes it from all others. - Changes should support rather than challenge the
organizations culture.
15Participation
- Allowing people to participate in identifying the
problem, the solution approach, and the final
product is the most powerful technique for
creating a common vision and the support to
achieve it.
16Performance Evaluation
- Because changes often alter peoples
responsibilities, organization and system changes
often impact the way individual performance
should be measured and evaluated. - Unless the performance evaluation process is
updated, changes may obscure personal
performance, thus creating disincentives for
supporting the proposed changes.
17Dysfunctional Human Behaviour
- Most dysfunctional human behaviour is manifest in
one, or more, of three ways - Aggression involves any attempt by an individual
or group to damage the organization or its
information system. - Projection involves any effort to blame the
system for problems that people face. - Avoidance involves any attempt to avoid using the
system.
18IS Professionals Provide Integration and Structure
Culture
S3
Culture
S2
Culture
S1
Strategy
Business processes/ events
People and structures
Information technology
Measurements
19Responsibilities for Managing Change
- Management should
- Openly support efforts to continually improve all
aspects of the organization. - Determine timing for enterprise-wide changes.
- Approve suggestions for improvement.
- Monitor progress of approved changes and insure
that measurement systems are adjusted quickly. - Assist in resolving problems resulting from
change.
20Responsibilities for Managing Change
- Employees should
- Commit to continual individual and organization
improvement. - Actively participate in suggesting and
implementing changes. - Demand creative solutions to business and
information problems.
21Responsibilities for Managing Change
- Change agents (those who guide or develop the
business solutions) should - Understand the impact of IT as a change agent.
- Deal with problems in a timely and effective
manner.