a
T
UBCAEDSS I
(jf
Center for Information Systems Research
Massachusetts
Institute of
Technology
Sloan School of Management
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139
THE IMPLEMENTATION OF
EXECUTIVE SUPPORT SYSTEMS
Eliot Levinson
October
198^1
CISR WP #119
Sloan WP #159^4-84
©
E.
Levinson
1984
Center For Information Systems Research
Sloan School of Management
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
INTRODUCTION
Paul Dawson is President of Wellness, Inc., a health care distribution
When Dawson took over the division 2 years ago, it was wracked
company.
by problems, losing market share, and its veteran sales force was not
The firm was headed for its first loss in a decade.
producing results.
During the past year Dawson and his associates have utilized a computer
based executive infomation system to analyze their markets, reorganize
their sales approach, restructure and sell off a part of a manufacturing
has
been
of
this
tool
Use
their product mix.
change
and
unit,
In
instrumental in the turnaround of Wellness into a profitable company.
the process, Dawson has changed the culture of Wellness from a traditional
He has
sales organization to an analysis-oriented marketing organization.
also restructured the organization to better fit the new direction.
Employees of Wellness see the changes as a dramatic culture shift.
Pepper is one of 18 group executives of a very large manufacturing
For the last 12 months Pepper has had a personal computer on his
The personal computer is linked to several
desk and one in his home.
corporate data bases, has word processing and electronic mail. Pepper's
document
transfer
sheets,
calendaring,
spread
portfolio,
stock
capabilities, and allows him access to external data bases and news
Mr. Pepper has his secretary check the electronic mail and uses
services.
the personal computer to analyze his stock portfolio, but he is not using
any
large
degree.
system
to
his
support
John
firm.
John
Pepper
terminal -based
and
Dawson
Paul
computer
management of the firm.
systems
both
have
designed
executive
to
aid
support
senior
systems
executives
The use of information technology at the top
(ESS):
in
of
the
the
firm warrants study to provide insight into how the technology is changing the
practice of management, as well as the processes and procedures in the firm.
The executives who sponsored the ESSs in this study view them as being of
two types:
1)
efficiency ,
focusing
on
executive office automation
personal management and communication tools, or as
2)
business
decision
oriented systems
support
tool s
focusing
based
emphasizing
emphasizing
on effectiveness
problem.
business
on
a
,
The purpose of this paper is to describe these two types of ESS and to discuss
the
ESS.
five
key
elements most affective
of
the
development and
utilization
of
Their interactive effects are not fully explicated in this discussion;
rather,
it
allows
for
a
clear
understanding
executive support.
(1)
of
the
building
blocks
of
FRAMEWORK
study attempts to explain the degree of usefulness
The framework for this
executive
There
their users.
provide to
ultimately
systems
support
are
tv^o
components to the framework:
The key elements component identifies those features of the ESS which
implementation
unsuccessful
from
successful
distinguish
efforts.
These key elements were derived from observation of ESS in the firms
we studied.
The time framework addresses the stages of implementation.
allows determination
The stage framework, combined with the key elements,
of
the
importance
implementation.
The
elements
individual
of
stage
theory
was
at
developed
and
different
utilized
stages
by
the
of
Rand
Corporation in the evaluation of technological innovations (Bikson, 1981).
It
discovered
and
is
based
on
the
premise
that
the
utility
of
innovation
is
invented as it is utilized.
New technologies are never implemented as planned.
To achieve
successful
implementation, both the technology and the organization must change and adapt
to each
other.
To
understand the
implementation of ESS,
framework
a
of
the
implementation process and of the components of executive support is helpful.
The five key elements that impact the effectiveness of ESS are:
presence of a business
purpose of the system;
problem
or
vision
used
to
define
the
1)
the
2)
titular sponsorship by a senior executive and managerial
by his delegate;
3)
the organization of Management Information Systems (MIS) computing
groups as effective support organizations that translate managerial
needs into technical systems;
4)
the existence of a well-defined, accessible database
5)
the effective management of resistance that occurs as the new systems
relationships.
reporting
procedures
and
change
established
(2)
sponsorship
;
These
key
elements
are
of
importance
varying
at
different
stages
of
development and implementation of the system.
Figure
stages
of
1,
the matrix
development,
of
key
provides
elements
the
of
executive
framework
for
essential to the successful implementation of an ESS.
Figure
Business
Problem
1
support
at
understanding
different
what
is
use,
either because
it
did
not
fulfill
purpose,
initial
its
or
purpose,
the
while met, did not provide the assistance originally anticipated.
institutional ization phase
The
is
the
period
in
incorporated as an ongoing part of organizational
ization can occur
executive,
original
changes
in
in
the
work
several
diffusion
of
ways:
of
the
subordinates
use
of
system
and
the
which the
other
to
Institutional-
procedures.
system by
the
system becomes
structure
successors
and/or
executives,
and
the
to
processes
of
by
the
organization.
This
its
implementation
inception,
an aid
to
framework
allows
through development to full
us
to
study
usage.
executive
Concomitantly,
understanding when and why ESSs do or do not work
institutionalized, or are discarded.
(4)
as
support
it
from
provides
planned,
are
METHODOLOGY
firms
over
year
two
a
from
comes
sources:
two
period;
and
The majority of
support activity in 20 firms.
systems
monitoring
regular
the
2)
in-depth
1)
support
implementation of executive
the
documenting
studies
study
this
for
research
The
of
systems were
the
case
five
in
executive
studied from
planning phase through implementation.
usefulness
support
the
of
experience
problems
and
with
processes
the
would
because
would
systems
implementation since planners,
previous
undertaken
were
studies
Longitudinal
detemiined
be
and those affected by
users,
innovation.
occur
was
1t
It
various
at
also
was
stages
the
felt
in
the
presumed
that
during
their
system had no
that
different
implementation
specifically that the issues involved in the organization stage
process:
installation
(pre-implementation)
stage,
institutionalization
and
would be different and could modify
(post-implementation)
the
initial
design
of the support system.
The case study utilized interviews conducted on
five
the
firms,
with
analysts who were affected by the system.
which
reflected
the
resource
MIS
executives,
senior
allocation,
regular basis in each of
a
personnel
managers,
records of all
In addition,
planning,
and
execution and use
and
events
of
the
system were used with the interviews.
Third,
of
the
a
systematic
support
comparison
of
system
the
involved
tracking of decisions
was
systems
developed
and
to
for
each
isolate
the
firm
key
in
in
the
order
factors
implementation
to
that
facilitate
affected
successful or problematic implementation of the system.
The contract with the other 15 firms consisted of three meetings per year
with managers and MIS directors responsible for executive support systems and
the ongoing monitoring of these systems.
(5)
Following is
Manuco is
description of the five firms (names are disguised):
a
multinational manufacturing organization with stable leadership.
a
Manuco has been affected severely in recent years by foreign competition
and
need
the
called
for
modernize
to
the
by
demonstrate the
use
for
Responsibility
production
chairman
of
who
18
development
executives
various word processing,
of
year,
one
pilot
the
felt
every
that
support
group
was
should
head
technology as an example for their organizations.
execution
and
The
given to the MIS organization.
involving
Executive
processes.
support
the
system consisted of
their
and
of
secretaries,
a
were
who
pilot
program
was
ended
and
some
of
program
provided
spread sheet and communication tools.
the
was
system
with
At the end
executives
returned their terminals.
Wellness is
a
manufacturing and distribution organization which had suffered
loss in profitability and market share.
by
the
new CEO
who
marketing oriented.
usage
by
managers
attempting
sales organization.
mix, organizational
along
with
a
and
are
affect
currently
the
work
of
subsystems
two
product
of
the
one for the marketing organization, and one for
Significant changes have occurred in the product
structure,
implementation
concentration on
make the company more analysis
significantly
to
There
analysts.
executive support system:
the
to
The support system was called for
At the end of two years the system had expanded from
executives
eight
and
was
a
training
of
incentive system and middle management work
the
support
system.
program for managers,
the database.
(6)
Currently
and
there
is
reorganization
of
Smokestack is
basic manufacturing organization which was suffering large
a
chairman who was looking for
years
two
including
support,
a
reporting system, and
budgeting
model
allocation
improvement
several
in
the
the
by
During
an
last
the
given
the
to
attempts
at
Over
CFO.
management
a
position
of
five
two
years
the
fim,
managers
there
but
a
there
have
an
been
marketing,
consumer products company responsible for the
and
sales of personal
present complex data simply
and
bring
Responsibility
for
divisions
the
ESS
and
a
care products.
has moved down to
into
was
the divisional
company
The
The
leader in its industry.
a
way to
wanted to identify changes in the firm's
were the CEO and the comptroller.
the
been
has
a
making
in
support system was called for by the new CEO who was looking for
staff.
the
executive
limited
acquisiton model,
senior
long-established market share and is
markets
new
the
by
reorganizations, personnel changes, and divestitures.
production,
a
used
financial
for
Currently the CFO is establishing
price model.
a
decisions.
several
system,
personnel
be
to
International Products is
has
system was
been
have
there
system was called
system to help him identify areas for cost
a
Responsibility for the
control.
last
support
The
near collapse.
losses and
line
given
with
to
the
the
group's
comptroller;
After two and
a
plan.
strategic
users
initial
half years the
system
presidents and is used by the financial
The system's range of applications has expanded to include all
financial
and
much
non
financial
diffused to other groups of the company.
(7)
data.
Executive
support
has
of
also
Toy Electric is the research and development group of
which was
company
undergoing
change
a
in
a
consumer electronics
organizational
structure.
The
chairman called for an ESS to be used in adding communication and personal
management tools among the 30 vice presidents of the firm.
of the
Implementation
department for initial
support system was delegated to the M.I.S.
installation which included 15 vice presidents and their secretaries,
utilized various communication
after
size
the
first
year.
applications.
At
the
is
organized
end
The
project was
the
second
of
and
doubled
year
in
pilot
the
project was terminated.
The
main
individual
body
key
of
this
elements.
paper
In
discussing
presented and examples showing
how the
close with
a
a
discussion
element,
key
of
issues
the
will
various firms dealt with these
at different stages of implementation will
The paper will
each
as
five
be
issues
be given.
section that integrates the various elements
and relates ESS to organizational change.
(8)
BUSINESS PROBLEM
Finns initiate ESS for three reasons:
to
organization
difference
as
reasons.
The
number
problem
a
of
then
and
users,
in
the
where
it
is
begin
systems
small
They
grow.
survived.
Distinction between the two types of
with
only
a
problem
the
systems
is
for
is
other
planning
users
initiated
the
it
applications
of
the
years
of
number
At
two
number
in
larger
atrophy.
of
initiated
the
to
where
into
efficiency
end
firms
2)
distinct
a
evolve
The
begin
is
gradually
systems.
systems
signal
to
There
ESS
of
and
business problem;
a
employed.
be
tool
to solve
symbolically
3)
use
and
solving
problem-sol ving
or
should
development
the
in
efficient;
technology
that
initiated
and
more
executives
make
1)
and
systems
central ity
of
the support to work.
Organization Phase
The
business
development of the
problem
most
is
support
system.
important
Two
of
during
systems
the
early
the
were
stage
established
of
as
crisis responses by new CEO's, who were looking to the new technology for an
effective solution to dealing with serious problems.
was losing $250 million
allow
him
to
control
a
At Smokestack,
year and the chairman asked for
costs.
At Wellness,
sales
had
a
the firm
system which would
decreased
substantially
and the CEO wanted a database which would allow him to shift the company to an
analytic marketing orientation.
At
come
up
International,
with
a
the
division
clear strategic
head
plan,
knew that
and
find
unless
better ways
financial information, they were headed for hard times.
possible way of averting serious problems.
(9)
the
of
company
could
communicating
He looked to ESS as a
Clear expectations
by
problem or organizational
small
In
group
both cases
of
system's capabilities and benefits to the firm
At Wellness
utility.
addressed.
the
sponsor play an important role
the executive
ultimate
of
and
infonmation executives needed.
there
was
no
problems apparent at the
clear
same
development and
sponsors
defined
these
so
their
issues were
goals
and
specify
the
type
This process also served to establish
a
a
of
sense
At Smokestack the function of the support
system was initially more ambiguous.
but
the
and manageably
clarify
to
of mission within the organization.
problems
early
its
success factors process was used with
critical
management
top
International,
vision clearly
a
in
The early prototype was focused on cost
direction
time.
It
because
was
not
there
until
were
years
two
other
several
and
three
pilots later when executive support focused around the budgeting process, that
the system began to function.
At Manuco and Toy, the ESS was not linked to business problems.
Manuco
had
situation,
system.
long-standing
several
these
were
not
business
employed
The only expectation
set
as
by
a
the
issues
catalyst
caused
for
the
for people
executive
thus
below them in their organization to use it.
President wanted a machine for
the
vice
30
presidents and
the effectiveness
systems,
the
initial
low, as they supported tasks peripheral
support
provide
At Toy,
their
which would help them communicate and manage their time better.
to
competitive
Chaiman of Manuco was that senior
executives should experiment with information technology and
example
its
by
Although
an
the
secretaries
In comparison
expectations of these systems were
to the core needs of the business.
Installation Phase
As implementation evolves through and beyond the installation period,
original
phase.
the
business problem is not as important as it is in the organizational
During the installation phase at Wellness,
(10)
the support system evolved
to
applications
more
include
receive
and
from
use
lower
levels
the
in
The focus of the system moved from present problems to planning
organization.
of future products, and
support system and the executives of
were added to the initial
At
databases
non-financial
and
competitive,
financial,
several
International,
component for the sales organization was added.
a
the
divisions
were put on the system.
executives
Initially
use
system
support
the
reports that they used to receive in hard copy.
retrieve
to
management
the
As the support systems evolve
and their staffs develop competence in the use of decision support tools,
the
systems are increasingly used for "what if" queries and scenario building.
the evolutionary
At Smokestack,
Since
the
support
of
developed
systems
personnel
plastics
goals
initial
system,
division
ESS
for
various
model,
None
model.
were
the
pricing
a
design took the form of
ambiguous,
management
a
systems
were
including
executives,
these
of
there
reporting
totally
was
They did,
series
a
an
of
executive
system
and
successful
they reflected the ambiguity of the chairman in his initial call
support.
and error.
trial
a
and
for executive
however, serve to expose senior executives to some of the
possibilities of information technology.
The approach to ESS at Manuco and Toy during the installation phase could
be termed the
provided
a
"portfolio approach".
range
processing,
applications
spreadsheets,
rationale was
find
of
that
something
with
useful.
the
diminished
its
use
such
automatic
wide
a
At
utilized electronic mail,
made
The
though
limited.
and only a small
dialing,
of
firms,
a
electronic mail,
as
choice
both
Information Systems
a
and
applications
significant
the
usage
of
(11)
word
reports.
The
executives
would
number
the mail
the
number of people used them.
the
departments
calendaring,
corporate
lack of people on
Over time
(IS)
of
executives
system at Toy
communications
tools
The difficulty of implementing the efficiency systems can be attributed to
fact
the
that
executives
senior
secretaries
executive
demands quickly.
and
have
satisfactory
assistants,
support
subordinates
and
respond
This differs from the business problem based
the information provided value added about
form
the
in
of
their
to
systems where
core concern of the business.
a
Institutionalization Phase
During the institutionalization phase,
from
a
business
crisis
to
a
combination
the
of
"raison d'etre"
monitoring
for ESS
business
shifts
health
and
looking toward the future.
At International, the President has used the ESS in assessing new ventures
as
a
way
of
avoiding
the
decline
old
of
products.
At Wellness,
the
ESS
is
being used to make decisions about new product development.
Another aspect of executive support in the institutionalization period is
its
in
linkage to core organizational
the
Wellness
budgeting
in
process,
marketing
and
at
processes.
International
sales.
It
is
At Smokestack,
in
strategic
interesting
to
it
utilized
is
planning,
note
that
and
those
at
ESS
which were not institutionalized were not linked to any core business function.
(12)
SPONSORSHIP
Sponsorship is the initiative role played by
use
and
development,
design,
participation makes more of
other
element
in
a
mark on the implementation of ESS than on
initiation
the
in
execution
and
executive
of
the
executive's
The
systems.
support
of
senior executive
the
any
The
support.
sponsor's functions include:
initiating the demand for ESS,
establishing an organization to implement it,
defining its purpose,
evolving its usage,
utilizing its outputs, and
moving it through the organization.
firms we have researched and worked with there have been a variety
In the
of
patterns
essential
management
executives who
system,
that
sponsorship
of
tool
and
participate
in
include
those
the
who
see
design,
while others delegate it to the
IS
who
executives
ESS
as
view
ESS
peripheral.
development,
department.
There
and evolution
There
as
are
an
are
of
the
those
who
define the purpose of the system very early, while other discover its utility
during
support system.
the system,
person
The
implementation.
sponsorship
during
the
life
of
the
Initially the titular sponsor, that executive who called for
is most important.
delegated
role changes
to
manage
the
As time moves on,
installation
becomes most important.
(13)
and
an
"operating sponsor",
diffusion
of
the
the
system,
Organizational Phase
situations:
or 2)
a
spawned
is
The titular sponsors in this study divided into two
Those who called for effectiveness systems were all
categories.
new to their
looking for information to aid them in the solution of some problem,
jobs,
provide
fast understanding of how the organization functioned,
a
about organizational
been
sponsors who called
longer and were motivated by
their jobs
in
The
change.
systems
for efficiency
generalized desire
a
to
and to bring
other senior executives demonstrate modernity and work more
have
two
by
desire to have executives utilize computer technology as
part of their daily work.
had
ESS
for
call
to
the combination of a crisis (s)he wants to solve and being new
1)
to the job,
motivation
sponsor's
titular
The
to
efficiently
by using technology.
After saying
this
stage
there
was
managers
high
through
needed
and
articulated
of
analyze
two
the
International,
easily
the
sales
The
CEO
process
assess
his
top
defined
the
and
and
performance
of
This
territories.
At
At Wellness,
sponsors.
match.
factors
markets,
their
to
margin
items.
utilized
a
At
the
Smokestack,
similar
prototype system for cost control
forecasting
system
success
their
by
was.
"it"
their
exercise
clear vision of where the management team was heading in aiming
a
support
the system.
responses
support
critical
a
to
link
profit
decision
variety
a
next step was defining what
the
problem-solution
went
products,
at
there were
a
information
want one",
"I
the
chairman
problem-solution
and
match
head
the
to
develop
but no other executives were involved.
"discover as you
implement"
of
a
At
approach was used in defining
The comptroller, who had been developing accounts receivable and
applications
communicate
and
financial
the
new
CEO
information
system be linked with the database.
(14)
who
was
requested
trying
that
to
a
find
computer
a
way
to
graphics
and
Manuco
At
executive
have
to
chairman
the
Manuco,
At
delegation.
computer
a
defined
CEOs
the
Toy,
that
stated
rest
so they
then delegated sponsorship of the project to the IS organization.
engineering
an
asked
president
and
group
then
computer tools to help them with their management.
definition
other
the
saw
technical
to
three
system
support
firms where
organizations.
titular
the
This
was
in
sponsors
saw
the
the
should.
He
find
to
a
telephone and
a
both cases the titular
support
technical
as
In
of
At Toy, the
group
MIS
for senior executives which would combine
communications tool
sponsor
the
group
every
the
to
organization that senior management was using technology,
through
systems
wanted
he
symbolizing
desk,
his
on
support
the
delegated
and
contrast
sharp
systems
its
the
to
management
as
tools and involved themselves and other executives in defining the systems.
Installation Phase
The role of sponsorship
from the titular sponsor to the operating
shifts
sponsor as the task changes from envisioning the support system to installing
it and evolving its usage within the organization.
At
The role of operating sponsorship is best demonstrated by its absence.
Smokestack, the chairman delegated installation of the project to the CFO who
resigned,
this 15 month
During
than
then to another vice president who was
successful
presidents.
A
hiatus,
support
new
CFO
the
computing group initiated
systems
was
uninterested in the system.
for
division
appointed
then
who
heads,
series
a
of
various
and
implemented
less
vice
management
a
resporting system for the group vice presidents that had been stalled by his
predecessor,
developed
allowed
a
the
groups as
a
and
model
then
the
computing
to be used by all
chairman
and
CFO
value added chain,
to
group,
under
the
auspices
groups in the budget process.
look
something
(15)
at
the
they
relationships
had previously
of
the
of
CFO,
This model
the
various
been unable
to
This
do.
model
budgeting
management
look
to
at
becoming
is
the
ESS
businesses
individual
as
the
relationship
their
and
allows
it
senior
each
to
other, which is the current central problem of the firm.
The comptroller at
support
decisions
made
president,
system
a
example
good
acted as the gatekeeper between the computing
He
sponsorship.
represents
International
to
applications
so
contribution,
the
the
they
planning
strategic
were
application
regarding
useable
process,
other
by
He was
linked
executed
executives.
also instrumental
all
the
the
of
primary
his
As
analysts
comptroller directed the financial
develop and utilize the ESS.
group and the
development,
and
operating
of
learning
in
in diffusing ESS
to
usage
downward, into the various divisions of the group.
Sophisticated
knowledge
of
technology
computer
was
not
a
necessary
condition to effective usage of the support system by senior executives.
The
ESS were very easy to use, with such features as menus, touchtone screens, and
fourth-generation languages.
During the installation phase, the executives we
usually
observed learned to utilize the technology,
with
tasks,
such
as
querying
and
modeling,
were
had the system chauffeur driven by one of his staff.
demanded
retrieval
When more
reports they previously had received in hardcover.
of the standard
demanding
beginning
the
executive
The CEOs at Wellness and
both stated that ESS gave them an understanding of the dynamics
International
of their businesses they had never had prior to the system's installation.
Institutionalization Phase
During
users
of
demanding
the
the
a
institutionalization
system's
output
and
phase
less
ESS,
of
directors
the
sponsors
of
its
became
development.
coherent set of information within an easily accessible,
more
By
defined
framework, these sponsors had driven the organizations under them to hire and
train managers with computer skills who spent
(16)
a
significant part of their time
At
system.
inputting the
both Wellness
International,
and
line managers
and
staff analysts adapted their work to the support system.
During
occur:
1)
the ESS
there
period
institutionalization
the
are
two
processes
which
diffused to other parts of the organization where
is
new
and 2) middle management is affected
sponsors must adapt them to their needs,
by having to fit analyses and reports into the framework of the support system
in answering requests of their superiors.
The importance of new sponsorship can
disseminated
group
tools
the
developed
original
the
in
International.
seen at
be
division
The MIS
another
to
group.
The group executive did not perceive the financial management tools as
linked
to
job,
his
what
so
had
been
At Wellness,
the division
and
heads and middle managers were
which
subordinates,
their
in
highly
management
middle
at
International,
senior executives
utilize
middle managers
that
computer-based skills and begin thinking in the framework of the ESS.
three firms where problem-oriented ESS were established,
perceived
their
advancement
as
linked
being
to
The
affected by the ESS.
questions asked by
demanded
turn
group
original
the
in
ESS imposed a discipline on the type of
of
a
analysts in the new group to get their
efficiency tool, helping the financial
work done faster.
became
ESS,
an
their
In
the
the middle managers
ability
utilize
to
decisions support tools.
ESS
is
an
end-user
computing
The
tool.
sponsor
plays
the
role
key
There
defining the use of the ESS so that it is used as a management tool.
were
two
patterns
sponsorship
of
ultimately useful as
a
that
delineated
whether
the
in
ESS
was
One group of sponsors, exemplified by
management tool.
either the titular or operating sponsor in the effectiveness groups,
saw the
ESS as an extension of themselves and participated actively in its design and
the
establishment
of
an
organization
to
(17)
implement
and
manage
it.
Systems
implemented under these sponsors reached full
implementation.
The other group
delegated the design of the system to others, giving the message that they saw
support rather than as
ESS as technical
There
The
sponsorship.
while
as
others,
delegating
it
a
first
is
valuable
the
to
that
constructs
and the second
sponsorship,
technology
two
are
victims
that
is
that
technical
do
not
groups,
management tool.
should
business
phenomena
,
a
some
be
crises
considered
or
executives,
visions
the
must
be
turned
understand
it
and
that
and
process of implementation.
(18)
do
not
in
understanding
create
co-opters
to
their
effective
view the
,
advantage,
therefore manage
involve
themselves
it
in
by
the
COMPUTING GROUPS
The
role
computing
of
groups
central
is
throughout the life cycle of implementation.
relationship
support
to
system
management,
different
at
and
the
stages
the
problems
opportunities
and
its
developing
the
uses
it
evolution
ESS
in
significantly
presents MIS with
associated
with
end
user
perceived power differential
between general managers and MIS
with the differences
the
process
of
managerial
in
the
nature
defining
and
implementing
of
Systems
Support
The structure of the group,
approaches
of
effectiveness of the support system.
Executive
to
easy
and
to
use,
the
extremes
the
computing.
staff,
technical
but
impact
The
combined
work,
complex,
of
affect
support
systems.
In the various
key
factors
definition,
(3)
the
to
approaches that the MIS or management take, there are three
be
controlled
as
affect
implementation:
the type of ESS presented as the
(2)
organizational
addressed,
which
in
sponsorship
of
the
ESS.
(1)
problem
solution to the problem,
and
factors
are
When
the case of management generated
all
three
support systems
to
solve
a
defined problem, the implementation process will move most effectively to meet
expectations.
When these expectations are not well
defined,
the ESS has less
likelihood of being effective.
There are three types of
IS
organizations associated with ESS:
the
data
processing (DP) group, the segmented group, and the integrated group, as shown
in Figure 2.
(19)
Figure 2
Organization of MIS Groups
Integrated
Managerial
Group
Segmented
DP
The DP
group
processing
End-User
Computing
Systems
Development
DP
Data Center
Office Automation
DSS
Development
End-User
Management
End-User
Computing
little from the groups
differs
systems
decade
a
they
but
ago,
absorbed
since
have
were
staffed
orientation.
sharing
by
as
traditional
people with
They
decision
a
took
strong
delegated
with
management,
development of hardware.
backgrounds
technical
full
making
development effort.
systems
control
and
of
the
and
The
DP
had
a
projects
major
placed
new
The DP groups
technologies, including office automation and decision support.
appproached ESS
transaction
that constructed
groups
product
rather
emphasis
than
on
the
The DP groups concentrated their effort more on the
early phases of the project rather than on the installation phase of ESS.
In
the
segmented
MIS
organization,
end-user
the
autonomous, data processing is handled by one group,
second, and user-controlled technologies by
a
An end-user computing group differs from
computing
function
systems development by
is
a
third.
a
traditional
DP group in several
respects:
Their role is to help
They are service rather than product oriented.
end user accomplish his aims and establish the most appropriate
They do not
hardware and software environments in which to do this.
decisions
is
it
clear
that
From the outset
"control"
the
system.
In two of our cases
concerning use of the system come from the end user.
it was decided prior to beginning work that the system would be turnkeyed
to the end user.
1)
the
End-user computing groups are staffed by people with a business
2)
background, or project teams are set up to include end-user management.
(20)
End-user groups use an evolutionary design process which starts with a
applications
incrementally,
and
as
adds
opposed
to
prototype
the
traditional DP process of fully developing the system before usage.
3)
The integrated MIS groups report directly to management as members of the
executive's
only
have
and
staff
a
"dotted-line"
relationship
evolved that way as the ESS implementation progressed.
group
demonstrates
MIS
None of the groups we studied started as integrated groups, but
organization.
integrated
the
to
more
is
consulting
managerial
than
However,
skills.
technical
they
have
staff within the
The
a
background
in
background
strong
They view infonmation technology as the tool
computer tools.
and
in
to accomplish
a
primary business task, such as financial planning or marketing.
The differences and similarities between the groups can be
definition
of
approaches
and
to
implementing
ESS
at
seen
different
their
in
stages
of
problem to
be
development.
Organization Phase
The main task
in
early
the
stages
ESS
of
defining
is
worked with and choosing appropriate hardware and software.
end-user computing group
interviewed several
situation where an ESS would meet a need.
new CEO was looking for a tool
to
marketing.
four
senior
developed
a
They
to change
conducted critical
executives
prototype
Wellness committed the
to
of
determine
the
funding
success
a
to
the
find
subsidiary where the
factor
information
support
interviews
was
system.
needed
At
among
and
this
the
then
point,
chose Express as the language for
A member of the end-user computing staff was assigned at Wellness.
(21)
a
project and the Wellness management,
jointly with the end-user computing group,
the ESS.
subsidiary presidents
They found
what
the
At Wellness,
the focus of the company from sales
marketing
for
the
In
contrast
engineering
group
interviewed
for
the
designated as users.
systems
computers
newly
a
formed
had
been
executives
and
their
to
to
which
then
marketing
ordered,
an
used
be
applications
developed
hardware
the
eighteen
to
given
was
organization
systems
which
group
support
personal
given
then
After
workstation.
executive
management
the
was
information
the
Manuco
at
specifications
project
The
executives.
executive
within
group
technical
developed
within
Wellness,
to
by
group
for
an
marketing
the
secretaries
who
were
Unfortunately, they found out in the interviews that the
hardware did not meet the work requirements of the executives.
The main differences between the approaches of the DP groups and the end-
user organizations are that:
1)
DP groups emphasized hardware, where the end-
user organizations concentrated on problem definition and software, and
DP
groups were
groups
delegated or took control
shared decision making on the
of
the
project,
nature of the
where
support
the
2)
end-user
the
system with
line
management.
Installation Phase
In
the installation stage,
the task of the computing groups is to get the
system functioning and work through startup problems, modifying the system so
it is of real
utility to the users.
presents
International
group worked
half
the
developing
on
a
manpower
a
parity
a
example
typical
basis with
teams
to
the
package,
and
a
different
database with
computing staff then went on to develop
receivable
where
International
developing
prototype of a financial
of
competitive
a
a
non-financial
database.
They
an
end-user computing
management,
supplying
applications.
financial
database,
also
After
analyst,
the
an accounts
helped
select
a
graphics package but their choice for graphics was not the one finally chosen
(22)
by
a
The computing group
International's management.
strategy
design with
evolutionary
of
International
at
combined
participative decision making
by
the
management group.
In contrast to
the computing
International,
groups at Manuco and Toy were
delegated more responsibility, but had less authority over the installation of
To cope with the ambiguity,
the ESS.
to
secretaries would utilize
placed
They
sheets.
provided individual
Their
rationale
system,
training to all
that
chose
out
the
used
on
Although
it
might
group's
be
of
approach
was
hardware, which was
to learn to use,
assistance
a
an
the
to
emphasis
on
and
the
computer
menus
and
involved.
the
utilize
the
computing
group
or to divisional
aspect
interface.
of
At
was
data,
the
Toy,
DP
the
combination of telephone and computer, took only an hour
and at Manuco considerable effort was placed on establishing
one-button access to any application faced with low usage.
computing
spread
software
did
Another
executives.
the
of
secretaries
regularly
and
secretaries
buffet
unable to get access to the executives to train them,
which
reports,
easy-to-use
and
their
and
calendaring,
processing,
very
sumptuous
portfolio approach
executives
corporate
executives
the
of
a
that
word
tools;
Dow Jones,
something.
four executives
only
decided
applications
these
all
was
would
executives
following
the
document transfer,
electronic mail,
group
the MIS
At Manuco,
the project.
the groups utilized
groups
continued
expand
to
the
portfolio
As a solution,
the
number
of
and
the
installations.
With both the end user and DP groups, emphasis was placed on user training
during
installation phase.
the
At
International
and Wellness,
the
computing
group saw its function as developing expertise within the executive staff, and
at Manuco
and Toy
could be of
the
immediate
emphasis was placed on
utility
to
the
user
executive.
(23)
seductive
software
At Smokestack,
which
effort
was
made to provide executives with easy-to-use management reports.
The
training
efforts were more successful when aimed at staff people than at the executives
themsel ves.
Institutionalization Phase
During the institutionalization phase of implementation, the tasks for the
computing
within
groups
are
to
disseminate
organization
the
across
or
either
system
the
other
downward
divisions,
and
diffuse
and
establish
to
a
standardized environment for operation of the system.
The
efficiency
installation phase.
pilots,
both
and
oriented communication
systems
ceased
exist
to
after
the
At Manuco and Toy the support systems had been labeled as
firms declared
victory
ceased
and
operation.
other
At the
three firms the support systems became embedded within the organization.
In all
three firms the computing groups moved toward being more integrated
At Smokestack,
into the user organization.
facto
reporting
comptroller's
computing
to
staff
group
MIS,
took
reporting
to
operation
over
disseminated
to
the
the computing group moved from de
the
the
of
applications
to
International,
At
CFO.
support
four
and
the
divisions.
At
system
other
the
Wellness, the computing organization lost its reporting independence from MIS,
but
became
fully
integrated within
subsidiary
management.
At
both
Wellness
and International, the support system affected the jobs of middle managers and
analysts within the
provide
managers
these
technology.
necessitated
organization,
with
At Wellness,
a
the
the
reconstruction
and
training
necessary
increase
of
the
computing group.
(24)
in
programs
skills
breadth
data
base
in
were
use
and
which
and
depth
was
established
growth
of
the
given
of
to
the
system
to
the
At Smokestack,
The computing group,
process budgeting.
budgeting
model
currently
in
integration occurred around
the
affected
which
all
process of training
the
corporation-wide
central
delegate for the CFO, developed
as
groups
the
a
the
in
corporation.
various financial
They
staffs
are
use
in
a
of
the tool.
In
support
summary,
since
computing
the
they
affect
group
an
is
important
implementation
the
at
all
factor
in
and
stages,
considerable daily contact with the nuts and bolts of the system.
executive
have
The role of
the computing groups changes during the process of implementation from problem
definer,
to implementor,
to maintainer and diffuser of systems.
groups which were most successful
with
management
than
those
appear to have
were
who
delegated
The computing
shared decision making more
more
responsibility
for
the
implementation.
The discussion of computing groups as
separating out factors.
coincidence
that
problems catalyzed
active.
However,
computing
groups
initiation of
the
factor illustrates the problem of
It is obvious that the kind of management sponsorship
and problem definition greatly affect the
not
a
ability
of
the
role of the computing group.
were
system,
computing
more
and
(25)
managerial
groups
opportunities depends on their structure and skills.
effective
to
when
It
business
sponsorship
capitalize
is
on
was
those
DATABASES AND NETWORKS
in
the
and development of databases were major factors
usability,
The existence,
building
of
Existing
ESS.
databases
were
necessary
a
but
not
sufficient condition for the installation stage of the effectiveness-oriented
systems
and
important
became
pre-existence
of
since
systems
a
of
users
institutionalization
the
is
systems
support
implementation process.
demonstrates
in
community
a
communication-oriented
problem-based
again
as
databases
as
accustomed
being
necessary
to
the
a
are
phase.
condition
for
technology
The existence of databases and
The
for
business
speeds
the
community of users
a
seeding of technology within the firm that prepares it for the
growth of support systems.
During the last phase of implementation, databases
become important as diffusion of ESS
from one division to
corporate office demands the creation of
a
others
and
to
the
data warehouse and the establish-
ment of common conventions surrounding data management.
Organizational and Installation Phase
Business
problem-based
ESS
demand
the
presence
of
information
on
which
alternative scenarios for decisions can be made against past performance, and
categories of information may be compared to each other.
we studied. Wellness and
well
developed.
International,
the use of information technology was
databases on matters central
In contrast,
implementation
to
the
firm were
information systems had been given very low priority at
Smokestack prior to the arrival
the
two of the firms
This indicated that managers had been exposed to information
technology and that historical
usable.
In
process,
the
of
the
new management.
computing
(26)
group
found
At
the
that
beginning
all
of
financial
had
accounting
decentralized
been
development of
a
centralization
The
incomparable.
data
made
and
was
Smokestack
establish
to
after
only
model
budget
able
the
rendering
accounting
practices
of
financial
and
before
the
financial
The development of these systems took 18
concept
initial
the
subsidiaries,
ledger system was necessary
common general
data could be developed for an ESS.
months
the
to
cost
a
control
management
reporting
requirements
between
a
data
of
unfeasible.
ESS
system
then
and
divisions
had
a
been
standardized and the consolidated reporting system needed for the database was
established.
with
communicate
linked
them
to
executives
the
communication-oriented ESSs,
the
In
the
on
need
people
people
the
If
system.
the
gain
cannot
executive
the
benefits
using
of
such
that executives communicated downward to their subordinates.
the
support
were
systems
organized
horizontally
to
then
efficiency-oriented
At both Manuco and Toy,
communication tools as electronic mail.
the
in
executive's communication community do not use or are not on the system,
the
they
found
it was
In
firms,
both
executives
other
and
This limited the utility that
subordinates were not originally on the system.
the systems could have.
Manuco provides
compared
or
a
utilized
good
example
across
what
of
different
occurs
The
groups.
databases
when
firm
had
cannot
over
be
fifty
separate divisional and staff databases but the databases could not be used in
This
concert.
caused
considerable
difficulty
for
the
policy-oriented
group
executives who complained that the ESS could only be of help to them in their
work
groups.
time
they
if
This
and
could
example
effort
in
utilize
and
illustrates
selecting
compare
why
three
database
relational databases.
(27)
information
of
the
across
firms
management
divisions
spent
systems
and
considerable
that
created
Institutionalization Phase
The
databases
corporate
for
transaction
ESS
are
systems.
often,
though
During
the
not
exclusively,
institutionalization
extracts
period,
of
ESS
diffuses into other divisions and staffs, and usage within corporate subgroups
increases.
for easy
It
is
necessary
transfer of data.
the institutionalization
by establishing
individual
to
establish corporation-wide
The two firms we
stage have approached
have
systems
that
studied that have
the problem of
allow
reached
standardization
corporate data warehouses from which data can be extracted for
support systems and establishing common database management systems
which all divisions and subsidiaries must use.
(28)
THE MANAGEMENT OF RESISTANCE
Resistance to
new technology is a nomial
a
phenomenon.
Resistance can be
either an act to protect one's domain or simply "why should one change unless
the new way
Resistance
better?"
is
companies.
period in all
It took
resistance, and withholding.
of
Where the
ESS.
an
ESS
to
occurred during
the form of nonusage
the
of
installation
the
system,
active
Resistance can slow down or cripple installation
ESS's were
installed well,
resistance was effectively
managed.
Installation Phase
efficency-based
In
the system.
The
the
resistance
took
form
the
their
already
had
messages,
support
good
administrative
secretaries
place;
in
assistants
to
questionnaires,
modifications,
they
said
they
they
but
interface
satisfied
the
system
the
didn't
rather
use
of
system,
desire
work
of
CEO
the
of
because
the
for
In
provide
management tool, and then proceeded to work as they liked.
The
minor
questionnaires
issues.
to
and
responding to
In
asked
and
fine,
compatibility
than
perceived
the
was
pass
to
budgets.
do
resistance was expressed by both secretaries and executives.
addressed
nonusage
of
Toy Electric provided a good example of this passive resistance.
executives
screen
systems,
a
this
way
personal
At Wellness,
the
problem of nonusage was dealt with by the president inviting other executives
to attend training sessions with him.
Active resistance was evident at Smokestack.
easy-to-use personnel
used
the
operate.
not
as
system
The
for
query
3
weeks
system for the
and
then gave
systems person claimed
complete
as
the
complex
Vice
that
it
the
personnel
(29)
The DSS group developed an
President of personnel.
to
new
his
own
systems
system was
information
person
inadequate
system
already
He
to
and
in
existence.
the only one in the corporation who could operate
however,
He was,
the older system, where the new, simpler system was usable by anyone.
A
power"
principle.
divisional
policy
At Manuco,
databases
the
would
which
because
planning
withholding,
resistance,
third fomi of
MIS
people
were
unable
have
been
helpful
to
divisions
the
based on the
is
did
not
want
"information
to
obtain
group
their
several
executives
data
on
is
in
common
a
system.
At
International,
the
divisional
for
ESS
because
information
affected.
with.
they
perceived it as
reluctant
their
autonomy
to
provide
would
be
success factors was held between
executive and group president, allowing resistance to be dealt
negotiation.
Because
were
thought
A frank discussion around critical
the divisional
with by
the
presidents
This
is
participation
a
central
tool
a
in
good example of
designing
the
how
resistance can be
system
was
high,
end
dealt
users
to their success rather than an infringement on
their autonomy and resistance was dealt with.
(30)
PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER
Figure
elements
3
shows definite patterns in the relationship between the number of
that
effectiveness
the
of
ESS.
early
and
promptly
Manuco
and
Toy
present
date.
managed
are
had
during
well
the
Wellness
and
have
the
and
fewest
implementation
International
most
elements
had
successful
present,
process
the
all
problems,
ceased the implementation process prior to institutionalization.
messages
that
function
better
out
come
than
of
the
chart
are
efficiency-oriented
systems
and
that
to
and
The primary
business-oriented
that
the
elements
implementations
most
the
and
the
systems
greater
the
number of elements present, the more likely the support system is to meet the
executive's needs.
initial
This
is
exemplified
in
the
case
of
absence of operating sponsorship and databases
Smokestack where
significantly
the
retarded
development of the implementation.
Figure 3
Toy
Manuco
Wellness
Defined
Business
Problem
Smokestack
0*
Titular
Sponsorship
Operating
Sponsorship
0*
End-User
Organization
Database
Management
of Resistance
*
0*
late
(31)
International
ESS AND ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE
ESS
often
is
with
associated
lever for organizational
a
leader's
new
a
vision
This change tends
change.
how
of
wants
he
The ESS becomes an extension of the leader.
function.
bringing about
he uses in
a
his
to
be
organization
to
It is one of the tools
restructuring of the organizational
mission.
The
reports and data in the E.S.S. are the message to the rest of the organization
indicators
what
of
and
count,
manage
who
staff
the
the
become
E.S.S.
the
gatekeepers of infonmation.
The relationship of executive support and organizational
in
this
The
sample.
systems
had
spending
been
in
three
than
their jobs less
months
several
who
executives
getting
a
accustomed
sponsored
year.
to
effectiveness
They
their
all
jobs
vision of where they wanted to move the organization.
bring
the
divisions
in
his
group
into
to
a
a
with
past
success,
This meant finding
and
of
Dewey
plan,
unrealistic
action.
about
He was also conscious
group executive he had limited staff and it was not fruitful
the
a
had to be brought about carefully,
in effectiveness in being able to make his divisions,
form
developed
they
strategic
a
himself in the nitty gritty operations of his divisions.
of
after
long history of decentralization of the subsidiaries and no
immediate crisis to justify participants'
as
line
He also felt that the changes
since theirs was
that
information to the top of the organization and to
perceived the firm as complacent due
its future.
said
oriented
At International, Peter
Dewey saw a need to focus the corporation on its future.
ways to communicate critical
change was clear
corporation
infomiation
focus
on
became
strategic
very
planning.
important.
He
He
to
involve
saw his increase
and the upper management
For Dewey
felt
that
the
presentation
graphics
allowed
people to see trends clearly and avoided being buried in numbers and paper.
(32)
that
This
upward
role
his
fit
perception
the chairman
to
down
and
information
communicating crucial
of
divisions.
his
to
and
goals
also utilized the
He
CSF
process in bringing his division presidents into agreement with the strategic
plan and established
vision was one which
gradually moving
saw as
he
reacting
than
rather
reporting system linked to that plan.
graphic
a
At
crisis.
to
international
point
this
to
Dewey's
future
its
divisions
the
have
institutionalized reporting which addresses the strategic goals.
When Paul Dawson assumed the helm at Wellness he knew that the traditional
Dawson had
sales orientation was not working any more.
Wellness
into
a
firm
established his ESS with
a
analytically
was
that
marketing
structure
quota
on
lines.
products
any
the
In
his managers
for
to
Dawson
based.
marketing database and simultaneously established
market research group directly below him to run the
bonus
vision of changing
a
one
from one where they
where
last year Dawson
units and dropping product lines,
focused his sales effort on
a
system.
they
had
meet
to
He
bonuses
got
quota
on
changed
a
the
by
meeting
all
product
division,
amalgamating
forcing them to use the system.
He has also
has
restructured
the
different market segment.
ESS can be seen as one of the tools in
a
tool
Dawson's case the
In
kit for changing
the operation
and culture of Wellness.
It
which
is
worth noting
are
business
that
problem
a
significant difference between the ESS
based
and
linked
systems which are oriented to personal
communications-based
change.
is
systems
are
not
to
visions
change,
of
systems
and
the
management and efficiency is that the
driven
by
a
vision
of
organizational
This may make them more difficult to implement because the executive
actually
dictaphone,
viewing
the
rather
than
system
as
office
as
central
a
(33)
equipment,
part
of
a
typewriter
his
or
business.
t^953
^'v
Olil
MIT
3
I
IBHflRlf S
TDfiD DDM
512 TbS
Date Due
JY 6
'SB
7
Lib-26-67
^^cc>pe ^M t%^K <^^yE^
*'**%,