Information Technology And Organizational Learning

Focusing on the critical role IT plays in organizational development, the book shows how to employ action learning to improve the competitiveness of an organization. Defining the current IT problem from an operational and strategic perspective, it presents a collection of case studies that illustrate key learning issues. It details a dynamic model for effective IT management through adaptive learning techniques—supplying proven educational theories and practices to foster the required changes in your staff. It examines existing organizational learning theories and the historical problems that occurred with companies that have used them, as well as those that have failed to use them.

This book is designed to help business and individual managers understand and cope with the many issues involved in developing learning organizations and integrating an important component: their IT organizations. The book provides a combination of research case studies and existing theories on organizational learning in the workplace, to provide researchers and corporate practitioners tools to incorporate a growing information technology infrastructure with their existing workforce culture.

Since the publication of the groundbreaking first edition, the increasing rate of change in today’s business landscape has amplified the value of information technology (IT) in driving adaptive responses. Focusing on the critical role IT plays in organizational development, Information Technology and Organizational Learning: Managing Behavioral Change through Technology and Education shows how to employ action learning to improve the competitiveness of your organization. Defining the current IT problem from an operational and strategic perspective, the book presents a collection of case studies that illustrate key learning issues. It details a dynamic model for effective IT management through adaptive learning techniques—supplying proven educational theories and practices to foster the required changes in your staff. It examines existing organizational learning theories and the historical problems that have occurred with companies that have used them, as well as those that have failed to use them. Here’s a sample of what’s new in this edition: A new chapter on Virtual Teams and Outsourcing Updated case studies that cover noteworthy developments since the publication of the previous edition New material on infrastructure improvements and social networking as an improved method for team building Up-to-date coverage of virtual mentoring and how to better manage at the micro level across departments and the organization Seamlessly integrating IT and business issues, the text devotes a chapter to case studies—including a comprehensive case study that spans eight years of the author’s research. This complete resource also highlights valuable best practices to supply the understanding needed to transform your company into a more competitive and technically proficient organization.

I am not a born academic. I deliberately joined the ranks of academia at a fairly late stage as a natural progression from my professional career as an executive in what in those days was known as "decision support". My career had begun in the telecom industry before the days of deregulation in what one would call strategic planning and then I moved on to decision support in the field of banking, developing trading room software and risk management systems. As I developed decision support systems for real applications, the more I realized how very dependent these systems are on decision design. I began to question a number of basic business assumptions. I felt increasingly the need to review the way decision support systems were conceived at the time since they not only limited what one could do with computers, but also limited the decision-making capacity of executives. I thus decided to take time out from my professional obligations in order to be able to investigate the 'whys and wherefores' behind decision-making. I experienced yet another disappointment at the beginning of my academic career as I noted the academic research style prevailing in most Business Schools. The academic community was adhering to a type of research methodology based on a single view of the way humans think.

Many organisations are using an increased range of information technologies to support a variety of new organisational practices and organisational forms. The book aims to investigate the integration of information technologies into work places and their effect on work and work-life. Issues include changes in: the nature, quantity and quality of work; power relations; privacy; and aspects of organisational culture. The book also considers the social process of shifting from present organisational structures and practices to new ones.

This text presents a clear assessment of the role that innovations in information technology play in changing organizational structure, performance, and transformations. It includes five case studies of real world organizations.