Managing New IT Implementation in Business Firms

Question: Discuss about theManaging New IT Implementation in Business Firms. Answer: Introduction: New technology implementation is a common activity in business companies. For example, business companies implement new software systems such as ERP, CRM, etc. for automating business processes and integrate different functions for monitoring performance and profits. This topic is chosen because companies implement new technologies, systems, and software and applications to improve business outcomes and to sustain themselves in the competition. The topic is researchable because in general, new technology implementation can bring significant changes in the way normal work is being done on a day-to-day basis. Changes refer to modifications in business operations, style of working, a new approach in doing business processes and user or employee acceptance changes/employee satisfaction. The management is responsible for ensuring employees adapt quickly to change and are able to perform their jobs productively (Cooper and Zmud, 1990). It is important to note that implementing new technology systems in the firm is ITs responsibility, but at the same time managing changes and impact post-implementation is the responsibility of the management. New technology implementations, in general, create an interest, but at the same time the organization is impacted with many challenges such as lack of skills felt by employees, centralization of control, lack of autonomy, complexities due to new technology and job uncertainty. These challenges are unavoidable in any new IT implementation (Zolla, 1999). This project will understand business management challenges and follows the method of a survey questionnaire specific to new technology implementation to understand employee satisfaction in a changed environment. The management perspectives are also considered and the data collected from employees is analyzed to identify possible solutions to overcome challenges in new technology implementation and also understand employee perceptions to change. Literature Review This section provides a brief review of literature related to the chosen topic. Business firms implement new technologies to changing business trends (online portals, e-commerce and so on) (Tost, 2010). New technologies generate value in the company but with multiple challenges in managing the new implementation (Barton and Krus, 1985). IT is viewed as a competitive tool for restructuring and improving operational effectiveness in business organizations (Turner and Laudon, 1988). Gorry and Morton (1971) stated IT is used for managerial decision making which gave rise to a new tool named decision support system (DSS). OBrien and Marakas (2011) emphasized that DSS can help organizations achieve more competitiveness. According to Klein and Sorra (1996), new IT implementations must ensure commitment of members involved otherwise, the company can run into adoption issues. Daniel et al. (2002) regarded IT implementations provide significant impact in routine activities. A systematic challenge faced by companies while developing the conditions for new IT implementations was provided by Raza and Standing (2008). There are many employee related issues in adapting to a new environment (Banerjee, 2013). Premkumar and Roberts (1999) explained the phases in new technology adoption for management. Likewise, Weng and Hung (2014) provided the points for a smooth transition and minimizing issues in IT implementations in general. Adoption of new technologies follows certain frameworks such as technology acceptance model (Davis, 1989), a theory of planned behaviour (Ajzen, 1991), diffusion of innovation (Rogers, 1983), technology, organization and environment (Tornatzky and Fleischer, 1990) and so on. Research Questions The following are the research questions: How do organizations manage the problems in new IT implementation? Why are business companies forced to adopt new technologies? How to manage changes within the firm after a new IT implementation? How can new technology implementations be made successful? Objectives The project will understand the challenges faced by organizations while new IT system is implemented. The objectives are: Emphasize the role played by technology in organizations Explore the influencing factors that lead to new technology adoption Explain the role of management in IT Perform a survey to understand the issues in technology adoption Analyse data and explore possible solutions from results of analysis Evaluate and discuss results in resolving issues while implementing new technology Methodology The chosen topic relates to a management problem faced by a firm while undergoing significant changes in its working styles or culture and business operations. The issues arise due to human behaviour hence standard practices in research methodology are followed. The methodology will provide impetus to demonstrate the objectives of this research and to identify appropriate answers to research questions. Research strategy helps the researcher to adopt a practical approach to understanding thoughts and reactions of employees in the firm who are impacted by new IT systems. Research strategies and methods support investigators to derive meaningful approaches to organizational problems (Saunders et al. 2009). In this research, a deductive approach along with inductive method is followed. This is because the results of research must provide answers to research questions for this topic. The deductive approach follows quantitative analysis which is required here. Data is collected through a survey questionnaire. The questionnaire is administered to all employees in the organization at all levels. The survey questionnaire will have set of question statements to understand user acceptance in a new IT environment. The question statements will cover the following areas related to technology acceptance model (TAM). Ease of use Compatibility User satisfaction Usability Usefulness of the new system Each question statements will have the options: Fully Agree, Agree to some extent, Neutral, Disagree, and Strongly Disagree. Each user will choose one of these options for each question statement. This forms the deductive approach. In addition to this, the user can also provide subjective feedback for each question statement to express his/her thoughts and perceptions for each question statement. This subjective or qualitative information is also compiled and grouped to understand employee perceptions. This forms inductive deduction. Outcome The data collected quantitatively is analyzed to understand how employees feel in a changed IT environment in terms of usefulness, compatibility, levels of satisfaction and so on. The sample size of this survey is the number of employees in the organization who are affected by new IT system used for daily work. For instance, the analysis can provide the percentage of satisfaction of employees in the new setting. In another result, if the employees feel difficulty in ease of use, the management can think of providing more training and support to those staff who are finding difficulties with the IT system. The analysis will not provide tangible results on business outcomes or measure financial performance. Conclusions The research is made to understand how business firms can manage the adoption of new IT implementations. The changes due to technology must be managed to ensure employee satisfaction and acceptance to the new system. The research is done using a survey questionnaire to understand employee perceptions to embrace change as new IT implementation affects their work significantly. The data is analyzed and from the results, insights can be obtained for the management to overcome issues due to changes. The research is done to understand employee perceptions to change at the organizational level. Further research on this topic can consider cost-benefit analysis in new IT and on how cost can be impacted due to employee adoption problems. References Ajzen, I (1991) The theory of planned behaviour, Organizational Behaviour and Human Decision Process. 50, pp.179-211 Banerji, Sanchita B. (2013) A study of issues and challenges of implementation of information technology in HR, Global Journal of Management and Business Studies. 3 (4), pp.435-440 Barton, D. and Kraus, W. (1985) Implementing New Technology. [online] Harvard Business Review. Available at: https://hbr.org/1985/11/implementing-new-technology [Accessed 10 Mar. 2016]. Cooper, R. and Zmud, R. (1990) Information Technology Implementation Research: A Technological Diffusion Approach, Management Science, 36(2), pp.123-139. Daniel, E., H. Wilson and A. Myers (2002) Adoption of e-commerce by SME in UK - towards a stage model, International Small Business Journal. 20 (3), pp.253-270 Davis, Fred D. 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