Politics and Power in IS D I

Question 1

Implementation is about realizing benefits (5 principles)

Answer 1

1. IT has no inherent value
2. Benefits arise when IT enables people to do things differently
3. Only business managers and users can release business benefits
4. Not all outcomes are benefits
5. Benefits must be actively managed

Question 2

Implementation plan (7 questions to ask when producing implementation plan)

Answer 2

1. Why must we improve?
2. What improvements are necessary or possible?
3. What benefits will be realized by each stakeholder if the investment objectives are achieved?
4. Who owns each benefit and will be accountable for its delivery?
5. What changes are needed to achieve each benefit?
6. Who will be responsible for ensuring that each change is successfully made?
7. How and when can the identified changes be made?

Question 3

Benefits dependency network

Answer 3

purpose: to identify the most cost-effective and lowest-risk combination of IT and business changes to achieve the defined improvements

Question 4

Two approaches of implementation

Answer 4

Big Bang

Phased

Question 5

DeLone and McLean IS success model

Answer 5

implementation and quality

Question 6

Unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT model)

Answer 6

Factors that are important when implementing a system: performance expectancy, effort expectance, social influence, facilitating conditions, gender, age, experience, voluntariness of use

Question 7

How is Politics related to implementation?

Answer 7

we are changing something people are seeing and using

Question 8

Political context

Answer 8

• Lack of knowledge regarding cause-and-effect relations and little agreement about overall goals (Thompson, 1967).
• Conflict of interest (Pfeffer, 1981).
• High degree of role interdependence (Pondy, 1966).
• High degree of uncertainty and disagreement regarding long-range strategic decisions (Tushman, 1977).
• Formal structures for decision-making are experienced as insufficient (Eisenhardt & Bourgeois, 1988).
• Extreme power imbalance (Eisenhart & Bourgeouis, 1988).

Question 9

Political behavior

Answer 9

• Operating outside the formal system (Mayes & Allen, 1977).
• Building coalitions (Narayanan & Fahey, 1982).
• Using lobbying to get support from more powerful managers (Eisenhardt & Bourgeois, 1988).
• Negotiating decisions (Narayanan & Fahey, 1982).
• Individualistic maneuvering and controlling agendas (Eisenhardt & Bourgeois, 1988)

Question 10

Political issues

Answer 10

Societal steering media

Question 11

Politics and projects

Answer 11

selecting projects, allocation to projects, cancelling projects

Question 12

Power (definition)

Answer 12

ability to get things done the way one wants them to be done

Question 13

Politics (definition)

Answer 13

the actual use of power

Question 14

A rationale perspective

Answer 14

A rational approach to ISD assumes that the ISD project has an identifiable and agreed upon set of goals and that a specific process has been prescribed to achieve those goals

Question 15

Political patterns model (by Sabherwal and Grover)

Answer 15

Empire building, Tug of war, Obstacle race