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[Detailed report]

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Globalization and IT effect on organizations

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Table of Contents

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Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................ 2 Aims of the Research ..................................................................................................................................... 2 Research Questions ........................................................................................................................................ 2 Scope of the Research .................................................................................................................................... 3 Literature Review............................................................................................................................................... 3 Research Methodology ...................................................................................................................................... 5 Data Collection Methods ................................................................................................................................ 5 Sample population .......................................................................................................................................... 6 Sampling strategy ........................................................................................................................................... 6 Research Ethics .............................................................................................................................................. 6 References .......................................................................................................................................................... 7

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Introduction

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With the advent of globalization and increased focus on efficiency, the need for increasingly sophisticated Information Technology (IT) systems has augmented. But the difficulty arises because of the continual need for improvement and modifications to keep the IT systems compatible with the requirements in any specific company. These factors contribute to the risks inherent in the IT projects being undertaken in every organization and every industry across the globe. In order to effectively deal with these risks, the

page. If the goals are not aligned, then the resources and the time and energy of the employees would be inefficiently utilized. And inefficiency is a loss for the company.

Aims of the Research

The research will aim at identifying the problems and the reasons as to why organizations face these kinds of problems and issues when they know that the IT department will only do well for the organization. The various techniques should be then analyzed that would allow for this type of problems to be eliminated from the organization and then how to prevent them from happening. And finally suggestions will be made in order to improve the efficacy of these techniques.

Research Questions

The following research questions will be inspected in the proposed research:

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When these research questions are analyzed properly and scrutinized in detail, they can prove very helpful for the organizations. This is because the information will be useful in recommending them the most appropriate manner for identifying and mitigating this problem. The suggestions will help in deriving additional value out of the IT departments because the k management will be contingent upon the situation and the project at hand thus each and every detail about the problem will be examined more deeply to effectively imply the solution techniques. Although previously, different techniques have been suggested and they have proved effective in mitigating this problem, but none of them prove effective in every situation. This research will identify the relation of those techniques with the organization types thus giving
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their company? the different scenarios considered?

What are the different issues faced by different organizations that have an IT department present in

What methods if any are used for identify whether there is such a problem or not? What methods are used for assessing the impact of this problem? What techniques are used for mitigating the identified problems? Do the techniques really prove effective in mitigating the problem to a desirable level? How the techniques vary in terms of their effectiveness for the different organizations studied and

How the effectiveness of these techniques can be improved?

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organizations departments and the IT departments goals should be inline. These two should be on the same

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a better picture by showing which technique has to be applied in the organization in order to get the best possible results.

Scope of the Research

The scope of this research is limited to companies that have a specific It department in their organization that is also its competitive edge over its competitors. There are many different organizations in different sectors and they vary in terms of the associated risks, the impact on organization, and the management techniques employed. In order to better focus on one domain, the research will analyze the relationship of the IT department with the other departments. This specification will help present a better view of the effectiveness of the different management techniques and the variations in their effectiveness depending upon the context.

Literature Review

as important as the others. Let us take the example of an organization where the IT department is what makes the company tick. It is this department whose expertise is used in major parts such as marketing, product assembly, and logistics and processes are done efficiently and effectively. But due to this very reason the organizations other departments think of this department and their employee as someone who is way better and they always try to compete within the organization as opposed to competing with the

needs to be a leader that takes all the departments together on one track and they should all be aligned with the organizations goals.

These problems also arise because when the strategy is being developed the planners are detached from the CEO of the company, the person who is supposed to see if the strategy is doing what it is supposed to do. Few ideas and opinions are told to the planners of the company by the CEO and then the strategy is made which is overlooked by the CEO. These planners see the whole situation of the company in detail as compared to the CEO who obviously knows about his/her company but in condensed form. Take the example of Fed-Ex where the CEO and the planners involve all the people in the organization in the formulation of strategy and how to make things even better, this is the very reason that employee in Fed-Ex think that they are a part of the company and their contributions are actually taken into consideration. Another thing that happens is that there is full and exact information available to everyone in the organization which takes everyone in the organization on the same page. When individual goals are aligned with the goals of the organization, it is only then where a competitive edge can be achieved. These are the problems of the organizations that are at the macro level. Let us see what happens at the micro level. Many employees think about themselves as important for the organization which is good but not always. Some employees will not see the connections that they have with others in the organization and will
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competitors outside the organization. This is what happens amongst departments in an organization. There

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The first and the most important problem in organizations is that some of the departments are not considered

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try their level best to reach the top. As it is mentioned in the example, that the departments are detached from each other just as the employees are from each other. It is important to know that everyone needs to know how to work in a team because creative ideas and decision can spur innovation. There should be a constant try to make operations better in the organization in order to minimize costs and getting a comparative advantage over the other players in the market.

A very small problem in this organization is that there are employees that will tamper with the information purposefully in order to have their own gain, or they will not knowingly with any regards to how important that information can be, change it and deliver it forward. This is also a growing concern in many other organizations as well. This paper will discuss techniques like the one mentioned below and other that the organizations employ in their companies.

Five Disciplines

Senges five disciplines are tools, instructions that manager and leaders can use in order to build a learning

look at the problem at hand in their respective organizations and then use any one or a combination of the five disciplines to make sure that the problem is dealt with and things be done much better. (Senge, Peter M., 1990)

The five disciplines are as follows: 1. Personal Mastery 2. Mental Models 3. Shared Vision

Personal Mastery

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those questions are: Mental Models

Out of all the disciplines personal mastery should be the first. When people experience personal mastery, they feel a sense of effortless flow. Things come natural and are performed without any conscious effort. These things not necessarily mean the repetitive tasks but tasks that are real live difficult situations. In order to achieve personal mastery, the employees must clarify whats important by asking questions. Some of

After assessing these, it is then important to assess the reality in relation to movement towards this goal

"Our mental models determine not only how we make sense of the world, but how we take action"
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4. Team Learning 5. Systems Thinking What does the employee need from the organization to grow? What us the employees goal? What expertise do you require to achieve that goal? How do feedback help in your making yourself better and how do you want feedback?

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organization. It provides a simple coherent structure and a wealth of material to coaches as well as leaders to

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(Senge, 1990). This discipline involves the discerning the actual data about the generalizations that we hold about the world. If this data is false then all those assumptions will limit our ability to read the environment accurately. Shared Vision It is clear from the name itself that each and every employee including the CEO should have the same vision about the company and what it needs to do and what it stands for. The goals of the organization should be aligned with the goals of the employees. Team Learning

There is a free flow of information, creative and generative think, free feedback and innovative problem solving when team learning exists. This is the most difficult discipline and takes the most time to develop. It is here that the leader has to create a place where the environment is comfortable enough for the team members to express their thoughts and work freely. Systems Thinking

quality and doing things better. This helps managers and leaders see links and relationships between various parts of the organization and the links between the people as well as the links between the outside partners of the organization.

The modes adopted for this research will be mixed methods research which means that it will be based on both the qualitative and the quantitative research paradigm. Applying both these methods will help get a clear picture of the actual problem by not only providing the problem or the result but also the reason behind such outcomes (Johnson, R.B. & Onwuegbuzie, A.J., 2004). The quantitative research paradigm will help in presenting the results in a better way, while the qualitative research will provide the details, explanations and reasons for the findings presented as a result of quantitative research. The research design is basically exploratory because it aims to explore the problems that various organizations face when there is inconsistency in the alignment of the goals. The research will be carried out based on the assumption that the required information is easily available from the respondents or the subjects of the study, and also that the responses provided are candid and they represent what actually takes place while applying the risk management techniques for the IT projects.

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Data Collection Methods

As mentioned previously that it will be a mixed methods research, so both quantitative and qualitative data collection tools will be used for gathering information about the research topic. Using a hybrid form of

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Research Methodology

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This discipline connects all the disciplines together and it provides a diverse perspective on improving the

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research will help in complementing the limitations of one type of data collection method by using another one. In-depth interview technique will be used for the qualitative aspects of the research carried out for testing the effectiveness of the management techniques in IT projects. An interview guide will be prepared to act as a guideline for conducting the interviews. Further probing will be done to inquire about the reasons behind the answers given by the respondents. This will help in giving an in-depth understanding of the underlying causes for success or failure of the management techniques applied. It will also generate responses through investigating why certain techniques are effective in one context or project but lose their effectiveness when applied in a different scenario. In-depth interviews are time consuming and getting the appointments from the respondents will be a bit difficult because they are lengthy. But as per assumption that the respondents will be available for the research, the findings will provide a clear picture of what the reality is. It will overcome the shortcoming of questionnaire technique by providing the reasons or the rationale behind the responses. Along with this there will be various literature reviews regarding article that point out the importance of having the IT and other departments goals aligned. This would be secondary research.

Sample population

The population for the research is every organization in the world which has undertaken an IT department. Besides the software houses and other Information Systems and hardware companies, all other business organizations also come under the target population, which have implemented any IT project in their organization for improving the operations, workflows or other requirements of the company. The representative sample will comprise of 100 respondents for the in-depth questionnaire survey technique and 20 respondents for in-depth interview technique.

Sampling strategy

Two types of non-probability sampling techniques will be used for drawing a representative sample from the population.

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Research Ethics
the research process.

First of all, quota sampling will be used for devising a list of companies to be considered for conducting the research. The sample will comprise of 20 UK companies, 10 of which will be pure software or hardware firms in the IT business, while the rest 10 will be other business firms which implemented any IT project in their organizations. Secondly, convenience sampling technique will be used to identify the companies that are located nearby and where the respondents are willing to answer.

The research ethics will be considered during conducting the research by having informed consent from the respondents as they will participate in the research on their free will. Also, the information provided by them will be analyzed anonymously and this will be guaranteed to them so that they feel easy in participating in

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References

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Koch, C. (2002, November 15). IT Governance Strategies from State Street, 3M and Others. Retrieved October 07, 2010, from CIO.com: http://www.cio.com/article/31330/IT_Governance_Strategies_from_State_Street_3M_and_Others

This article discusses the problems a company had and how complex it was. The IT department was the best and had clear cut strategy as to what needs to be done. Then it talks about the various decisions made that where not favouring the IT department thus not favouring the company. Things cannot be made different in order to benefit from the skills of all the departments. The best possible solution must come amidst the chaos of all the problems.

07, 2010, from CIO.com:

http://www.cio.com.au/article/357799/new_new_cio_role_big_changes_ahead/ This article talks about the roles of the CIO of the IT department and how these roles are changing. The expectations of the roles also cause the problems identified. The CIO is supposed to be a strategy maker or just a person taking orders from the top management. If a CIO has to be a good CIO tomorrow, then he/she should learn and understand the things happening around him/her i.e. observing the change.

The Advisory Council . (2003, December 1). SmartAdvice: How To Develop An IT Strategic Plan. Retrieved October 07, 2010, from InformationWeek: http://www.informationweek.com/news/globalcio/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=16400834

This article talks about the various IT strategies and the importance of have a strategy from the very beginning. Company mission, vision and objects should be clearly designed from the very start so that any problems that may come afterwards would be avoided.

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This article talks about the various strategies but it emphasizes upon the fact that it is very easy to make a strategy, but it is very difficult to implement them and then let the employee of the organization accept them.

This article talks about the complexity of the various IT departments but it also talks about the need to have all this in a unified strategy that everyone must follow. It discusses a real life example and the way the company ignored the advice of the CIO and then ultimately was bad for the company.

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Noel, J. (2004, May 1). Putting IT Theory Into Practice. Retrieved October 07, 2010, from

InformationWeek: http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=19502385

Statham, J. (2002, July 1). Keep IT Simple, Stupid. Retrieved October 07, 2010, from CFO: http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/3005664

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Wailgum, T. (2010, August 21). The New New CIO Role: Big Changes Ahead. Retrieved October

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Strassmann, P. A. (1998, August). What is Alignment? Retrieved October 07, 2010, from Strassmann.com: http://www.strassmann.com/pubs/alignment/

This article talks about the importance of the alignment of goals of the IT department with that of the organization. It talks about the evaluation of the company and how to realize the alignment of IT and business plan and then finally evaluating the success of the alignment.

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