Organizational Change and MIS Implementation:

Worldwide, the MIS has been implemented in organizations for over 40 years. However, there have been few organization which have achieved success in implementing MIS. The major reason for this is the organization's resistance to change. Lynne Markus identifies three possible theories about resistance to change. The first theory describes the employees' behavior in the organization, which leads to resistance to the implementation of new processes. When a new technology is introduced in the organization, certain business processes are bound to be modified and/or replaced. Employees who are habituated to using the traditional business processes will generally be reluctant to change over to the new technology. The second theory traces the technical disfunctionalities in the system that can lead to resistance in using the system. A third theory proposes that people resist systems due to the interactions between the characteristics associated with the people and the characteristics associated with the system. For example, centralized data control in a decentralized organization can lead to employee resistance in accepting the system.

The top management's lack of commitment to MIS implementation can also lead to resistance to changing over to the new system. If the employees are encouraged to actively involve themselves in the project, the problem of resistance to change can be greatly reduced. Resistance to change can also occur when the employees are not given proper training in the use of new technology. The success of the MIS can be ensured if the users are properly trained to handle and operate the new technology. For instance, it is necessary to use computers to reap the full benefits of the MIS. However, employees in an organization who are habituated to using the traditional means of operations have to be given sufficient training to enable them to operate the computer systems comfortably. Let us now understand the change approach that can help the organization adapt smoothly to the changes brought in by MIS implementation.

Change Approach to MIS Implementation

The MIS can be implemented in an organization in two different ways. In one of those methods, systems analysts are given more importance than the users of the MIS. The systems analysts make all the major decisions in the implementation process and the users merely respond to specific inquiries made by them. This method of implementation is commonly found in many organizations. The other method emphasizes the combined efforts of both systems analysts and the MIS users. MIS users actively participate in the implementation process along with systems analysts and as a problem solving team, they are together responsible for the development of an effective and efficient MIS. In this type of implementation, both sides participate through mutual learning and criticism. Though the second method of implementation is found only occasionally, the chances of post implementation success is high for this method as compared to the first method.

The change approach to MIS implementation can be seen in the second method of implementation. This approach mandates the active participation of MIS users and the top management during the implementation process. It emphasizes on creating an environment where organizational change is accepted through the active involvement and education of organizational members (who are deemed to be affected the most) and through assigning the implementation responsibility to them. The terms involvement and education of MIS users in the implementation process are explained here.

Involvement

Involvement refers to the active participation of organizational members in the implementation. The phrase ‘organizational members' includes all the members of the organization who are directly or indirectly affected by the MIS implementation. They include the top management, all the concerned functional managers, operating managers, operating staff, systems analysts, programmers, etc. For the sake of simplicity, let us classify them into distinct groups as top management, functional heads, operating team, and systems team. It is necessary for all these members to actively participate in the implementation to achieve success in it.

Education and Training

Involvement in the implementation reduces the employee resistance to change (to the new processes and practices) to a large extent. To eliminate resistance altogether, all organizational members have to be educated about the benefits of management information systems at the organization level as well as at the individual level. Further, MIS users have to be trained in the new system and process in terms of operations and supervision.
Educating the employees should start before they become a part of the implementation process. The employees have to be educated on the importance of the MIS to the organization and how it will, in turn, bring benefits to the employees. MIS users benefit the most from the implementation as they get hands-on experience in operating the system. Hence, employees have to be educated in light of the benefits associated with the implementation. This would help involve them actively in the implementation process.

If the employees are to be comfortable using the MIS on a regular basis, they have to be trained adequately. Training the employees during and after the implementation process fulfills these educational requirements. Training is given in both general as well as specific areas. The general areas of training include introduction to computers and information systems concepts; how the MIS provides connectivity to all the departments in the organization and how information flows to and from each department, and development of organizational members' interpersonal skills. The specific areas include information management in each functional area, technical details on operating the MIS in each functional area, etc.

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