Week 5 Project
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Implementation and Challenges
The risk level of each project determines the appropriate mix of formal planning, control tools, external integration tools, and internal integration tools. Let us discuss the important aspects of implementing IS.
Formal planning and control tools: Formal planning sequences and structures tasks. Planning also handles the budgeting of technical resources, time, and money required to complete the tasks. Formal control helps monitor progress toward ful�llment of goals and completion of tasks. Microsoft Project is a standard tool that can be used to:
Link tasks sequentially.
Assign responsibilities to each task.
Estimate the duration of each task.
Display all tasks across a timeline of days, weeks, and months.
Create Gantt Charts, resource allocation reports, and budget reports.
Overcoming user resistance by increasing user involvement: Projects with many unde�ned requirements and relatively less structure should involve users at all stages. External Integration tools link the work of the implementation team to users at all organizational levels. Special organizational architects bridge communication gaps between technology specialists and business users. If the use of the system is mandatory, resistance may take the form of increased disruption, error rates, turnover, and sabotage. If the use of the system is voluntary, users may choose to avoid it.
Managing technical complexity: Internal Integration tools help projects with complex and challenging technology by ensuring that the implementation team operates as a cohesive unit. Project leaders need to anticipate problems and develop smooth working relationships among a predominantly technical team.
Challenges during implementation process
The entire implementation process and IS design should be managed as planned organizational change. Let us discuss some of the considerations when implementing IS in an organization. They are:
Organizational impact analysis: Studies the way a proposed system will affect attitudes, decision-making, operations, and organizational structure.
Quality of IS: Is evaluated in terms of user criteria rather than the criteria of the IS staff. System objectives should include standards for user performance in addition to targets of access rates, calculation times, and memory size.
Participatory design: Emphasizes the participation of the individuals most affected by a new system. Areas of user interface with the system should be carefully designed with sensitivity to ergonomic issues.
Sociotechnical design: Is the optimal blend of social and technical design solutions. Social design plans explore the allocation of tasks, design of individual jobs, and different workgroup structures. As a result, the �nal sociotechnical design produces an IS that blends sensitivity to human and organizational needs with technical ef�ciency, leading to high job satisfaction.