part 1(50 marks) For over two decades, the alignment between information managem

Question

part 1(50 marks)

For over two decades, the alignment between information management (IM) and information systems (IS) strategy has consistently been ranked amongst the top IS and business management concerns. Information management entails the process of managing information as a strategic resource for improving organizational performance.

in this paper, you are expected to reflect on the problem of IS-IM strategy alignment, examine the implications of (mis) alignment for organizational performance, and explore the relationship between the alignment concept and complementary concepts (e.g. IS capability, Data, knowledge management) and practices (e.g. strategic IM planning, business strategy, knowledge management strategy).

part 2 (50 marks)

Critically analyse and describe how an organization that you work for manages information and its information management applications. discuss the contradictions, merits and demerits of their information and knowledge strategies. N.B: you need to first describe the organization, e.g., its core business , mandate, location and context.

Explanation / Answer

Hi,

Part 1 :

Organizational Stratwgy and Information Strategy are the two key components of Business Strategy. Every powerfy and major business in the world is not powered by IS (Information System).

Information system helps in storing, recording, guiding and referencing useful data on the organization server. Manual labour has been reduced manifold and businesses are in harmony with reaching their targets on time. This has only been possible due to the various troles that IS has donned viz. Lowering os costs, developing alliances, promoting inter-departmental growth, innovation and so on..

Just like IS, IM (Information Management) too has many roles to play. Information System is a computerised process, however, various steps in IM has to be initiated manually, and IS takes care of the rest of IM functions. The roles of IM are to plan on how information needs to be gathered, processed, received, delivered, used effectively etc; governing these roles; evaluating it's utility and preserving for further use.

Integrating these roles of IS and IM is the crux of the alignment concept and complementary concepts. The organization structure heavily relies on this relationship. However, there are many instances wherein, organizations could not retrieve successful results from this alignment due to few gaps :

1) Employee strength : If the number of employees is less in an organization, the IM roles cannot be carried out effectively. There will be a huge slack time between the various steps and results will come down simultaneously.

2) Employee Skills : An organization requires skilled professionals to carry out the roles of IS and IM. IS tasts requires an employee to be trained in various softwares. Hence, it needs adroit employees who are familiar with many softwares and business related IS models.

3) Continuous change in technology : Technology keeps on changing and employees and the organization find it difficult to cope up with the changes fast. If the employees are not well adept with the changes in IS, IS-IM strategy alignment will not prove successful.

4) Fear of change : Many employees and labour unions refrain from IS-IM alignment as it abolishes manual labour which means retrenchment in an organization. Thus, the organization faces restrictions from it's own employees with regards to changes and performance comes down significantly.

These were few of the implications of (MIS) alignment for organizational performance.

Part 2 : In this part, I would like to mention that as an Expert, I am sharing personal experiences, please do not frame general ideas based on them. Being a Management Studies student and a Analyst by profession, I had very limited access to complete information on MIS systems in my organization. I have worked for Sunwest Mortgage Company for significant number of years, which is a renowned mortgage company in the U.S. of A. It's core business is to finance various types of home loans to the citizens of U.S.A. adhering the guidelines of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the government. I worked from it's sister concern based in Mumbai, India. My observations of it's IM applications are as follows :

1) SWMC heavily relies on E-Mail and cellular network. Major conversations with vendors, agents, Relationship Managers, employees, clients happens over the phone and E-mails. Employees here are specially trained on replying to E-mails in a timely manner and action all type of work within a stipulated time-frame.

2) The entire work process was based on an in-house software named 'SunSoft' which helped in making the entire progress of the loan clear, hassle-free, transparent and easy-to-understand.

3) SWMC was highly adept in training their employees to the guidelines of the government and following them diligently, which is one of their merits. Hence, it was easier to close loans and generate revenue.

4) One of their major drawbacks was the time difference between the headquarters in U.S.A. and in India. Due to the difference in time, problems weren't solved on time sometimes and employees back in India couldn't contact the agent's and loan managers in case of emergency as it would be end of office hours in U.S.A. Training was not very apt and quick to the employees in USA, which meant delay in loan processing in case a trained employee resigns.

These were the only inputs I couls provide from the organization that I work for.

Thanks, please provide your feedback on it.

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse P
• Subjects

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.