CONVERSATIONAL COMPETENCES MODEL FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND BUSINESS STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT

The main objective of this study is the development of a model of conversational competences for Business and IT managers aiming at the strategic alignment between their areas. The theory of this alignment highlights the importance of communication between Business and IT areas, which is explored in the social dimension of their managers’ relationship through conversational competences. A survey research was performed with Business and IT managers from public and private organizations in Brazil, whose data were analyzed through multivariate statistical techniques – exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis – and thematic content analysis. The results confirmed the constructs and most of the hypotheses of the proposed research model, which was expanded with new constructs and hypotheses.O objetivo principal deste estudo é o desenvolvimento de um modelo de competências conversacionais aos gestores de TI e Negócio para o alinhamento estratégico entre as suas áreas. A teoria desse alinhamento destaca a importância da comunicação entre as áreas de TI e Negócio, que na sua dimensão social é explorada neste estudo sob o enfoque das competências conversacionais no relacionamento entre os seus gestores. Foi realizada pesquisa survey junto a esses gestores em organizações públicas e privadas localizadas no Brasil, cujos dados foram analisados por meio de técnicas estatísticas multivariadas – análise fatorial exploratória e confirmatória – e análise de conteúdo temática. Os resultados da pesquisa confirmaram os construtos e a maioria das hipóteses do modelo de pesquisa proposto, que foi expandido com novos construtos e hipóteses

A COMUNICAÇÃO NO ALINHAMENTO ESTRATÉGICO TI-NEGÓCIO: O PAPEL DAS CONVERSAÇÕES E SUAS COMPETÊNCIAS

The main objective of this study is to propose a conversational model for IT and Business managers’ relationship to the strategic alignment between their areas. The theory of this alignment highlights the criticality of IT and Business communication, which is explored in this study from its social dimension based on their managers’ conversations. The conversational model proposed indicates a positive influence from strategic conversations between IT and Business managers on the strategic alignment between their areas, from conversational competencies – effective communication and commitments – on those strategic conversations and from effective communication on the commitments they establish. Effective communication between IT and Business managers is characterized by effective listening and speaking, as well as by productive exposition and inquiring; whereas their commitments are characterized by requests, offerings and promises.O objetivo deste ensaio teórico é o desenvolvimento de um modelo de conversações entre gestores de TI e Negócio para o alinhamento estratégico entre as suas áreas. A teoria desse alinhamento destaca a importância da comunicação entre as áreas de TI e Negócio, que na sua dimensão social é explorada neste estudo sob o enfoque das conversações entre os seus gestores. O modelo proposto de conversações prevê a influência positiva das conversas estratégicas entre gestores de TI e Negócio no alinhamento estratégico entre as suas áreas, das competências conversacionais – comunicação efetiva e compromissos – nessas conversas estratégicas e da comunicação efetiva sobre os compromissos que eles estabelecem. A comunicação efetiva entre gestores de TI e Negócio é caracterizada pelo falar e escutar efetivos, bem como pelo expor e indagar produtivos, enquanto seus compromissos são caracterizados pelos pedidos, ofertas e promessas

A model to assess organisational information privacy maturity against the Protection of Personal Information Act

Includes bibliographical references.Reports on information security breaches have risen dramatically over the past five years with 2014 accounting for some high-profile breaches including Goldman Sachs, Boeing, AT&T, EBay, AOL, American Express and Apple to name a few. One report estimates that 868,045,823 records have been breached from 4,347 data breaches made public since 2005 (Privacy Rights Clearing House, 2013). The theft of laptops, loss of unencrypted USB drives, hackers infiltrating servers, and staff deliberately accessing client’s personal information are all regularly reported (Park, 2014; Privacy Rights Clearing House, 2013) . With the rise of data breaches in the Information Age, the South African government enacted the long awaited Protection of Personal Information (PoPI) Bill at the end of 2013. While South Africa has lagged behind other countries in adopting privacy legislation (the European Union issued their Data Protection Directive in 1995), South African legislators have had the opportunity to draft a privacy Act that draws on the most effective elements from other legislation around the world. Although PoPI has been enacted, a commencement date has still to be decided upon by the Presidency. On PoPI’s commencement date organisations will have an additional year to comply with its requirements, before which they should: review the eight conditions for the lawful processing of personal information set out in Chapter three of the Act; understand the type of personal information they process ; review staff training on mobile technologies and limit access to personal information; ensure laptops and other mobile devices have passwords and are preferably encrypted; look at the physical security of the premises where personal data is store d or processed; and, assess any service providers who process in formation on their behalf. With the demands PoPI places on organisations this research aims to develop a prescriptive model providing organisations with the ability to measure their information privacy maturity based on “generally accepted information security practices and procedure s” ( Protection of Personal Information Act, No.4 of 2013 , sec. 19(3)) . Using a design science research methodology, the development process provides three distinct design cycles: 1) conceptual foundation 2) legal evaluation and 3) organisational evaluation. The end result is the development of a privacy maturity model that allows organisations to measure their current information privacy maturity against the PoPI Act. This research contributes to the knowledge of how PoPI impacts on South African organisations, and in turn, how organisations are able to evaluate their current information privacy maturity in respect of the PoPI Act. The examination and use of global best practices and standards as the foundation for the model, and the integration with the PoPI Act, provides for the development of a unique yet standards-based privacy model aiming to provide practical benefit to South African organisations

Leaders, conflict, and team coordination: a relational leadership approach in temporary organizations

This study explores how the level of relational leadership of team leaders influences team members’ conflict-handling style and team coordination in temporary organisations (TOs). Leaning upon Socio-Psychological and relational leadership theories, the research also evaluates how the cultural background of leaders moderates the nature of the association between relational leadership and project team performance. This contribution is unique by engaging with three moderating cultural groups while drawing on data from 126 teams in TOs using PLS path modelling. The results explain that relational leadership influences team members’ cooperative and conflict-avoiding styles, which are, in turn, positively associated with team coordination and team performance. The judicious and considered use of conflict-avoiding should be recognised as a thoughtful style in multicultural team contexts and as a consequence of relational leadership. Team coordination and performance, however, are related more to relational leadership with the sample of leaders from a specific within-nationality cultural background

Leaders, conflict, and team coordination: a relational leadership approach in temporary organisations

Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 8: Decent work and economic growthSupplemental material is available online at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09537287.2024.2313518#supplemental-material-section .This study explores how the level of relational leadership of team leaders influences team members’ conflict-handling style and team coordination in temporary organisations (TOs). Leaning upon Socio-Psychological and relational leadership theories, the research also evaluates how the cultural background of leaders moderates the nature of the association between relational leadership and project team performance. This contribution is unique by engaging with three moderating cultural groups while drawing on data from 126 teams in TOs using PLS path modelling. The results explain that relational leadership influences team members’ cooperative and conflict-avoiding styles, which are, in turn, positively associated with team coordination and team performance. The judicious and considered use of conflict-avoiding should be recognised as a thoughtful style in multicultural team contexts and as a consequence of relational leadership. Team coordination and performance, however, are related more to relational leadership with the sample of leaders from a specific within-nationality cultural background.Universiti Sains Malaysia for providing the RUI Grant [No. 1001/PPBGN/816283]

Understanding the impact of culture on business IT alignment within a South African parastatal

Business IT Alignment (BITA) remains a challenge for many organisations and is repeatedly ranked highly by Business and IT executives in an annual survey by the Society for Information Management (SIM). BITA has been defined as applying information technology (IT) in an appropriate and timely way, in harmony with business strategies, goals and needs. BITA maturity provides organisations with a way to determine the level of maturity of the BITA activities that is the management activities performed to attain a better alignment between IT function and the organisational goals. Mature alignment develops into a relationship where IT and other business functions adapt their strategies together. Previous research on BITA has focused more on formal structures such as reporting structures, decision-making rights and centralisation vs decentralisation, rather than informal structures such as relationship-based structures, including organisational culture, that go beyond the formal division of labour. The impact of culture on BITA has often been de-emphasised in earlier studies, leaving a gap in alignment research. Culture has been defined as a set of shared, taken-for-granted implicit assumptions that a group holds and determines how it perceives, thinks about and reacts to its various environments. Culture at an organisational however, has been defined as the culture within an organisation that includes the common expectations, goals, beliefs, ideas, common understanding and norms of the people in the organisation which varies between organisations. Culture at a group and organisational level have the same content and meaning and are theoretically isomorphic, meaning they both influence behaviour through shared, social normative cues. This study, conducted within a parastatal organisation, focused on culture at an organisational level. The purpose of this research was to explore and describe the organisational culture and BITA as indicated by the BITA maturity level within a South African parastatal, to compare perceptions of IT vs business groups with regards to BITA maturity, to explore and describe the relationships between cultural dimensions and BITA maturity criteria, and to determine whether the existing culture within a South African parastatal supports BITA. The research study adopted an interpretive philosophy in order to develop an understanding of the impact of culture on BITA within a South African parastatal. The research strategy was by means of a single case study. The study was qualitative in nature, data being collected by means of semi-structured interviews and company documents. The Competing Values Framework (CVF) formed the theoretical basis through which cultural types were identified deductively for each of the six cultural dimensions of the organisation. The Strategic Alignment Maturity Model was used to describe the BITA maturity criteria. The impact of culture on BITA maturity criteria was determined inductively. The study contributes theoretically through an explanation theory of how culture impacts BITA maturity positively and negatively through propositions of theory. In addition, it contributes practically suggesting that organisations wanting to improve their BITA must change their culture first. Practically, it serves as a guideline to managers and leaders within government organisations as to the cultural dimensions that are more likely to improve BITA such as 'success criteria and value’ and 'strategic emphasis’. Findings reveal incongruence in perceptions of the overall organisational culture within a South African parastatal for both Business and IT groups, with an overall dominant culture of Hierarchy. BITA maturity was negatively impacted by the cultural dimensions, Organisational leadership (Hierarchy) and Human Resource management (Clan/Hierarchy). In contrast, BITA was positively impacted by success criteria and value (Market) and strategic emphasis (Adhocracy). Overall, an incongruent culture seemed to negatively impact BITA maturity with a low overall BITA maturity level

Employee Alignment: A Process for Understanding Individual Changeability

Despite the fact that employee alignment with an initiative is often considered a critical process of organizational change, few studies have examined processes where organizations change the individual to bring about alignment. This research aims to fill this gap by examining how employees change following the introduction of a new change initiative. Specifically, I investigate how employee knowledge of (1) a change objective (i.e., line of sight objectives) and (2) how to best affect the objective (i.e., line of sight actions) changes following the introduction of a change initiative. To better understand potential attributes that may affect the trajectory of the line of sight constructs, I take a social cognitive approach to suggest five potential moderators (i.e., locus of control, interaction quality, valence, learning goal orientation, self-efficacy) based on the five core concepts of social cognitive theory (i.e., agency, observational learning, valued outcomes, goals, self-efficacy). Additionally, I propose a potential trajectory for behavioral alignment, based on a theory of change momentum; and, I examine the potential moderating effects of learning on the behavioral alignment trajectory. I also examine a potential pathway in which line of sight actions mediate the relationship between line of sight objectives and behavioral alignment with the same five social cognitive facets as proposed moderators. In a sample of 189 fast food employees, partial support is found for the alignment model. Line of sight objectives influences both line of sight actions and behavioral alignment. Line of sight actions also predicted performance. When looking at the trajectories, the time period encompassing the intervention saw significant gains in line of sight objectives, but not line of sight actions. The change in line of sight objectives and line of sight actions also predicted the change in behavioral alignment. Implications and future directions for research are discussed

Technological Change and Employee Motivation in a Telecom Operations Team

Some managers view innovative product development and convenient service delivery as necessary to business survival. However, unmotivated employees might negate any gains from the use of innovation. The purpose of this correlational study, grounded in diffusion of innovation theory, was to assess the relationship between creativity and support for innovation, resistance to change, and organizational commitment and employee motivation. A random sample of 81 information technology (IT) professionals from telecom service centers completed an online survey. Simultaneous multiple linear regression was the statistical technique used to analyze these data. The results indicated a poor model with low R2 to significantly predicted employee motivation, F (3, 78) = 5.481, p \u3c .002, R2 = .174. In the final model, support for creativity and innovation were significant contributors to employees\u27 motivation. Resistance to change was not a significant predictor to employees\u27 motivation. Although the p-value was significant, the R2 was low and indicated a poor model fit. Future researchers might consider incorporating additional variables to make the model more useful. The implications for positive social change include the potential to enhance telecom managers\u27 understanding of the factors that affect employee motivation; however, managers should consider incorporating additional variables specific to the work environment. Ultimately, a manager\u27s ability to motivate workers is vital for implementing change, particularly when the introduction of technological innovation frequently occurs within an industry.

The Role of Information Technology Organizational Design in Firms\u27 Ability to Innovate

Information technology (IT) organizations have become an integral part of many firms, with increasing strategic significance. Consequently, investments in IT represent a significant percentage of a firm\u27s expenditure. Despite the investment, the business value of IT has been difficult to quantify, creating uncertainty about a firm\u27s investments in IT innovation. The purpose of this nonexperimental study was to examine relationships between a firm\u27s innovativeness and 3 IT organizational design factors: knowledge creation, dynamic capabilities, and communication structures. The research questions addressed the relationships between a firm\u27s ability to innovate and specific design elements of the IT organization. The study was based on Nonaka\u27s dynamic theory of organizational knowledge creation, Schumpeter\u27s industrial market structure, and Wernerfelt\u27s resource-based view of the firm. Data were collected from an online survey with 115 employees of firms that depend on IT to deliver their products or services. Pearson product-moment correlational analysis revealed statistically significant relationships between the IT organizational design factors and a firm\u27s ability to innovate. The implications for positive social change stemming from this study affect managers of firms that rely on IT to deliver products or services. The findings suggest that the design of the IT organization influences the performance of the firm through cost reduction and its sustainability through innovation, both of which lead to community economic empowerment thus benefiting the general public

Times virtuais e o processo de alinhamento estratégico entre ti e negócios

Orientador : Prof. Dr. Gustavo AbibDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal do Paraná, Setor de Ciências Sociais Aplicadas, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Administração. Defesa: Curitiba, 24/03/2015Inclui referências : f.186-194Área de concentração: Estratégia e organizaçõesResumo: Por três décadas, os executivos de TI têm identificado o alinhamento estratégico como uma das principais questões de gestão e uma prioridade para as organizações. O alinhamento estratégico entre a TI e o negócio é investigado nessa pesquisa com o foco na sua dimensão social. O contexto desta investigação repousa nos times virtuais, entendidos aqui como uma estrutura de apoio para executar as estratégias do negócio. Ao investigar o processo do alinhamento estratégico nos times virtuais, foram consideradas as especificidades desta estrutura e do seu ambiente, pois influem no processo de gestão que por sua vez está inter-relacionado ao alinhamento. Esta pesquisa teve como objetivo principal analisar a influência dos times virtuais no processo de alinhamento estratégico entre TI e negócios com foco na dimensão social. Para alcançar este objetivo a pesquisa de campo realizou-se por meio de um estudo de caso único e em profundidade, descritivo e exploratório, com abordagem qualitativa, utilizando entrevistas e dados secundários em três times virtuais de uma mesma empresa. Como principais resultados, constatou-se que os times virtuais favorecem o processo de alinhamento estratégico, na execução da estratégia, substanciada pelos processos fortemente estruturados que melhoraram o relacionamento inter-pessoal, a comunicação, a colaboração e entendimento compartilhado em conjunto com a adequação à tecnologia de informação avançada que suporta e media as práticas do time. Palavras-chave: Alinhamento Estratégico; Times Virtuais; Estruturação.Abstract: For three decades, IT executives have identified the strategic alignment as a major management issue and a organizations' priority. The strategic alignment between IT and business is investigated in this research focusing on its social dimension. The context of this research lies in the virtual teams, defined here as a structure that supports the business strategies execution. To investigate the process of strategic alignment in virtual teams, it was considered the team' structure specifics as well as their environment due to their influence in the management process which in turn is inter-related to the alignment process. This research aimed to analyze the influence of virtual teams in strategic alignment between IT and business focusing on its social dimension. To accomplish this fieldwork was carried out via a single and in-depth case study, descriptive and exploratory, with a qualitative approach, using interviews and secondary data in three virtual teams of the same company. As main results, it was observed that virtual teams foster the strategic alignment process, in strategy execution, substantiated by strongly structured processes that improved interpersonal relationships, communication, collaboration and shared understanding in conjunction with suitability of advanced information technology that supports and mediates team practices. Keywords: Strategic Alignment; Virtual Teams; Structuration