The Organisational Impact of Implementing Integrated IS in HE institutions: a case study from a UK University

This paper explores the implementation process of integrated Information Systems (IS) in Higher Education (HE) institutions. This is achieved through the analysis of a HE institution’s strategy during the implementation process of the integrated IS and the impact that the new system had on the working practices of the HE institution. Through the use of interviews, the research indicates that there has been a growth of alternative power bases within the university, new roles and responsibilities for administrative staff and a different working environment for academics

A REVIEW OF THE USE OF INTEGRATED INFORMATION SYSTEMS IN THE HIGHER EDUCATION SECTOR (24)

In Higher Education (HE) institutions, as in many other organisations Information Systems (IS) started as in house developments that tended to satisfy the immediate needs of the different departments and schools. As the universities continued to grow and become international organisations, incorporating students from all over the world, their needs changed and the need for integration across the institution processes intensified. It appears that Higher Education institutions make huge investments on integrated information systems such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems; however they do not seem to achieve the full potential of these systems while these new systems significantly alter the way academia is doing things nowadays. Therefore, the focus of this paper is to provide a review of this literature in order to gain insights of the implementation of integrated IS in the HE sector with a special focus on Higher Education in the UK. We start by looking into the use of IS in the HE sector. This sets the scene in order to understand how the HE environment has changed due to the extensive use of IS. From our comprehensive review we develop a number of themes that show the link between integrated IS and the HE environment

Impactful learning: exploring the value of informal learning experiences to improve the learning potential of international research projects.

The Horizon 2020 (H2020) is the largest EU funded research programme, which supports mobility of international researchers through secondments to engage in collaborative research activities to enhance individual and collective research capacity within the EU. This paper explores how an analysis of secondees’ informal learning experiences can highlight opportunities for increasing individual and collective learning capacity of an international partnership and achievement of project objectives. A thematic analysis method (Miles and Huberman, 1994), was applied to 19 secondee’s individual learning reports. The main findings discussed three themes elicited through secondees informal learning, including living and working in a host country and developing an academic career. The paper outlines practice, policy and research implications for improving the learning potential of international research projects

Cultural change through the implementation of an enterprise system: a UK university case study

Purpose: Organisations spend a lot of money, time and resources on Enterprise System (ES) implementation and often they do not realise the expected benefits from these complex systems. There is a gap in the literature in providing sufficient insight into the implementation process or how an ES might influence or contribute to a culture change. The aim of this article is to address the gap in the ES literature around culture by exploring the implementation that was undertaken within a large UK university. Design/methodology/approach: This paper contributes to the Higher Education (HE) and enterprise systems literature through an in-depth study of an enterprise system, SITS, implementation within a university in the UK. The study was undertaken over a three year period where one of the authors was embedded within the organisation. Findings: Using a cultural analysis framework the extensive rich data was analysed and the outcomes indicate that SITS has had a huge influence on the culture of the university; the technology’s rigid structure has imposed many changes that had not been anticipated. Originality/value: ES have recently emerged in the higher education sector where they are intended to support the management of student data and provide strategic management information. Although there are many studies which have explored important aspects of the implementation of enterprise systems, one area that appears to have been under-researched is how these systems are implicated in culture change within organisations. The results of this study will enable managers as well as IT specialists to gain rich insights into an ES implementation in the HE sector and to use this knowledge for future implementations

Talent Management in European SMEs: case analysis between Slovenia and Poland

Organisations are investing significant efforts and resources into recruiting, developing and retaining key talent with the potential to contribute significantly to performance. However, the talent management (TM) process is difficult and despite all the efforts, many organisations struggle to effectively manage these valuable people. The main objective of this research is to examine the implementation of TM in SMEs in Europe. Our research responds to calls for more evidence of how TM is implemented across different contexts and which approaches are more prevalent. Europe is a dynamic collective of countries with distinctive political, social and economic histories that frame the present context in which SME’s operate. We present the findings from two case organisations in post socialist economies, one in Slovenia and the other in Poland. This research shows that in these post socialist contexts there is a strong need to approach TM from the perspective of SMEs, where their size and contextualised knowledge of their internal and external environment elicits local solutions to TM challenges. Furthermore, this demonstrates the value of foregrounding the individual needs and aspirations of talent when designing and implementing TM practices in SME’s, in order to create a sustainable future for all stakeholders

HR Self-Service Systems: Labour Saving or Labour Shifting?

Over the last decade self-service portals into Human Resources (HR) systems have become ubiquitous across organisations with significantly-sized workforces. These enable employees to perform administrative tasks that traditionally were the responsibility of workers situated in the personnel or HR function of an organisation. The lack of research into the impact of recent innovations in web-enabled HR system upon workforces has been noted in the HR literature. As such, there is a gap in this literature pertaining to the worker experience of using self-service portals, and critically-minded evaluations of the impact of self-service HR on organisational cultures and structures. Our research will look into this gap by interviewing various stakeholders in two higher education institutions

The importance of culture in ERP adoption - a case study analysis

The purpose of this study is to explore the importance of culture in ERP adoption and to understand why ERP projects commonly fail. This study identifies culture as an underlying issue for such failures. The researchers use the Handy model of culture as a self-diagnosis tool for culture and organisational change that can be utilised as a facilitator for culture and ERP adoption success. This study uses a case study analysis as a qualitative approach to identify a diverse array of perceptions across hierarchical structures within a selected organisation who has recently adopted a cultural change program prior to adoption. Our study found that a cultural change led to enhanced communication, leadership and a sense of coherency across the whole organisation. We argue that if the organisation continues to improve its culture then successful ERP adoption could become a reality rather than an ideal

Systems change in UK HEIs: How do culture, management, users and systems align?

Purpose - Assessing the implementation of integrated Information Systems in UK Higher Education Institutions via multiple internal stakeholders.Design/methodology/approach – Analysing the implementation strategy of two HEIs and assessing the impact of new systems on working practices. This involves interviews with various stakeholder groups from the HEIs, capturing 35 interviews.Findings – Growth of alternative power bases emerge within both HEIs, new roles and responsibilities for administrative staff emerge, with different academic working practices. Varying levels of importance are given to people and culture, management support, user involvement and clarity of communication and systems’ requirements at project pre-implementation, implementation and post-implementation.Practical implications – This study provides lessons HEIs planning to undertake significant change by implementing integrated Information Systems. Challenges emerge around fit, complexity, training, communication and consultation. Benefits gained and emerging challenges show some commonality between the two case HEIs, pointing the way forward for other “large” (student number determined) HEIs embarking on similar change.Originality/value – The UK HEI sector is experiencing major change emphasising cost reduction and operational efficiency. Understanding challenges relating to significant systems change in complex settings with varying stakeholder demands has considerable sectoral value

Enterprise Systems Adoption: A Sociotechnical Perspective on the Role of Power and Improvisation

Enterprise wide integrated systems (ES) have been extensively procured in large organizations but much research fails to develop sociotechnically informed approaches that facilitate their implementation within complex organizational environments. In this paper the authors take a critically informed sociotechnical approach to power and improvisation in ES implementation. A review and synthesis of the pertinent literature, has led to the development of an analytical framework. This framework has been used to explore these concepts through a longitudinal, ethnographic study of an ES within a UK university. The contribution of this paper is a combined ‘circuits of power-improvisation' (CPI) framework which can facilitate a better understanding of ES implementation, sociotechnical theory and practice. Lessons learnt from the study may potentially be used to avoid some of the problems experienced due to the lack of recognition of the important role of power and improvisation in what may be misrepresented as planned strategic and deliberate organizational change