ORGANIZATIONAL RESISTANCE TO IT

Organizational Resistance to IT



Organizational Resistance to IT

Introduction

Organizations are experiencing a paradigm shift in the development of their information systems: from data to processes. The aim pursued by this is emphasize business processes to achieve architectures more agile and flexible, adaptable the continuous changes that occur in markets in which organizations develop business. It is a revolution similar to that produced by isolating the management of application data, with the arrival of the databases and the relational model. This paper discusses the affect that the information technology has on the organizational efficiency and the resistance organizations have in the implementation of information technology.

Resistance

One of the great difficulties of achieving change in the institutions concerning new developments in information systems is political resistance to any significant organizational change that may occur. Major changes are those that directly affect who do what to whom, when and how. Organizational culture is a powerful disincentive to change, especially the technological nature. Any changes will meet stiff resistance (Davenport, 2008). For example, if the organization has gone through much upheaval, the employees will be more resistant to change. Organizations are usually uptight about their budgets before undertaking any IT strategy. The cost implication becomes crucial in trading off the short term gains with the long term benefits. Beside, another major concern is getting the human resources trained for the effectiveness implementation of the system.

Risk and Cost Management with the System

One of the most resisting factors for organizations is the cost considerations towards IT implementation. During the implementation of Information Systems, it can be considered that there are risks. All managers are conscious about the requirements of Information Systems, and they always have to remember the hazards of ES. In terms of achieving business value, there are lots of Information system examples which have been used by the organization such as the organization's Information Connectivity draws a vertical integration gap between services and Business systems to deliver important new opportunities to increase the productivity. A comprehensive cost benefit analysis requires enduring that the IT meets the productive targets of the company else the project will not be feasible (Davenport, 2008).

Employee Reservations

The way people respond to an attempt to change their behaviour seems to depend on a cost-benefit analysis of the change made implicitly. Each member of the organization develops a psychological contract with the organization. Another reason why the resistance to change is so frequent that the request for change of behaviour often creates uncertainty in the individual, simply because individuals are not clear what the change will mean for them, and this makes many people uncomfortable. Similarly, there are other individuals that they like the uncertainty of new ways of behaviour, and these individuals are probably less likely to object to attempts to make them act differently (Hammer, 2003). People may also resist change because the contrasting behaviour violates the psychological contract by requiring them to conduct themselves beyond their personal potential because they are in their comfort zone of working on ...