Changing roles of information systems professionals: from technical managers to strategic leaders

ABSTRACT

In this paper it is argued that existing and emergent technologies provide leadership opportunities for information systems (IS) professionals that allow them to expand their roles from technical managers to strategic leaders. Four particular leadership roles are proposed which IS professionals are positioned to occupy and specific technologies supporting these leadership roles including group decision support systems, executive informations systems, and strategic information systems are discussed. A conceptual model, the leadership-technology cube, is presented which links leadership skills and leadership roles to information technologies which jointly affect leadership outcomes. In order for IS professionals to assume the leadership roles proposed here, they must develop new competencies beyond technical expertise, especially interpersonal and conceptual skills and rethink the IS career concept.

REFERENCES

• 1: Alavi, M. (1989). Group decision support systems' A key to business team productivity. Journal of Information Systems Management, 8, 3, 36-41.
• 2: Allison. G. (1971). Essence of Decision. Boston: Little, Brown.
• 3: Bartol, K. & Martin, D. (1982). Managing information systems personnel: A review of the literature and managerial implications. Management Information Systems Qua~er!y, 6, 49-70.
• 4: Bass, B. (1981). Handbook of leadership: A Survey of Theory and Research. New York: Free Press.
• 5: Bennis, W. & Nanus, B. (1985). Leaders. New York' Harper & Row.
• 6: Catherine M. Beise , Fred Niederman , Peggy M. Beranek, Facilitating technology-supported group work: a new category of IS personnel, Proceedings of the 1992 ACM SIGCPR conference on Computer personnel research, p.250-258, April 05-07, 1992, Cincinnati, Ohio, United States [doi>10.1145/144001.144078]
• 7: Bums, J.M. (1978). Leadership. New York: Harper & Row.
• 8: Chalykoff, J. & Kochan, T. (1989). Computeraided monitoring: Its influence on employee satisfaction and turnover. Personnel Psychology, 42, 807-836.
• 9: Dean, J. (1987). Building the future: The justification process for new technology. In P. Jennings & A. Buitendam (Eds.). New Technoloey as Organizational Intervention. Cambridge, MA Ballinger.
• 10: Gerardine Desanctis , R. Brent Gallupe, A foundation for the study of group decision support systems, Management Science, v.33 n.5, p.589-609, May 1987 [doi>10.1287/mnsc.33.5.589]
• 11: Ettie, J., Bridges, W. & O'Keefe, R. (1984). Organizational strategy and structural differences for radical vs. incremental innovations. Manaeement Science, 30, 6, 682-695.
• 12: Gardner, J. (1990). On Leadership. New York: The Free Press.
• 13: Graen, G. & Uhl-Bien, M. (1991). The transformation of professionals into self-managing and partially selfdesigning contributors' Toward a theory of leadership making. Journal of Management Systems, 3, 25-40.
• 14: Hitt, M. & Keats, B. (1992). Strategic leadership and restructuring: A reciprocal interdependence. In R. Phillips & J. Hunt (Eds.), .Strategic Leadership. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
• 15: Hosking, M. & Morley, I. (1988). The skills of leadership, in J. Hunt, R. Baliga, P. Dachler & C. Schriesheim (Eds.) Eme_rging Leadership Vistas. Lexington, MA' D. C. Heath & Co.
• 16: Howell, J. & Higginns, C. (1990a). Champions of change: Identifying, understanding and supporting champions of technological innovations. Organizational Dynamics, Summer, 40-56.
• 17: Howell, J. & Higgins, C. (1990b). Champions of technological innovation. Administrative Science Quarterly, 35, 317-341.
• 18: Hunt, J., Baliga, R., Dachler, P. & Schriesheim, C. (1988). Ememing Leadership Vistas. Lexington, MA' D. C. Heath & Co.
• 19: Jaques, E. (1989). Requisite Organization. Arlington, VA: Carson Hall.
• 20: Jaques, E. & Clement, R. (1991). Executive Leadership; A Practical Guide to managing Complexi~. Arlington, VA: Carson Hall.
• 21: Janis, I. (1989). Crucial Decisions: Leadership in Policy Making and Crisi Management. New York' Free Press.
• 22: L. M. Jessup , Terry Connolly , Jolene Galegher, The effects of anonymity on GDSS group process with an idea-generating task, MIS Quarterly, v.14 n.3, p.313-321, Sep. 1990 [doi>10.2307/248893]
• 23: Karin Klenke, New human resources infrastructures: computer mediated performance appraisals, Proceedings of the 1991 conference on SIGCPR, p.80-93, April 08-09, 1991, Athens, Georgia, United States [doi>10.1145/111084.111094]
• 24: Karin Klenke, Leadership Processes in Computer Mediated Work Groups: Implications of Information Systems Development and Leadership Studies, Proceedings of the IFIP WG8.2 Working Conference on The Impact of Computer Supported Technologies in Information Systems Development, p.115-132, June 14-17, 1992
• 25: Kotter, J. (1982). The General Managers. New York: Free Press.
• 26: Kotter, J. (1988). The Leadership Factor. New York: Free Press.
• 27: Kotter, J. (1990). What leaders really do. Harvard Business Review, May-June, 103-111.
• 28: Labich, K. (1988). The seven keys to effective leadership. Fortune, October 24, 58-66.
• 29: Laudon, K. & Turner, J. (1989) (Eds.) Information Technology and Management Strategy. Englewood Cliffs,NJ: Prentice-Hall.
• 30: Lewis, P. & Jacobs, O. (1992). Individual differences in strategic leadership capacity' A constructive/developmental view. In R. Phillips & J. Hunt (Eds.) Strategic Leadership. Lexin
• 31: Locke, E. (1991). The Essence of Leadership. New York: Macmillan, Inc.
• 32: Maidique, M. (1980). Entrepreneurs, champions and technological innovations. Sloan Management Review, 21, 2, 59-76.
• 33: Manz, C. (1986). Self-leadership: Toward an expanded theory of self-influence processing in organizations. Academy of Management Review, 11,585-600.
• 34: Manz, C. & Sims, H. (1989). SuperLeadership' Leading Others to Lead Themselves. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
• 35: Manz, C. (1991). Leading employees to be selfmanaging and beyond: Toward the establishment of self- leadership in organizations. Journal of Management Systems, 3, 3, 15-24.
• 36: Markus, L. (1984). Systems in Organizations: Bugs and features. Boston: Pitman.
• 37: Mintzberg, H. (1973). The Nature of Managerial Work. New York: Harper & Row.
• 38: Osborn, R., Morris, F. & Connor, F. (1984). Emerging technologies: The challenge to leadership theory. In J. Hunt, D. I-Iosking, C. Schriesheim & R. Steward (Eds.). Leaders and Managers. New York: Pergamon Press.
• 39: Picot, A. (1989). Information management - The science of problem solving. International Journal oflnformation Management, 9, 4, 237-243.
• 40: Pinnsonneault, A. & Kraemer, K. (1987). The impact of technological support on groups: An assessment of the empirical research. Decision Support Systems, 5, 197- 216.
• 41: Richard, D. & Engels, S. (1986). After the vision' Suggestions to corporate visionaries and vision champions. In J. Adams (Eds.) Transforming Leadership. Alexandria, VA: Miles River Press.
• 42: Rockart, J. (1984). The line takes leadership. Sloan Management Review, 29, 4, 57-64.
• 43: Rost, J. (1991). Leadership for the Twenty-First Centu~. New York: Praeger.
• 44: Sashkin, M. (1992). Strategic leadership competencies. In R. Phillips & J. Hunt (1992). Strateeic LeadershiE. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
• 45: Sashkin, M. & Fulmer, R. (1988). Toward an organizationa theory of leadership, in J. Hunt, B. Baliga, P.Dachler & C. Schriesheim (eds.), Emerging Leadership Vistas. Lexington, MA' Lexington Books.
• 46: Sayles, L. (1979). What effective Managers Really Do. . . and How They Do It. New York: McGraw-Hill.
• 47: Schoderbek, P., Schoderbek, C. & Kefalas, A. (1990). Management Systems. Homewood, IL: Irwin.
• 48: Schon, D. (1963). Champions for radical new innovations. Harvard Business Review, March-Apzil, 77- 86.
• 49: Sergiovanni, T. (1990). Value-Added Leadership. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
• 50: L Sproull , S Kiesler, Reducing social context cues: electronic mail in organizational communication, Management Science, v.32 n.11, p.1492-1512, Nov. 1986 [doi>10.1287/mnsc.32.11.1492]
• 51: Strickland, L. Gallo, P., Barefoot, J. & Peterson, S. (1978). Human Relations, 31, 7, 583-604.
• 52: Uhl-Bien, M. & Graen, G. (1992). Selfmanagement and team-making in crossfunctional work teams' Discovering the key to becoming an integrated team. Journal of High Technology Management, in press.
• 53: Vitali, N. (1985). Knowledge as a basis for expertise in systems analysis: An empirical study. Management Information Systems Ouarterly, 221-240.
• 54: Wellins, R., Byham, W. & Wilson, J. (1991). Empowered Teams. San Francisco' Jossey Bass.
• 55: Charles Wiseman, Strategic Information Systems, McGraw-Hill Professional, 1988
• 56: Yukl, G. (1989). Leadership in Organizations. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
• 57: Zalesnik, A. (1977). Managers and leaders: Are they different? Harvard Business Review, 15, 3, 67-84.

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.1 MODELS AND PRINCIPLES
      H.1.2 User/Machine Systems
          Subjects: Human factors

Additional Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.6 MANAGEMENT OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS
      K.6.1 Project and People Management
          Subjects: Management techniques (e.g., PERT/CPM)
  K.7 THE COMPUTING PROFESSION

General Terms:
Human Factors, Management, Theory