554 Part IV • The Information Management System
Strong business/IT relationships can also be fos-
tered by two other types of mechanisms in Figure 13.15;
informal networking practices and human resource prac-
tices can be used to link IS and business managers, or IS
managers that report to different business units, in a less
formal way. These mechanisms help build interpersonal
networks among organizational members that can be
used for information and knowledge sharing across
different units.
Measuring Overall IS Performance
In addition to the performance metrics mentioned in the
previous discussion of the technology and human resource
assets, some organizations conduct an annual survey to
assess business manager satisfaction with IS activities in
general. However, these measures may not capture well the
higher-level contributions of an IS organization in terms of
its ability to provide “business value.”
One increasingly popular approach to assessing
these higher-level outcomes has been to mirror metrics
used by the overall organization by using a now popular
tool called the balanced scorecard. Kaplan and Norton
(1992) introduced the framework with the objective of
promoting a more “balanced” view of organizational per-
formance than financial performance measures alone. The
overall business model included four metrics: (1) customer
satisfaction, (2) internal processes, (3) innovation and
learning, as well as (4) financial performance.
Applying these metrics to an IS organization
assessment, some CIOs have adopted a balanced score-
card approach that captures not only the IS role as serv-
ice provider but also its ability to serve as a key resource
for enabling business process improvements. Some
organizations have reported that the process of aligning a
balanced scorecard for the IS department with a corpo-
rate (or business unit) scorecard has also helped the
organization to develop a common “language” for busi-
ness and IS leaders to more openly discuss IS perform-
ance objectives and how well they are being achieved
(Huang and Hu, 2007).Special Issue: IS Management in Global Organizations
Today, virtually all organizations, regardless of size, must
deal with the impacts of competing in a global economy.
At an organization level, this can require not only an
in-depth knowledge of technological and business issues
but also of world history, culture, geography, religion, pol-
itics, and international law. With ever-improving global
communication networks and connectivity, global IS man-
agement has also become much more pervasive and brings
with it some new leadership challenges.
For example, systems integration has long been
acknowledged as a critical process for most organiza-
tions, and the additional problems associated with
integrating a multitude of diverse systems across multiple
geographies are especially challenging. To avoid some of
the pitfalls of integration, many IT leaders are increasing-
ly relying on worldwide IT standards (see the box
entitled “How Global IT Standardization Enables ‘One
Company, One Team’ ”).
Nevertheless, several unique factors at the world
region and country level also need to be taken into account,
such as the country telecommunications infrastructure,
legal and security issues, language and culture, and time
zone differences. Each of these are discussed here.GLOBAL IT STANDARDIZATION ENABLES “ONE COMPANY, ONE TEAM”Part of the mission of global company Johnson Controls, Inc., is to transfer people, products, and processes seamlessly across
the world. In an interview held in late 2005, CIO Sam Valanju emphasized the importance of IT standardization in enabling
the company’s vision of “one company, one team” (Brown, 2006). For example:- The company has one e-mail system and one e-meeting system (for collaboration) around the world.
- An employee can take his or her company laptop to any Johnson Controls site around the world, and its wireless
connection will work in any facility—whether the employee came from China, the United States, or Europe, it will
work. - The same vendor’s telephone products are used at company sites around the world, so when you are at a different site,
pushing buttons to retrieve voice mail, it just gives you the feeling that you are in your own office. - Workers in eight automotive design centers around the world are seamlessly connected, working with the same stan-
dardized systems, in the same standardized way.