DECISION-MAKING AND THE MANAGER'S JOB

15.10 DECISION-MAKING AND THE MANAGER'S JOB

C o m p u t e r - b a s e d i n f o r m a t i o n s y s t e m s h a v e h a d a n impact o n t h e j o b o f m a n a g e r f o r o v e r t h r e e d e c a d e s . H o w e v e r , this i m p a c t w a s felt m a i n l y a t t h e l o w e r - and m i d d l e - m a n a g e r i a l levels. N o w M S S are affecting t o p m a n a g e r s a s well.

T h e m o s t important task o f m a n a g e r s i s m a k i n g decisions. M S S t e c h n o l o g i e s can

c h a n g e t h e m a n n e r i n which m a n y d e c i s i o n s are b e i n g m a d e a n d c o n s e q u e n t l y c h a n g e m a n a g e r s ' jobs. T h e impacts o f M S S o n d e c i s i o n - m a k i n g are n u m e r o u s ; t h e m o s t prob- able areas are the following:

• A u t o m a t i o n of routine d e c i s i o n s or p h a s e s in t h e d e c i s i o n - m a k i n g p r o c e s s (e.g.,

for frontline d e c i s i o n - m a k i n g ) . • L e s s expertise ( e x p e r i e n c e ) required for m a k i n g m a n y decisions. • Faster d e c i s i o n - m a k i n g b e c a u s e of the availability of i n f o r m a t i o n a n d the

a u t o m a t i o n o f s o m e p h a s e s i n t h e d e c i s i o n m a k i n g process. • L e s s reliance on experts and analysts to p r o v i d e support to t o p executives; m a n - agers can do it by t h e m s e l v e s with the h e l p of intelligent systems. • P o w e r redistribution a m o n g managers. • Support f o r c o m p l e x decisions, m a k i n g t h e m faster and of better quality. • I n f o r m a t i o n f o r high-level d e c i s i o n - m a k i n g is e x p e d i t e d or e v e n self g e n e r a t e d .

M a n y m a n a g e r s report that the c o m p u t e r has finally g i v e n t h e m t i m e t o g e t o u t o f t h e o f f i c e and i n t o t h e field ( E I S can save an h o u r a d a y for e v e r y user). T h e y also find

C H A P T E R 15 INTEGRATION, IMPACTS, AND THE FUTURE OF MANAGEMENT SUPPORT SYSTEMS

agents, expert systems, O L A P , and other analytical tools). A n o t h e r a s p e c t of the m a n - agerial c h a l l e n g e lies in t h e ability of M S S to support t h e d e c i s i o n p r o c e s s in general

a n d s t r a t e g i c p l a n n i n g a n d c o n t r o l d e c i s i o n s i n particular. M S S c o u l d c h a n g e t h e

d e c i s i o n - m a k i n g p r o c e s s and e v e n d e c i s i o n - m a k i n g styles. For e x a m p l e , i n f o r m a t i o n

g a t h e r i n g for d e c i s i o n - m a k i n g i s c o m p l e t e d m u c h m o r e quickly. E n t e r p r i s e i n f o r m a - t i o n s y s t e m s are e x t r e m e l y u s e f u l i n s u p p o r t i n g s t r a t e g i c m a n a g e m e n t ( L i u e t al., 2002). A l t e c h n o l o g i e s are n o w u s e d t o i m p r o v e e n v i r o n m e n t a l scanning o f informa- tion. A s a result, m a n a g e r s can c h a n g e their a p p r o a c h t o p r o b l e m - s o l v i n g . R e s e a r c h indicates that m o s t m a n a g e r s t e n d to work on a large n u m b e r of p r o b l e m s s i m u l t a n e - ously, m o v i n g f r o m o n e t o another a s t h e y wait f o r m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n o n their current

p r o b l e m ( M i n t z b e r g e t al., 2002). M S S t e n d t o r e d u c e t h e t i m e required t o c o m p l e t e tasks in t h e d e c i s i o n - m a k i n g p r o c e s s and eliminat e s o m e of t h e n o n p r o d u c t i v e waiting t i m e b y providing k n o w l e d g e and information. T h e r e f o r e , m a n a g e r s will w o r k o n f e w e r tasks during e a c h day but will c o m p l e t e m o r e of t h e m . T h e r e d u c t i o n in start-up t i m e

a s s o c i a t e d w i t h m o v i n g f r o m task t o task c o u l d b e t h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t s o u r c e o f increased managerial productivity. Another possible impact on the manager's job could bea change in leadership requirements. W h a t are n o w g e n e r a l l y c o n s i d e r e d g o o d l e a d e r s h i p qualities m a y b e significantly altered by t h e u s e of MSS. For e x a m p l e , as f a c e - t o - f a c e c o m m u n i c a t i o n is replaced by electronic mail and c o m p u t e r i z e d conferencing, thus, leadership qualities attributed t o physical a p p e a r a n c e c o u l d b e c o m e less important.

E v e n i f m a n a g e r s ' j o b s d o not c h a n g e dramatically, the m e t h o d s m a n a g e r s u s e t o

d o their j o b s will. For e x a m p l e , a n increasing n u m b e r o f C E O s n o l o n g e r u s e i n t e r m e - diaries; instead, t h e y w o r k directly w i t h c o m p u t e r s and t h e Web. O n c e v o i c e u n d e r - standing is of high quality, we m a y s e e a real r e v o l u t i o n in the way m a n a g e r s u s e c o m - puters.

IMPACT ON PERFORMANCE OF MANAGERS AND EMPLOYEES

A c c o r d i n g t o P e r e z - C a s c a n t e e t al, (2002), a n E S - D S S w a s f o u n d t o i m p r o v e t h e per-

f o r m a n c e o f b o t h existing and n e w m a n a g e r s and e m p l o y e e s . I t h e l p e d m a n a g e r s t o gain m o r e k n o w l e d g e , experience, and expertise, and c o n s e q u e n t l y e n h a n c e d the qual- ity of their decision-making.