IS Leadership Roles

IS Leadership Roles

Computer Science Corporation suggested six IS leadership roles which are required to execute IS's future agenda: chief architect, change leader, product developer, technology provocateur, coach and chief operating strategist.

Chief Architect

The chief architect designs future possibilities for the business.The chief architect's primary role is to design IT infrastructure to expand future possibilities for the business but they do not define the specific outcome. They design infrastructures that do not just provide todays technical services such as networking and databases but they also design the business components or objects.

Change Leader

The change leader is somewhat similar to the role of the resource allocator. They both allocate organizational resources but the difference between the two is that the change leader allocates or orchestrates the resources to be able to initiate and execute the change in the organization or the company. By its title itself 'change' its role is to initiate a change program that will be for the benefit of the organization for the future. Their roles include providing new IT tools and most importantly the change team who redefines or redesigns the roles, jobs, and workflow of the people to be able to bring about positive perception to its subordinates.

Product Developer

The product developer is the source of new ideas that could bring the organization closer to commercial success in emerging digital markets. A product developer recognizes the potential for performing key business processes. A product developer also acts as a negotiator, he/she must 'sell' the idea to a business partner and set up and evaluate business experiments together.

Technology Provocateur

The technology provocateur is the one who embeds IT into organizations business strategey. The technology provocateur works with the organizations business executives to bring IT and realities of the IT marketplace to bear on the formation of strategy for the business. A technology provocateur understands both business and IT to be able to integrate the two and they also understand at a fundamental level the capabilities of IT and how it impacts the business.

Coach

The coach serves as the teacher to acquire the skillset they will need for the future. The basic responsibilities of a coach is teaching people how to learn, so that they can become self-sufficient, and providing team leaders with staff able to do the IT-related work of the business. Coaches are solid practitioners of competence and they are responsible for the growth and development of the organization's subordinates

Chief Operating Strategist

the chief operating strategist is the top IS executive in the organization who is focused on the future agenda of the the IS of the organization. They have parallel responsibilities related to helping the business design the future and then delivering it.

Mintzberg's Managerial Roles

Mintzberg’s Managerial Roles

Mintzberg’s thesis on nature of managerial roles involved observing and analyzing the activities of CEO’s of five private and semi public organizations. Mintzberg identified ten separate roles in managerial work and separated these roles into three subcategories: Interpersonal contact, Information processing and Decision making. The roles that fall into the category of interpersonal contact are the figurehead, leader and the liaison.

FIGURE HEAD

The figurehead, from the definition in Encarta, is somebody who appears to be the head of an organization or institution but has no real responsibility or authority. The role of the figurehead is the one who performs ceremonial and symbolic duties as head of the organization. The figurehead also performs social and legal duties which involve greeting visitors, signing legal documents, attending ribbon cutting ceremonies, hosting seminars, etc. (My perception) the role of the figurehead is crucial or important in an organization because he/she acts as a symbol of the organization which means that whatever the figurehead ‘possess’ reflects the image the organization.

LEADER

The leader is somebody whom people follow, somebody who guides or directs others by showing them the way or telling them how to behave. Its role is to foster a proper work atmosphere and motivate and develop its subordinates. The leader is also the one who chooses or selects employees that are to be trained. He/ she possess great respect from his/her subordinates which is the factor why people follow his/her lead.

LIAISON

The liaison, other may call them as coordinators, somebody who is responsible for maintaining communication between one group or office and another. A liaison develops and maintains a network of external contact to gather information which includes activities such as participating in meetings with representatives of other divisions or organizations. He/she acts as a channel of communication so that a certain organization maintains its relationship with other external organizations.

The other roles which fall into the information processing subcategory are the monitor, disseminator, and spokesperson. First in this category is the monitor.

MONITOR

The monitor is the one who gathers internal and external information relevant to the organization. He/she reads and scans trade presses, periodicals and reports. It also involves attending trainings and seminars and maintaining personal contact.

DISSEMINATOR

The disseminator, or in other cases ‘The P.I.O’, is the one who relays or transmits factual and value based information to subordinates of the organization. It somehow acts as an internal liaison which maintains communication with its subordinates. He/she reports to subordinates on the current events and issues in the organization. This role also includes sending memos and reports, informing its staff and subordinates of the decisions implemented by higher ranking officials.

SPOKESPERSON

The spokesperson is the one responsible for communicating to the outside world on performance policies, communicating and transmitting information to others. By saying others, we mean other organizations or companies. The spokesperson serves as a representative of the organization. They pass on memos, reports and information materials, participate in conferences/meetings and report progress. And on other occasions, spokespersons are usually the one who faces the media and answers all the questions according to their organizations decisions.

ENTREPRENEUR

The entrepreneur or an entrepreneur in an organization is someone who sets up and finances new commercial enterprises to make profit. They identify, design and initiate changes in the organization. They are usually the ones who have creative imagination which are also in touch with reality. They can identify new ideas and initiate improvement projects. Entrepreneurs are the ones who implement innovations in an organization for it to prosper in the future.

DISTURBANCE HANDLER

The disturbance handler (I call it error handlers of an organization) they are the ones who deal with unexpected events and operational breakdowns. They primarily deal with the disputes or problems and the ones who take corrective actions to compensate it. Their roles involve settling conflicts between subordinates and choose alternatives to counterbalance it and overcome crisis situations.

RESOURCE ALLOCATOR

The resource allocator is similar to a treasurer only they do not hold the money but instead they are the ones who control and authorize the use of organizational resources. Resources may include organizational fund, products, etc. They are usually the ones who decide on where to apply their resources. Their responsibilities involve drafting, approving plans, schedules, budgets and they set priorities.

NEGOTIATOR

The negotiator in an organization are literally negotiators, they participate in negotiation activities with other organization or individuals. Negotiators are excellent talkers because the nature of their responsibility is important that they should be able to convince their clients or other negotiators to accept their terms and place the status quo in their organizations side.

Sources:
http://www.provenmodels.com/88/ten-managerial-roles/mintzberg
http://management.atwork-network.com

First Day Funk (MIS: Learnings)

Well, the first day turned out fun (as always). Sir Randy always has that attitude to make you smile even if hes not up to it. I didn't know that my other classmates would attend the 10:00 - 11:30 schedule instead of the 1:00 - 2:30 schedule. So I didn't have any choice but to attend the original schedule. At the start of the class I knew it would be fun not just because of the learning but also the bloopers and the sing and dance numbers of the late comers (and the virgins as well.)

First, we tackled what is M.I.S which our current subject. Sir Randy then asked us to define what is management, many answers was given by our classmates. He then said that management implies that someone or something needs to be managed, he/she or it is not capable of being independent. Management involves planning, directing, organizing and controlling. But he also stressed that people can not be managed properly because of the reason that we have feelings and we are not robots. One concrete example he gave to us was, if a parent tries suppress his/her child's emotions or feelings, the tendency is that his/her child would go against him/her. He then said that only things, processes, procedures, etc. can be managed, people are not managed but led, thus leading us to the next question "What is I.S?" I.S is the combination of IT (Information Technology) and People Ware. After defining M.I.S, he then strike a followup question "Why is it called M.I.S? Who manages the people ware?"

When I was enrolled in H.R.M, I heard some of my classmates (who were also enrolled in M.I.S) arguing about something. It turned out that they were arguing about their subject which was M.I.S so I listened. They said that M.I.S should not be the subject name instead it should be L.M.I.S which is defined as Leadership Management Information System. The equation of M.I.S is 'Hardware + Software + People ware', if people could not be managed properly why was it called Management Information System? Then recently I heard from one my classmates that it was called M.I.S because "Walay subject na ing-ana ingon ang CHED."

In my own opinion it was called M.I.S because the word 'management' in the subject name did not literally mean managing or controlling the people. M.I.S systems provide many advantages in an organization. These information technology tools can assist executes and the general workforce in performing their tasks. These systems are useful in data processing, strategy support and production of reports which can be effectively used in decision making. So M.I.S does not directly mean managing the people ware instead it gives people important, factual and usual information which could help them performing their tasks. Well that is my opinion (whats yours?)

Overall, I enjoyed the first day of our class. I hope and certainly do expect that there would be a lot of these in the next meetings to come. Before I end this, I would like to apologize to Sir Randy for not being updated on your current position in your organization. Honestly, last time I heard Sir Randy was the president of the IT educators in Mindanao. It was only at that moment I realized that Sir Randy was already the president of the IT educators in the Philippines (sorry sir) -End

Beautiful Summer

Summer has already gone and I must say it was so wonderful. I had many good memories this summer, I took up my Programming 3 subject under Sir Dan Ratilla and I'm happy to say that I finally got passed it. I was lucky our instructor decided to teach Mobile Programming which I was already acquainted (that's why I passed). Last May 15, 2009, Krizza's cousin, Te Hannah was married to Ya Boyong. The ceremony was held at Saint Paul and after that was at Sunny Point. On that same day was also the annniversary of C5 Torres so I wasnt able to finish the event and I rushed to C5 because me and my band (Strings on The Shed) had to perform there. On May 17 we went to Hagimit Falls with Krizza and the whole family. It was cloudy and raining that day but I didnt stop us from enjoying the outing. When we got there we went on the top most part of the falls, just a level below the water source. I really must say that It was so deep and the water is so cold and that I forgot that I was swimming in a falls and not on a beach I didnt realize that I wouldnt float. Now summer has ended and another school year is ahead of us. So long to waking up late and doing nothing. Back to waking up early in the morning and attending classes. I do hope that this would be good school year for me.