Lewis-Progressive Assistant Professor, Management Information and Decision Systems Department, Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western University
This article presents an executive overview of the article "Searching and Scanning: How Executives Obtain Information From Executive Information Systems," by Betty Vandenbosch and Sid L. Huff.
Acognitive learning perspective is used to develop and test a model of the relationship between information acquisition and learning in the executive support systems (ESS) context. The model proposes two types of learning: mental model maintenance in which new information fits into existing mental models and confirms them; and mental model building in which mental models are changed to accommodate new information. It also proposes that information acquisition objectives determine the type of learning that is possible. When ESS are used to answer specific questions or solve well-defined problems, they help to fine-tune operations and verify assumptions-in other words, they help to maintain current mental models. However, ESS may be able to challenge fundamental assumptions and help to build new mental models if executives scan through them to help formulate problems and foster creativity. Thirty-six interviews with executive ESS users at seven organizations and a survey of 361 users at 18 additional organizations are used to develop scales to measure the model's constructs arid provide support for its relationships. These results support the model's prediction that mental model building is more likely with scanning than with focused search. ESS also appear to con tribute to mental model maintenance much more often than they do to mental model building. Without a clear focus on mental model building, it seems that business as usual is the more likely outcome.
Higher-order organizational learning occurs when a company adopts new principles, assumptions, and paradigms, which often turn into competitive advantage. Systems development and implementation offer an opportunity for higher-order organizational learning that is rarely exploited. Advanced information systems, in particular expert systems (ES) and executive information systems (EIS), provide ample opportunities for higher-order organizational learning if the development process is structured in certain ways. This work includes an analysis of three organizations in terms of project outcomes, organizational learning outcomes, and organizational performance. On the basis of these assessments, five critical success factors are identified that may contribute to organizational learning during advanced system development. The relationships between these factors and organizational outcomes are summarized in a preliminary model that can form the basis for future research. The work closes with some recommendations for ways information systems managers can encourage higher-order organizational learning during advanced system development.
Work in organizations is becoming increasingly focused on collaborative work in groups. Groupware is widely touted as the information technology that can support this new mode of work by fostering collaboration. In a study of Lotus Notes, a popular groupware product, implemented throughout the professional staff of a large American insurance company, we found the impact of groupware to be somewhat different from certain common expectations. While almost everyone was quite pleased with the Notes, implementation and its perceived impact, there was no evidence of a change in the degree of collaboration among organization members. Two key themes are explored as possible explanations for this result: fit of the technology to the organization, and limited training in how best to use this new technology.
A model of the relationships among executive support systems (ESS), learning, and performance is developed. This model describes the impact of ESS on perceptions of competitive performance when viewed from a learning perspective. The model proposes two types of learning: mental-model maintenance, in which new information fits into existing mental models and confirms them; and mental-model building, in which mental models are changed to accommodate new information. The results of a survey of seventy-three executives support the view that the success of ESS may be contingent upon the type of executive learning they engender. The research found that perceptions of competitive performance resulting from ESS use are strongly related to mental-model building, but found no link between competitive performance and mental-model maintenance. Hence, it seems that ESS can and do foster executive learning. Nevertheless, organizations that embark on ESS development on the basis of promised gains in competitive performance should proceed cautiously. The presence of analysis capability seems to be the best differentiation between mental-model maintenance and mental-model building, leading to a consideration of behaviour vis-à-vis the ESS as a predictor of learning. Without mental-model building, competitive performance gains seem unlikely. In addition, companies should be leery of systems that are justified on the basis of improved technical quality.