Leader-Member Exchange Theory
Introduction Information technology has made great strides in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of how information is organized, stored, processed, and shared in today’s organizations. With the vast amount of information available at the touch of a button, there are several human aspects that should be considered when implementing and maintaining an information management system. It can be a very difficult task for information managers to find the right combination of technology, access to information, and security to match the needs and information culture of the entire organization. Information managers must begin by thinking about how people use information, not how people use machines (Davenport 1994). It shouldn’t be assumed that once the right technology is in place, suitable information sharing will follow. Human nature can have a great deal of influence, good and bad, on how effective an IT system can be. With the enormous amount of information being exchanged, it is not possible to account for all of the unforeseen consequences of the expansion of information in use by today’s companies. Using computers to help individuals perform their jobs and tasks is one of the most important actions taken when implementing technology effectively. However, sometimes the result of this intervention is not successful at all and may even generate difficulties related to people participation in this process (De Souza Dias 1998). This paper will discuss a few of the human variables involved in the information technology equation. The first section of this paper will deal with senior management’s lack of understanding of the implementation process. The discussion will also include the characteristics of the IT professional. In the final section, training the end user will be discussed. Discussion Technology initiatives do not go wrong only because of the idiosyncrasies of users and IT professionals; the behavior of upper management often has
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