Beyond the It Productivity Paradox

by Willcocks, Leslie P.; Lester, Stephanie

• ISBN13: 9780471986928
• ISBN10: 0471986925
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-03-17
• Publisher: WILEY

Summary

The 'IT Productivity Paradox' is the concept that, despite massive investment and resourcing by companies and organizations worldwide in their IT systems, there still seems to be little pay-off. Information systems can no longer be viewed as a support service for a business - information technology now has a lead role to play in the strategic planning processes of any organization. As we move further and further into a technology-based working environment, a critical question is how the value of IT can be measured and evaluated. This book brings together a group of the most eminent academic and practitioner thinkers in the area, to consolidate what we know about best IT evaluation practice in a comprehensive and integrated manner, and also provide new ways forward. The key to understanding the productivity paradox is the methods of IT measurement used. Improved measurement can not only reveal that IT has often been more productive than is believed, but can also focus in on ways in which benefits can be improved across the IT systems life-cycle. Critical areas where improved assessment is essential include development, and better risk analysis; sourcing, including IT outsourcing; and infrastructure, including transforming an organization's IT architecture. The authors also take a look at stakeholder interests as a part of the overall evaluation process. Contributors to this volume have been selected not only for their status in the IS field generally, but also for their reputation in the IT evaluation area. As this topic gains increasing prominence as IT expenditure continues to increase, this book will be an invaluable reference for academics and practitioners alike in the areas of information systems, IT evaluation and assessment and IT management.

Author Biography

Leslie P. Willcocks is a Fellow in the Oxford Institute of Information Management, Templeton College, Oxford and Visiting Professor, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Information Technology and has an international reputation for his work in IT evaluation, outsourcing and information management. He is author of 12 books and over 120 refereed papers for journals including HBR, Sloan Management Review and Long Range Planning and was co-editor of Strategic Sourcing of Information Systems (1997), Wiley.<BR>Stephen Lester is Principal Consultant with Lucidus Management Technologies and a Research Affiliate of the Oxford Institute of Information Management. Previously she worked as Technology Change Director for Lloyds Register, London, and Change Manager for Information Technology and Engineering at Cellnet, UK. Her specialist areas are service management and IT measurement issues.

Table of Contents

Contributors	vii
Series Preface	xi
Acknowledgements	xiii
Introduction
Information Technology: Transformer or Sink Hole?	1	(38)
Leslie P. Willcocks
Stephanie Lester
SECTION I: IS THERE A PRODUCTIVITY PARADOX?
Paradox Lost? Firm-Level Evidence on the Returns to Information Systems Spending	39	(30)
Eric Brynjolfsson
Lorin Hitt
In Search Of Information Technology Productivity: Assessment Issues	69	(30)
Leslie Willcocks
Stephanie Lester
Benchmarking Organizational and IT Performance	99	(24)
M.C. Augustus van Nievelt
SECTION II: IT INVESTMENT APPRAISAL
Information Systems/Technology Evaluation Practices: Evidence from UK Organizations	123	(28)
Joan A. Ballantine
Robert D. Galliers
Stephanie J. Stray
Evaluation of Information Technology Investments: Business as Usual?	151	(32)
Philip L. Powell
Evaluating Investment in IT: Findings and a Framework	183	(34)
Barbara Farbey
Frank Land
David Targett
Managing Information Technology Resources as a Value Centre: the Leadership Challenge	217	(30)
N. Venkatraman
SECTION III: DEVELOPMENT, SOURCING AND INFRASTRUCTURE
Risk Assessment and Management Practices in Software Development	247	(20)
Janne Ropponen
IT Projects and Assessment: Applying Benefits Funding at the California Franchise Tax Board	267	(26)
Valerie A. Graeser
Leslie P. Willcocks
To Outsource IT or Not? Research on Economics and Evaluation Practice	293	(42)
Leslie P. Willcocks
Guy Fitzgerald
Mary Lacity
Four Views of IT Infrastructure: Implications for IT Investments	335	(28)
Peter Weill
Marianne Broadbent
SECTION IV: TOWARDS INTERPRETIVE APPROACHES
Interpretive Evaluation Design for Information Systems	363	(18)
Geoff Walsham
Evaluation of Information Systems: a Critical Assessment	381	(30)
Rudy Hirschheim
Steve Smithson
Index	411