Abstract:The "cultural chasm" between business and information technology (IT) professionals and the importance of their developing and sustaining a healthy partnership has received attention in the IT literature. This study applies existing theories of culture and inter-group relations from the organizational behavior discipline to investigate how and why the IT culture affects these relationships. Insights as to how tensions in the IT-business relationship can be minimized by managing the IT culture are revealed.
Establishing an effective relationship between business and information technology (IT) professionals is essential for organizational success in today's competitive global economy. Despite many attempts to improve the IT-business relationships, tensions still exist. The cultural differences between business and IT have recently been blamed for these tensions. However, academic research on IT culture is lacking. This paper discusses and compares seven widely reported models for assessing organizational culture. From this, an appropriate model is selected and applied using a multiple case study approach to explore the culture of the IT group in five Australian organizations.
For organisations to fully exploit information technology and remain successful in today's competitive global economy, it is necessary for everyone to work well together. The absence of an effective relationship between business and IT professionals can limit the successful use of IT in organisations and can also be a drain on the productivity and competitiveness of organisations. An effective relationship therefore needs to be established between the two disparate groups of business and IT. This study explores the IT business relationship from a cultural perspective, and from interviews conducted in two Australian organisations provides insights into the IT culture and the effects of this culture on the IT-business relationship.
Even though organisations are highly dependent on information technology (IT), many organisations have reported an unhealthy relationship between business and IT professionals. Establishing an effective relationship between these two disparate groups is essential for organisational success in today’s competitive global economy. Despite many attempts to improve the IT-business relationship, tensions still exist. The cultural differences between business and IT have recently been blamed for these tensions. Through the application of relevant organisational behaviour theories, the cultural characteristics of the IT group that effect the IT-business relationship can be identified. Research shows that the IT culture is such that mutual benefits are not derived from the relationship, IT and business groups have a poor attitude towards cooperation, there is a lack of shared knowledge between business and IT, and there is a lack of organisational linkages between business and IT. As a starting point for reconciliation between business and IT, this chapter provides insights into how tensions in the IT-business relationship can be minimised through understanding and managing the IT culture.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.