A View on Knowledge Management

IT professionals who want to deploy foundation technologies such as groupware, CRM or decision support tools, but fail to justify them on the basis of their contribution to Knowledge Management, may find it difficult to get funding unless they can frame the benefits within a Knowledge Management context. Determining Knowledge Management’s pervasiveness and impact is analogous to measuring the contribution of marketing, employee development, or any other management or organizational competency. This chapter addresses the problem of developing measurement models for Knowledge Management metrics and discusses what current Knowledge Management metrics are in use, and examines their sustainability and soundness in assessing knowledge utilization and retention of generating revenue. The chapter discusses the use of a Balanced Scorecard approach to determine a business-oriented relationship between strategic Knowledge Management usage and IT strategy and implementation.

Measuring and Managing E-Business Initiatives through the Balanced Scorecard

The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) initially developed by Kaplan and Norton is a performance measurement system that supplements traditional financial measures with the criteria that measure performance from three additional perspectives: customer perspective, internal business perspective, and innovation and learning perspective. In recent years, the Balanced Scorecard has been applied to information technology in order to ensure that IT is fairly evaluated. The proposed methodology can also be applied to e-business initiatives. In this chapter, it is illustrated how the BSC can be used to measure and manage e-business initiatives. A generic e-business Balanced Scorecard is proposed and its development and implementation is discussed.

Assessing Business-IT Allignment Maturity

Strategic alignment focuses on the activities that management performs to achieve cohesive goals across the IT (Information Technology) and other functional organizations (e.g., finance, marketing, H/R, R&D, manufacturing). Therefore, alignment addresses both how IT is in harmony with the business, and how the business should, or could, be in harmony with IT. Alignment evolves into a relationship where the function of IT and other business functions adapt their strategies together. Achieving alignment is evolutionary and dynamic. It requires strong support from senior management, good working relationships, strong leadership, appropriate prioritization, trust, and effective communication, as well as a thorough understanding of the business and technical environments. The strategic alignment maturity assessment provides organizations with a vehicle to evaluate these activities. Knowing the maturity of its strategic choices and alignment practices make it possible for a firm to see where it stands and how it can improve. This chapter discusses an approach for assessing the maturity of the business-IT alignment. Once maturity is understood, an organization can identify opportunities for enhancing the harmonious relationship of business and IT.

Structures, Processes and Relational Mechanisms for IT Governance

In many organisations, Information Technology (IT) has become crucial in the support, the sustainability and the growth of the business. This pervasive use of technology has created a critical dependency on IT that calls for a specific focus on IT Governance. IT Governance consists of the leadership and organisational structures and processes that ensure that the organisation’s IT sustains and extends the organisation’s strategy and objectives. This introductory chapter records and interprets some important existing theories, models and practises in the IT Governance domain and aims to contribute to the understanding of IT Governance and its structures, processes and relational mechanisms.

Governance Structures for IT in the Health Care Industry

In this chapter we bind together three elements: governance structures, the health care industry and modern information and communication technology (ICT). Our hypothesis is that modern ICT has even more than before made the concept and operation of the governance structures important. ICT supports some governance structures in health care better than others, and ICT itself needs governing. Our research question also is: which kinds of governance structures in health care are supported and needed by modern ICT? Our chapter should be of primary interest for Health Care professionals. They should be given a new, partly revolutionary point of view to their own industry. For parties discussing governance structure issues in Health Care, the chapter should give a lot of support for argumentation and thinking. The models and conclusions should be extendable to other industries too. For academic researchers in Governance Structure and IT issues, the chapter should contain an interesting industry case.

The Evolution of IT Governance at NB Power

IT and business are inextricable linked. It is incomprehensible to think the two should ever again be independent. IT Governance will penetrate how IT is executed, as organizations like NB Power endeavor to become better at governing and managing their IT investments. NB Power, in 1998, implemented an IT Governance framework. Through IT Governance the organization was able to address the results of a diagnostic study on their internal IT service provider who was attempting to respond to a seemingly endless list of requests for IT support. Four years later, factors critical to the success of implementing an IT Governance framework are evident. The IT Governance framework is still evolving, but the organization is now well positioned to take advantage of its IT investment.

Technical Issues Related to IT Governance Tactics

This chapter deals with some technical aspects of the strategies for IT Governance described in most of the other chapters of this book. The practical application of IT Governance techniques and tactics requires the collection and analysis of measurable data that guide estimation, decision-making and assessment, since it is common sense that one can control and manage better what one is able to measure. This chapter aims at introducing the reader to product metrics and measurements, proposing methods relating to the implementation of a measurements program and analyzing how product metrics can be used to control IT development. Focus is placed on product metrics, measurements and process control techniques. Such instruments can aid significantly in monitoring the development process and making IT-related tasks more transparent to IT managers. They also aid in design, prediction and assessment of the IT product quality. They provide data used for decision-making, cost and effort estimation, fault prevention, and testing time reduction. Moreover, the use of product metrics and process control techniques can direct the standardization of IT products and IT development process, as well as the assessment of the process maturity of outsourcing partners. The most commonly used metrics are presented and the reader is introduced to measurement techniques and automation tools. This chapter also discusses the application of metrics along with statistical process control tools. Finally, it provides suggestions on how product metrics can aid towards IT Governance not only in large IT companies, but also in the smaller ones.

Measuring ROI in E-Commerce Applications

Measuring the Return on Investment (ROI) of a project is a key element of the IT Governance process. The research in this paper aims to provide an overview of how to calculate the ROI for e-commerce applications so that this information, and the attached ROI Calculator Tool Template, can be used by organizations to reduce the time in preparing the ROI for a project. Although there is much written about ROI, there is not that much said about how to prepare one, specifically for an e-commerce project. By reading this research paper and by using the ROI Calculator Tool, any IT group or organization that is going to deploy e-commerce applications will have a starting point for calculating ROIs.

Linking the IT Balanced Scorecard to the Business Objectives at a Major Canadian Financial Group

The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) initially developed by Kaplan and Norton is a performance management system that enables businesses to drive strategies based on measurement and follow-up. In recent years, the BSC has been applied to information technology (IT). The IT BSC is becoming a popular tool, with its concepts widely supported and dispersed by international consultant groups such as Gartner Group, Renaissance Systems, Nolan Norton Institute, and others. As a result of this interest, the first real-life applications are starting to emerge. In this paper, the development and implementation of a departmental BSC within an Information Services Division (ISD) serving a Canadian financial group will be described and discussed. We use an IT BSC maturity model to determine the maturity level of the IT BSC under review.

Managing IT Functions

This chapter discusses imperatives for IT functions, organization of IT functions, roles of IT functions, roles of chief information officers (CIOs) and key issues in IT management. CIOs in Norway find the role of entrepreneur most important and the role of liaison least important. Improving links between information systems strategy and business strategy is the highest ranking key issue in managing IT functions in Norway.