Information Technology Process Improvement Decision-Making: An Exploratory Study from the Perspective of Process Owners and Process Manager

This article is derived from a qualitative multicase study with two settings that explored the way decisions are made in two IT organizations regarding process improvement initiatives by using face-to-face semi-structured interviews with 20 IT process owners and managers. The two participating organizations are a healthcare insurance company and a manufacturer of electronic interconnects. The study sought to uncover (a) how IT process improvements are prioritized and how approvals are attained, (b) how senior leadership is involved in decision making, (c) how security and risk are considered, (d) if and how formal process improvement methodologies are used, (e) if and how estimated and actual cost benefit analysis are conducted associated with decisions, and (f) how alignment with organizational goals is attained. The topic of IT governance was narrowed to explore the perspective of IT process owners and process managers, and their approaches and methodologies used with IT process improvement initiatives. The study found that pre-decision stages take place in IT investment decision making, and that process owners and process managers, participants other than senior leadership, and executive level decision makers are involved in these pre-decision stages and may be involved in the final decision stages. DOI: 10.4018/jsita.2012040102 International Journal of Strategic Information Technology and Applications, 3(2), 18-35, April-June 2012 19 Copyright © 2012, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. & Moir, 2009). Firms seeking to optimize asset utilization try to find the right balance between governance for profitability and governance for innovation (Weill & Ross, 2005). IT governance is the process by which decisions are made pertaining to IT investments, which includes (a) who makes decisions, (b) how decisions are made, (c) how outcomes are measured, and (d) how decision makers are held accountable (Symons, Cameron, Rasmussen, & Orlov, 2006). The economic turmoil that arose during the last few years has increased the importance of corporate and IT governance. Organizations that are well-governed and prudent in expending limited investor funds have a competitive advantage over competitors (Calder & Moir, 2009). As organizations continue to be faced with rapid changes in technology and business environments, more and more IT managers and project teams are advocating agile methods in their software development processes to add flexibility and speed to market (Xu, 2009). Lean and Six Sigma utilization is also on the rise within organizations, including service industry firms, to further streamline IT processes and projects (George, 2003). While the organizations discussed in this article represent different industries, each organization is considered to be a top performer in its own industry. The diversity of the organizations posed an opportunity to compare and contrast information during data collection from participants, and during and after data analysis. The research was conducted on site where study participants worked. This provided an opportunity to observe and engage with participants at the operational level resulting in an embedded case design (Yin, 2009). This article narrows the broad topic of IT governance to focus on IT investment decision making, particularly in regard to process improvement initiatives, and explores the perspective of process owners and process managers, and their organization’s decisionmaking. Process owners are responsible for ensuring that processes deliver results, and have the authority to make needed process changes (Hammer, 2007). Process Managers are typically closer to the front-line operation and the performers who execute the processes, and are charged with meeting the requirements of relevant stakeholders (Hammer; Zwikael, & Globerson, 2006).