How Does the "Business View" Apply to Higher Education?

The Business View applies to Higher Education (HE) in that Information Systems (IS) must be viewed as a vital resource to help further the goals of the institution, just as it is in any other business setting. Long gone should be the days when, as Pearlson noted in the reading is so often the case, IS is viewed as an "island," or as being separate from the existing company or institution. Sadly, however, this is not always the case and I think in many HE settings that old and outdated viewpoint still holds true. So many people think of IS as a 'technology field' that is 'beyond their realm' that they and those around them are comfortable to sit back and let it be a separate part of the institution that, in their minds, works behind the scenes merely to keep things running. The BV shuns this type of thinking and insists that collaboration and communication between IS and Business Managers are key elements in providing for atmospheres that allow for work to be performed in the most accurate and time efficient manners available, and for financial resources allocated to IS to be used in the most opportune of ways within a said structure and organization.

HE also benefits from the BV when it embraces its concept that working with IS will enable it to discover and implement magnificent business opportunities that positively affect the bottom line both instantly and over time, and allow for new strategies to be discovered that will do the same. These opportunities, as noted in the Madison reading (4), will facilitate growth and "...allow an organization to improve in quality, cost reduction, service delivery, and customer satisfaction," all factors every type of business, from traditional to HE, wishes to embrace.

Who is the "Business Manager?"

The business managers are those within the institution who have the means and authority to help lead and encourage the partnerships between themselves, their employees and IS to work together. They are also the ones who many times allocate the amount of funding that goes into IS and as such should be a part of the planning process of how the funding will be used. That being said, the business managers are also the ones who should immerse themselves in learning all that they can about how IS can affect their department, and help prepare their employees to embrace the change that will inevitably come along with those options once they are forthcoming. They must also know who to ask the appropriate questions to in order to get the best information, and they must have a flair to not only initiate and conceptualize, but also know how to integrate and train people to effectively use the new measures that are being put into place. Just like a quarterback for any football team, the business managers are generally the ones who will either receive all of the glory or all of the blame (sometimes the latter more than the former), so they must take care in their decision making processes to ensure they are thinking of how the IS changes will affect HE both positively and negatively. That is where the collaboration between themselves and their teams with IS will prove to be priceless. It is truly mixing the best of both worlds for an even better 'business' arrangement.

In HE settings, the Deans, Registrars, and Department Heads are generally considered to be the business managers., although certainly those in even higher positions could be viewed in the same context. The business managers are the ones who are involved in the processes during every step of the way; the ones who know them inside and out. They are also, or should be, the ones who best know how the changes will both directly and indirectly benefit or detract from the overall goals and organizational structures of the institution.

From my own personal experience, I was fortunate enough to be a part of a team where a key leader embraced IS and integrated those on that "island" that Pearlson wrote of, into the daily happenings of our department (and the other areas of the college she was a part of as well) and the results were nothing less than phenomenal. In fact, by the time the first big plan she initiated with the IS Department was up and running, there were several more under way and the IT people that we once never even knew the names of were now swinging by our offices in the morning to bring us a welcome cup of coffee or to just shout out a hello (which in retrospect was really quite amazing). She was the District Registrar, and in that particular HE situation, whom I would also call the Business Manager. Although there were two Registrars underneath her leadership, it was she who embraced the technological changes and used the Business View, if you will, to utilize resources we would have otherwise never been privy to in our dept. She properly managed changes as well by brainstorming with the appropriate people beforehand to ensure as Madison noted (5), and I paraphrase here, that creating a solution for one area was not going to create problems for another one, monitoring carefully what was going on during the change processes, and by following up when the new tasks were complete; always noting where unintended consequences or intended (or unintended ) successes would occur and adjusting the plan as needed. She was also really great at preparing her people for the changes that were coming and ensuring they had proper training to allocate their new resources effectively once they arrived, and just as importantly, that they felt comfortable doing so. I saw dramatic changes for the better occur within that HE setting and I know they were in no small part because of the effective Business Manager leadership she provided. In her leadership, she had, as one study in management technique I read about in additional reading shows (ÅŸeri-Say), a clear vision of where her HE organization was and where it wanted to go, and she was able to "recognize the context specific requirements of its internal and external environments within a strategic adoption and adaptation framework" that she adapted by working in conjunction with the IS department. The results were truly remarkable.

As an added note, since this course will be dealing with flowcharts, the last article I mentioned (ÅŸeri-Say) while not entirely applicable to the subject matter at hand in this discussion, does have some really great points that can be taken out of it and applied in the IS/Business Management context, and also offers a really nice flowchart towards the end of it that is worth taking a look at, if you have a few extra minutes to spare.

Arzu Iseri-Say, Aysegül Toker, Deniz Kantur (2000), "Do popular management techniques improve performance?: Evidence from large businesses in Turkey,"

Journal of Management Development,