Information resource management at Hydro-Quebec
One of the internal factors that are affecting change management at Hydro-Quebec is the lack of involvement of the IT staff while making the changes. From the outside, it is like the changes that are suggested are done by senior management staff alone. Most of the managers do not have IT knowledge and make suggestions that lack IT strategy. Initially, there has been lack of investment in the sector of information systems at the company. This is because of the lack of alignment done for the IT and the entire company. There is a need to have IT taken to be part of the business and taken to be a different function.
Another problem with the case and its change management process is that there was lack of research and development investment for changes that could be met with the changes in IT. This is the reason why the managers implemented what they felt was to be done with the use of information systems in the company. It is clear that the changes that have been done at information systems and IT functions generally were as a result of non IT staff. The HQD CEO understood some aspect of IT but was more concerned with the general outlook and performance of the other core functions of the company. There was no technical person who would was concerned with the IT function as a new model of its own (Lambert, & Peppard, 2013).
Another internal problem that was experienced at Hydro-Quebec regarding change management is the lack of IT strategy in the change. Most of the changes that were adopted and accepted because were due to the changing models of the internal organization of Hydro-Quebec. There was a need to ensure that the It functional unit had their strategy of bringing changes to business processes. It is important to understand that change management should be taken to be an undertaking of both the business staff and the IT staff. This will enable the change to be carried out from an informed point of view from the IT function.
Another internal problem is the lack of leadership for the IT function. It is clear from the questions that the HQD CEO asked about the strategy that IT function lacked. This is because of the lack of leadership in this IT function. There is a need to have Chief Information Officer. The role will involve checking the needs of the customers and the business in general. This will enable the company to understand the trends of information technology with the changes that are required to serve the customers (Dube, Bernier, & Roy, 2007).
There are external problems that the change management experienced. One of the problems that were experienced is the lack of the customer needs regarding the business processes. There was lack of understanding of what the customers were aiming to get and what technology they wanted to use. This is because the IT function did not have any interaction with clients of the company. This way, they did not understand what was required in the company. It is important to understand what clients want and align the technology current trends with the changing patterns of the customer needs.
Another external factor that affected change management is that technology was changing from offline systems to web-based systems. There was lack of strategy on this could be used to the benefit of the client. There was lack of understanding of making the global changes of technology to benefit the company.
Suggested changes
One of the changes that I would suggest for Hydro-Quebec is to have a Chief Information Officer who has qualifications of business operations and technology. This will be the contact person between HQD and SSC sectors. This will give suggestions that deal with the changes that are required for technology use in the company. It will be important to understand the internal changes and technology that is used in the company and how these changes should be used in the company. The reason I make this suggestion is that most of the changes that are suggested by the company come from non-IT function. This affects the functioning and the working of the company. The IT function is not taken to stand on its own (Banker et al., 2011).
Another suggestion I would make for the company is that IT should be changed so that it stands on its own. There is a need to have a division that will undertake their own changes and research. IT should no longer be taken to be part of the shared services. IT management should be part of the decision making process. Currently, the decision making process is under HQD and yet there is no core knowledge of IT. With an IT function that will be headed by a CIO, it will be easy to have decisions and suggestions that have the interest of the IT department. This change will affect the way services and adoption of technology in the company. The IT function will be part of the changes in the company (Earl, & Feeny, 2012).
References
Banker, R. D., Hu, N., Pavlou, P. A., & Luftman, J. (2011). CIO reporting structure, strategic positioning, and firm performance. MIS Quarterly, 35(2), 487-504.
Dube, L., Bernier, C., & Roy, V. (2007). Information resource management at Hydro-Quebec. International Journal of Case Studies Management. 5(2): 1-16
Earl, M. J., & Feeny, D. (2012). Is your CIO adding value. Sloan Management Review, 35(3).
Lambert, R., & Peppard, J. (2013). 15 The Information Technology—Organizational Design Relationship Information technology and new organizational forms. Strategic Information Management, 427.Earl, M. J., & Feeny, D. (2012). Is your CIO adding value. Sloan Management Review, 35(3).
