A Study of the Interaction between IS Staff and other Organisational Actors in Four Organisations

It is now clear that modern organisations can derive significant benefits from an effective and efficient deployment of IT to the extent that information systems can have a significant impact on managerial decision making. However, managing the IT functional area and utilising IT expertise for decision making support are difficult endeavours. New models for managing IS resources and, more importantly, for distributing IT expertise amongst organisational actors are needed if IT is to contribute to organisations’ decision making processes at the highest level. This study used network analysis to capture the reality of the role and contribution of the IT departments of four organisations. Based on these data, the researchers drew a number of important conclusions for improving the collaboration between IT staff and other organisational actors. This research also indicates that network analysis can be a powerful vehicle in investigating the ways in which IT can be used to improve decision making and sharpen an organisation’s competitive edge.