Problems in Implementing MIS

Resistance to change is a normal human tendency. MIS when implemented, changes a lot of things within the organization. It ushers in a new way of working in the organization. It changes power structures, the way people view their work, changes skill requirements of employees, processes and also the entire organizational culture.

This change can cause problems in the implementation process, as there may be resistance to this change from employees. Moreover, the implementation of MIS involves migration of an information system from a controlled environment of design and development to a ‘real’ environment of an organization. Sometimes, information systems that work fine in a controlled environment fail to deliver in the ‘real’ environment. This may require some tailoring and customization of the system. The management should ensure that such minor glitches should not be used as an excuse by rumormongers to malign the new system.

Management should have a mature view that such problems are not expected in the implementation process, ensuring such technical issue remains a technical issue only and are not blown up into an organizational issue. A strong message from the top management favoring the new system thwarts such attempts at maligning the new system and hence is advocated. However, in spite of the best efforts some factors cause problems in the implementation process. The major factors that determine the degree of resistance that organizations face in implementing MIS are,

1. The degree of MIS driven change in departmental boundaries-any major change that changes the functioning of departments drastically is likely to be challenged or resisted by the department functionaries as it changes their way of working. This resistance should be anticipated at the design stage. Typically, if a BPR exercise is conducted along with the requirement analysis of the system then such exercises result in recommendations of change in business processes which result in changes in the organization structure or functioning of departments. Thus, the fact that such a change is on its way is known to the management well in advance. Hence, they should prepare the workforce for it.
2. Lack of organization culture supporting MIS-some organizations does not have a culture of information based decision-making. Implementation of MIS is such organizations are always a challenge, as the employees have to be trained to appreciate the importance of information. They become so used to judgment based decision-making that such training has very little impact. In some cases, it has been noted that even after implementation of MIS the organization culture has not changed and that managers continue to resist changes brought on by installation of MIS.
3. The degree of employee involvement in the MIS creation-this is a major issue in implementation of MIS. If employee participation is good then resistance to MIS is less.
4. The degree of employee involvement in the implementation of change along with MIS is a major issue. If the management uses a participatory approach towards MIS implementation then resistance to MIS is less.

The degree of MIS driven change in the informal system-if MIS changes the informal communication system completely then resistance is more. This informal communication channel is a source of power for some individuals. They resent their loss of power due to emergence of MIS as the sole authority for communication