Define Technochange and Make a Comparison of it with the IT Projects (Essay Sample)

Changes in Organizations
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Change in Organizations
Markus (2004) claimed that Technochange is not as simple as IT project management and change management. Technochange is defined to be” using IT in ways that can trigger major organizational changes” (Markus, 2004). Technochange creates high-risk and potentially high-reward situations. Markus (2004) describes that IT projects are significant but they do not elaborate the differences in how an organizations work. The difference between Technochange and IT project management plus change management is elaborated very well by Markus (2004). Technochange can be deliberate and unintentional. Unintentional arises where managers engage in Technochange without intending to. Enterprise resource planning system (ERP) is used to show how Technochange differs from IT projects. The ERP failed in the implementation because mangers viewed it as just an IT project. Markus (2004) describes that treating Technochange as if they were IT projects lead to downfall of implementing the systems.
Deliberate Technochange indicates that Technochange focus on improving great potential impacts on Users which are people activities and organization performance unlike IT projects which focus on upgrading technical performance. Technochange also differs from traditional organizational changes because Technochange involves information technology, information technologies and technical methodologies. Organization change management does not include how IT projects triggers the problem of organizational changes. IT changes have narrower goals compared to Technochanges and when combined with organizational change management cannot make a great impact as Technochange. Markus (2004) concluded that IT projects and organization change management are different from Technochange since Technochange is a complex procedure involving users, processes, and organizational changes. The claim is supported by several other studies which are discussed.
Harison & Boonstra, (2009) also defined Technochange as technology-driven organizational changes that entail the features associated to and have an alteration on changes within the organizations. Harison & Boonstra (2009) described Technochange to be the case when companies assimilate new informational technologies that drive to major changes in personnel’s labor, organizational processes and performance. They continue to argue that Technochange cannot be simply understood as direct introduction of new software systems or launching of an IT project. Even though Technochanges do incorporate software development and implementation, they, however, engage in changes in organizations such as organizational structures, adjustment of culture, employee behavior and work design and process. This is viewed as a complex process.
DTAPP (2014) states that Technochange does not only involve technical management but also organizational changes are factors to consider. Technochange includes specific skills and approaches such as change managers who are capable of changing the culture of an organization such as essential communication with employees and monitoring of employees behaviors. Nilsson (2008) argues that IT-project management has a technical aspect although it lacks equipments for issues and enough contemplation related to end product in use. Nilsson (2008) suggests that although organizational change management has great concern of people, it lacks enough evidence to show how IT modifies the problem of organization changes. Technochange is different since it’s a combined approach for managing organizational changes in certain occasions where IT is the main change driver. Technochange may sometimes fail as it’s a complex process that involves both combined technical and organizational solution. Technochange is a large complex change and differs from small projects in that they involves strategic combination of technical and organizational changes and a coordination for multiple projects at the same time is need (Mola, Carugati & Gibson, 2011). A survey conducted showed that the total cost of installation and implementation of software and hardware in large technology driven projects was less than 20% of total costs of implementation (Mola, Carugati & Gibson, 2011). A large technology-driven change like Enterprise Resource planning is affected by lack of training of employees which is a major factor in technical organizational changes.
In conclusion Technochange is significantly different from IT projects and organizational change management. Tranfield and Braganza (2007) indicated that IT projects are small portions for technology driven organizational changes and need to be supported by top management in implementation. From the researches done it is evident that Technochange requires communication, employee adjustments and affects the whole organization and organizational processes. IT projects requires only introduction and implementation of software while change management affects the organizational culture of employees. Combination...