IT Subcultures Sometimes Conflict with Company Goals

Newswise — When technology, which has become a vital part of most organizations, is good, it is very good. But when it goes wrong, it can create consternation throughout an organization.

And things do go wrong. Some estimates put the number of Information Technology project failures as high as 75 percent, says Dr. Jeffrey Stanton, an assistant professor of industrial and organizational psychology at Syracuse University, who studies the use of technology in the workplace.

Reasons offered for IT project failures focus on complexity of the new system, its usability and employee resistance to change, among other factors. However, Stanton and his research team suggest that perhaps IT projects fail because IT people comprise a distinct subculture within the organization; one that often is in conflict with users and managers.

For 18 months Stanton and Dr. Kathryn Stam, a post-doctoral research associate, studied a dozen organizations in central New York, which were installing major technology projects. During the course of interviewing more than a hundred people, they began to notice that IT people formed their own subculture, which sometimes was significantly different than others within the company.

They will be presenting their findings at April’s Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology national conference in Chicago.

“Occupational subcultures,” Stanton explains, “are groups of individuals who, based upon their occupation, develop their own language, values and behaviors that distinguish them from other groups within an organization.

A sub-grouping of workers often establishes cultural boundaries that define insiders and outsiders. For example, an occupation often has its own inside language, which facilitates quick and efficient communication among the insiders. But use of than language also can deny knowledge and access to outsiders, says Stanton.

In fact, in their study Stanton says that one of the frequent complaints of users was that IT people used technical jargon and explained things too quickly. The problem often seems routine to the IT worker but, as one user says, it doesn’t help “when they come in and go zoom, zoom, zoom, zip, zip, zip with a mouse and they’ve totally lost me so I’ve never learned anything.”

Users appreciate IT people who are “good teachers,” respond quickly to problems and take the time to explain and demonstrate how programs work.

But that often creates a problem between users and providers. IT employees would like to see end-users take more initiative and attempt to solve minor problems on their own. “People are always calling for help and I don’t want to become a baby sitter; but I am glad to help when it is really needed” was a typical IT response.

“Our research shows that IT subcultures do exist and that conflicts between them and the larger organization can negatively impact the effectiveness of corporate IT operations,” says Stanton.

That is why it is so important that organizations find ways to bridge the gaps between subcultures so that effective communication and coordination can occur, Stanton maintains.

Good leaders recognize that IT employees are a valuable asset to their organizations and seek to understand and learn what they are doing. Yet, Stanton notes, a frequent complaint of IT workers is that management “has no clue what we are doing.”

Often, there is a disconnect between management and IT workers, says Stanton. “They feel under-appreciated, that end-users do not always see their perspective and they should be given more substantive roles in corporate decisions.

After all, they say, we are the ones who do all the work making systems do what they are supposed to do and helping others learn the new systems and to operate their computers. As a result IT workers do not appreciate users as much as the users appreciate them, says Stanton. It’s called a clash of subcultures.

If and when a problem arises within an organization, particularly on a large IT project, one place to look for the root of the problem as well as the solution is cultural conflict, says Stanton. “That’s when fingers are pointed and people retreat into their own subcultures.”

“It is easy to blame the IT worker when technology problems occur, but it’s not productive and doesn’t do anyone within the organization any good. That’s why we are focusing on the subcultures. They need to be acknowledged and understood so that organizational goals can be accomplished.”

He noted that people in some organizations are very capable of crossing into other cultures. “It behooves people to learn about IT systems, not just use them. But at the same time, IT people need to learn and understand the perspectives of others within the organization,” he adds.

“There is no question that the influence of IT workers within an organization is growing. They once were considered support workers, but since the advent of internet business applications, IT employees have become integral to the operations of all companies, especially larger firms because of their heavy reliance on technology,” according to Stanton.

And, says Stanton, most workers recognize the important role of IT specialists and value their skills. “I count on the IT staff in a lot of ways. It must be difficult for them, having us on their cases all the time,” was a testimony to the IT worker that Stanton found typical.

The Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) is an international group of 6,000 industrial-organizational psychologists whose members study and apply scientific principles concerning people in the workplace. For more information about SIOP, including Media Resources, which lists 1,400 experts in more than 100 topic areas, visit http://www.siop.org

From April 2-4, 2004, SIOP will be holding its annual meeting in Chicago, IL. More than 3,000 top workplace scientists and practitioners will attend and present research on emerging trends, debates and the way people function in the workplace.