ISRC Topic Brief The Development and Deployment of IT in the Global Organization

Executive Summary As organizations spread from domestic to international, the development and deployment of IT becomes increasingly more complex. Now that the information technology is operating in a foreign market, a number of factors now effect the system in new ways. For example, planning is different in a global versus domestic firm, for project managers and developers must be familiar with the complex nature of the new country. Further, a global information technology architecture must now be developed that is consistent with the corporate and IT structure. Research has found a number of options exist for global IT architecture, each with characteristics and assumptions that will allow the organization to be flexible or rigid. Once the planning i s complete, the system must account for a variety of country-specific issues, including the technological environment, the social/cultural environment, the political/legal environment, and the economic environment. Beyond obvious language and cultural differences, the environments of the host country must be considered before implementation. Failure to account for these different environments will effect the satisfaction with the new system. Further, user satisfaction is also affected by the culture of the host country. While similarities exist between all countries in what will satisfy a user, there are a variety of factors that disproportionately affect user dissatisfaction in other countries. Finally, after the system has been diffused, maintenance of the new system is complex in multinational corporations. Beyond the obvious physical separation, language and cultural differences make supporting users more difficult in the global context. While there are a variety of issues facing MIS in the global environment, the spread of business into the international domain makes it a necessity for MIS managers to have the capability to account for these differences and successfully deploy a global IT strategy.