Information Technology Centralization and Modernization
Efforts and the Impact on Organizational Culture at a
Federal Statistical Agency
By Joseph L. Parsons & Brandon W. Duxbury
Presented by Joseph L. Parsons
United States Department of Agriculture
National Agricultural Statistics Service
Key Points
• IT projects are often the tools and face of change
• Significant change always creates conflict
• This leaves us with challenges, opportunities, and
risks to manage
• Leveraging a framework to consider sources of
conflict may help us successfully manage change
Introduction
• Formerly a decentralized organization
• Modernization effort to centralize NASS’s:
– Business processes
– Network, applications, and databases
• Architectural transformations affect:
– How employees work and interact
– Staff resource costs
– Quality of statistical products
– The overall culture of the organization
Organizational Culture & IT
• Leidner and Kayworth
– Culture is:
• Fundamental aspect of how an organization operates
• Coherent set of beliefs, basic assumptions, shared sets
of core values, important understandings, and
collective will
• Manifested through artifacts and creations (i.e.
technology)
– Three types of cultural IT conflict
• System
• Contribution
• Vision
Types of Conflict - System
• System - group values are in conflict with
values assumed by a particular technology
– The greater the cultural difference between the
champion group and the user group, the greater
the system conflict
– The greater the breadth of IT implementation
across groups, the greater the system conflict
– The greater the system conflict:
• The less likely the group is to be a forerunner in
adopting the IT
• The greater the modification of use to support the
user’s values
Types of Conflict - Contribution
• Contribution - group values conflict with the
values associated with IT
– Do key players in an organization see IT as a
strategic asset?
– If key players see IT as a strategic asset, then those
aspiring to be key players probably will too
– The greater the contribution conflict experienced
by a group:
• The less strategic a role that IT will play in that group
• The less likely the innovative uses of IT by the group
Types of Conflict - Vision
• Vision - group values conflict with the values
embedded within a specific technology
– The greater the difference between the champion
group’s and user group’s values, the greater the vision
conflict
– The lesser the involvement of the most powerful
people within a group, the greater the vision conflict
– The greater the vision conflict:
• The lower the adoption rate of the IT
• The greater the potential change to the group’s IT values
NASS IT Projects
• Review, Estimates, Comments, Approval, and
Publish (RECAP)
• Database Integrated County Estimates (DICE)
• Centralized Survey Management System (cSMS)
• Centralize and Virtualize Network (OE1)
General Business Process
Model
DICE
SMS
RECAP
Operational
Efficiency #1
System Conflict
• Experience with legacy systems (DICE)
• Fears that a new system would not support
user needs (RECAP & DICE)
Contribution Conflict
• Single project manager (RECAP & cSMS)
• Existing system administrators not heavily
involved in project design (OE1)
Vision Conflict
• Business needs versus IT resources (RECAP)
• Unrealistic schedule (cSMS)
• Transfer of responsibilities (OE1)
Lessons Learned
• Users are reluctant to transition to new applications
• Fears are alleviated with a cohesive champion group
• A business-side and IT-side project manager should be
assigned
• Project managers should garner feedback from users and IT
personnel
• Use of a multi criteria decision making process was
incorporated
Conclusions
• Pilot tests
• Scaled development and deployment
• Agile development
• Getting key players involved early
• Communication
• Education
IT projects are not just the implementation of
technology. They are the tools and
manifestation of organizational cultural
change.
Change  Conflict 
Challenges & Opportunities to Anticipate and
Manage