MGT 300 Chapter 5 : Organizational Structures that Support Strategic Initiatives

Organizational Structures

v  Organizational employees must work closely together to develop strategic initiatives that create competitive advantages

v  Ethics and security are two fundamental building blocks that organizations must base their businesses upon

IT Roles and Responsibilities

v  Information technology is a relatively new functional area, having only been around formally for around 40 years

v  Recent IT-related strategic positions:

§  Chief Information Officer (CIO)

oversees all uses of IT and ensures the strategic alignment of IT with business goals and objectives

§  Chief Technology Officer (CTO)

Manager – ensuring the delivery of all IT projects, on time and within budget

Leader – ensuring the strategic vision of IT is in line with the strategic vision of the organization

Communicator – building and maintaining strong executive relationships

§  Chief Security Officer (CSO)

responsible for ensuring the security of IT systems

§  Chief Privacy Officer (CPO)

responsible for ensuring the ethical and legal use of information

§  Chief Knowledge Office (CKO)

responsible for collecting, maintaining, and distributing the organization’s knowledge

The Gap Between Business Personnel and IT Personnel

v  Business personnel possess expertise in functional areas such as marketing, accounting, and sales 

v  IT personnel have the technological expertise 

v  This typically causes a communications gap between the business personnel and IT personnel

Improving Communications

v  Business personnel must seek to increase their understanding of IT

v  IT personnel must seek to increase their understanding of the business

v  It is the responsibility of the CIO to ensure effective communication between business personnel and IT personnel

Organizational Fundamentals – Ethics and Security

v  Ethics and security are two fundamental building blocks that organizations must base their businesses on to be successful  

  

v  Ethics – the principles and standards that guide our behavior toward other people

v  Privacy is a major ethical issue

v  Privacy – the right to be left alone when you want to be, to have control over your own personal possessions, and not to be observed without your consent

v  Issues affected by technology advances

Intellectual property - Intangible creative work that is embodied in physical form

Copyright - The legal protection afforded an expression of an idea, such as a song, video game, and some types of proprietary documents

Fair use doctrine - In certain situations, it is legal to use copyrighted material

Pirated software - The unauthorized use, duplication, distribution, or sale of copyrighted software

      Counterfeit software - Software that is manufactured to look like the real thing and sold as             such