Suppose you are the chair of the business department at your college or university. In addition to your academic duties, you must manage your department. Discuss some ways you might meet the challenges of managing information technology for students and faculty.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The challenges of managing for information technology, not to mention other technologies affecting contemporary business, require a manager’s unflagging attention. Most important is the Internet, the global network of independently operating but interconnected computers, linking hundreds of thousands of smaller networks around the world. Today’s faculty and students all have computers that are linked to the Internet (or have access to such computers in libraries and other facilities). Students now live in a “linked” world and want part of their educational experience to be electronic. As a manager, you must manage technology to meet your customers’ (students’) demands while also managing the quality of the education you deliver.

E-commerce, or electronic commerce—the buying and selling of goods or services over computer networks—has reshaped entire industries and revamped the very notion of what a company is. Information technology has led to the growth of e-business, using the Internet to facilitate every aspect of running a business. Today’s students want access to an online course registration system; some of them also want access to electronic textbooks rather than printed textbooks. As a department chair you might work with your college’s IT department to ensure that students can sign up for courses from any computer linked to the Internet.

Managers must also manage e-communication. Using mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, 21stcentury managers need to become masters of electronic communication, able to create powerful messages, motivate, and lead teams of specialists all over the world. They must harness the power of texting and social media while ensuring that employees do not waste their time on electronic activities that do not further business goals. For example, employees can lose valuable time and productivity when dealing with excessive and unimportant e-mail and text messages, leading to increased conflict and stress. As department chair, you will want to encourage (electronic) communication among faculty and students while making sure that students pay attention in class and are not distracted by time-wasting social media that does not contribute to their education or college experience. If you have faculty who are technologically behind the times, you will need to arrange for training so that they can teach effectively in today’s electronic environment.

Today’s managers are faced with ever-increasing amounts of data. Cloud computing and huge, interconnected databases can assemble astonishing quantities of information and make them available instantaneously. Contemporary managers are working in the era of “Big Data,” stores of data so vast that conventional database management systems cannot handle them. Managers must mine data to uncover opportunities and to make the right decisions for the business. They must also protect against violating people's right to privacy. If your department uses course management software, such as Canvas or BlackBoard, you and your department faculty can mine data to determine the topics that students have the most difficulty understanding or the courses they find the most difficult to pass.

The rise of artificial intelligence has led to more automation in the workforce. Artificial intelligence (AI) is the discipline concerned with creating computer systems that simulate human reasoning and sensation.
While AI is still in its infancy, it is likely that it will lead to job losses. Managers must consider the implications of AI for staffing, training, and professional development (for both themselves and their employees). Already some schools have begun to replace traditional instruction with computerized, remedial instruction. For example, in a business communication course, students may focus on different types of business documents in class but get up to speed with grammar and punctuation through online tutorials that they complete on their own time.

Technology is also leading to organizational changes: shifts in structure, jobs, goals, and management. Managers must manage in an era where telecommuting and videoconferencing have become common. Today’s students demand online courses; as a department chair, you will need to determine the best way to offer these courses.

Today’s managers can use project management software (programs for planning and scheduling the people, costs, and resources to complete a project on time) and collaborative computing to help people work together better. All such forms of interaction will require managers and employees to be more flexible, and to implement systems and practices to increase the sharing of knowledge and information throughout an organization. Most colleges have an intranet that allows faculty and staff to communicate about important issues.