HYBRID MANAGERS

Hybrid Managers

In the 21st Century Global Economy Why Do We Still Need Hybrid Managers?

Introduction

In the 21st century global economy we still need Hybrid managers because of a number of reasons. Information technology (IT) is generally regarded as one of the major routes to competitive advantage in modern business. Indeed lack of IT is regarded by many as a positive disadvantage. Yet, IT is frequently despaired of by senior managers, who view IT not just as “high-tech”, but also high risk. A recent survey found that the top three key issues facing IT directors were:

integrating IT with the business;

delivery on time and within budget; and

cost

Why do so many software development projects fail to satisfy user requirements? Moreover, why are so many delivered late and over budget? The problem perhaps lies in senior management who appear reluctant to acquire an appreciation of IT needs and potential. At the same time IT specialists apparently fail to understand what the business wants. In many organizations, the IT department is failing to comprehend and meet current requirements. Worse still, they seldom contribute to future strategy.

The use of computers has changed markedly over the years since their invention. We have moved from the centrally controlled and located information base. Now the fashion is for local systems connected to central resources and to one another to form an enterprise-wide network that may extend into customers' and suppliers' networks.

In the 1990s the aim is now to cut the time to market for products and services and to increase productivity. Hence, business process re-engineering (BPR) is the “new god” (Whitten, 2000). The growing importance of “re-engineering” the business to provide better customer service is confirmed by its high rankings. Besides restraining existing budgets, IT directors must also support the organizational shift away from centralized mainframes towards decentralized distributed client-server technology.

Driven by the demands of the new, competitive business environment and profound changes in the nature of computers, IT is being transformed (Whitten, 2000). Those responsible for IT departments will have to work increasingly hard merely to stay on top of a rapidly changing environment. This article re-evaluates whether the “Hybrid manager”, an individual with an understanding of business and IT, can help bridge the gaps and thus smooth the path of project management and software development still in the 21st century

Why Do We Still Need Hybrid Managers?

Software development projects are like a time bomb ticking away. The race is on to see what happens first: A quality product delivered on-time and within budget, or the time bomb goes off with cost overruns, missed delivery dates and questionable product quality (Dyerson and Roper, 1991).

Successful projects focus on business benefits rather than technological considerations. Factors such as clear objectives, top-level commitment, fully detailed and agreed specifications, and good project controls are all-important. However, the overriding concern must be that of meeting the needs of the business (Dyerson and Roper, 1991).

Research by Heygate reports that the most successful IT implementations employ a project control team that draws on both IT experts ...