Geog 463: GIS Workshop

May 8 & 10, 2006

GIS in management perspective

Outlines

I. Tools & techniques1. How do we evaluate GIS project?

II. Theory2. Defining the success of GIS implementation3. Perspectives on GIS implementation4. The process of GIS diffusion5. GIS organizational models

III. Strategies6. How do we ensure effective GIS implementation?

1. How do we evaluate GIS project?

Evaluating GIS project

• Forms one section of final report• How to evaluate GIS project?• Ad-hoc method

– If time is not enough, evaluate your work based on your insight and previous interaction with clients

• Usability testing– Test whether clients’ needs are met with prepared

questionnaire or interview• Benefit-cost analysis

– Compare cost to benefit in order to determine whether the project is financially justifiable

Usability testing• Develop test objectives

– What am I testing? e.g. effectiveness of map design, accuracy of data geocoded• Acquire participants

– Sampled from potential end users– You can screen them through pre-survey form (ask their age, education level,

gender, occupation, and so on wherever appropriate)• Collect qualitative and quantitative performance and preference

measurements– Questionnaires

• Which map do you prefer? (see if the prepared map design works)– Task scenario if applicable

• Identify location of most hazardous site (see if they are making any mistake)

• Recommend improvements to the design of information product• There is usability room you can reserve in the UW library• Read materials on usability testing at http://www.lib.washington.edu

/usability/

Benefit-cost analysis• Enumerate all possible costs spent on this project; classify them into one-

time cost (data, hw, sw) and operating cost (maintenance, overhead, salary, training)

– Cost of leasing workstation for 10 weeks can be obtained from estimates like in website

• Enumerate all possible benefits; classify them into tangible (cost reduction, efficiency) and intangible one (improved decision making, better public image, equity); assign monetary value wherever possible

– Benefit of using GIS for making map can be calculated from saved time multiplied by salary rate (= actual time spent - time spent if manual method is used)

• Discounting: If estimates are based on different time period, discount them given inflation rate

• BCR: Calculate the ratio of benefit to cost to determine whether the ratio is over 1 (i.e. economically justifiable)

• Time: If possible, project the cost/benefit into the foreseeable future; draw the curve; determine payback period

Evaluating GIS project

• Draw conclusions– About significance of what you found– About the effectiveness of your methods– About whether needs were met– About whether research question was

answered

• Provide recommendations– For improving the completed work – For additional work

2. What is a successful GIS implementation? How can we define the

“success” of GIS implementation?

Elements of GIS project success and failure

Activity Success Failure

Planning Rigorous “Run and gun”

Requirements Focused Diffused

Appraisal of effort Realistic Unrealistic

Staffing Dedicated High turnover

Funding Adequate Inadequate

Time estimates Thoughtful Rushed or prolonged

Expectations Balanced Exaggerated

Definition of implementation success

• Technical validity– The system to be implemented works

• no bug, data seems clean

• Organizational validity– Congruence between the organization and the system to be

implemented• The system is accepted and used by the organizational members

• Organizational effectiveness– Improvement in efficiency and effectiveness

• Improved decision making– Even perceived as a process of organizational change

• Some GIS changes the way the organization does their business

From Obermeyer and Pinto 1995

• What are the criteria that define the success of GIS implementation?

• It will be useful to address this question based on two different perspectives

• Content model– GIS project is seen as static activities

• Process model– GIS project is seen as the process

GIS Implementation: Content Models

• Focus on key success factors

• Technical aspect– Competent technical support– Staff’s competence in GIS knowledge

• Managerial aspect– Clearly defined goals– Sufficient resource allocation– Top-management support– Implementation schedule– Adequate communication channels– Feedback capabilities

GIS Implementation: Process Models

• Focus on key phases in GIS implementation process

• Initiation– Planning phase of the implementation process – Related to “strategies”

• Implementation– Actual process (or the action) of the implementation– Related to “tactics”

Conceiving GIS implementation as the two-stage “process” helps us look at dynamic nature of GIS projects in the context of strategic goals of organizations

Strategy/tactics effectiveness matrix

High acceptance, misuse

High probability of implementation success

High probability of implementation failure

Low acceptance, low use

Effectiveness of strategy

Effectiveness of

tactics

highlow

low high

From Schultz, Slevin, and Pinto (1987)

Successful GIS project should be both strategically and tactically effective

• In other word, success in the short term may become failure in the medium to long term

• Equally an early false start does not necessarily imply that the project is destined to fail

• Thus it is important to bear in mind the dynamic nature of the environment in which GIS is embedded in making assessments

3. GIS and organization

Perspectives on GIS implementation

• How do organizations interact with technology such as GIS?

• It depends on how you see organizations– Machine, system, or culture

• Technological determinism– The widespread adoption and implementation of GIS is

dependent upon the quality of the technology

• Managerial rationalism– + good management strategy (e.g. corporate approach)

• Social interactionism– + good understanding of the nature of organization (social

attitudes or institutional developments)

Technological determinismCharacteristic Technological determinism

Propensity for adoption Inevitable if a good technology

Reason for adoption To solve an operational problem that has been identified

Style of implementation Technical process

Constraints on implementation Technical worth of the innovation and stupidity of users

Likely outcome of implementation Positive, greater efficiency and more rational decision-making

Perception of technology Machine and methods

Perception of organizations Machine, organism

From Campbell & Masser, “GIS and Organizations” 1995

Managerial rationalismCharacteristic Managerial rationalism

Propensity for adoption Inevitable if a good technology and rational management

Reason for adoption To solve an operational problem that has been identified

Style of implementation Guided by a rational management strategy

Constraints on implementation Poor management and the technical worth of the innovation

Likely outcome of implementation Positive, greater efficiency and/or more rational decision-making

Perception of technology Machine and methods

Perception of organizations System

Social interactionismCharacteristic Managerial rationalism

Propensity for adoption Uncertain, depends on trends in society

Reason for adoption To enhance symbolic status or power

Style of implementation An organizational process that is problematic and uncertain

Constraints on implementation Social and political processes

Likely outcome of implementation Uncertain, at best a mixture of positive and negative results

Perception of technology Machine, methods and knowledge

Perception of organizations Cultures

Case studies suggest

• A significant number of GIS projects failed when– User needs are not well defined– GIS design is not well matched to specific tasks– Ownership and control of GI is not well determined– Not clear about how the information will be used in

decision-making process– The information sharing is not well coordinated – Organizational members are not ready to adopt GIS

or resistant to using GIS

• The implementation of GIS is not merely a technical process, nor one that simply requires the formulation of rational management strategies. Rather, it is a social and political process which takes place within unique organizational cultures subject to ever changing conditions.

– Adapted from Campbell and Masser 1995

Critical issues to successful GIS implementation

• The identification of simple applications producing information that was fundamental to the work of potential users

• An awareness for limitations of the organization in terms of accepted practices and available resources

• User-directed implementation set within a framework based on the commitment and real participation of staff throughout the organization

• An ability to create stability or cope with change

Campbell & Masser 1995

4. How is GIS diffused in organizations? Is it useful to take different perspectives of GIS

throughout the diffusion process?

Reading: Chan & Williamsonhttp://courses.washington.edu/geog463/Reading_06/ijgis_1303_chan.pdf

Stages of GIS Diffusion

• The stage of GIS diffusion

• GIS project can be placed in different stages of GIS diffusion process– Some GIS project is experimental in nature– Some GIS project is temporary in nature– Some GIS project is strategic in nature

From Rogers 1995

Two GIS diffusion scenario

• Focused scenario– GIS is developed to address a set of highly focused problems– Low level of uncertainty– Single-purpose or departmental project– Your project addresses specific problems (e.g. creating maps for

monitoring)

• Dispersed scenario– Problems addressed are often strategic in nature and have wide

implications (high level of uncertainty)– Enterprise or societal project– Spatial data infrastructure is considered strategic effort to

promote sustainable development (economic, social, and environmental)

GIS definition matters

• The adoption of GIS is often based on senior managers’ interpretation of the managers’ definition of GIS– Due to lack of familiarity– Due to its complexity

• In other words, definitions play a fundamental role in GIS diffusion– It means that the decision on adopting a GIS or not depends on

which perspective you take on definitions of GIS– It’s practical to take on different perspectives depending on what

types of GIS project you work on, and in which stage of diffusion process the GIS project is placed

Different perspectives on GIS identity

• Identificational perspective of GIS– GIS is unique (spatial is special)– Spatial referencing as an organizing framework for the data

• Technological perspective of GIS– GIS is a certain form of technology (tangible operational system)– Focused on three functional aspects: map view, database view,

and spatial analysis view

• Organizational perspective of GIS– GIS is an institutional entity: sum of people, data, technology,

and standards (organizational setting is easily overlooked, and such perception should be corrected)

Which perspective is useful?

• Agenda-setting phase– “Identificational” perspective is useful in agenda-setting stage

(can highlight comparative advantage of GIS), but not versatile in matching stage (lack of system integration)

• Matching phase– “Technological” perspective is useful because of its ability to be

operational and configurational (i.e. integrated with other system)

• Restructuring phase– “Organizational” perspective is particularly suitable for multi-

participant GIS project (i.e. enterprise or societal project)

5. How is GIS used in organizations?

How is GIS controlled in organizations?

Reading: Somershttp://courses.washington.edu/geog463/Reading_06/jhr_0901_somers.pdf

GIS Organizational Models

• How much is GIS integrated into business operations?

• Enterprise GIS

• Service-center GIS

• GIS as a business tool

Enterprise GIS

• GIS provides an information and operations framework for a major portion of the activities and applications within the organization; designed to be used by myriad applications

• Benefit can be received from reduction of duplicated effort, wide availability of resources, and improved efficiency in operations and decision making

• Mostly coordination and control are centralized

• Role of GIS in organization: more likely to change the way business is performed (business work flow)

Service-center GIS

• GIS is not integral to their operations and does not tie them together, but rather supplements their designated functions– Map production is not a regular part of its operations

• Users are mostly served by an organization unit that provides GIS-related data and services when needed– Duplication of effort among user groups is likely to occur

• Little formalized control

• Role of GIS in organization: less likely to change the way the business is performed (business work flow)

GIS as a business tool

• GIS has little to do with operations performed in the organization, but rather its limited capability is needed to support its operations – Company’s marketing group may need map for analyzing data

• Use of GIS is temporary in nature, and widespread use of large-scale continuous base maps is not generally needed

• No formalized control

• Role of GIS in organization: unlikely to change the way the business is performed (business work flow)

Management and Control of GIS

• There are three basic areas in which the GIS management could be placed

• Location in a line organization– GIS within an operating unit such as planning,

marketing or customer service• Location in a support unit

– GIS within departments such as information systems, technology support, or management services

• Location at the executive level– GIS manager reports to one of the top decision

makers in the organization, such as the CEO

Management and Control of GIS

• Appropriate configuration and placement of GIS management and control within an organization depends on the role and scope of the GIS, the organization model used, and specific operational aspects of the organization.

• It is important to understand the role of GI(S) in the context of organizational structure and functions

• The good model will fit the role of GIS for the organization

Summary: Conceptual framework for understanding managerial aspects of GIS project

• SCOPEGIS project has different scope– Single-purpose, departmental, enterprise, and societal project

• PROCESSGIS project is implemented in different phases of diffusion process (strategic vs. tactical)– Agenda-setting, matching, restructing, clarifying, and routinizing

• USEParticipants have different levels of interest in the GIS– Use/role of GI differs accordingly, affecting complexity of GIS

tools (e.g. operation or decision support) needed

6. How do we ensure successful GIS implementation?

Methodology for successful GIS implementation

• Strategic planning– Strategic plan & startup plan– This is when you apply social interactionism perspective

• Perform situational analysis • Implementation planning

– Needs assessment & design specification (system requirement)– This is when you apply managerial rationalism perspective

• Apply project management techniques• Implementation management

– System design & implementation– This is when you apply technological determinism perspective

• Apply database design, system design• Operation management

– Operation & maintenance– This is when you apply managerial rationalism & technological

determinism perspective

Adapted from Huxhold & Levinsohn 1995