Lesen Sie die Publikationen unserer Teammitglieder
Entwicklung, Einsatz und Wirkung des Digital Transformation Orchestrator
Désirée Schröder, Caroline Kiselev, Sina Rohner, Tobias Kautz & Peter Rohner (2022)
«Die Digitale Transformation ist komplex und eine grosse Herausforderung für Organisationen. Der Einsatz digitaler Technologien erlaubt neue, durchgängigere, kundenorientiertere Leistungen, fordert aber gleichzeitig unterschiedlichste, teils massive interne Veränderungen. Dabei fehlt oft die Übersicht darüber, worüber Klarheit geschaffen und was gemacht werden sollte. Um Abhilfe zu schaffen, wurde der Digital Transformation Orchestrator entwickelt.»
Project Success Requires Context-Aware Governance
Kiselev, C., Winter, R. & Rohner, P. (2020)
«Despite growing project management maturity, the failure rate of IT-related projects remains high. We investigated four large IT-related projects within the Swiss Federal Administration that were well-managed but still failed. We found that these projects failed because of poor project governance, in particular inadequate handling of project context by the project sponsor and steering committee. We identify five contextual factors that steering committees should focus on and provide recommendations for strengthening context-aware project governance, illustrated by their implementation in the Swiss Federal Administration.»
Governance of Mixed Agile / Traditional Digital Transformation Programs
Kiselev, C. & Winter, R. (2020)
«While agile principles and methods have become mainstream in IT solution development, they have also immersed project management and organizational design. This process, however, is gradual so that management and governance practice of digital transformation programs (DTP) often have to deal with a coexistence of agile and traditional components. Such coexistence leads to tensions as some agile principles and methods are incompatible with or even contrary to their traditional counterparts. Drawing on existing discourses on tensions and governance, the purpose of this paper is to (1) identify and analyze such tensions in the context of complex DTP, (2) explore the corresponding challenges for program governance, and (3) derive requirements to enhance current DTP governance practice to deal with those challenges. The data gathered from an in-depth revelatory dual-case study of large DTPs let us identify 18 tensions, 17 corresponding governance challenges, and derive 10 requirements for a “change-mode-agnostic” governance system.»
Governance for a Multinational ERP Program in a Decentralized Organization
How Arbonia Doors Set up a “Glocal” Governance Enabling Both Local Differentiation and Global Consistency
Kiselev, C. & Langenegger, P. (2021)
«Situation faced: In 2019, Arbonia Doors, the door division of Arbonia Group (a multinational building supplier corporation), decided to implement SAP S4/HANA to realize global harmonization and integration across four highly autonomous local subsidiaries. In the early phase of the program, it became clear the program can only succeed if the gaps that exist between the aims of the four local subsidiaries and the aims at the division level can be bridged or even closed. This called for governance measures that address the tensions evoked by
a decentralized organizational context. Action taken: Armed with an understanding of governance as a means of control and coordination to deal with contrasting objectives within a program, the program manager and program sponsors decided that the identified tensions should be tackled through a set of appropriate governance measures. From the outset of the ERP program, Arbonia Doors set out to design, implement, and evaluate nine “glocal” governance measures ranging from program structures to community building measures. Results achieved: Through the “glocal” governance measures, Arbonia Doors enabled both local differentiation and global consistency. Not only was it possible to define a consensual degree of process harmonization, but a boundary-spanning sense of community and collaboration was also established. This is expected to be valuable for future digital transformation programs in the group. Lessons learned: A joint reflection with the program team on the designed “glocal” governance framework resulted in seven lessons learned that promise to be projectable to digital transformation programs in general: (1) Continuously frame an ERP endeavor as a major step in the digital transformation journey rather than as a large, complex IT program. (2) Actively strengthen the understanding and handling of tensions as a both-and rather than an either-or decision. (3) Start early and allow developing of governance measures by trial and error. (4) Foster co-creation of governance. (5) Cover formal as well as informal governance mechanisms. (6) Develop a clear strategy on how to include external partners. (7) Systematically demonstrate the effects of governance measures.»
Digital Transformation Programs – Control in the Context of Agile and Traditional Approaches: A Multiple Case Study
Kiselev, C. (2019)
«Over the last years, digital transformation in organizations has been accompanied by a rise of agile principles and methodologies. Despite some few exceptions, the majority of organizations need to combine or manage the coexistence of agile and traditional management approaches to explore new digital technologies, exploit their benefits, and innovate business successfully. Up to the present, it is not well understood how organizations deal with both approaches within digital transformation programs. Drawing on control theory and the concept of ambidexterity, the purpose of this multiple-case study is to explore how traditional and agile components are managed within large digital transformation programs, what formal modes and styles of control are conducted, and which tensions in control arise. Besides identifying authoritative and enabling control modes, as well as for instance tensions concerning transparency and cadence of outcome delivery, the important dual and “translating” role of the program manager regarding control is emphasized through this study.»
Mission Impossible? Exploring the Limits of Managing Large IT Projects and Ways to Cross the Line
Winter, R., Rohner, P. & Kiselev, C. (2019)
«For decades much effort has been made to improve project management capabilities. Still, the failure rate remains high, especially for large IT projects. Our postmortem analysis of 15 large IT projects of the Swiss Federal Administration, with an accumulated loss of one billion U.S. dollars, shows that while project management deficits account for some of the failures, project failure is primarily caused by poor project governance capabilities. Based on insights gained from the initial failure analysis, the Swiss Federal Government decided to assess all its large IT projects based on our co-designed framework. Meanwhile, also private companies have assessed IT projects applying our framework. As a consequence, valuable discussions and measures have been initiated and sporadically projects were stopped. The data gained by these assess-ments will allow to identify patterns that promise to be a reference for governance actors and bodies what information to ask for, when to intervene, and how.»
«Die komplexen Fragestellungen aus der Sicht der Wissenschaft zu verstehen, ist eine bereichernde Ergänzung. Man verschafft sich einen breiteren Horizont und bessere Entscheidungsgrundlagen.»
Désirée Schröder
Business-driven IT Strategist mit langjähriger Konzern-CIO-Erfahrung
Steuerung und Führung von grossen Projekten in der Bundesverwaltung
Rohner, P. (2014)
«In den letzten Jahren sind mehrere grosse IKT-Projekte des Bundes in grosse Schwierigkeiten geraten. Das Institut für Wirtschaftsinformatik der Universität St.Gallen (IWI-HSG) ist vom Informatiksteuerungsorgan des Bundes (ISB) damit beauftragt worden, unter dem Titel „Steuerung und Führung von grossen Projekten in der Bundesverwaltung (SFP 2014)“ eine neutrale Analyse der Ursachen vorzulegen sowie Massnahmen für den künftigen Umgang mit grossen, komplexen IKT-Projekten in der Bundesverwaltung auszuarbeiten. Der primäre Zweck liegt darin, einen Beitrag zur Verbesserung der Rahmenbedingungen und der Fähigkeiten zur Steuerung und Führung von IKT-Grossprojekten und damit zur Schaffung von neuem Vertrauen in die Fähigkeit der Bundesverwaltung zur Durchführung solcher IKT-Projekte zu leisten. Es wurden 15 Projekte untersucht, die in grosse Schwierigkeiten geraten sind. Die Projekte stammen aus allen Departementen. Allen Projekten ist gemeinsam, dass sachliche Ziele nicht erreicht oder Budgets nicht eingehalten wurden oder der Abschluss nicht innerhalb des veranschlagten Zeitraums erfolgte oder die Erzeugung des Nutzens während dem Einsatz der durch das Projekt hervorgebrachten Lösung nicht sichergestellt ist.»
Technological Frames in Public Administration: What do Public Managers Think of Big Data?
Guenduez, A. A., Mettler, T. & Schedler, K. (2020)
«Being among the largest creators and gatherers of data in many countries, public administrations are looking for ways to harness big data technology. However, the de facto uses of big data in the public sector remain very limited. Despite numerous studies aiming to clarify the term big data, for many public managers, it remains unclear what this technology does and does not offer public administration. Using the concept of technological frames, we explore the assumptions, expectations, and understandings that public managers possess in order to interpret and make sense of big data. We identify nine big data frames, ranging from inward-oriented techno-enthusiasts to outward-oriented techno-skeptics, each of which characterizes public managers’ specific viewpoints relating to the introduction of big data in public administrations. Our findings highlight inconsistencies between different perceptions and reveal widespread skepticism among public managers, helping better understand why the de facto uses of big data in the public sector remain very limited.»
The Road to Digital and Smart Government in Switzerland
Mettler, T. (2018)
«This chapter describes the transition of the Swiss public sector in its efforts to establish a digital ecosystem. The goals are to make public services centered on the needs of citizens and businesses more efficient, to reduce the costs of administration and improve its operations, and—arguably—to create a ‘smart government’ using emerging technologies which can benefit from the digitalization of services.»
Kontinuierliche Business Innovation: Systematische Weiterentwicklung komplexer Geschäftslösungen durch Reifegradmodell-basiertes Management
Winter, R. & Mettler, T. (2015)
«Als „Business Innovation“-Prozess wird die systematische Planung, Steuerung und Kontrolle von Innovationen in und zwischen Organisationen verstanden, wobei der Gegenstand von „Business Innovation“ Produkte und Dienstleistungen, Prozesse oder Geschäftsmodelle sein können. Typischerweise durchläuft jede Instanz von Business Innovation eine Initial-/Erstentwicklungsphase und muss danach mehr oder weniger kontinuierlich optimiert bzw. weiterentwickelt werden –, wobei das „Sundowning“, d. h. der Rückbau obsoleter oder nicht performanter Innovationen, als finale Phase angesehen werden kann. Im Folgenden werden Produkte und Dienstleistungen, Prozesse oder Geschäftsmodelle unter dem Begriff „Geschäftslösung“ generalisiert. Komplexe Geschäftslösungen haben viele Facetten, deren kohärente Gestaltung hohe Anforderungen an einen systematischen Entwurfs-, Einführungs- und Weiterentwicklungsprozess stellen. Für die kontinuierliche Weiterentwicklung von Geschäftslösungen bedarf es einer Unterstützung für die (1) gesamthafte Beurteilung des aktuellen Entwicklungsgrads auch hinsichtlich der Kohärenz verschiedener Aspekte, die (2) Festlegung kohärenter Entwicklungsziele und die (3) Ableitung entsprechender Weiterentwicklungsaktivitäten. Auf der Grundlage geeigneter Reifegradmodelle können genau diese Unterstützungsfunktionen angeboten werden.»