Education Intervention and Implementation in MIS

Developing large-scale information systems is too often marked by failure. However, strategies that use education to lead the implementation may be more successful than those that use training to follow it. A case study of an education intervention workshop used in the implementation process for an information system in a major bank is used to illustrate the value of this strategy. The main objectives of the workshop with middle managers were to close the culture gap by changing attitudes between operations and marketing, and to ensure that participants understood the implementation plans and the need for initiating actions on their own. Principles that guided the design and delivery of the workshop included: 1. Use data from the participants' world. 2. Demonstrate senior management commitment. 3. Provide a forum for participants to express concerns. 4. Provide an opportunity for action. 5. Move the sequence of events. 6. Select a heterogeneous group of participants. 7. Select a teacher with research, consulting, and teaching skills. 8. Conduct follow-up activities.