Skip to main content

Strategic IT in financial services: the social construction of strategic knowledge

  • Chapter
The Management of Expertise

Part of the book series: Management, Work and Organisations ((MWO))

Abstract

Our analysis of the management of expertise has begun to highlight the problems and contradictions of the managerial process around expert groups. Clearly, expertise is not simply available ‘on tap’ to be inserted into decisionmaking processes at management’s discretion. Nor do its implications boil down to the carrot and stick issues of motivation and control. In contrast, we have developed a framework that highlights the role of expertise in the social construction of knowledge. This chapter applies that framework to managerial attempts to apply information technology (IT) to strategic organisational goals. It focuses on the financial services sector and in that context deals with questions such as the role of information systems (IS) in shaping corporate strategy, and more broadly with the possibility of organising expert knowledge to support the strategic agendas defined by top management.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Armstrong, P. (1987) ‘Engineers, management and trust’, Work, Employment and Society, vol.1, no. 4, pp. 421–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Armstrong, P. (1989) ‘Management, labour process and agency’, Work, Employment and Society, vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 307–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Armstrong, P. (1991) ‘Contradiction and social dynamics in the capitalist agency relationship’, Accounting, Organisations and Society, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 1–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • British Computer Society (1990) From Potential to Reality: A Report by the British Computer Society Task Group on Hybrids ( London: British Computer Society Publications).

    Google Scholar 

  • Child, J. and Smith, C. (1987) ‘The context and process of organisational transformations–Cadbury Limited in its sector’, Journal of Management Studies, vol. 24, no. 6, pp. 565–593.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Currie, W. (1994) ‘The strategic management of a large scale IT project in the financial services sector’, New Technology, Work and Employment, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 19–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dey, S., Metzer, R. O. and Banks, J. D. (1988) ‘Making Management-DP conflict a thing of the past’, National Productivity Review, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 59–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Earl, M. J. and Skryme, D. J. (1990) ‘Hybrid Managers: What do we know about them?’, Working Paper RDP90/6 ( Oxford: Oxford Institute of Information Management).

    Google Scholar 

  • Earl, M. (1989) Management Strategies for Information Technology ( London: Prentice-Hall).

    Google Scholar 

  • Firdman, H. E. (1991) Strategic Information Systems: Forging the business and technology alliance ( New York: McGraw-Hill).

    Google Scholar 

  • Friedman, A. L. with Cornford, S. D. (1989) Computer Systems Development: History, organisation and implementation ( Chichester: Wiley and Sons).

    Google Scholar 

  • Gunton, T. (1990) Inside Information Technology ( Hemel Hempstead: Prentice-Hall).

    Google Scholar 

  • Hickson, D. J., Hinings, C. R., Lee, C. A., Schneck, R. E. and Pennings, J. M. (1971) ‘A strategic contingencies theory of intra-organisational power’, Administrative Science Quarterly, vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 216–229.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knights, D. and Morgan, G. (1991) ‘Corporate strategy, organisations and the subject’, Organization Studies, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 251–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lucas, H.C. (1984) ‘Organisational power and the Information Services Department’, Communications of the ACM, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 58–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McFarlan, F. W. and McKenney, J. L. (1983) Corporate Information Systems Management: The issues facing senior executives ( New York: Dow Jones Irwin).

    Google Scholar 

  • Miles, R. E. and Snow, C. C. (1978) Organisational Strategy, Structure and Process ( New York: McGraw-Hill).

    Google Scholar 

  • Mumford, E. and Ward, T. B. (1968) Computers: Planning for people ( London: Batsford).

    Google Scholar 

  • Murray, F. (1989) ‘The organisational politics of information technology: studies from the UK financial services industry’, Technology Analysis and Strategic Management, vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 285–98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scarbrough, H. (ed.) (1992) The IT Challenge: Strategy and IT in financial services ( Hemel Hempstead: Prentice-Hall ).

    Google Scholar 

  • Scarbrough, H. and Corbett, J. M. (1992) Technology and Organisation: Power, meaning and design ( London: Routledge).

    Google Scholar 

  • Shearman, C. and Burrell, G. (1987) ‘The structures of industrial development’, Journal of Management Studies, vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 325–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shrivastava, P. and Souder, W. E. (1987) ‘The strategic management of technological innovations: A review and a model’, Journal of Management Studies, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 25–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smircich, L. and Stubbart, C. (1985) ‘Strategic management in an enacted environment’, Academy of Management Review, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 724–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steiner, T.D. and Teixeira, D.B. (1990) Technology in Banking: Creating value and destroying profits (Homewood, Illinois: Irwin).

    Google Scholar 

  • Stevens, G. (1993) ‘Power and EDP departments: A case study’, New Technology, Work and Employment, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 111–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Willcocks, L. P. and Mark, A. L. (1989) ‘IT systems implementation: research findings from the public sector’, Journal of Information Technology, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 92–103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, T. D. (1989) ‘The implementation of information systems strategies in UK companies: Aims and barriers to success’, International Journal of Information Management, vol. 9, pp. 245–58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Copyright information

© 1996 Harry Scarbrough

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Scarbrough, H. (1996). Strategic IT in financial services: the social construction of strategic knowledge. In: Scarbrough, H. (eds) The Management of Expertise. Management, Work and Organisations. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-24394-5_7

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-24394-5_7

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-333-56870-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-349-24394-5

Publish with us

Policies and ethics