Information society needs of managers in a large governmental organisation

Abstract

Dealing effectively with information and communication technology in the information society is a complex task and the human dimension is often under-estimated. This paper tries to give a voice to some managers about their experiences with information, communication and technology in their working environment, which involves participating in a learning organisation, knowledge management and communities of practice, competency management, ICT-Security awareness management as well as and innovation and change management. Managers of a large governmental organisation in the Netherlands were polled in a questionnaire requesting their responses in using ICT as well as involvement in the above categories. The responses of 246 of them were analysed. It was found that they knew full well that their strongest need was for a conceptual understanding of the implications of ICT in their changed work environment. This need overarched the elementary end-user training needs of what buttons to press to achieve what end. The research findings emphasize that as education is increasingly need-driven instead of content-driven it is necessary to reconsider the curricula of higher educational institutes especially with regards to management training. Furthermore, this research highlights a need for on the job training and performance support for middle managers.