Compound

Following a restructuring of the company in 1993, Compound UK introduced Lotus Notes in order to assist with sharing information and improving group working. Lotus Notes is a client-server, collaborative application owned by IBM Software Group. However we believe that there were mistakes made throughout the introduction of the software and its use since.

Firstly, Lotus notes had only been implemented for a short period of time before a measure of staff performance was introduced. We believe that Compound UK should have waited a longer period of time in order for staff to get used to using the new software before introducing measures of performance. We think that in any line of business it is a necessity that staff are fully comfortable within their job before introducing an element of competition. Also, changes within a business generally require the co-operation of staff in order to be successful and we believe Compound would have achieved this had the introduction of performance measures been delayed.

This leads to another mistake Compound UK made, in our opinion. In the case study there is no mention of training for the staff involved. Had a training or development plan been put in place, staff may have felt more at ease using the software and been more open to performance league tables being implemented.
Orlikowski (1992) points out, how users understood Notes was mainly influenced by the kind and amount of information about the product and by the nature and form of training received.

It appears that top level management gave the impression to staff that the introduction of the electronic recording system was for their benefit. However this is in contrast to what most staff felt, who believed that it was introduced simply to increase central surveillance and control. If management had communicated the benefits of such a system to staff in greater detail, staff would have been more amenable and accepting of it. Instead there appears to be a lack of trust within the organisation which cannot be good for staff moral. It is our belief that the higher levels of management within Compound should be placing greater emphasis on the benefits and opportunities that Lotus provides to staff, helping them to see how it really can make their job easier. At present, the emphasis seems to be on the record-keeping aspects of Lotus i.e. a way of 'checking up' on staff. Morris & Empson (1998) provide an example of an accounting firm which has achieved success through the development of a collective knowledge base, this knowledge base enabled 'Sun Accounting' to become one of the most highly leveraged organisational structures in the UK accounting industry. This shows the potential benefits if Compound staff can embrace Lotus Notes in the same manner.

A main concern of staff is how Lotus Notes is being used. At the moment there appears to be an underlying sense of injustice amongst long-term staff, who feel their performance is being undermined by reps who do not see repping as a long-term career, rather a short-term route to climbing the hierarchical ladder. We feel that this problem of unease could have been prevented by Compound UK. Staff meetings should have been called before Lotus was implemented thus providing staff with an opportunity to raise any concerns they may have. Hopefully, Compound would have been able to allay many of these fears before they became a major problem within the organisation.

One way to improve the use of Notes in relation to this could be to alter the way the league tables are formed. For example, some reps are registering a large number if contacts often only for the sake of their own careers and not the benefit of Compound, they are contradicting the ethos which placed emphasis on only recording 'relevant calls'. We propose that league tables should be altered to include a scoring system which gives greater credit to those who are recording only relevant calls. Other complaints from non-career orientated reps are based upon the use of strategic selling accounts and the fact that some reps are at a locational disadvantage. The league tables should also be designed to reflect the differing opportunities provided by differing locations.

One positive aspect seemed to be the discussion databases which were proving popular. Poplar only until the medical director asked if he could take part. Usage of these databases subsequently declined when he was granted permission. It seems clear that changes should be made to allow reps their own private discussion databases where they feel free to express themselves without fear of retribution under the watchful eye of their peers.

We also feel that an opportunity provided by the introduction of Notes has not yet been exploited to its full potential. Senior medical advisor James Black has successfully managed to improve the usage of Notes amongst newer reps i.e. have them use Notes the way in which it was intended, by thorough interaction with them during training periods and often afterwards. After Lotus Notes' introduction many medics were expected to work with other employees on complex sales situations and the development of new products. Black seems to be one of only a few adhering to this but with great success. If more medics are encouraged to follow Black's lead then Compound should be able to get the most out of Notes by using medical staff to encourage reps to use Notes as Compound originally had intended.


REFERENCES

Orlikowski, W.J. (1992). Learning from
Notes: Organizational issues in groupware
implementation. CSCW’92 Proceedings.
ACM, New York :362-369.

Morris, T & Empson, L (1998). Organisation and Expertise: An Exploration of Knowledge Bases and the Management of Accounting and Consulting Firms. Accounting, Organizations and Society. Vol 23 No. 5/6 pp609-624