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Chap002
- 1. Competing with InformationTechnology Chapter 2 Copyright © 2010 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill/Irwin
- 2. Learning Objectives Identifybasic competitive strategies and explain how a business can use IT to confront the competitive forces it faces Identify several strategic uses of IT and give examples of how they can help a business gain competitive advantages Give examples of how business process reengineering frequently involves the strategic use of IT
- 3. Learning Objectives Identifythe business value of using Internet technologies to become an agile competitor or to form a virtual company Explain how knowledge management systems can help a business gain strategic advantages
- 4. Case 1: ReinventingIT as a Strategic Business Partner Apart from providing reliable and excellent IT services, IT should provide innovative solutions to business challenges IT is no longer about supporting or automating a business It’s about innovating, improving, and reinventing it IT is now a ground-floor business partner, rather than an after-the-fact business tool
- 5. Case Study QuestionsWhat business and political challenges are likely to occur as a result of the transformation of IT from a support activity to a partner role? What implications does this shift in the strategic outlook of IT have for traditional IT workers and the educational institutions that train them? How does this change the emphasis on what knowledge and skills the IT person of the future should have?
- 6. Case Study QuestionsDo you agree with the idea that technology is embedded in just about everything a company does? Provide examples, other than those in the case, of recent product introductions that could not have been possible without heavy reliance on IT
- 7. Strategic IT Technologyis no longer an afterthought in business strategy, but the cause and driver IT can change the way businesses compete A strategic information system is any information system that uses IT to help an organization… Gain a competitive advantage Reduce a competitive disadvantage Or meet other strategic enterprise objectives
- 8. Competitive Forces andStrategies
- 9. Five Competitive StrategiesStrategies Cost Leadership Alliance Growth Innovation Differentiation
- 10. Using Competitive StrategiesThese strategies are not mutually exclusive Organizations use one, some, or all A given activity could fall into one or more categories Not everything innovative serves to differentiate one organization from another Likewise, not everything that differentiates organizations is innovative
- 11. Ways to ImplementBasic Strategies
- 12. Other Competitive StrategiesStrategy Lock in customers and suppliers Raise barriers to entry Create switching costs Build strategic IT capabilities Leverage investment in IT
- 13. Customer-Focused Business Businessvalue in customer focus Focus on customer value Keeps customers loyal Anticipates their future needs Quality, not price, has become the primary determinant of value Responds to customer concerns Provides top-quality customer service
- 14. Providing Customer ValueUse CRM systems to focus on the customer Track individual preferences Keep up with market trends Supply products, services, and information anytime , anywhere Tailor customer services to the individual Companies that consistently offer the best value…
- 15. Building Customer Valuevia the Internet
- 16. The Value Chainand Strategic IS View the firm as a chain of basic activities that add value to its products and services Primary processes directly relate to manufacturing or delivering products Support processes support the day-to-day running of the firm and indirectly contribute to products or services Use the value chain to highlight where competitive strategies will add the most value
- 17. Using IS inthe Value Chain
- 18. Strategic Uses ofIT Companies that emphasize strategic business use of IT use it to gain competitive differentiation Products Services Capabilities
- 19. Reengineering Business ProcessesCalled BRP or Reengineering Fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes Seeks dramatic improvements in cost, quality, speed, and service Potential payback is high, but so is risk of disruption and failure Organizational redesign approaches are an important enabler of reengineering Includes use of IT, process teams, case managers
- 20. BPR vs. BusinessImprovement
- 21. The Role ofInformation Technology IT plays a major role in reengineering most business processes Can substantially increase process efficiency Improves communication Facilitates collaboration
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- 23. Reengineering Order ManagementSupplier-managed inventory systems using the Internet and extranets Cross-functional ERP software to integrate manufacturing, distribution, finance, HR processes CRM systems using intranets and the Internet Customer-accessible e-commerce websites for order entry, status checking, payment, and service Customer, product, and order status databases accessed via intranets and extranets IT that supports the reengineering process…
- 24. Becoming an AgileCompany Old Marketplace New Marketplace Standardized mass-market products and services Long-lived Information poor Exchanged in one-time transactions Global competition Niche products Individualized Short-lived Information rich Exchanged on an ongoing basis
- 25. Becoming an AgileCompany Agility is the ability to prosper In rapidly changing, continually fragmenting global markets By selling high-quality, high-performance, customer-configured products and services By using Internet technologies An agile company profits in spite of Broad product ranges Short model lifetimes Individualized products Arbitrary lot sizes
- 26. Strategies for AgilityBrings products to market quickly and cost-effectively Cooperates with customers, suppliers, competitors An agile company… Organizes to thrive on change and uncertainty Leverages the impact of its people and the knowledge they possess Provides incentives for employee responsibility, adaptability, innovation Presents products as solutions to customers’ problems
- 27. How IT Helpsa Company be Agile
- 28. Creating a VirtualCompany Organizations Assets Ideas People A virtual company uses IT to link… Suppliers Subcontractors Competitors Customers Inter-enterprise information systems link…
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- 30. Virtual Company StrategiesBasic Business Strategies Reduce concept-to-cash time through sharing Share information & risk with alliance partners Link complimentary core competencies Migrate from selling products to selling solutions Increase facilities and market coverage Gain access to new markets & share market or customer loyalty
- 31. Building a Knowledge-CreatingCompany A knowledge-creating company or learning organization… Consistently creates new business knowledge Disseminates it throughout the company Builds it into its products and services Builds it into its products and services
- 32. Two Kinds ofKnowledge Explicit Knowledge Data, documents, and things written down or stored in computers Tacit Knowledge The “how to” knowledge in workers’ minds Represents some of the most important information within an organization A knowledge-creating company makes tacit knowledge available to others
- 33. Knowledge Management Successfulknowledge management Creates techniques, technologies, systems, & rewards for getting employees to share what they know Makes better use of accumulated workplace and enterprise knowledge
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- 35. Knowledge Management Systems(KMS) Knowledge management systems… Are a major strategic use of IT Manage organizational learning and know-how Help knowledge workers create, organize, and make available important knowledge Make this knowledge available wherever and whenever it is needed
- 36. Knowledge Management Systems(KMS) Best practices Reference works Processes Forecasts Procedures Fixes Formulas Patents Knowledge includes…
- 37. Case 3: Wachoviaand Others Trading Securities at the Speed of Light Investment companies rely on faster hardware and processing times to get an advantage over competitors Securities trading is one of the few business activities where a one-second processing delay can cost a company big bucks Wall Street’s quest for speed is not only putting floor traders out of work, but opening up space for new alternative exchanges and e-communications networks that compete with established stock markets
- 38. Case Study QuestionsWhat competitive advantages can the companies in the case derive from faster technology and co-location of servers with exchanges? Which would you say are sustainable, and which ones are temporary or easily imitable? Tony Bishop of Wachovia stated that “ Competitive advantage comes from your math, your workflow, and your processes through your systems” Referring to what you have learned in this chapter, develop opposing viewpoints as to the role of IT, if any, in the development of competitive advantage
- 39. Case Study QuestionsWhat companies in industries other than securities trading could benefit from technologies that focus on reducing transaction processing times?
Editor's Notes
- #10 Cost Leadership Become low-cost producers, help suppliers or customers reduce costs, and increase cost to competitors Example: Priceline uses online bidding so the buyer sets the price Differentiation Strategy Differentiate a firm’s products from competitors’, or focus on a particular segment or niche of market Example: Moen uses online customer design Innovation Strategy Unique products, services, or markets. Radical changes to business processes Example: Amazon’s online, full-service customer systems Growth Strategy Expand company’s capacity to produce, expand into global markets, or diversify into new products or services Example: Wal-Mart’s merchandise ordering via global satellite tracking Alliance Strategy Establish linkages and alliances with customers, suppliers, competitors, consultants, and other companies. This includes mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, virtual companies Example: Wal-Mart uses automatic inventory replenishment by supplier
- #13Â Lock in Customers and Suppliers Deter them from switching to competitors Create Switching Costs Make customers and suppliers dependent on the use of innovative IS Raise Barriers to Entry Discourage or delay other companies from entering the market Increase the technology or investment needed to enter Build Strategic IT Capabilities Take advantage of strategic opportunities when they arise Improve efficiency of business practices Leverage Investment in IT Develop products and service that would not be possible without a strong IT capability