Future Trends

managing it in government, business & communities
Chapter 16 - Interorganizational Relationships, Strategic Alliances, and Networks: The Role of Communication Systems and Information Technologies
Managing IT in Government, Business & Communities
by Gerry Gingrich (ed) 
Idea Group Publishing 2003
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Development of Utilization of IT in Organization and Impact to ION

Utilization of IT in organization has been advancing and diffusing, with the progress of IT.

Tapscott and Caston (1993) explained about advancement of IT utilization in organization with a concept of "three critical shifts in the application of information technology" (pp. 14 18). The first shift is from personal to work-group computing; the second shift is from system islands to integrated systems; and the third shift is from internal to inter-enterprise computing. They listed eight technical shifts that enable the above three shifts: from traditional semiconductors to microprocessor-based systems, from host-based to network-based systems, from vendor proprietary software to open software standards, from single to multimedia (data, text, voice, and image), from account control to computer vendor-customer partnerships based on free will, software development from craft to factory, from alphanumeric to graphical, multiform user interface, and from stand-alone to integrated software applications.

Vekatraman (1991) pointed out that the role of IT in organization is shifting from a traditional supportive role to an emerging strategic role, and advocated "five levels of IT-induced reconfiguration" (pp. 127 128): localized exploitation, internal integration, business process redesign, business network redesign, and business scope redefinition.

According to him, these five levels of reconfiguration of business are that the higher the level is, the greater the degree of reconfiguration, and the broader the scope of potential benefit.

While localized exploitation and internal integration are piecemeal improvement, business process redesign, business network redesign, and business scope redefinition are reconfiguration of business at revolutionary level.

In ION, when we investigate how to utilize IT for effective and efficient business activities in order to compete and win in the competition among IONs, it is effective that we consider how we shall formulate competitive strategies in ION through utilization of IT, and reconfigures business in ION with IT.

Interorganizational Strategies Using IT

As aforementioned, Gomez-Casseres (1996) pointed out this "collective competition" between/among IONs. In order to meet such competition, IOR has to have its competitive strategies. There are three options that IOR can take using IT: effectiveness of existing business, efficiencies of existing business, and creating new business. A key concept of all these options is innovation. It has two dimensions: innovation of new products/services and that of new business processes.

Usually ERP and SCM are carried out for efficient operations or activities through "the best practice" of the industry. It is a kind of standardization based on the best practice, and only a necessary condition for survival. In order to win at the competition, a sufficient condition shall be satisfied; otherwise such competition will be an endless cost-reduction-race.

Therefore, prior to the introduction of ERP or SCM, existing business models should be reexamined and redesigned for sustainable competitive advantage. In other words, an innovation of business models or business processes is required as a sufficient condition.

As for "innovation," knowledge management systems shall play a very important role. In ION, it is the important theme how ION manages and enhances the collective knowledge of each member organization through utilizing IT support.

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Managing IT in Government, Business & Communities
Managing IT in Government, Business & Communities
ISBN: 1931777403
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 188

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