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Main Catalogs   Accounting Business Communication Business Law Economics Finance Insurance and Real Estate Management Information Systems Management and Organization Marketing Operations and Decision Sciences      Special Catalogs     Case Studies Text Chapters Mapped to Specific Cases How to Build a Book: Select Content Review & Arrange Personalize Request a Copy Keyword    Title, Author, Case #, Etc. ALEKS Homework Manager Discover Econ   Learning Solutions Group     Harvard Business Review Articles — Management of Information Systems  • To include an item in your complimentary custom book, click the item’s Add link. If there is a View link next to an item, you can view the pages by clicking on the link.  • To review the list of items you have selected so far, click on Step 2 in the progress bar above. You have successfully added all of the items to your order. Either click here to review your order or continue to add content from another title.    Bold Retreat: A New Strategy for Old Technologies   Add   View  12 pp.  Article Author(s): Adner, Ron ; Snow, Daniel C. Publication Date: 03/01/2010 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Publisher: Harvard Business School Publishing HBS Number: R1003E Subjects: Change management; Technology; Marketing; Strategy Academic Discipline: Management of Information Systems Product Description: A superior new technology emerges on the horizon, threatening your existing business. Do you strive to make a seamless transition to it or, perhaps, try to fight and defeat it? Both of those responses can be losing strategies. A third, frequently superior, option is one of “bold retreat,” whereby your company cedes most of the established market to the new, dominant technology and instead pursues less vulnerable positions - not as a “turn tail and run” reaction but as a proactive, strategic alternative to head-on competition. There are two types of bold retreats: (1) retrenchment to a niche of the traditional market, where the old technology has an advantage over the new one in addressing customer needs; and (2) relocation to a new market, where the old technology is the inherently superior offering. You can even incorporate both moves into an effective strategy. Like a transition to a new technology, a bold retreat requires significant organizational change. That includes revamping your cost structure and talent base, not to mention selling the very idea of “retreat” to your internal stakeholders. Despite such challenges, a bold retreat that is carried out with foresight can be both a survival strategy and a success story.    Teaming Up to Crack Innovation and Enterprise Integration   Add   View  16 pp.  Article Author(s): Cash, James I., Jr.; Earl, Michael J.; Morison, Robert Publication Date: 11/01/2008 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Publisher: Harvard Business School Publishing HBS Number: R0811F Subjects: Innovation; Cross functional teams; Product development; Process improvement; IT management Academic Discipline: Management of Information Systems Product Description: This article includes a one-page preview that quickly summarizes the key ideas and provides an overview of how the concepts work in practice along with suggestions for further reading. In the continuing quest for business growth, many CEOs are turning to their CIOs and IT organizations because technology is absolutely essential to two compelling sources of growth: innovation and enterprise integration. The speed of innovation often depends on the ability to coordinate across organizational boundaries. Innovations cannot reach a sufficient level of scale and impact unless they are integrated into the larger operations of the corporation. And yet, say recently retired Harvard Business School dean Cash, Oxford dean Earl, and nGenera director of research Morison, the two endeavors remain “unnatural acts”: Far too many large businesses are better at stifling innovation than at capitalizing on it, better at optimizing local operations than at integrating them for the good of the enterprise and its customers. To make both pursuits seem more natural, the authors recommend creating two dedicated, IT-powered teams: a distributed innovation group (DIG) and an enterprise integration group (EIG). The DIG serves as the center of expertise for innovation techniques, considers new uses for technology already being developed inside the company, looks for new developments outside the company, and provides experts for internal innovation initiatives. The EIG selects the most promising from among competing inte    Achieving and Sustaining Business-IT Alignment   Add   View  15 pp.  Article Author(s): Luftman, Jerry; Brier, Tom Publication Date: 10/01/1999 Product Type: CMR Article Publisher: California Management Review Product Description: This article identifies the major enablers and inhibitors in the achievement of business-Information Technology (IT) alignment. Alignment involves the activities that management performs to achieve cohesive goals across the IT and functional (e.g., finance, marketing, manufacturing) organizations. Therefore, alignment addresses both how IT is in harmony with the business, and how the business should or could be in harmony with IT. IT requires strong support from senior management, good working relationships, strong leadership, appropriate prioritization, trust, and effective communication, as well as a thorough understanding of the business environment. This article develops a methodology that leverages the most important enablers and inhibitors to business-IT alignment. HBS Number: CMR162 Subjects: Cross functional management; Information technology; Leadership; Organizational management Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Achieving Success in Information Systems Outsourcing   Add   View  18 pp.  Article Author(s): Saunders, Carol; Gebelt, Mary; Hu, Qing Publication Date: 01/01/1997 Product Type: CMR Article Publisher: California Management Review HBS Number: CMR075 Subjects: Contracts; Information systems; Partnerships; Sourcing Academic Discipline: Management of information systems Product Description: The conventional wisdom is that companies should never outsource core functions. This study of 34 large companies that outsourced for at least two years demonstrates that outsourcing can be successful even when information systems are viewed as core functions. However, outsourcing negotiations must reflect the role of the company performing the outsourced functions and the nature of the outsourced work. A critical key to success in outsourcing arrangements lies in having tight contracts, even when the outsourcing vendor is viewed as a strategic partner or the IS function is considered to be core. This article offers prescriptions for writing contracts and creating balanced arrangements to enhance outsourcing success.    Adopting BSC Software: One Company’s Experience   Add   View  4 pp.  Article Author(s): Hunt, Avery Publication Date: 01/15/2004 Product Type: Balanced Scorecard Report Article Product Description: To achieve the aim of becoming a global player, Zagreb, Croatia-based PLIVA, a pharmaceuticals company, adopted the BSC. Adopting BSC software followed. Then-project manager Mislav Vucic recounts PLIVA's step-by-step experiences, along with useful tips about choosing and managing a BSC software provider. HBS Number: B0401C Subjects: Balanced scorecard; Organizational structure; Pharmaceuticals; Software; Strategy implementation Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Back-Propagation of User Innovations: The Open Source Compatibility Edge   Add   View  10 pp.  Article Author(s): Hicks, Christian; Pachamanova, Dessislava Publication Date: 07/01/2007 Product Type: Business Horizons Article Publisher: Business Horizons/Indiana University HBS Number: BH241 Industry Setting: IT industry; Software industry Subjects: Compatibility; Innovation; IT infrastructure; Open-source software Academic Discipline: Management of information systems Product Description: Open source software (OSS) is a dramatically disruptive force in the software industry. While businesses see OSS succeeding, many of them have trouble gleaning the lessons that can be learned from the OSS phenomenon, since OSS development appears to be far removed from traditional business practices and principles. A major observation resulting from research on OSS products is that OSS product development is not only enabling innovations by its users, but also providing a structure for them to back-propagate into OSS products, a process that enhances compatibility in OSS products and presents a low-cost solution to the more general problem of servicing highly segmented markets. Argues that this innovative management process carries important insights for both commercial software vendors and companies outside the software industry.    Beware of Old Technologies’ Last Gasps   Add   View  4 pp.  Article Author(s): Snow, Daniel C. Publication Date: 01/01/2008 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article HBS Number: F0801B Geographic Setting: Scandanavia Industry Setting: Retail industry Subjects: Product life cycles; Technology Academic Discipline: Management of information systems Product Description: When a new technology appears, the old one experiences a sudden leap in performance. Whether you are an old — or a new — technology company, understanding how that phenomenon works can help you win during this critical transition period.    Beyond Chief Information Officer to Network Manager   Add   View  8 pp.  Article Author(s): Donovan, John J. Publication Date: 09/01/1988 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: The migration of computing power from corporate headquarters to divisions, plants, and desktops promises to reduce costs, enhance competitiveness, and renew creativity. In a world of accelerating decentralization, the most effective way to manage computer resources is to focus on the networks that connect them. To do this, chief information officers must transform themselves into network managers. Network managers will relinquish control of hardware and software decisions and seize control of communication systems and policies. Their central challenge will be to devise customized solutions to the three levels of connectivity in a computer network--physical, systems, and applications--that allow information to flow smoothly between applications and workstations. HBS Number: 88504 Subjects: Computer systems; Decentralization; Information systems Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Breaking the Systems Development Bottleneck   Add   View  8 pp.  Article Author(s): Gremillion, Lee L.; Pyburn, Philip J. Publication Date: 03/01/1983 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: Long systems-development lead times result from the length of time required to design, program, test, and implement computer-based systems and from the limited resources available to satisfy demand. Many companies are turning to alternative strategies to get systems into the hands of users more quickly. To select the appropriate alternative strategy, managers need to evaluate projects in terms of their commonality, their impact on the company, and their structure (the degree of definition of the involved function). HBS Number: 83209 Subjects: Computer systems; Information systems; Systems design Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Building the IT Organization Balanced Scorecard   Add   View  5 pp.  Article Author(s): Gold, Robert S. Publication Date: 09/15/2002 Product Type: Balanced Scorecard Report Article Product Description: In BSR's September/October 2001 issue, Robert Gold introduced theories on and approaches to using the Balanced Scorecard to enable strategy-focused information technology. Here, he shares his practical lessons and insights on building BSCs, drawn from his nearly 25 years of working closely with IT organizations. HBS Number: B0209D Subjects: Balanced scorecard; Corporate strategy; Information technology Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Case of the Soft Software Proposal   Add   View  7 pp.  Article Author(s): Davenport, Thomas H. Publication Date: 05/01/1989 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: In this case study, presented in the form of electronic mail messages sent within Middleton Mutual, the CIO is trying to introduce the company to expert systems. But the new systems would cost about $1 million, and the capital expenditure committee is leaning against the idea. Irma Wyman, vice president of corporate information management for Honeywell, Inc.; Thomas L. Pettibone, vice president, information systems, for New York Life Insurance Co.; John D. Loewenberg, senior vice president, corporate information systems, Aetna Life & Casualty; and Diogo Teixeira, systems consultant at McKinsey & Co. discuss the case. HBS Number: 89302 Subjects: HBR Case Discussions; Information systems; Software Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Centrally Decentralized IS Organization   Add   View  6 pp.  Article Author(s): Von Simson, Ernest M. Publication Date: 07/01/1990 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: After a period in which many companies experimented with decentralizing their information systems (IS) organization, companies are now consolidating data centers, giving central IS staffs more authority, and establishing companywide standards and procedures. The result is a hybrid organizational model that allows companies to benefit from the cost savings and control that centralization provided but with the user-responsiveness and flexibility that decentralizing permits. HBS Number: 90412 Subjects: Centralization; Decentralization; Information management; Information systems; Organizational design; Organizational structure Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    CEO Goes On-Line   Add   View  8 pp.  Article Author(s): Rockart, John F.; Treacy, Michael E. Publication Date: 01/01/1982 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: A growing number of top executives make daily use of computer terminals in their offices. Typically, executive information systems (EIS) share the following: a central purpose; a common core of data; two principal methods of use, which are 1) access to the current status and projected trends of the business, and 2) personalized analyses of the available data; and a support organization. A description of the EIS system at Northwest Industries highlights the development, implementation, and expansion of that system. HBS Number: 82109 Subjects: Computer systems; Information systems; Management development Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    CEO’s-Eye View of the IT Function   Add   View  10 pp.  Article Author(s): DeLisi, Peter S.; Danielson, Ronald L.; Po Publication Date: 01/15/1998 Product Type: Business Horizons Article Publisher: Business Horizons/Indiana University Product Description: As the breadth and depth of the impact of information technology (IT) on the firm has grown, there has been a corresponding rise in rank of the senior IT executive. Recent evidence, however, indicates this trend might have reversed itself. This article reports chief executives' views of IT and senior IT managers. CEOs believe that IT executives need to develop a “big picture'' perspective, enhance their interpersonal skills, raise the general awareness of the value of IT, establish visible relationships, and identify with the role of “change agent.'' CEOs lament that all too often, IT senior managers do not demonstrate those skills or take advantage of their unique opportunities to learn them. HBS Number: BH002 Subjects: Executives; Information systems; Information technology; Leadership Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Chief Executives Define Their Own Data Needs   Add   View  14 pp.  Article Author(s): Rockart, John F. Publication Date: 03/01/1979 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: General managers and chief executive officers generally determine the information they need through four basic approaches: the by-product technique, the null approach, the key indicator system, and the total study process. A new approach, the Critical Success Factors (CFS) Method, focuses on individual managers and on each manager's current hard and soft information needs. The four prime sources of critical success factors are the structure of the particular industry; the competitive strategy, industry position, and geographic location; environmental factors; and temporal factors. The CFS method is useful at each level of general management. HBS Number: 79209 Subjects: Data processing; Information management Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Communicating with Virtual Project Teams   Add   View  3 pp.  Article Publication Date: 12/01/2000 Product Type: Harvard Management Communication Letter Article Product Description: How do you bring a project team together when its members are spread over several continents and time zones? Enter a new breed of Internet-based products called "virtual workspaces." These products offer a password protected site, with services ranging from e-mail and information storage to chat rooms and scheduling. This article describes some of the pros and cons of such services and lists Web site addresses to learn more about the services. HBS Number: C0012E Subjects: Internet; Management communication; Teams; Virtual communities Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Computer Data Bases: The Future Is Now   Add   View  16 pp.  Article Author(s): Nolan, Richard L. Publication Date: 09/01/1973 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: Ad hoc requests from top management for information that crosses different departments and functions stimulate the development of computer data bases in which companies maintain all of their computer-readable data in a single pool or bank. This approach is more efficient than the traditional one of collecting and coding data for each specific program because there is no redundancy of data, the latest advances in computer technology are utilized, and there is more flexibility as specific programs are separate from the data. HBS Number: 73507 Subjects: Computer systems; Data processing; Information systems Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Confronting the Information Age: Strategy, Copyright, and Digital Goods   Add   View  11 pp.  Article Author(s): Beal, Brent D.; Marin, Daniel B. Publication Date: 07/15/2003 Product Type: Business Horizons Article Publisher: Business Horizons/Indiana University Product Description: The proliferation of computer networks, the popularization of the World Wide Web, and the increasing availability of digital intellectual goods present producers and distributors of those goods with a unique set of opportunities and threats. Three different conceptual models, proposed and explicated here, focus on the experiential, legal, and organizational aspects of digital intellectual goods. They highlight the salient features of the digital revolution and facilitate strategic assessments and responses. Discusses strategic responses suggested by these models. HBS Number: BH092 Subjects: Business & society; Electronic commerce; Information industry; Information technology; Intellectual capital; Legal aspects of business; Models; Technology Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Connectivity and Control in the Year 2000 and Beyond   Add   View  16 pp.  Article Author(s): Nolan, Richard L. Publication Date: 07/01/1998 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article HBS Number: 98411 Geographic Setting: Industry Setting: Subjects: Communication strategy; Computer systems; Contingency planning; Information technology; Management of change; Risk management; Uncertainty Academic Discipline: Management of information systems Product Description: Fourteen commentators offer their ideas on how senior managers should think about connectivity and control in the year 2000 and beyond. By now, most executives are familiar with the famous Year 2000 problem — and many believe that their companies have the situation well in hand. After all, it seems to be such a trivial problem — computer software that interprets “00” to be the year 1900 instead of the year 2000. And yet armies of computer professionals have been working on it — updating code in payroll systems, distribution systems, actuarial systems, sales-tracking systems, and the like. The problem is pervasive. Not only is it in your systems, it's in your suppliers' systems, your bankers' systems, and your customers' systems. It's embedded in chips that control elevators, automated teller machines, process-control equipment, and power grids. Already, a dried-food manufacturer destroyed millions of dollars of perfectly good product when a computer counted inventory marked with an expiration date of “00” as nearly a hundred years old. And when managers of a sewage-control plant turned the clock to January 1, 2000 on a computer system they thought had been fixed, raw sewage pumped directly into the harbor. It has become apparent that there will not be enough time to find and fix all of the problems by January 1, 2000. And what good will it do if your computers work but they're connected with systems that don't? That is one of the questions Harvard Business School profes    Coping with Infoglut: What You Can Learn from the Folks in Financial Services   Add   View  4 pp.  Article Author(s): Prewitt, Edward Publication Date: 08/01/1997 Product Type: Harvard Management Update Article Product Description: Bankers, fund managers, analysts, and other financial service workers cut through a haze of data every day. Their acumen makes them experts in limiting exposure to information overload. From their own experiences, they advise managers to prioritize, filter information sources, make time for face-to-face communication, do their own analysis...but outsource when they can, use the Internet, and know where they want to go. Examines each of these tools and techniques in detail. HBS Number: U9708D Geographic Setting: Industry Setting: Subjects: Financial services; Information management; Information services; Information technology; Statistical analysis Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Corporate Portals   Add   View  5 pp.  Article Author(s): McFarland, Jennifer Publication Date: 06/01/2001 Product Type: Harvard Management Communication Letter Article Product Description: Portals are replacing intranets as the latest and greatest corporate communication tools. But do they really deliver the Web's promise of better, faster, and cheaper? This article discusses what you need to know about portals, and what to consider when creating one for your own company. HBS Number: C0106E Subjects: Communication in organizations; Information management; Intranets; Management communication; Technology Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Data Mining: What General Managers Need to Know   Add   View  4 pp.  Article Author(s): Jacobs, Peter Publication Date: 10/01/1999 Product Type: Harvard Management Update Article Product Description: Today's huge databases are too important to be left to the IT department. Here's a primer on data warehouses, data mining, and other techniques of gathering information. Includes a mini-glossary of data terms. HBS Number: U9910D Subjects: Data bases; Information technology Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Data to Knowledge to Results: Building an Analytic Capability   Add   View  23 pp.  Article Author(s): Davenport, Thomas H.; Harris, Jeanne G.; D Publication Date: 01/01/2001 Product Type: CMR Article Publisher: California Management Review Product Description: Data remains one of our most abundant yet underutilized resources. This article provides a holistic framework that will help companies maximize this resource. Outlines the elements necessary to transform data into knowledge and then into business results. Managers must understand that human elements--strategy, skills, culture--need to be attended to along with technology. Examines the experiences of over 20 companies that were successful in their data-to-knowledge efforts. Identifies the critical success factors that must be present in any data-to-knowledge initiative and offers advice for companies seeking to build a robust analytic capability. HBS Number: CMR194 Subjects: Data processing; Information management; Information technology; Knowledge management Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Decoding ASPs   Add   View  4 pp.  Article Author(s): Fantasia, Annette Publication Date: 11/01/2000 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: Why own your computer applications? You can rent just what you need, when you need it, from a new breed of application service provider. HBS Number: F00605 Subjects: Computer services; Information technology; Internet; Outsourcing Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Diffusion of Web-Based Product Innovation   Add   View  28 pp.  Article Author(s): Prandelli, Emanuela; Verona, Gianmario; Raccagni, Deborah Publication Date: 08/01/2006 Product Type: CMR Article Publisher: California Management Review HBS Number: CMR347 Subjects: Customer relations; Innovation; Internet; Product development Academic Discipline: Management of information systems Product Description: Customers have proven to be a precious source of new solutions in various product categories and, by becoming directly involved in the innovation process, they can help companies better anticipate market changes. The Web can greatly simplify these activities by making it easier to manage systematic interactions with a select group of customers at a low cost. However, empirical evidence regarding the actual diffusion of Web-based tools supporting collaborative innovation remains weak. After reviewing the past findings on Web-based tools for customer integration, this article presents an exploratory analysis of over 200 brand and corporate sites. It highlights the tools that firms mainly use and identifies some relevant industrial and firm specificities.    Do We Know How to Do That?: Understanding Knowledge Management   Add   View  5 pp.  Article Author(s): Von Hoffman, Constantine Publication Date: 02/01/1999 Product Type: Harvard Management Update Article Product Description: Knowledge management is the process of figuring out what information a company has and making that information easily available to others within the company. But without a formal knowledge management process, there isn't an easy way to find out who has worked on what, and the results are a matter of luck. The knowledge that has accumulated in the company may never be discovered or passed along. Formal knowledge management practices include creating repositories of information about best practices, establishing networks between customer service employees and those who create products, and creating formal procedures to ensure lessons learned during the course of a project are passed along to others. It's more than dumping information in a database, though. Knowledge sharing is not something that occurs naturally--it must be managed, encouraged, and rewarded. HMU offers tips on deciding whether a formal knowledge management program is right for your company or division and advice on implementing such a program. Includes an annotated ``If you want to learn more'' section. HBS Number: U9902A Subjects: Knowledge management; Organizational learning; Value of information Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Does Bill Gates Know from E-Mail?   Add   View  5 pp.  Article Author(s): Hattersley, Michael Publication Date: 01/01/1999 Product Type: Harvard Management Communication Letter Article Product Description: Bill Gates is well-known for his business prowess; he also has some specific ideas on how to work successfully within this new genre of electronic communication. What are the new rules of this particular road ahead? HBS Number: C9901D Subjects: Communication; Writing Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    E Pluribus Computum   Add   View  7 pp.  Article Author(s): Couger, J. Daniel Publication Date: 09/01/1986 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: Microcomputers are invading every corporate corner, but they have not come close to achieving their much ballyhooed promise. A recent study of 17 large companies that have implemented end-user computing shows that most make costly mistakes and suffer from high costs of having different machines, software, and maintenance contracts. The record of a happy minority of the 17 companies shows that successful end-user programs depend on the thought with which the system is constructed and controlled. HBS Number: 86504 Subjects: Computer systems; Information management; Information systems Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    E-Business: Revolution, Evolution, or Hype?   Add   View  31 pp.  Article Author(s): Coltman, Tim; Devinney, Timothy M.; Latuke Publication Date: 10/01/2001 Product Type: CMR Article Publisher: California Management Review Product Description: Will e-business ultimately represent a revolution in the way firms operate or does it represent a more normal evolution in the operations of some firms? Despite the bursting of the Internet stock bubble, it is important to answer this question. As the Internet continues to grow in size and capability, many firms are implementing Web-based applications, and Internet-derived economic change continues to occur. If this change is revolutionary, now or in the near future, then many managers will be required to rethink their firm strategies and managerial responses in a profound way. On the other hand, if the change is simply evolutionary, it will apply more to some firms than to others, and pre-Internet strategies and managerial responses will still be appropriate in many circumstances. Although it is premature to categorize e-business as revolutionary, e-business is not a silver bullet; rather, it will be a useful tool for some firms and some tasks. There are a number of key questions firms should ask to make sense of e-business. HBS Number: CMR215 Subjects: Corporate strategy; Internet; Management of change; World Wide Web Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Eleven Deadliest Sins of Knowledge Management   Add   View  14 pp.  Article Author(s): Fahey, Liam; Prusak, Laurence Publication Date: 04/01/1998 Product Type: CMR Article Publisher: California Management Review Product Description: This article draws attention to a number of errors that could potentially cripple the efforts of any organization attempting to generate and leverage knowledge. Many of these errors are associated with the concept of knowledge itself--how knowledge is understood in organizational settings. The article notes the sources of each error as well as some key implications for managing knowledge. It concludes with some brief suggestions on how to avoid, or at least ameliorate these errors. HBS Number: CMR119 Geographic Setting: Industry Setting: Subjects: Knowledge management; Knowledge transfer; Organizational behavior; Organizational learning Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    End of Delegation: Information Technology and the CEO   Add   View  11 pp.  Article Author(s): Editors Publication Date: 09/01/1995 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: Information technology now permeates every aspect of a business, requiring CEOs today to involve themselves in IT planning and decision making. Which IT investment responsibilities should the CEO delegate and to whom? When senior executives consider IT investment options, what should they look for? How do they learn what they need to know to ask the right questions? What role should other managers play in the decision? Six experts--Bob L. Martin, Gene Batchelder, Jonathan Newcomb, John F. Rockart, Wayne P. Yetter, and Jerome H. Grossman--share their views. HBS Number: 95505 Subjects: Delegation of authority; Executives; Information management; Information systems; Information technology; Leadership Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Enterprise Resource Planning: Common Myths vs. Evolving Reality   Add   View  8 pp.  Article Author(s): Mabert, Vincent A.; Soni, Ashok; Venkatara Publication Date: 05/15/2001 Product Type: Business Horizons Article Publisher: Business Horizons/Indiana University HBS Number: BH060 Subjects: ERP; Information systems; Information technology; Operations management Academic Discipline: Management of information systems Product Description: Many firms have implemented company-wide systems called Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, designed to integrate and optimize various business processes, such as order entry and production planning, across the entire business. Such systems are complex, and implementing one can be difficult, time consuming, and expensive. Limited reports in the popular press suggest that these systems have achieved mixed success at best; some imply that failure of implementation threatens the existence of the company. Here we present an objective view of ERP systems, based on interviews with operating managers, IT personnel, and consultants. The dominant reason for adopting ERP was to simplify and standardize IT systems; the second most common reason was to have access to accurate information. Cost of implementation generally ranged from 1.5% to 6% of annual revenues, with the software portion of the costs being just the tip of the iceberg. Implementation time varied from 12 months to 4 years. Return on investment in ERP was mixed — from 5% to 20%. For all the negative press ERP systems have received, our interviews indicated that all firms represented in our sample were pleased with them, despite some problems. Successful implementations were characterized by thorough senior management involvement, a cross-functional implementation team, clear guidelines for performance measurement, and detailed plans for training users. Importantly, a single ERP system does not provide an end-to-end solution, as most companies use other systems for specialized functio    ERPs: How to Make Them Work   Add   View  4 pp.  Article Author(s): Plotkin, Hal Publication Date: 03/01/1999 Product Type: Harvard Management Update Article Product Description: ERPs are one of the fastest-growing segments of the business-software industry. They offer a single system linking together all corporate operations, including planning, manufacturing, sales, vendor relations, inventory control, human resources, and accounting. Companies around the world spent over $10 billion on ERPs last year. Like many new technologies, ERPs have near-magical effects when they work as promised. Companies have reported, for example, the ability to calculate new prices instantly when a single component in a product changes; more accurate manufacturing cost comparisons among different facilities; better electronic data interchange (EDI) with vendors and suppliers, etc. However, ERP installations don't always go smoothly. This article offers tips from those who have lived through the experience. Includes a sidebar on planning tips on designing and implementing an ERP program. HBS Number: U9903C Subjects: Computer systems; Cost systems; Enterprise systems; ERP; Information systems; Information technology; Systems design Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Executive Forum: Technology and Strategic Advantage   Add   View  20 pp.  Article Author(s): Price, Robert M. Publication Date: 04/01/1996 Product Type: CMR Article Publisher: California Management Review Product Description: Creating and applying new knowledge and technology has long been a critical key to financial success. With increasing resource requirements for technological advance and acceleration in the rate of global technology diffusion, strategic thinking about technology must go beyond the simple development of new products or services. There are three common management failings in the strategic management of technology: the inability to understand status and trends of the technologies necessary to and sufficient for competitive advantage; a focus on product technologies and neglect of process technologies, particularly information technologies, in the search for competitive advantage; and the inability to accurately assess the time and cost of converting market need into market demand for new technology. Two straightforward but rigorous metaphors, Strategic Space and the Technology Food Chain, can help to overcome these basic shortcomings in strategic thinking. HBS Number: CMR059 Subjects: Corporate culture; Corporate strategy; Information technology; Technology Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Explaining XML   Add   View  4 pp.  Article Publication Date: 07/01/2000 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: Here's a primer on XML, an Internet technology that's helping to shape the future of e-business. HBS Number: F00403 Subjects: Data processing; Internet; Software; Standardization Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Finding, Forming, and Performing: Creating Networks for Discontinuous Innovation   Add   View  19 pp.  Article Author(s): Birkinshaw, Julian; Bessant, John; Delbridge, Rick Publication Date: 05/01/2007 Product Type: CMR Article Publisher: California Management Review HBS Number: CMR365 Industry Setting: High technology Subjects: Change management; Innovation; Management performance; Networking; Networks Academic Discipline: Management of information systems Product Description: Most firms struggle to adapt to discontinuous changes in their environment — witness Lego's very slow adaptation to the world of digital devices and online games. One key reason for this is that they get locked into established networks of relationships and struggle to break out of these relationships and establish new ones. Examines the approaches firms can use to build relationships with new prospective partners that are more suited to the opportunities and threats they face in new competitive environments. Identifies the key barriers that prevent firms from accessing these “networks for discontinuous innovation” and presents specific strategies that firms can adopt to overcome them. The challenge involves three steps: finding the right partners to engage with, forming relationships with them, and then building high-performing networks. By following the guidelines proposed, firms will be more likely to create high-performing networks for discontinuous innovation.    Got a Need for Speed?: What You Can Learn from Rapid Application Development   Add   View  3 pp.  Article Author(s): Raffoni, Melissa Publication Date: 11/01/2000 Product Type: Harvard Management Update Article Product Description: Melissa Raffoni, managing partner of the Boston-based business-consulting alliance, ProfessionalSkills Alliance, suggests that Rapid Application Development (RAD) has useful applications not just for IT managers, but for all time-starved executives. HBS Number: U0011D Subjects: Process innovation; Systems design Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Harnessing the Power of Idle Computers   Add   View  4 pp.  Article Author(s): Gelsinger, Patrick; Light, David A. Publication Date: 03/01/2001 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: With distributed computing, companies can save money by allocating tasks among all computers on their networks. New business applications may emerge, too. Intel's CTO discusses the opportunities and challenges. HBS Number: F0103C Subjects: Computer networks; Computer systems; Information technology; Interviews Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Have Your Objects Call My Objects   Add   View  8 pp.  Article Author(s): Ferguson, Glover T. Publication Date: 06/01/2002 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article HBS Number: R0206J Subjects: Information technology; Innovation; Product design; Product development Academic Discipline: Management of information systems Product Description: At the Star City Casino in Sydney, Australia, thousands of employees wear a huge variety of themed garments. The wardrobe department — which launders and reassembles each of those 80,000 outfits — may be the most prosaic of corporate functions, but it runs smoothly because of some very glitzy technology. It relies on radio frequency identification (RFID) chips — so-called smart tags — sewn into each garment. Tough enough to withstand repeated washing, the tags give each item an identity that can be tracked by wireless readers. The occasional gambler may still lose his shirt at Star City, but the employees don't. Object-to-object communication has become practical for a vast number of uses, enabling a “silent commerce” that requires no human interaction. Companies are rapidly adopting smart tags to reduce costs, enhance security, and help customers. But the technology is capable of even more: RFID tags working with sensors can report on whether products have been kept at a specified temperature, for example; as sensors improve, tags will be able to take action, such as triggering temperature controls. Object-to-object technology can have darker implications, primarily the potential compromise of privacy. When does helpfulness become obtrusiveness? For CEOs, the best response is first to consider the social environment in which the company is operating, then incorporate that sensitivity into the design and testing of new applications. As RFID systems advance, new business models, including entirely new ways of offering products and services, will emerge out of applications that, in simpler    Hidden Messages in Computer Networks   Add   View  9 pp.  Article Author(s): Kiesler, Sarah Publication Date: 01/01/1986 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: Computer networks are on their way to revolutionizing the workplace. Their social effects will be just as widespread as their practical effects. Because computer communication is practically anonymous, people ``talk'' more freely--up and down the hierarchy as well as across it. These effects must be taken into account when a manager decides to design and/or implement a new computer network. HBS Number: 86110 Subjects: Communication; Computer systems; Information systems; Information technology Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    How Continental Bank Outsourced Its “Crown Jewels”   Add   View  12 pp.  Article Author(s): Huber, Richard L. Publication Date: 01/01/1993 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: No industry relies more on information than banking does, yet Continental, one of America's largest banks, outsources its information technology (IT). Continental executives, eager to focus on the bank's core mission of serving business customers, decided to outsource one after another in-house service--from cafeteria services to information technology. While conventional wisdom holds that banks must retain complete internal control of IT, Continental bucked this argument when it entered into a ten-year, multimillion-dollar contract with Integrated Systems Solutions Corp. Continental is already reaping benefits from outsourcing IT. Most important, Continental staffers today focus on their true core competencies: intimate knowledge of customers' needs, and relationships with customers. HBS Number: 93102 Subjects: Banking; Commercial banking; Corporate strategy; Data processing; Financial services; Information services; Information technology; Sourcing Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    How Effective Managers Use Information Systems   Add   View  9 pp.  Article Author(s): Alter, Steven L. Publication Date: 11/01/1976 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: Computerized information systems do much more than save managers time and money. They also improve managerial effectiveness. Management decision support systems range from systems that retrieve and analyze data to systems that evaluate decisions using accounting, simulation, optimization, or actuarial models. Managers use these systems as tools of persuasion, as tools of communication, and as a means of increasing organizational control. A study of 56 systems shows that a system has a greater probability of being successful if the end users participate in its development and implementation. HBS Number: 76601 Subjects: Computer systems; Decision making; Information systems; Models Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    How Executives Can Shape Their Company’s Information Systems   Add   View  6 pp.  Article Author(s): Davenport, Thomas H.; Hammer, Michael; Met Publication Date: 03/01/1989 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: A major obstacle to the implementation of information technology is the lack of understanding between company technical experts and senior managers. One way to blend both perspectives is to establish a task force that solicits input from management and creates a set of principles to guide subsequent investments in IT. By drawing on 10 to 15 statements that reflect management's basic beliefs about how the company should use IT, the task force translates the language of corporate strategy into computerese. These statements, or principles, can help speed up the decision-making process and ensure that every IT investment helps the company achieve its strategic goals. HBS Number: 89206 Subjects: Information services; Information technology; Technological change Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    How Information Gives You Competitive Advantage   Add   View  14 pp.  Article Author(s): Porter, Michael E.; Millar, Victor E. Publication Date: 07/01/1985 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: Information technology is more than just computers. It must be conceived of broadly to encompass information as well as a spectrum of technologies that process the information. An important concept that highlights the role of information technology is the ``value chain.'' This concept divides a company's activities into the technologically and economically distinct activities it performs to do business (marketing and delivery to buyers, support and servicing after sale, installation, repair, and parts inventory management, for example). HBS Number: 85415 Subjects: Competitive advantage; Information management; Information systems; Information technology; Technology; Value of information Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    How Much Technology Does a Manager Need to Know?   Add   View  4 pp.  Article Author(s): Hattersley, Michael Publication Date: 08/01/1996 Product Type: Harvard Management Update Article Product Description: This case study examines the question, what technologies does an already successful manager need to embrace to sustain a high level of performance? Bill Caccioti, a senior executive, is concerned that his ignorance of electronic means of doing business will harm his future performance. Two experts offer suggestions for adapting technology and using it within a preexisting framework. HBS Number: U9608B Geographic Setting: Industry Setting: Subjects: Information technology; Managerial skills; Technology Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    How to Be in Two Places at Once   Add   View  4 pp.  Article Author(s): Wreden, Nick Publication Date: 10/01/1999 Product Type: Harvard Management Communication Letter Article Product Description: As costs decline and use of the Internet grows, videoconferencing is becoming a widely used tool in business communication. Videoconferencing allows people in multiple locations to experience the benefits of face-to-face meetings without the hassle and expense of traveling. Although the process has become more streamlined, it's still not as intuitive as using a phone or writing an e-mail. MC offers tips on how to participate in a successful videoconference, as well as ways to make the most of your company's videoconferencing investment. HBS Number: C9910A Subjects: Communications equipment; Management communication; Meetings; Technology Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    How to Rank Computer Projects   Add   View  8 pp.  Article Author(s): Buss, Martin D.J. Publication Date: 01/01/1983 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: How does an organization decide which information processing project gets top priority? Many factors affect decisions on priorities, each in a different way, including financial benefits, business objectives, intangible benefits, and technical importance. The question of who should define information processing priorities further complicates the issue. Although the process of setting priorities is somewhat iterative, it involves eight discrete steps. HBS Number: 83102 Subjects: Corporate strategy; Information systems Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Impacts of IT on Firm and Industry Structure: The Personal Computer Industry   Add   View  22 pp.  Article Author(s): Dedrick, Jason; Kraemer, Kenneth L. Publication Date: 04/01/2005 Product Type: CMR Article Publisher: California Management Review Product Description: The adoption of information technology has had a major impact on firm and industry structure. The personal computer industry has evolved from a value chain with well-defined roles for firms in different industry segments to a flexible global value network through which PC firms outsource many of their activities to increasingly capable suppliers. The industry's value network is organized mostly through market mechanisms, particularly for routine activities. A smaller number of complex activities involve closer trust-based relationships, but market discipline is used to reduce the risk of opportunism. IT has played a major role in this transformation. For routine activities, IT enables standardization and automation of processes, allowing effective coordination via market transactions. For more complex activities, IT supports the close integration of activities through internal IT systems or customized interorganizational systems. HBS Number: CMR313 Industry Setting: Personal computer industry Subjects: Industry structure; Information technology; Organizational structure; Technology & operations Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    In Praise of Uncertainty   Add   View  4 pp.  Article Author(s): Zittrain, Jonathan Publication Date: 05/01/2005 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: The tech industry has a really good grasp of what works and how its products will be used -- and that's killing innovation, says the Berkman Center's Jonathan Zittrain. HBS Number: F0505A Subjects: Information technology; Innovation; Uncertainty Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    In Search of Productivity   Add   View  8 pp.  Article Author(s): Roach, Stephen S. Publication Date: 09/01/1998 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article HBS Number: 98509 Geographic Setting: Industry Setting: Subjects: Business reading; Capital investments; Economic analysis; Information technology; Knowledge management; Knowledge workers; Productivity Academic Discipline: Management of information systems Product Description: Signs of prosperity abound in the United States, fueling optimism that the economy has finally risen out of a long productivity slump. But Stephen Roach, chief economist at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, takes a skeptical look at current conditions in reviewing two books in the optimist's camp. In Prosperity, Wall Street Journal reporters Bob Davis and David Wessel argue that information technology is sparking a productivity breakthrough that will sustain prolonged prosperity. The authors foresee a powerful collaboration between industry and community colleges, working together to produce skilled workers. In The Productive Edge, MIT Professor Richard Lester pins his hopes on recent turnarounds in the U.S. industry in response to innovation, globalization, and deregulation — and concludes that these forces can drive an economywide productivity revival. Roach agrees that the books provide impressive anecdotes, but he points out that industry-based gains may stem from cost-shifting and rampant outsourcing. Long-lasting improvements in productivity, by contrast, would depend on boosting capital and educational endowments — and here the news is sobering. Despite the enormous corporate gamble on IT, the net stock of capital per worker has stayed constant because of frequent upgrading. “Human capital,” as reflected in aptitude tests, also remains at low levels. Accordingly, Roach finds no hint in national data that productivity is emerging from its subpar trend. In fact, hours worked — a key    Information Archipelago — Maps and Bridges   Add   View  14 pp.  Article Author(s): McKenney, James L.; McFarlan, F. Warren Publication Date: 09/01/1982 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: Technological change makes existing organization structures for information services obsolete in many companies and forces, or will force, major reorganization for several reasons. The problems in integrating the three technologies of data processing, telecommunications, and office automation are largely a result of their historically diverse management. As the three islands of technology merge, managers should approach each technology according to what phase it is in and should not try to use the same approach for technologies that are in different phases. HBS Number: 82507 Subjects: Information management; Information systems; Organizational development; Technological change Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Information Archipelago — Plotting a Course   Add   View  13 pp.  Article Author(s): McFarlan, F. Warren; McKenney, James L.; P Publication Date: 01/01/1983 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: Planning for the amounts and types of information systems (IS) applications grows in importance as the technologies of computers, telecommunications, and office automation increase in both size and complexity. In most companies, an IS technology goes through four phases of assimilation (identification and initial investment, experimentation and learning, control, and widespread technology transfer), and planning serves a different purpose in each phase. HBS Number: 83110 Subjects: Information management; Information systems Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Information Executives Truly Need   Added   View  12 pp.  Article Author(s): Drucker, Peter F. Publication Date: 01/01/1995 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: The ability to gather, arrange, and manipulate information with computers has given business people new tools for managing. But data processing tools have done more than simply enable executives to do the same tasks better. They have changed the very concepts of what a business is and what managing means. To manage in the future, executives will need an information system integrated with strategy, rather than individual tools that so far have been used largely to record the past. The executive's tool kit has four kinds of diagnostic information: foundation information, productivity information, competence information, and resource-allocation information. The sources of the information are so diverse, and sifting through and interpreting it for a specific business are so difficult, that even small companies will need help from data specialists. HBS Number: 95104 Subjects: Activity based costing; Cost accounting; Information systems; Strategy formulation Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Information Partnerships: Shared Data, Shared Scale   Add   View  8 pp.  Article Author(s): Konsynski, Benn; McFarlan, F. Warren Publication Date: 09/01/1990 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: How can one company gain access to another's resources or customers without merging ownership or management? New information partnerships can help diverse companies develop strategic coalitions through the sharing of data. This has been made possible by a quantum improvement in hardware and software. Customers benefit from these innovations as well. Their desktop work is made simpler, and the standards by which they compete are made more universal. HBS Number: 90506 Subjects: Information systems; Partnerships; Technological change Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Information Technology and the Board of Directors   Add   View  16 pp.  Article Author(s): Nolan, Richard; McFarlan, F. Warren Publication Date: 10/01/2005 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article HBS Number: R0510F Industry Setting: Airline industry; Apparel industry Subjects: Board of directors; Corporate governance; Governance; Information technology; Operations management; Risk management Academic Discipline: Management of information systems Product Description: Ever since the Y2K scare, boards have grown increasingly nervous about corporate dependence on information technology. Since then, computer crashes, denial of service attacks, competitive pressures, and the need to automate compliance with government regulations have heightened board sensitivity to IT risk. Unfortunately, most boards remain largely in the dark when it comes to IT spending and strategy, despite the fact that corporate information assets can account for more than 50% of capital spending. A lack of board oversight for IT activities is dangerous, the authors say. It puts firms at risk in the same way that failing to audit their books would. Companies that have established board-level IT governance committees are better able to control IT project costs and carve out competitive advantage. But there is no one-size-fits-all model for board supervision of a company's IT operations. The correct approach depends on what strategic “mode” a company is in — whether its operations are extremely dependent on IT and whether it relies heavily on keeping up with the latest technologies. This article spells out the conditions under which boards need to change their level of involvement in IT decisions, explaining how members can recognize their firms' IT risks and decide whether they should pursue more aggressive IT governance. The authors delineate what an IT governance committee should look like in terms of charter, membership, duties, and overall agenda. They also offer recommendatio    Information Technology and Tomorrow’s Manager   Add   View  10 pp.  Article Author(s): Applegate, Lynda M.; Cash, James I., Jr.; Publication Date: 11/01/1988 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: Because technology now develops faster than before, in the future managers will be able to choose the kind of organization they want. New structures, associated with adhocracies, networks, or ``cluster organizations,'' will spring up around old ones. Information technology will enable cluster-type organizations to have the benefits of small scale and large scale simultaneously. Teams will accomplish most work, with leadership shared among members, and workers will be better trained, more autonomous, and more transient. Finally, expert systems will make decision making better understood, and computers will allow control to be exercised separately from reporting relationships. HBS Number: 88601 Subjects: Information management; Information systems; Information technology; Organizational structure Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Information Technology Changes the Way You Compete   Add   View  8 pp.  Article Author(s): McFarlan, F. Warren Publication Date: 05/01/1984 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: The reduction in the cost of information systems has allowed computers to offer significant competitive advantage. This new technology allows companies to redeploy their assets and rethink strategy to produce gains in market share. Interorganizational systems can change the balance of power between the buyer and the supplier. New products of higher quality and custom design can also be generated by IS technology. Management must change the way it operates. The CEO must insist that the end product of IS planning communicate the true competitive impact of the expenditures involved. Managers should ensure the confidentiality of strategic IS plans and thinking. They should not allow use of simplistic rules to calculate IS expense levels. Interorganizational IS systems have repercussions in other parts of the business; managers must encourage creativity in R&D and must not be too efficient in IS resource allocation. HBS Number: 84308 Subjects: Competition; Computer systems; Information systems; Information technology Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Information Technology Puts Power in Control Systems   Add   View  8 pp.  Article Author(s): Bruns, William J., Jr.; McFarlan, F. Warr Publication Date: 09/01/1987 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: Faster and more flexible information technology can be converted into positive programs to help get and keep customers. It can revitalize the traditional corporate control functions. While the new technology offers managers new options for gathering, organizing, and using data, it opens new horizons for new results. Companies can get constant updates on field operations. Organizations confined by historic accounting or reporting formats can now arrange information however best suits their purposes. Technology has the power to transform the information and control function. HBS Number: 87501 Subjects: Control systems; Information systems; Information technology; Technological change Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Information Technology System That Couldn’t Deliver   Add   View  8 pp.  Article Author(s): Reimus, Byron Publication Date: 05/01/1997 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: Diana Sullivan, CEO of Lenox Insurance, thought she had done her job when, after three years of hard work, she had delivered Lifexpress on time and on budget. A sophisticated computer-aided system, it enabled Lenox's 10,000-plus agents to do everything from establish a prospect's financial profile, to select the most appropriate products from the company's myriad policies, to generate all the paperwork needed to close a sale. But now Sullivan's boss, CFO Clay Fontana, seemed to be holding her accountable not only for the creation and implementation of the system but for realizing its business goals as well. And Lenox's CEO, James Bennett, appeared to concur. In this hypothetical case study, Sullivan and the other top executives at Lenox must decide who should be responsible for realizing the business goals of information technology projects. Should Sullivan have gone about the project in another way? Should Fontana and Bennett be playing more active roles? Five experts advise Sullivan and Lenox's management. HBS Number: 97308 Subjects: HBR Case Discussions; Information management; Information systems Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Into the Telecosm   Add   View  13 pp.  Article Author(s): Gilder, George Publication Date: 03/01/1991 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: During the next decade, computers and televisions will give way to "telecomputers" that will not only receive but also store, manipulate, create, and transmit digital video programming. These technologies will transform business. But this vision is being held back by the telecommunications infrastructure, which is not keeping up with the power of computers. The solution is a system of fiber-optic cables reaching every home and business in the country. Business must push for a new regulatory climate that will allow these new technologies to proliferate. HBS Number: 91203 Subjects: Communications equipment; Regulation; Technological change; Telecommunications Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Investing in the IT That Makes a Competitive Difference   Add   View  16 pp.  Article Author(s): McAfee, Andrew; Brynjolfsson, Erik Publication Date: 07/01/2008 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article HBS Number: R0807J Subjects: Competitive advantage; ERP; Information management; Process innovation; Technology management Academic Discipline: Management of information systems Product Description: Investments in certain technologies do confer a competitive edge — one that has to be constantly renewed, as rivals don't merely match your moves but use technology to develop more potent ones and leapfrog over you. That's the conclusion of a comprehensive analysis that Harvard Business School professor McAfee and MIT professor Brynjolfsson conducted of all publicly traded U.S. companies in all industries over the past few decades. They found a clear correlation between levels of IT spending and a new competitive dynamic: Since the mid-1990s, when the rate of spending on IT began to rise sharply, the spread between the leaders and laggards in an industry has widened. There are more winner-take-all markets. But the increased concentration has ramped up, rather than dampened, churn among the remaining players. And these dynamics are greatest in those industries that are more IT intensive. This pattern is already familiar to the makers of digital products, but it has now spread to traditional industries, the authors contend, not because more products are becoming digital but because more processes are. Enterprise software like ERP and CRM systems, coupled with cheap networks, is allowing companies to replicate their unique business processes quickly, widely, and faithfully, in the same way that a digital photo can be endlessly reproduced. In this new environment, top managers must pay careful attention to which processes to make consistent and which to vary locally. And while standardizing some ways of working, they must also encourage employees to come up with creative process i    IS Redraws Competitive Boundaries   Add   View  9 pp.  Article Author(s): Cash, James I., Jr.; Konsynski, Benn Publication Date: 03/01/1985 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: Automated information systems (IOSs), information networks shared by two or more companies, can enhance the productivity, flexibility, and competitiveness of many companies but can also shift the balance of power between buyers and suppliers, erect entry and exit barriers to the market, and shift the competitive position of intraindustry companies. The need for fast, reliable information exchange, the penetration of information systems into internal business processes, the reliable technical quality of information systems, and the use of IS technology to distinguish products and companies have all contributed to the development of IOSs. HBS Number: 85202 Subjects: Automation; Information systems Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Is There a Patient in the House?   Add   View  4 pp.  Article Author(s): Salzhauer, Amy Publication Date: 11/01/2005 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: The best solution to the looming shortage of nurses and doctors may be to move chronic disease monitoring and care out of hospitals and into people's homes. HBS Number: F0511K Geographic Setting: United States Industry Setting: Health care industry Subjects: Health care providers; Health services; Information management; Operations management; Technology Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    IT Doesn’t Matter   Add   View  32 pp.  Article Author(s): Carr, Nicholas G. Publication Date: 05/01/2003 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article HBS Number: R0305B Subjects: Competitive advantage; Cost analysis; Information technology; Return on investment; Risk assessment; Strategic planning Academic Discipline: Management of information systems Product Description: This widely debated article now includes 14 Letters to the Editor. As information technology has grown in power and ubiquity, companies have come to view it as evermore critical to their success; their heavy spending on hardware and software clearly reflects that assumption. Chief executives routinely talk about information technology's strategic value, about how they can use IT to gain a competitive edge. But scarcity, not ubiquity, makes a business resource truly strategic — and allows companies to use it for a sustained competitive advantage. You gain an edge over rivals only by doing something that they can't. IT is the latest in a series of broadly adopted technologies — think of the railroad or the electric generator — that have reshaped industry over the past two centuries. For a brief time, these technologies created powerful opportunities for forward-looking companies. But as their availability increased and their costs decreased, they became commodity inputs. From a strategic standpoint, they no longer mattered. That's exactly what's happening to IT, and the implications are profound. In this article, HBR's Editor-at-Large Nicholas Carr suggests that IT management should, frankly, become boring. It should focus on reducing risks, not increasing opportunities. For example, companies need to pay more attention to ensuring network and data security. Even more important, they need to manage IT costs more aggressively. IT may not help you gain a strategic advantage, but it could easily put you at a cost disadvantage. May be used with: (R0510F) Informati    IT Doesn’t Matter (HBR OnPoint Enhanced Edition)   Added   View  32 pp.  Article Author(s): Carr, Nicholas G. Publication Date: 05/01/2003 Product Type: HBR OnPoint Article HBS Number: 3566 Subjects: Competitive advantage; Cost analysis; Information technology; Return on investment; Risk assessment; Strategic planning Academic Discipline: Management of information systems Product Description: This is an enhanced edition of HBR article R0305B, originally published in May 2003. HBR OnPoint articles include the full-text HBR article, plus a synopsis and annotated bibliography. As information technology has grown in power and ubiquity, companies have come to view it as evermore critical to their success; their heavy spending on hardware and software clearly reflects that assumption. Chief executives routinely talk about information technology's strategic value, about how they can use IT to gain a competitive edge. But scarcity, not ubiquity, makes a business resource truly strategic — and allows companies to use it for a sustained competitive advantage. You gain an edge over rivals only by doing something that they can't. IT is the latest in a series of broadly adopted technologies — think of the railroad or the electric generator — that have reshaped industry over the past two centuries. For a brief time, these technologies created powerful opportunities for forward-looking companies. But as their availability increased and their costs decreased, they became commodity inputs. From a strategic standpoint, they no longer mattered. That's exactly what's happening to IT, and the implications are profound. In this article, HBR's Editor-at-Large Nicholas Carr suggests that IT management should, frankly, become boring. It should focus on reducing risks, not increasing opportunities. For example, companies need to pay more attention to ensuring network and data security. Even more important, they need to manage IT costs more aggressively. IT may not help you gain a strategic    IT Outsourcing: British Petroleum’s Competitive Approach   Add   View  12 pp.  Article Author(s): Cross, John Publication Date: 05/01/1995 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: In 1993, BP Exploration Operating Co. Ltd., the $13 billion division of British Petroleum Co. that explores for and produces oil and gas, outsourced all its information technology operations in an effort to cut costs, gain more flexible and higher quality IT resources, and refocus the IT department on activities that directly improve the overall business. BP Exploration took a different path to outsourcing than most companies have taken. The company sought a solution that would allow it both to buy IT services from multiple suppliers and to have the pieces delivered as if they came from a single supplier. To that end, three contractors were hired and required to work together to deliver a single seamless IT service. This arrangement--multiple IT suppliers that act as one--is the cornerstone of the company's outsourcing strategy. The IT department has final accountability for IT services, but it is not mired in the operations. Only by relinquishing operations could IT employees begin to focus on doing business instead of running the business. HBS Number: 95302 Subjects: Information systems; Information technology; Organizational management; Organizational structure; Petroleum; Sourcing; Suppliers Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    IT Outsourcing: Maximize Flexibility and Control   Add   View  12 pp.  Article Author(s): Lacity, Mary C.; Willcocks, Leslie P.; Fee Publication Date: 05/01/1995 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: Executives pondering which parts of their information technology (IT) function should be outsourced and which should be kept in-house usually ask themselves, Does the particular IT operation provide a strategic advantage or is it a commodity that doesn't differentiate us from our competitors? If it is a strategic service, they keep it in-house. If it is a commodity--especially one that a supplier claims it can provide inexpensively--they outsource it. If only the decision were that simple. Between 1991 and 1993, the authors studied 40 U.S. and European companies that had grappled with the issue of outsourcing IT. Their conclusion: The strategic-versus-commodity approach usually led to disappointments. Instead, the authors argue, a company's overarching objective should be to maximize flexibility and control so that it can pursue different options as it learns more or as its circumstances change. The way to accomplish that goal is to maximize competition. Managers should not make a onetime decision whether to outsource. They should create an environment in which potential suppliers--external as well as internal--are constantly battling to provide IT services. HBS Number: 95306 Subjects: Information systems; Information technology; Organizational management; Organizational structure; Sourcing; Suppliers Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Just-in-Time Delivery Comes to Knowledge Management   Add   View  12 pp.  Article Author(s): Davenport, Thomas H.; Glaser, John Publication Date: 07/01/2002 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article HBS Number: R0207H Subjects: Decision making; Health care; Information management; Information systems; Information technology Academic Discipline: Management of information systems Product Description: Like all primary care physicians, Dr. Bob Goldszer must stay on top of approximately 10,000 different diseases and syndromes, 3,000 medications, 1,100 laboratory tests, and many of the 400,000 articles added each year to the biomedical literature. That's no easy task. And it is, quite literally, a matter of life and death. The Institute of Medicine's 1999 report, To Err Is Human, suggests that more than a million injuries and 90,000 deaths are attributable to medical errors annually. Something like 5% of hospital patients have adverse reactions to drugs, another study reports, and of those, 43% are serious, life threatening, or fatal. Many knowledge workers have problems similar to Dr. Goldszer's (though they're usually less life threatening). No matter what the field, many people simply can't keep up with all they need to know. In the early years of knowledge management, companies established knowledge networks and communities of practice, built knowledge repositories, and attempted to motivate people to share knowledge. But each of these activities involved a great deal of additional labor for knowledge workers. A better approach, say the authors, is to bake specialized knowledge into the jobs of highly skilled workers. Partners HealthCare has started to embed knowledge into the technology that doctors use in their jobs so that consulting it is no longer a separate activity. Now when Dr. Goldszer orders medicine or a lab test, the order-entry system automatically checks his decision against a massive clinical database as well as the patient's own medical record. Knowledge workers    Knowledge Research Issues   Add   View  5 pp.  Article Author(s): Holtshouse, Dan Publication Date: 04/01/1998 Product Type: CMR Article Publisher: California Management Review Product Description: If the knowledge field is to move forward, there are--from a business perspective--three priority areas for further research and experimentation. They are: research on how tacit knowledge can continue to be ``tapped into and utilized'' despite increasing economic and business forces that are disrupting the social nature of the workplace community where tacit knowledge lives and thrives; research on how to optimally structure knowledge flow between knowledge seekers and knowledge providers to maximize the impact of knowledge; and research on how to make knowledge, which by its nature is fuzzy and intangible, visible and concrete. Progress in each of these three areas would significantly contribute to making the relationship between knowledge and the firm a significant business reality. HBS Number: CMR120 Subjects: Knowledge management; Research methodology Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Law of the Pack   Add   View  4 pp.  Article Author(s): Reed, David P. Publication Date: 02/01/2001 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: The value of the Internet lies in its connections, but some connections are more valuable than others. Which matter most? Reed's Law can tell you. HBS Number: F0102C Subjects: Business to business; Group behavior; Internet; Networks; New economy Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Learning to Live with the Electronic Embodiment of Reengineering   Add   View  4 pp.  Article Author(s): Gendron, Marie Publication Date: 11/01/1996 Product Type: Harvard Management Update Article Product Description: SAP's R/3 corporate computing software is the market leader among completely integrated systems, which allow a company to control all major business processes, from inventory management to payroll, in real time on a single software platform. R/3 perhaps represents the tangible embodiment of reengineering, and the way in which more and more of the routine activity of organizations will be managed in the future. Integrated systems like it are spreading rapidly through big companies. This trend is occurring even though an SAP implementation effort costs $7.5 million and takes 141 person-months to complete. Once the system is in place, top management can gain instant access to sales and marketing information. But that may only put more pressure on managers who are having a bad quarter. HBS Number: U9611D Geographic Setting: Industry Setting: Subjects: Computer systems; Information technology; Reengineering; Software Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Leveraging Internet Technologies in B2B Relationships   Add   View  16 pp.  Article Author(s): Jap, Sandy; Mohr, Jakki J. Publication Date: 07/01/2002 Product Type: CMR Article Publisher: California Management Review Product Description: Why is it that two firms can use the Internet in the same way (e.g., to reach new customers) and achieve very different outcomes? How can firms better allocate and subsequently leverage the investments they make in Internet technologies? This article shows that e-commerce technologies cannot be successfully leveraged without considering the organizational relationships in which the technologies are being embedded. By properly matching the B2B context with Internet technologies, firms can be in a better position not only to achieve significant economic outcomes, but also to attain sustainable competitive advantages, improve coordination and collaboration processes, and decrease channel resistance. HBS Number: CMR233 Subjects: Business to business; Competitive advantage; Electronic commerce; Internet Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Linking Strategy to Operations: Part 2 — Theme Teams and IT Infrastructure   Add   View  10 pp.  Article Author(s): Norton, David P.; Russell, Randall H. Publication Date: 09/15/2009 Product Type: Balanced Scorecard Report Article HBS Number: B0909A Subjects: Execution; Innovation; IT infrastructure; Operations; Strategic management; Strategy; Strategy implementation Academic Discipline: Management of information systems Product Description: In our last issue, the authors introduced the overarching Linking Strategy to Operations (LSO) model, examining two elements of its component operations model: process models and innovation. Here, they explore theme teams and information technology (IT) infrastructure, the remaining elements of the operations model.    Logistics Service Providers in Internet Supply Chains   Add   View  26 pp.  Article Author(s): Rabinovich, Elliot; Knemeyer, A. Michael Publication Date: 08/01/2006 Product Type: CMR Article Publisher: California Management Review HBS Number: CMR346 Industry Setting: E-commerce; IT industry; Service industries Subjects: Customer relations; Customer relationship management; Electronic commerce; Internet; Logistics; Networks; Supply chain Academic Discipline: Management of information systems Product Description: Logistics services and their providers are helping intermediaries add value to Internet supply chains in ways that are not always immediately obvious. Thus, it is not surprising that there is confusion among academics and practitioners about how best to extract value from such services and providers. Reports the results of a study of the role and value of logistics services and their providers. Reveals that Internet sellers establish relationships with logistics service providers in order to extract value from the providers' network of logistical resources and better fill their customers' orders. Internet sellers establish these relationships to lower the costs they would incur if they attempted to carry out the logistics services internally. They also seek such providers in order to access strong networks that bundle many complementary logistics services among Internet sellers, their customers, and their vendors.    Make Information Services Pay Its Way   Add   View  9 pp.  Article Author(s): Allen, Brandt Publication Date: 01/01/1987 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: Corporate information systems will be most effective when companies run them as profit centers. When information services (IS) operates as a business within a business, it must focus on meeting customer needs both efficiently and effectively. That way, IS contributes to a company's profits and performance. Under profit-center control, users assume most of the responsibility for decisions about computer use and choice of technology. Pricing computer services at a figure other than cost allows them to judge IS efficiency and makes IS more responsive. Moreover, companies introduce new technology sooner and with better results, since users can better evaluate their needs than can a central IS function. HBS Number: 87102 Subjects: Information services; Organizational structure; Profit centers Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Making Sense of Emerging Market Structures in B2B E-Commerce   Add   View  16 pp.  Article Author(s): Mahadevan, B. Publication Date: 10/01/2003 Product Type: CMR Article Publisher: California Management Review Product Description: Over the last five years, a variety of market mechanisms have emerged to address various issues pertaining to business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce. However, there is a general lack of understanding on the part of researchers and practitioners on two key issues: What are the key characteristics of these market mechanisms? What factors drive the choice of one market mechanism over the other? Addresses these questions through a study of 12 different market mechanisms in 200 B2B electronic marketplaces. Four factors -- degree of fragmentation, asset specificity, complexity of product description, and complexity of value assessment -- significantly drive the choice of an appropriate market mechanism for an organization. To gainfully exploit these market structures, organizations need to devise new strategies and reconfigure their supply chains. HBS Number: CMR270 Subjects: Business to business; Electronic commerce; Market structure; Supply chain Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Management in the 1980s   Add   View  10 pp.  Article Author(s): Leavitt, Harold J.; Whisler, Thomas L. Publication Date: 11/01/1958 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: An information technology, involving the computer processing of information, mathematical programming for decision making, and simulation of higher order thinking through computer programs, will have far-reaching impact on managerial organization. Fewer people will be able to do more work and management will be able to deal with engineering, logistic, and marketing problems more effectively. Psychological problems may arise from the depersonalization of relationships within management, and education will more often take place outside of the organization. HBS Number: 58605 Subjects: Information technology; Management of change; Technological change Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Managerial Overview of Open Source Software   Add   View  10 pp.  Article Author(s): Krishnamurthy, Sandeep Publication Date: 09/15/2003 Product Type: Business Horizons Article Publisher: Business Horizons/Indiana University Product Description: Open source software programs (OSS) such as Linux and Apache give any interested party access to the source code, leading to a distributed innovation model in which users actively participate in the product's development. Often free, OSS products are distributed under many public licenses, are more reliable, and provide greater flexibility and choice. On the other hand, OSS leads to a proliferation of versions and may appeal only to high-end users. The system leads to fascinating competitive and cooperative relationships among companies, between a company and a community, and among communities. How can managers choose? HBS Number: BH095 Subjects: Information technology; Innovation; Product development Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Manager’s Primer in Electronic Commerce   Add   View  12 pp.  Article Author(s): Urbaczewski, Andrew; Jessup, Leonard M.; W Publication Date: 09/15/1998 Product Type: Business Horizons Article Publisher: Business Horizons/Indiana University Product Description: Electronic commerce can be defined as the online exchange of value between an organization and its partners, employees, or customers, with the absence of geographical and time restrictions. Until 1994, proprietary networks were almost the only channel for e-commerce; in the early and mid-1990s, the evolution of the World Wide Web made companies consider another means of reaching customers, employees, and partners: the Internet. A model depicts the process and structural components of e-commerce via the Internet (as well as ``intranets'' and ``extranets''). Managerial issues for success in e-commerce include: technical issues, such as development of security features, infrastructure, and future platforms for electronic trade; societal issues, including privacy and social benefits and losses; economic issues; legal and regulatory issues; behavioral issues, such as the social benefits of shopping, early adopter characteristics, and end-user satisfaction; and organizational and managerial issues. In the electronic world, customers still want to be pampered, just in a different manner. HBS Number: BH033 Subjects: Computer systems; Electronic commerce; Information systems; Information technology; Marketing strategy; Technology Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Managing by Wire   Add   View  16 pp.  Article Author(s): Haeckel, Stephan H.; Nolan, Richard L. Publication Date: 09/01/1993 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: Rather than follow the make-and-sell strategies of industrial-age giants, today's successful companies focus on sensing and responding to rapidly changing customer needs. In order to survive in this sense-and-respond world, big companies need to consider a strategy called ``managing by wire.'' In aviation, flying by wire means using computer systems to augment a pilot's ability to assimilate and react to rapidly changing environmental information. In a similar way, managing by wire is the capacity to run a business by managing its informational representation. Coherent corporate behavior needs more than blockbuster applications and network connections; it must be governed by a coherent information model that codifies ``how we do things around here,'' and ``how we change how we do things around here.'' This article describes managing by wire at Mrs. Fields Cookies, Brooklyn Union Gas, and a financial services organization that the authors call Globe Insurance. HBS Number: 93503 Subjects: Computer systems; Information systems; Information technology; Models Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Managing the Crises in Data Processing   Add   View  14 pp.  Article Author(s): Nolan, Richard L. Publication Date: 03/01/1979 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: Policy-making executives can take steps to manage growing data processing resources by analyzing the stages of growth in a company's DP function in terms of six projected stages of growth. In 1977, half of the nation's larger companies were found to be in stage three or four. Levels of achievement can be measured against benchmarks, which, in the first stage of analysis, involve assessment of the data processing expenditure curve. Stage two of this analysis involves defining business functions for the organization unit, determining how data processing supports each function, matching the supports given to the system with the benchmarks of development, and finding mismatches between expenditure and need. After developing an effective strategy, the action of the senior management steering committee determines further managerial development. HBS Number: 79206 Subjects: Data processing; Information management Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Managing the Four Stages of EDP Growth   Add   View  13 pp.  Article Author(s): Gibson, Cyrus F.; Nolan, Richard L. Publication Date: 01/01/1974 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: An S-curve represents the irregular pattern of an electronic data processing system's development. The curve designates crisis points, which divide four growth stages. Each stage's unique problems demand different managerial approaches to computer applications, computer specialization, and computer personnel. HBS Number: 74104 Subjects: Computer systems; Data processing Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Mastering the Three Worlds of Information Technology   Add   View  16 pp.  Article Author(s): McAfee, Andrew Publication Date: 11/01/2006 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article HBS Number: R0611J Subjects: Computer systems; Information technology; Operations management; Strategic planning; Strategy formulation; Technological change Academic Discipline: Management of information systems Product Description: The information age has brought with it a host of new technologies — and an overabundance of choices. Managers are hard-pressed to figure out what all those innovations do, let alone which ones to adopt and how to implement them. Furthermore, many so-called advancements haven't lived up to expectations: Frustration, delays, and even outright failures tempt many executives to avoid dealing with IT altogether. But those who turn away are selling their companies short. Executives have three critical responsibilities when it comes to IT: They must help choose technologies, using an inside-out approach that keeps the true needs of the business in mind; smooth the adoption of those technologies, taking into account that they may encounter strong resistance; and encourage their exploitation by leveraging already standardized data and work flows. What's most important, though, is that they look beyond the individual IT projects they select to the broader picture of how IT is likely to affect the organization. Information technology can be classified into three types, each of which provides companies with a particular level of change. Function IT encompasses technologies — such as spreadsheet and word-processing applications — that streamline individual tasks. Network IT includes capabilities like e-mail, instant messaging, and blogs and helps people communicate with one another. Enterprise IT brings with it approaches such as customer resource management and supply chain management and lets companies re-create interactions between groups of workers or with    Must CIM Be Justified by Faith Alone?   Add   View  11 pp.  Article Author(s): Kaplan, Robert S. Publication Date: 03/01/1986 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: The apparent inability of traditional modes of financial analysis like discounted cash flow to justify investments in computer-integrated manufacturing has led many managers to turn to criteria that seem more closely connected with strategy. Actually, there is no conflict between the financial and the strategic justification of CIM. There is no unbreachable gulf between the logic of DCF and the nature of CIM. All that are needed are new ways to apply DCF to CIM investment proposals. DCF usually fails to work right when companies set arbitrarily high hurdle rates for evaluating new investment projects. Despite the costs that introducing CIM entails, for many companies there is no real alternative to investment in CIM. HBS Number: 86204 Subjects: Cash flow; Computer systems; Manufacturing; Technology Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    New Meaning of Quality in the Information Age   Add   View  12 pp.  Article Author(s): Prahalad, C.K.; Krishnan, M.S. Publication Date: 09/01/1999 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article HBS Number: 99508 Subjects: Information technology; Quality control; Software Academic Discipline: Management of information systems Product Description: Software applications are now a mission-critical source of competitive advantage for most companies. They are also a source of great risk, as the Y2K bug has made clear. Yet many line managers still haven't confronted software issues — partly because they aren't sure how best to define the quality of the applications in their IT infrastructures. Some companies such as Wal-Mart and the Gap have successfully integrated the software in their networks, but most have accumulated an unwieldy number of incompatible applications — all designed to perform the same tasks. The authors provide a framework for measuring the performance of software in a company's IT portfolio. Quality traditionally has been measured according to a product's ability to meet certain specifications; other views of quality have emerged that measure a product's adaptability to customers' needs and a product's ability to encourage innovation. To judge software quality properly, argue the authors, managers must measure applications against all three approaches. Understanding the domain of a software application is an important part of that process. The domain is the body of knowledge about a user's needs and expectations for a product. Software domains change frequently based on how a consumer chooses to use, for example, Microsoft Word or a spreadsheet application. The domain can also be influenced by general changes in technology, such as the development of a new software platform. Thus, applications can't be judged only according to whether they conform to specifications. The authors discuss how to identify domain characteristics and software risks and sugge    New Uses of Intranets   Add   View  4 pp.  Article Publication Date: 05/01/2000 Product Type: Harvard Management Update Article Product Description: Underdeveloped and underutilized, intranets get no respect--until companies see how useful a good one can be. Instead of using the Intranet to simply post HR policies, some companies are using them for knowledge management, training programs, and employee-to-employee information sharing. Building a more robust intranet allows companies to automate routine tasks, provide easy access to communication, reduce G&A accounting costs, and organize and communicate data. HBS Number: U0005B Subjects: Intranets; Technology; World Wide Web Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    New Worlds of Computer-Mediated Work   Add   View  11 pp.  Article Author(s): Zuboff, Shoshana Publication Date: 09/01/1982 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: Information technology alters the individual's relation to the task. The new relationship is called ``computer-mediated.'' The computer mediation of simple jobs creates tasks that are routine and unchallenging, while demanding focused attention and abstract comprehension. The ``information environment'' refers to the quality of organizational life when the computer mediates jobs and influences both horizontal and vertical relationships. Computer mediation shifts the overall shape of the organization from a pyramid to a diamond because managers will perform a variety of tasks that others once did for them, thereby diminishing clerical support staff and swelling the number of professionals and middle managers. HBS Number: 82513 Subjects: Information systems; Information technology; Management of change; Organizational development; Technological change Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    None of Our Business?   Add   View  12 pp.  Article Author(s): Fusaro, Roberta A. Publication Date: 12/01/2004 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article HBS Number: R0412A Subjects: Brief case; Customer relations; HBR Case Discussions; Information technology; Innovation; Retail stores Academic Discipline: Management of information systems Product Description: Tracking technologies — in products and services like TiVo and electronic toll collection — make people's lives a lot more convenient. But the public is understandably concerned about the privacy issues such technologies raise. No one is more aware of those issues than Dante Sorella, CEO of Raydar Electronics, which develops and sells radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and readers. So Dante is troubled when executives from one of his client companies approach him about integrating RFID technology into retail operations. KK Inc., a manufacturer and retailer of teen clothing, wants to embed flat RFID tags into the bills of its caps and visors. The tags would be activated at the registers with customers' purchasing data. When a customer wearing a hat next visited a KK store, the tag would be scanned by readers mounted at the entrance, and a video screen would greet the shopper. Armed with data about the individual's preferences, store personnel could steer her toward her favorite styles or appropriate sale items. Dante appreciates the technology behind the idea — and, of course, its business potential for Raydar — yet he can't help thinking that this particular application smacks of Big Brother. How should Dante respond to KK's interest in tagging the caps and visors? Commenting on this fictional case study are Glen Allmendinger, president of the technology consulting firm Harbor Research; Lee Tien, senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit organization that works to protect individuals' digital rights; Nick Dew, an assistant professor    None of Our Business? (Commentary for HBR Case Study)   Add   View  8 pp.  Article Author(s): Fusaro, Roberta A. Publication Date: 12/01/2004 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article HBS Number: R0412Z Subjects: Brief case; Customer relations; HBR Case Discussions; Information technology; Innovation; Retail stores Academic Discipline: Management of information systems Product Description: For teaching purposes, this is the commentary-only version of the HBR case study. The case-only version is Reprint R0412X. The complete case study and commentary is Reprint R0412A. Tracking technologies — in products and services like TiVo and electronic toll collection — make people's lives a lot more convenient. But the public is understandably concerned about the privacy issues such technologies raise. No one is more aware of those issues than Dante Sorella, CEO of Raydar Electronics, which develops and sells radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and readers. So Dante is troubled when executives from one of his client companies approach him about integrating RFID technology into retail operations. KK Inc., a manufacturer and retailer of teen clothing, wants to embed flat RFID tags into the bills of its caps and visors. The tags would be activated at the registers with customers' purchasing data. When a customer wearing a hat next visited a KK store, the tag would be scanned by readers mounted at the entrance, and a video screen would greet the shopper. Armed with data about the individual's preferences, store personnel could steer her toward her favorite styles or appropriate sale items. Dante appreciates the technology behind the idea — and, of course, its business potential for Raydar — yet he can't help thinking that this particular application smacks of Big Brother. How should Dante respond to KK's interest in tagging the caps and visors? Commenting on this fictional case study are Glen Allmendinger, president of the technology consulting firm Harbor Research;    Organizing Knowledge   Add   View  23 pp.  Article Author(s): Brown, John Seely; Duguid, Paul Publication Date: 04/01/1998 Product Type: CMR Article Publisher: California Management Review HBS Number: CMR110 Subjects: Communication strategy; Knowledge management; Organizational design; Organizational structure Academic Discipline: Management of information systems Product Description: Countering claims that cyberspace will bring the end of organizations in general and of the firm in particular, this article points to the role organizations play in fostering the production and synergistic development of knowledge. Formal organizations help turn the partial, situated insights of individuals and communities into robust, organizational knowledge. To organize knowledge in this way requires acknowledging the boundaries inevitably erected within organizations through the division of labor and the division of knowledge. Infrastructure for organizing knowledge must overcome these boundaries. Assuming that knowledge is a frictionless commodity possessed by individuals makes communications technologies and social organization curious antagonists. This article argues instead for compatible organizational and technological architectures that respond to and enhance the social production of knowledge.    Paranoid’s Guide to Safe Internet Communicating   Add   View  5 pp.  Article Author(s): Zim, Marvin Publication Date: 07/01/1999 Product Type: Harvard Management Communication Letter Article Product Description: E-mail and Internet technology can create a nightmare if your company isn't careful. Use the nine simple rules explained in this article--such as don't commit sensitive material to e-mail, assume you can be hacked, and don't pick a dumb, obvious password--to avoid a security disaster at your company. Includes the sidebar "When the Delete Key Does Not Delete." HBS Number: C9907D Subjects: Communication; Electronic commerce; Information management; Internet; Technology Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Plan for Economies of Scope   Add   View  11 pp.  Article Author(s): Goldhar, Joel D.; Jelinek, Mariann Publication Date: 11/01/1983 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: Changes in the application of computers have altered the manufacturing process. New capabilities include flexibility in product design and mix; rapid response to changes in market demand, output rates, and equipment scheduling; greater control, accuracy, and repeatability of processes; reduced waste, lower training and maintenance costs; greater predictability in all manufacturing operations; faster throughput; and distributed processing capability. Economies of scope exist where the same equipment can produce multiple products more cheaply in combination than separately. As the economic order quantity (EOQ) approaches 1 and as making the proper trade-off between changeover costs and inventory costs becomes a trivial problem, producers will find it as economical to manufacture one unit as to manufacture many. Computer-based technology reverses the trend toward specialized hardware by placing emphasis on specialized software instead. HBS Number: 83608 Subjects: Manufacturing strategy; Order quantity Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Portfolio Approach to Information Systems   Add   View  10 pp.  Article Author(s): McFarlan, F. Warren Publication Date: 09/01/1981 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: Managers avoid information system (IS) failure by determining the risk of their projects, singly and as a portfolio, in advance of implementation. Elements of risk include project size, experience with technology, and project structure. Companies should use risk assessment questionnaires to highlight risks and to suggest alternative ways of conceiving and managing the project. A periodic review of the questionnaire reveals major changes. During the feasibility study stage, it is also useful to consider the issues that influence the risk profile of project portfolios. The risk profile includes projects that come from outside software houses as well as those of internal systems development groups. HBS Number: 81510 Subjects: Information systems; Project evaluation; Project management; Risk assessment Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Putting Expert Systems to Work   Add   View  10 pp.  Article Author(s): Leonard-Barton, Dorothy; Sviokla, John J. Publication Date: 03/01/1988 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: The press is always quick to point out the flashy uses of expert systems (ESs). But the new technology is proving its real value in many organizations through small, unobtrusive tasks such as credit verification and capital budgeting analysis. In adopting an ES, first ask yourself, ``Can the problem be solved over the phone or does the expert need to see, smell, or touch the data?'' Then assemble the right mix of talent, decide which scale to start with, and specify the intended users and how they are likely to use the system. May be used with: (9-186-293) PlanPower: The Financial Planning Expert System; (9-189-036) Du Pont's Artificial Intelligence Implementation Strategy. HBS Number: 88207 Subjects: Computer systems; Software; Technological change; Technology Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Putting the Enterprise Into the Enterprise System   Add   View  20 pp.  Article Author(s): Davenport, Thomas H. Publication Date: 07/01/1998 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article HBS Number: 98401 Industry Setting: Chemical industry; Computer industry; Petrochemical Subjects: Business unit; Competitive advantage; Computer systems; Customization; Data bases; Data management; Enterprise systems; Implementation; Information management; Information systems; Multinational corporations; Software; Strategic planning Academic Discipline: Management of information systems Product Description: Drawing on a rich set of company examples, Thomas H. Davenport, a professor at the University of Texas's Graduate School of Business, provides a fresh, high-level perspective on enterprise systems that will help senior executives think rationally about their large-scale investments in this technology. Enterprise systems present a new model of corporate computing. They allow companies to replace their existing information systems, which are often incompatible with one another, with a single, integrated system. By streamlining data flows throughout an organization, these commercial software packages, offered by vendors like SAP, promise dramatic gains in a company's efficiency and bottom line. It's no wonder that businesses are rushing to jump on the ES bandwagon. But while these systems offer tremendous rewards, the risks they carry are equally great. Not only are the systems expensive and difficult to implement, they can also tie the hands of managers. Unlike computer systems of the past, which were typically developed in-house with a company's specific requirements in mind, enterprise systems are off-the-shelf solutions. They impose their own logic on a company's strategy, culture, and organization, often forcing companies to change the way they do business. Managers would do well to heed the horror stories of failed implementations. FoxMeyer Drug, for example, claims that its s    Putting the Enterprise into the Enterprise System (HBR OnPoint Enhanced Edition)   Add   View  20 pp.  Article Author(s): Davenport, Thomas H. Publication Date: 05/01/2003 Product Type: HBR OnPoint Article HBS Number: 3574 Subjects: Computer systems; Enterprise systems; Implementation; Information systems; Information technology; Software; Strategic planning Academic Discipline: Management of information systems Product Description: This is an enhanced edition of HBR article 98401, originally published in July 1998. HBR OnPoint articles include the full-text HBR article, plus a synopsis and annotated bibliography. Drawing on company examples, Thomas H. Davenport, a professor at the University of Texas's Graduate School of Business, provides a fresh, high-level perspective on enterprise systems to help senior executives think rationally about their large-scale investments in this technology. Enterprise systems allow companies to replace their existing information systems — often incompatible with one another — with a single, integrated system. By streamlining data flows throughout an organization, these commercial software packages, offered by vendors like SAP, promise dramatic gains in a company's efficiency and bottom line. Businesses are jumping on the ES bandwagon. But while these systems offer tremendous rewards, the risks they carry are equally great. Not only are the systems expensive and difficult to implement, they can also tie the hands of managers. Unlike computer systems of the past, which were typically developed in-house to a company's specific requirements, enterprise systems are off-the-shelf solutions. They impose their own logic on a company's strategy, culture, and organization, often forcing companies to change the way they do business. Managers should heed the horror stories of failed implementations. FoxMeyer Drug, for example, claims that its system helped drive it into bankruptcy. Using examples of both successful and unsuccessful ES projects, the author discusses the pros an    Radically Simple IT   Add   View  12 pp.  Article Author(s): Upton, David; Staats, Bradley R. Publication Date: 03/01/2008 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article HBS Number: R0803J Geographic Setting: Japan Industry Setting: Banking industry Subjects: Enterprise systems; Information management; Modularity; Standardization; Technology management Academic Discipline: Management of information systems Product Description: Many managers think that developing and rolling out a major IT system is like putting up a warehouse: You build it and you're done. But that does not work for IT anymore. Taking that approach results in rigid, costly systems that are outdated from the day they are turned on. What's needed for today's businesses is IT that serves not only as a platform for existing operations but also as a launchpad for new functions and businesses. In this article, the authors present a path-based approach that addresses the primary challenges of IT: the difficulty and expense of mapping out all requirements before a project starts because people often cannot specify everything that they need beforehand; the other unanticipated needs that almost always arise once a system is in operation; and the tricky task of persuading people to use and “own” it. Japan's Shinsei Bank emerged during the authors' research as a standout among the companies applying the path-based method. The firm designed, built, and rolled out its system by forging together, not just aligning, business and IT strategies; employing the simplest possible technology; making the system truly modular; letting it sell itself to users; and ensuring that users influence future improvements. Some of the principles are variations on old themes, while others turn the conventional wisdom on its head.    Rattling SABRE — New Ways to Compete on Information   Add   View  9 pp.  Article Author(s): Hopper, Max D. Publication Date: 05/01/1990 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: The old models of computer-based competition no longer apply. The new era is driven by the greatest upheaval in computer technology since the earliest days of the industry. The game is shifting from who can build the newest proprietary electronic tools to who can use and modify available tools more effectively. In terms of competitiveness, it is increasingly difficult for computerized distribution systems to bind customers to products. The future of electronic distribution is in neutral electronic markets that sell products from different vendors and make their data available to all. HBS Number: 90307 Subjects: Competition; Computer systems; Distribution planning; Information services; Information systems Academic Discipline: Management of information systems Supplementary Materials: Teaching Note, (5-196-009), 19p, by Lynda M. Applegate   Add     19 pp.  Teaching Note For use with 90307 HBS Number: 5-196-009 Subjects: Competition; Computer systems; Distribution planning; Information services; Information systems    Real New Economy   Add   View  16 pp.  Article Author(s): Farrell, Diana Publication Date: 10/01/2003 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: During the soar-and-swoon days of the late 1990s, many people believed that information technology, and the Internet in particular, were ``changing everything'' in business. A fundamental change did happen in the 1990s, but it was less about technology than about competition. Under Director Diana Farrell, the McKinsey Global Institute has conducted an extensive study of productivity and its connection to corporate IT spending and use during that period. The study revealed that IT is important -- but not central -- to the fate of industries and individual companies. The primary factors in the productivity surge were competition and innovation. In those industries that saw increases in competitive intensity, managers were forced to innovate aggressively to protect their revenues and profits. Those innovations -- in products, business practices, and technology -- led to the gains in productivity. In fact, a critical dynamic of the new economy -- the real new economy -- is the virtuous cycle of competition, innovation, and productivity growth. During the 1990s, IT was a particularly powerful tool for three reasons: IT enabled the development of attractive new products and efficient new business processes, it facilitated the rapid industrywide diffusion of innovations, and it exhibited strong scale economies. HBS Number: R0310G Subjects: Competition; Competitive advantage; Information technology; Innovation; Internet; Productivity; Strategic planning Academic Discipline: Management of information systems

Real New Economy (HBR OnPoint Enhanced Edition)   Add   View  20 pp.  Article Author(s): Farrell, Diana Publication Date: 10/01/2003 Product Type: HBR OnPoint Article Product Description: This is an enhanced edition of HBR article R0310G, originally published in October 2003. HBR OnPoint articles include the full-text HBR article plus a summary of key ideas and company examples to help you quickly absorb and apply the concepts. During the soar-and-swoon days of the late 1990s, many people believed that information technology, and the Internet in particular, were “changing everything” in business. A fundamental change did happen in the 1990s, but it was less about technology than about competition. Under director Diana Farrell, the McKinsey Global Institute has conducted an extensive study of productivity and its connection to corporate IT spending and use during that period. The study revealed that IT is important — but not central — to the fate of industries and individual companies. The primary factors in the productivity surge were competition and innovation. In those industries that saw increases in competitive intensity, managers were forced to innovate aggressively to protect their revenues and profits. Those innovations — in products, business practices, and technology — led to the gains in productivity. In fact, a critical dynamic of the new economy — the real new economy — is the virtuous cycle of competition, innovation, and productivity growth. During the 1990s, IT was a particularly powerful tool for three reasons: IT enabled the development of attractive new products and efficient new business processes, it facilitated the rapid industrywide diffusion of innovations, and it exhibited strong scale economies. HBS Number: 5127 Subjects: Competition; Competitive advantage; Information technology; Innovation; Internet; Productivity; Strategic planning Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Real Problem with Computers   Add   View  8 pp.  Article Author(s): Schrage, Michael Publication Date: 09/01/1997 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: For decades, companies have been devoting more than half of their capital budgets to information technology, but what do they have to show for it? According to two recent books, not nearly as much as they expected. Paul A. Strassmann's ``Squandered Computer'' and Thomas H. Davenport's ``Information Ecology'' both argue that managers have acted under the simplistic assumption that ``improved information'' results in increased productivity. In reviewing these books, writer and consultant Michael Schrage agrees that managers have often acted irresponsibly in relying on technology to solve deeper problems. Schrage argues that tomorrow's strategic technology investments will present more choices for organizations than they will know what to do with. Companies will be able to set up the technology that best fits their kind of organization--rather than the other way around. The value that organizations gain from these investments will depend on the foresight and intelligence that go into determining how their people will use technology. HBS Number: 97508 Subjects: Communication; Computer systems; Information management; Information technology; Organizational design Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Real Value of "E-Business Models"   Add   View  7 pp.  Article Author(s): Chen, Stephen Publication Date: 11/15/2003 Product Type: Business Horizons Article Publisher: Business Horizons/Indiana University Product Description: New e-technologies such as mobile Internet phones and interactive television are widely predicted to generate a wealth of opportunities through the creation of new e-business models. At the same time, numerous high-profile Internet ventures have gone belly-up, and millions of investors around the world have been caught out. A focus on the successes can give the impression that an ingenious business model is all that is needed to create a thriving e-firm. But do these models really matter? What can we learn by examining the Internet failures or the problems inherent in each model? What are the real key factors determining the survival or failure of e-firms? HBS Number: BH097 Subjects: Business models; Electronic commerce; Models Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Realizing the Promise of E-Business: Developing and Leveraging Electronic Partnering Options   Add   View  26 pp.  Article Author(s): Chatterjee, Debabroto; Segars, Albert H.; Watson, Richard T. Publication Date: 08/01/2006 Product Type: CMR Article Publisher: California Management Review HBS Number: CMR345 Industry Setting: E-commerce; IT industry Subjects: Business to business; Electronic commerce; Internet; Organizational design; Partnerships; Supply chain Academic Discipline: Management of information systems Product Description: The advent of superior connectivity and integration technologies is paving the way for flexible electronic partnering options. Such flexibility is essential if a company wants to attract a large number of partners (with varying connectivity needs and preferences) to its supply chain network. This article conceptualizes 12 electronic partnering options. It then discusses the various types of sensemaking and conversion challenges that companies encounter in developing this critical electronic business (e-business) capability and proposes a multi-pronged approach to effectively deal with them. This approach involves four distinct but synergistic campaigns of digitization — strategic congruency, organizational design, technology infrastructure, and relational campaigns. The utility of this approach is illustrated by examples of successful business-to-business (B2B) digitization initiatives.    Reengineering Work: Don’t Automate, Obliterate   Add   View  8 pp.  Article Author(s): Hammer, Michael Publication Date: 07/01/1990 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: Companies rarely achieve radical performance improvements when they invest in information technology. Most companies use computers to speed up, not break away from, business processes and rules that are decades, if not centuries, out of date. But the power of computers can be released by ``reengineering'' work: abandoning old ways of working and creating entirely new ones. HBS Number: 90406 Subjects: Business processes; Data processing; Information management; Information systems; Information technology; Management of change; Productivity; Reengineering; Technological change Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Right Mind-Set for Managing Information Technology   Add   View  16 pp.  Article Author(s): Bensaou, M.; Earl, Michael Publication Date: 09/01/1998 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: In a comparative study, authors M. Bensaou from INSEAD and Michael Earl from the London Business School found fundamental differences in how Japanese and Western managers think about technology. Too many managers in the West are intimidated by the task of managing technology. They tiptoe around it, supposing that it needs special tools, special strategies, and a special mind-set. Well, it doesn't, the authors say. Technology should be managed — controlled, even — like any other competitive weapon in a manager's arsenal. The authors came to this conclusion in a surprising way. Having set out to compare Western and Japanese IT-management practices, they were startled to discover that Japanese companies rarely experience the IT problems so common in the United States and Europe. In fact, their senior executives didn't even recognize the problems that the authors described. When they dug deeper into 20 leading companies that the Japanese themselves consider exemplary IT users, they found that the Japanese see IT as just one competitive lever among many. Its purpose, very simply, is to help the organization achieve its operational goals. The authors found five principles of IT management in Japan that, they believe, are not only powerful but also universal. They contrast these principles against the practices commonly found in Western companies. While acknowledging that Japan has its own weaknesses with technology, particularly in white-collar office settings, they nevertheless urge senior managers in the West to consider the solid foundation on which Japanese IT management rests. HBS Number: 98502 Subjects: Information systems; Information technology; Japan; Technology Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Ruling the Net   Add   View  12 pp.  Article Author(s): Spar, Debora; Bussgang, Jeffrey J. Publication Date: 05/01/1996 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: The Internet promises a radical new world of business. But for many companies, it has yet to deliver. Although doing business in cyberspace may be novel and exhilarating, it can also be frustrating, confusing, and even unprofitable. Debora Spar and Jeffrey Bussgang argue that the problems companies face have little to do with a lack of technology or imagination. Their problems stem instead from a lack of rules. The authors explain why the informal rules that have developed on the Internet since the 1960s are no longer sufficient. Businesses thinking of allowing millions of dollars of transactions to occur on the wide-open Net need specific assurances. They require clear definitions of property rights, a safe and useful means of exchange, and a way to locate and punish violators of on-line rules. HBS Number: 96309 Subjects: Information services; Information technology Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Saving IT’s Soul: Human-Centered Information Management   Add   View  16 pp.  Article Author(s): Davenport, Thomas H. Publication Date: 03/01/1994 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: IT specialists often promise that technology will serve as a catalyst for change. But, as the author points out, it is a promise that usually goes unfulfilled. IT managers put too much emphasis on hardware and not enough emphasis on the soft science of how people actually share information. Too many managers still believe that, once the right technology is in place, appropriate information sharing will follow. To achieve its promise IT needs to take a human-centered approach. Looking at companies that have successfully addressed this problem--like Symantec Corp., Chemical Bank, Hallmark Cards, and Rank Xerox, U.K.--the author directly addresses how to rebuild an organization's information culture and how to get beyond the technologies to changing people's behaviors. HBS Number: 94203 Subjects: Communication; Information systems; Information technology Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Secrets of a Successful Web Site   Add   View  5 pp.  Article Author(s): Marton, Betty A. Publication Date: 05/01/2000 Product Type: Harvard Management Communication Letter Article Product Description: Your company has a Web site. But does it pass the three-fold test of attractiveness, adaptability, and access? HMCL went to Web experts for advice on how to make your Web site more powerful. Lesson number one: Think about the customer experience from the outside in. Includes a sidebar entitled "Does Your Site Measure Up?" HBS Number: C0005A Subjects: Communication; Technology; World Wide Web Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Seven Great Ways to Use Your Company’s Web Site   Add   View  4 pp.  Article Author(s): Kling, Jim Publication Date: 01/01/1999 Product Type: Harvard Management Update Article Product Description: Every company's Web site is a potential gold mine of information--about customers and prospects, about products, about people who are looking for jobs, and anything else that affects your business. Web-based feedback is not just for the marketing department. Managers can benefit from this wealth of information in many ways: using the site's visitors as virtual focus groups, obtaining instant market feedback, speeding up information flow, finding new hires, etc. This article offers advice on how to tap into the potential of your company's Web site. HBS Number: U9901C Subjects: Information technology; World Wide Web Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Singapore Invests in the Nation-Corporation   Add   View  9 pp.  Article Author(s): Sisodia, Rajendra S. Publication Date: 05/01/1992 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: Singapore is well on the way to becoming the first fully networked society, in which all homes, schools, businesses, and government agencies will be interconnected to an electronic grid. Through development of a superior infrastructure and world-class transportation and materials-handling facilities, Singapore has created an extremely attractive environment for multinational business on all levels. The ability of any country with few natural advantages to bring itself to the forefront of technological and economic competitiveness holds important lessons for other countries and organizations. However, Singapore's astounding achievement is due in large part to governmental control. HBS Number: 92311 Subjects: Communications industry; Country analysis; International business; Southeast Asia; Technological change Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Sorting Data to Suit Yourself   Add   View  4 pp.  Article Author(s): Weinberger, David Publication Date: 03/01/2005 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: Letting customers organize your information the way they want is a cool benefit today but will be a necessity tomorrow, says Harvard Law School Internet scholar David Weinberger. HBS Number: F0503A Subjects: Customization; Information management; Information technology Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    State of IT and Business Alignment — 2003   Add   View  4 pp.  Article Author(s): Russell, Randall H. Publication Date: 01/15/2004 Product Type: Balanced Scorecard Report Article Product Description: On the one hand, alignment between IT and business strategy is generally improving. On the other, initiative/budget mismatch persists. Balanced Scorecard Collaborative's director of research analyzes the latest CIO Insight/Balanced Scorecard Collaborative survey, "How Does IT Funding Affect Alignment?" HBS Number: B0401E Subjects: Balanced scorecard; Business processes; Information technology; Strategic planning Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Surfing the World Wide Waste: Why Some Web Sites Work — and Others Don’t   Add   View  5 pp.  Article Author(s): Buday, Robert Publication Date: 12/01/1998 Product Type: Harvard Management Communication Letter Article Product Description: Suddenly managers are supposed to have an opinion on what makes a good web site. We turned to web guru David Siegel for help. HBS Number: C9812C Subjects: Communication; Internet; World Wide Web Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Technology and Organizations: Where’s the Off Button?   Add   View  16 pp.  Article Author(s): Leavitt, Harold J. Publication Date: 01/01/2002 Product Type: CMR Article Publisher: California Management Review Product Description: Technology must continue to accelerate for at least four reasons: innate human curiosity, the human propensity to warehouse knowledge, the special character of science and technology's culture, and the competitive drive of for-profit organizations. After elaborating on those reasons and their interactions, this essay briefly considers potential effects of unrestrainable technological acceleration on such issues as the autonomy of the university, the erosion of science and technology's culture, future man-made disasters, and the likelihood of technology-driven societal upheavals. Some possible coping mechanisms are suggested. HBS Number: CMR224 Subjects: Disruptive technologies; Social change; Technological change; Technology Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Telecom: Hook Up or Lose Out   Add   View  9 pp.  Article Author(s): Clemmons, Eric K.; McFarlan, F. Warren Publication Date: 07/01/1986 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: Many companies are missing out on the opportunities for competitive advantage that telecommunications offer. They should decide what telecom can do for them before they choose hardware and software. Telecom affects almost every element in a company's value chain. From its strategic application, companies have smoothed operations, coordinated activities, reduced clerical expenses, increased visibility, cut travel costs, and facilitated the interorganizational exchange of information. HBS Number: 86408 Subjects: Technological change; Telecommunications Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    The Disappearing Data Center   Add   View  4 pp.  Article Author(s): Plant, Robert Publication Date: 07/01/2009 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article HBS Number: F0907B Subjects: IT infrastructure; Vendors Academic Discipline: Management of information systems Product Description: Replacing expensive data centers with outsourced computing or remote portable server farms allows businesses to rapidly change capacity and offers flexibility — an important edge.    The Role of the Internet in Physician-Patient Relationships: The Issue of Trust   Add   View  7 pp.  Article Author(s): Erdem, S. Altan; Harrison-Walker, L. Jean Publication Date: 09/15/2006 Product Type: Business Horizons Article Publisher: Business Horizons/Indiana University HBS Number: BH208 Industry Setting: Health care industry Subjects: Healthcare system; Internet; Marketing; Patients; Physicians; Trust Academic Discipline: Management of information systems Product Description: The Internet has proven to be a powerful and very popular vehicle for distributing health information to millions of individuals; it is interactive, user-controlled, and provides an effective means for communicating detailed information. While there has been increasing use of the Internet in healthcare, little research has been conducted to examine what, if any, impact the availability and integrity of healthcare information on the Internet has on the physician-patient relationship. Importantly, several studies show that Web-based health information frequently contains inaccurate or incomplete information. Patients who retain such information go so far as to suggest approaches to their physicians and express disappointment when the physicians refuse to prescribe as expected. For their part, doctors are concerned about the physician-patient relationship when they have to explain to patients that their Internet-based information is less than accurate; consequently, the physician-patient relationship is often affected. While many issues bear upon the physician-patient relationship, the central one is trust. Examines consumer use of the Internet for healthcare information, considers the problems caused by inaccuracies or omissions from third-party websites, and sets forth recommendations regarding how the Internet can be used to improve the physician-patient relationship. It is hoped that these suggestions provide a better understanding of the required components of upcoming healthcare strategies.    The Truths About IT Costs   Add   View  4 pp.  Article Author(s): Cramm, Susan Publication Date: 03/01/2009 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article HBS Number: F0903G Subjects: IT spending; Academic Discipline: Management of information systems Product Description: Executives need to face seven truths about the waste in their IT budgets. Here they are, along with some strategies for managing each one.    The World Is Round   Add   View  4 pp.  Article Author(s): Prusak, Laurence Publication Date: 04/01/2006 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: It's conventional wisdom that the Internet has made the world flatter. But we're not necessarily smarter, and many people have been left behind. HBS Number: F0604A Geographic Setting: China; India Subjects: Information age; Internet; Knowledge workers Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Thinking About Artificial Intelligence   Add   View  9 pp.  Article Author(s): Sheil, Beau Publication Date: 07/01/1987 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: A clear understanding of what artificial intelligence (AI) can do begins with an appreciation of its limitations. AI is most likely to prove helpful in solving highly specialized problems rather than in broad applications. It is more likely to be useful at the margins of an operation than in a central role. It is safer to use as an assistant than as an expert system. HBS Number: 87410 Subjects: Artificial intelligence; Software Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Today’s Solution and Tomorrow‘s Problem: The Business Process Outsourcing Risk Management Puzzle   Add   View  19 pp.  Article Author(s): Shi, Yuwek Publication Date: 05/01/2007 Product Type: CMR Article Publisher: California Management Review HBS Number: CMR364 Industry Setting: High technology Subjects: Business processes; Information technology; Outsourcing; Risk; Risk assessment; Risk management; Security Academic Discipline: Management of information systems Product Description: Despite the boom in IT-enabled business process outsourcing (BPO), clients and vendors alike are struggling to grasp the impact of their relationship and the significance of the transfer of organizational assets between them. The limited attention to BPO risks is not surprising, since over 90% of the outsourcing projects handle IT infrastructure or business processes for what most companies regard as non-core activities, such as payroll, transaction processing, and billing. Provides an overview of the different types of risks that a BPO client is faced with, including the damaging impact to client companies in areas such as customer services, overall operations costs, information security, business continuity, and other short-term market performance metrics. In an attempt to address this issue, introduces a mechanism by which BPO clients and vendors can work together to solve outsourcing project management problems and manage the organizational and market performance risks.    Toward an Objective-Based Typology of E-Business Models   Add   View  10 pp.  Article Author(s): Lam, Long W; Harrison-Walker, L. Jean Publication Date: 11/15/2003 Product Type: Business Horizons Article Publisher: Business Horizons/Indiana University Product Description: Discussion of e-business models has gained popularity with the rise and fall of Internet firms. Numerous models have been developed and elaborated, but rarely has the underlying rationale been explained. This comprehensive typology sorts and classifies them according to two key strategic objectives that companies may consider in conducting e-commerce: relational and value based. Such a typology is helpful in understanding existing e-business models, identifying potential areas for the development of new ones, and reinforcing the notion that the tried-and-true principles of successful business in the bricks-and-mortar world apply in the virtual world as well. HBS Number: BH096 Subjects: Electronic commerce; Models; Strategic intent Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Untethered Data   Add   View  3 pp.  Article Author(s): Lemmey, Tara Publication Date: 07/01/2001 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: Corporate information and the contracts that govern it used to be bound together on paper and filed away. But now data fly loose on the Internet--and that can be a problem. HBS Number: F0107C Subjects: Contracts; Information management; Internet Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Using VoIP to Compete   Add   View  12 pp.  Article Author(s): Werbach, Kevin Publication Date: 09/01/2005 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article HBS Number: R0509J Subjects: Innovation; Technological change; Telecommunications Academic Discipline: Management of information systems Product Description: Internet telephony, or VoIP, is rapidly replacing the conventional kind. This year, for the first time, U.S. companies bought more new Internet-phone connections than standard lines. The major driver behind this change is cost. But VoIP isn't just a new technology for making old-fashioned calls cheaper, says consultant Kevin Werbach. It is fundamentally changing how companies use voice communications. What makes VoIP so powerful is that it turns voice into digital data packets that can be stored, copied, combined with other data, and distributed to virtually any device that connects to the Internet. And it makes it simple to provide all the functionality of a corporate phone — call features, directories, security — to anyone anywhere there's broadband access. That fosters new kinds of businesses such as virtual call centers, where widely dispersed agents work at all hours from their homes. The most successful early adopters, says Werbach, will focus more on achieving business objectives than on saving money. They will also consider how to push VoIP capabilities out to the extended organization, making use of everyone as a resource. Deployment may be incremental, but companies should be thinking about where VoIP could take them. Executives should ask what they could do if, on demand, they could bring all their employees, customers, suppliers, and partners together in a virtual room, with shared access to every modern communications and computing channel. They should take a fresh look at their business processes to find points at which richer and more customizable communications could eliminate bottlenecks and enhance quality. The import    What (and Why) You Should Know About Open-Source Software   Add   View  4 pp.  Article Author(s): Plotkin, Hal Publication Date: 12/01/1998 Product Type: Harvard Management Update Article Product Description: The very term ``open-source software'' sounds like the kind of computer jargon most managers would prefer to leave to their IT experts. Don't make that mistake. This revolutionary development in business computing offers the potential for more flexible technology, quicker innovation, and lower-cost, less-hassle computing. Organizations that use it are gaining significant advantages over their competitors. If your IT department hasn't looked into it, it should. If they come to you with a proposal, you should know what they're talking about. This article gives an overview of open-source software, including advantages and drawbacks. A sidebar offers examples of what other publications are saying about open-source software. HBS Number: U9812D Geographic Setting: Industry Setting: Subjects: Computer systems; Information technology; Software Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    What to Do with All Those Micros   Add   View  10 pp.  Article Author(s): Keen, Peter G.W.; Woodman, Lynda A. Publication Date: 09/01/1984 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: Introducing personal computers, though very worthwhile, poses several problems for managers: the incompatibility of machines, programs, data bases, and procedures as computers are introduced one by one; the presence of amateurs who don't know what they don't know; the hidden costs of extra disk storage, printers, and modems; the possibility of purchasing unsuitable equipment; and the ineffective use of computer equipment. Every large company needs a clear, explicit policy for introducing personal computers. HBS Number: 84507 Subjects: Information management; Information services Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    When Bots Collide   Add   View  4 pp.  Article Author(s): Kephart, Jeffrey O.; Greenwald, Amy R. Publication Date: 07/01/2000 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: Computer simulations help companies determine how they'll optimize their use of the billions of software agents--shopbots and pricebots--that will increasingly become part of the Internet economy. HBS Number: F00402 Subjects: Automation; Competition; Electronic commerce; Internet Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Why Information Technology Inspired But Cannot Deliver Knowledge Management   Add   View  16 pp.  Article Author(s): McDermott, Richard Publication Date: 07/01/1999 Product Type: CMR Article Publisher: California Management Review Product Description: Recent developments in information technology have inspired many companies to imagine a new way for staff to share knowledge and insights. Instead of storing documents in personal files and sharing personal insights with a small circle of colleagues, they can store documents in a common information base and use electronic networks to share insights with their whole community, even people scattered across the globe. However, most companies soon discover that leveraging knowledge is actually very hard and is more dependent on community building than information technology. This is not because people are reluctant to use information technology, rather it is because they often need to share knowledge that is neither obvious nor easy to document, knowledge that requires a human relationship to think about, understand, share, and appropriately apply. Ironically, while information technology has inspired the ``knowledge revolution,'' it takes building human communities to realize it. HBS Number: CMR158 Subjects: Human relations; Information technology; Knowledge management; Knowledge workers; Organizational learning Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Working with the New Technology: An Interview with Michael Dertouzos   Add   View  6 pp.  Article Author(s): Gary, Loren; Dertouzos, Michael Publication Date: 01/01/1998 Product Type: Harvard Management Update Article Product Description: As head of MIT's laboratory for Computer Science, Michael Dertouzos offers his predictions on how technology in the next millennium will impact the infrastructure of information and the way we organize work. He also cites several trends on the immediate horizon for what managers will and will not be able to handle in a virtual context. HBS Number: U9801B Geographic Setting: Industry Setting: Subjects: Forecasting; High technology; Information economy; Information technology; Interviews Academic Discipline: Management of information systems    Your Medical Information in the Digital Age   Add   View  8 pp.  Article Author(s): Halamka, John D., M.D. Publication Date: 07/01/2009 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article HBS Number: R0907A Subjects: Health care policy; Information management; Information sharing Academic Discipline: Management of information systems Product Description: A new federal law could make it possible for you to manage your own health records — and, in turn, improve your treatment and save money.    Your Next IT Strategy   Add   View  12 pp.  Article Author(s): Hagel, John, III; Brown, John Seely Publication Date: 10/01/2001 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article HBS Number: R0109G Subjects: Computer networks; Computer systems; Information management; Information systems; Information technology; Internet; Partnerships Academic Discipline: Management of information systems Supplementary Materials: Supplement, (2-603-101), 4p, by Andrew McAfee Product Description: Companies have traditionally viewed their information systems as proprietary. They buy or lease their own hardware, write or license their own applications, and hire big staffs to keep everything running. This approach has many flaws — it's cumbersome and expensive and hinders collaboration. But there's been no alternative. Until now. Today, we're seeing the emergence of an entirely new approach to corporate information systems: web services. Rather than own and maintain all of their own hardware and software, companies will soon buy their information technologies as services provided over the Internet. The authors guide executives through this new IT strategy, explaining what the web services architecture is, how it differs from traditional IT architecture, and why it will provide significant cost savings to businesses while creating new opportunities for growth. They lay out a step-by-step approach for adopting the new architecture. The experiences of companies such as Merrill Lynch, General Motors, and Dell Computer, which are already transitioning to the new architecture, offer three guidelines. First, build on your existing systems, connecting them to the web services architecture to gain immediate benefits. Second, start at the edges of your company, focusing on those applications that connect your organization to customers or other companies. Third, work with your partners to develop a shared terminology for your shared applications, coming to agreement,

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