It doesn t matter by nicholas g carr summary

Do some independent research on Nicholas Carr (the author of “IT Doesn’t Matter”) and explain his current position on the ability of IT to provide competitive advantage. Do you agree or disagree with Carr’s position? Support your stance with credible research. Write 2-3-page Essay paper not count title page and reference page. The paper should be in APA format.Does IT Matter? Learning Objectives • define the productivity paradox and explain the current thinking on this topic • evaluate Carr’s argument in “Does IT Matter?” • describe the components of competitive advantage • describe information systems that can provide businesses with competitive advantage The Productivity Paradox • For over fifty years, computing technology has been a part of business • the addition of information technology to business had not improved productivity at all – the “productivity paradox.” o Mismeasurement of outputs and inputs o Lags due to learning and adjustment o Redistribution and dissipation of profits o Mismanagement of information and technology IT Doesn’t Matter • Carr asserts that as information technology has become more ubiquitous, it has also become less of a differentiator • because information technology is so readily available and the software used so easily copied, businesses cannot hope to implement these tools to provide any sort of competitive advantage • since IT is essentially a commodity, it should be managed like one: low cost, low risk • this article caused quite an uproar, especially from IT companies • Probably the best thing to come out of the article and subsequent book was that it opened up discussion on the place of IT in a business strategy, and exactly what role IT could play in competitive advantage o http://quickstream.biola.edu/distancelearning/busn220bourgeois/ITDoesn'tMatter.f4 v Competitive Advantage • What does it mean when a company has a competitive advantage? • What are the factors that play into it? • A company is said to have a competitive advantage over its rivals when it is able to sustain profits that exceed average for the industry • two primary methods for obtaining competitive advantage o cost advantage o differentiation advantage The Value Chain • Value is built through the value chain: a series of activities undertaken by the company to produce a product or service • Each step in the value chain contributes to the overall value of a product or service • The value • chain is made up of two sets of activities o primary activities o support activities The Value Chain The Value Chain • primary activities are the functions that directly impact the creation of a product or service • goal of the primary activities is to add more value than they cost o o o o o Inbound logistics Operations Outbound logistics Sales/Marketing Service The Value Chain • support activities are the functions in an organization that support, and cut across, all of the primary activities o o o o Firm infrastructure Human resource management Technology development Procurement Porter’s Five Forces • Porter developed the “five forces” model as a framework for industry analysis • can be used to help understand just how competitive an industry is and to analyze its strengths and weaknesses • consists of five elements, each of which plays a role in determining the average profitability of an industry Porter’s Five Forces Porter’s Five Forces • Threat of substitute products or services: How easily can a product or service be replaced with something else? • Bargaining power of suppliers: When a company has several suppliers to choose from, it can demand a lower price • Bargaining power of customers: A company that is the sole provider of a unique product has the ability to control pricing • Barriers to entry: The easier it is to enter an industry, the tougher it will be to make a profit in that industry • Rivalry among existing competitors: The more competitors there are in an industry, the bigger a factor price becomes Using Information Systems for Competitive Advantage • A strategic information system is an information system that is designed specifically to implement an organizational strategy meant to provide a competitive advantage • a strategic information system is one that attempts to do one or more of the following o o o o deliver a product or a service at a lower cost deliver a product or service that is differentiated help an organization focus on a specific market segment enable innovation Using Information Systems for Competitive Advantage • Examples o Business Process Management Systems • integration of information systems with business processes that leads to competitive advantage • true competitive advantage can be found with information systems that support business processes o Electronic Data Interchange • integrating the supply chain electronically • primarily done through a process called electronic data interchange, or EDI o computer-to-computer exchange of business documents in a standard electronic format between business partners o Collaborative Systems • allow any software that allows multiple users to interact on a document or topic could be considered collaborative • users to brainstorm ideas together without the necessity of physical, face-to-face meetings Using Information Systems for Competitive Advantage o Decision Support Systems • A decision support system (DSS) is an information system built to help an organization make a specific decision or set of decisions • can exist at different levels of decision-making with the organization,