Title: MBA Essentials Information Technology for Strategic, Competitive Advantage
1MBA Essentials Information Technology for
Strategic, Competitive Advantage
- Virginia Franke Kleist, Ph.D.
- Assistant Professor
- Division of MIS/Management
2Welcome to the Technology Part of the Program
- How are you using information technology (IT)
today in your firms and businesses? - How successful has this been for your firm?
- Do you have problems that are still unresolved
with Information Technology? - Can IT give competitive advantage, anyway?
- How can one identify which technologies will best
give strategic advantage?
3Contact Information
- Virginia Franke Kleist, Ph.D.
- Virginia.kleist_at_mail.wvu.edu
- www.be.wvu.edu/divmim/mgmt/kleist
- 304-293-7939
- I welcome your comments and contacts!
- Several drawings are adapted from Laudon and
Laudon, (2005), Management Information Systems
Managing the Digital Firm, New Jersey Prentice
Hall (8th ed.). - Some material adapted from Burgelman, Christensen
and Wheelwright, (2004), Strategic Management of
Technology and Innovation, Boston McGraw-Hill
Irwin (4th ed.).
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6What will we learn?
- Strategic advantage from information technology
- Latest information technologies
- How do you successfully select, implement and
manage a new IT? - How can your firm benefit from IT?
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8Strategic Information Systems
9Strategic Information System
- Technology used to gain an edge over an
organizations competition - Can be used at all levels of an organization or
just a few - Makes a difference
- Profoundly alters the way an organization does
business - Sustained strategic, competitive advantage
10Examples of Strategic Information Systems
- American Airlines
- Fed Ex
- Citibank
- Wal-Mart
- Abitibi Consolidated
- Simonton Windows (SBR)
- USA Today
- Benetton
- Sheetz
- PNC Corporation
- PriceWaterhouse Coopers
- Baxter Healthcare
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12Four types of Information Systems
- Operational
- Decision Support
- Managerial
- Executive
- Decision-making becomes more complex the more
executive the level - Operational systems have been around a long time
and tend to have good ROIs
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14Current Technologies for Strategic Information
Systems
15What are the latest technologies of interest?
- CPUs and software, open source code
- Client server computing
- Interactive multimedia
- Developments in Electronic Commerce
- TCP/IP and the Internet
- Databases and Datamining
- Handhelds, M-commerce
- Knowledge Management tools and Artificial
Intelligence
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18Technologies CPUs and Software
- Hardware components of a computer system
- Buses, CPUs, MHz, RAM, Gigs and cache
- Bits and Bytes, storage
- Moores Law and price points per MIPs
- Mainframes, RISC computers, Parallel processing
- Open source movement in operating systems
- Enterprise Resource Planning software
- Object oriented programming
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20Technologies Client Server Computing
- Distributed processing vs. centralized processing
- Network computing
- Servers
- Bridges and routers, gateways
- Network management
- Ethernet and Token Ring
21Technologies Interactive Multimedia
- Groupware
- Voice over IP
- Streaming technology
- Flash
- MP3
- Seeing corporate uses in training applications
22History of Technology
- 1960s Mainframe computers, MIS not superb at
meeting budgets or deadlines - 1980s First PCs emerge, beginning of schism
between departments and centralized MIS - 1990s MIS and departments work together well,
networks key techno - 2000 Enterprise networks
- Next Vice Presidents of Electricity?
23Technologies Electronic Commerce
- The client/server/database three tier model
- HTML, JavaScript
- XML vs. EDI, ASP and ActiveX, PHP, CGI
- Web Services
- Interdev and development tools
- Security and encryption issues
- Intranets and Extranets
24Technologies TCP/IP and the Internet
- Codes, bits and bytes
- Analog vs. Digital transmission
- Packet switching and circuit switching
- The IP address, TCP/IP layers
- The world is becoming digital
- VoIP
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29Technologies Databases, Datamining
- Data is the companys strategic asset
- Data warehouses, multidimensional databases and
data marts - Informix, Oracle and Red Brick
- The database management system
- Data mining is a type of software application
that finds patterns in data that can guide
decision-making - Data mining allows focused differentiation and
the ability to narrow target markets
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32Technologies Handhelds and M- Commerce
- Cellular technology
- WAP technology
- Handheld market and applications
- The Win CE platform
- Linux in the small devices
- What is M-commerce and what does it mean to me?
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34Technologies Knowledge Management Tools and
Artificial Intelligence
- Examples of Knowledge Management systems
- Expert systems the earthenware dam
- Neural Networks
- Fuzzy logic
- Intelligent agents
35Technologies Wireless
- 802.11b, a and g
- Weaknesses in security in wireless
- Access points
- Use firewalls behind access point
- Netstumbler and war driving
36Managing for Information Systems Strategic
Advantage
37Management Information Systems Planning
- IS plan maps to the corporate strategic plan
- Variety of IS planning styles CSF, Enterprise
Planning - Components of Information Systems Strategic Plan
- Organizational change from systems TQM, BPR,
paradigm shifts or simple automation
38Management the Systems Development Life Cycle
- Systems analysis
- Systems design
- Programming
- Testing
- Conversion
- Production mode and ongoing maintenance
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40Management IS Strategic Plan
- Purpose linked to strategy
- Current situation
- Systems What do you have, what will you need to
meet future - New developments in corporation
- Management strategies with techno Bleeding
edge, leading edge, lagging edge, single vendor
strategy, outsource
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42Management Implementation
- The RFP document
- Financial issues for IS planning
- The payback concerns
- Programming the mythical man/month
- Construction issues
- Testing and maintenance
- End users
- Prototypes and pilots
- Outsourcing
43Management Security Issues
- System quality, reliability, accuracy
- Threats hackers, viruses, Trojan horses, denial
of service attacks, identity theft - Controls
- The firewall and internet issues Encryption, DES,
SSL, SET - Biometrics
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45Management Legal Issues with Information
- HIPAA. Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act, 1996 - Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, 1999
- Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
46Strategic Advantage IT at work
- IT and changes in the organization of business
flatter, leaner, teams, JIT, global - Datamining and Walmart
- E-commerce and the supply chain at Dell
- M-commerce and Progressive Auto
- Internet and Egghead
- American Airlines, Baxter, Citibank
47Strategic Advantage How does one come up with
this idea, anyway?(Laudon and Laudon, 2000)
- Porters Value Chain primary and support
activities - The competitive forces model Threats from new
market entrants, suppliers, substitute products
and customers - Core competencies
- Network economics
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50Some Problems from IT for Competitive Advantage
- The productivity paradox
- Tangible vs. intangible benefits from IT
- Future cash flows analysis
- Unique vs. staying even with competition
- Value from simple automation projects
- Value from highly risky, but strategic IT
projects - Risk vs. return issues
51Technology Life Cycle (Little, 1981)
- Emerging techno- Not demonstrated potential
- Packing techno- Has demonstrated potential
- Key techno- Embedded, major impact, proprietary
- Base techno- Minor impact
- Can a technology cause innovation? Leadership?
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55How can your firm benefit from IT?
- In supply chain management through inventory
management - In the customer interface via ecommerce
- In logistics through GPS/GIS
- In client management through groupware
- In marketing through datamining
- In internal management through Intranets
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58Class Discussion The Dell Case
- How did Dell achieve success?
- What IT technologies did Dell use?
- How does Dell use ecommerce successfully?
- What are the ways that Dell uses IT for
strategic, competitive advantage? - What is Dells business model?
- Will Dell be able to keep this success going,
given the recent troubles?
59What have we learned?
- Strategic advantage from information technology
- Latest information technologies
- How do you successfully select, implement and
manage a new IT? - How can your firm benefit from IT?