MBA Essentials Information Technology for Strategic, Competitive Advantage Virginia Franke Kleist, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Division of MIS/Management
1. MBA Essentials Information Technology for Strategic,
Competitive Advantage Virginia Franke Kleist, Ph.D. Assistant
Professor Division of MIS/Management
2. Welcome 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?
3. Contact Information
Virginia Franke Kleist, Ph.D.
[email_address]
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 (8 th ed.).
Some material adapted from Burgelman, Christensen and
Wheelwright, (2004), Strategic Management of Technology and
Innovation , Boston: McGraw-Hill Irwin (4 th ed.).
4.
5.
6. What 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?
7.
8. Strategic Information Systems
9. Strategic 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
10. Examples 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
11.
12. Four 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
13.
14. Current Technologies for Strategic Information Systems
15. What 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
16.
17.
18. Technologies: 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
19.
20. Technologies: Client Server Computing
Distributed processing vs. centralized processing
Network computing
Servers
Bridges and routers, gateways
Network management
Ethernet and Token Ring
21. Technologies: Interactive Multimedia
Groupware
Voice over IP
Streaming technology
Flash
MP3
Seeing corporate uses in training applications
22. History 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?
23. Technologies: 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
24. Technologies: 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
25.
26.
27.
28.
29. Technologies: 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
30.
31.
32. Technologies: 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?
33.
34. Technologies: Knowledge Management Tools and Artificial
Intelligence
Examples of Knowledge Management systems
Expert systems: the earthenware dam
Neural Networks
Fuzzy logic
Intelligent agents
35. Technologies: Wireless
802.11b, a and g
Weaknesses in security in wireless
Access points
Use firewalls behind access point
Netstumbler and war driving
36. Managing for Information Systems Strategic Advantage
37. Management: 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
38. Management: the Systems Development Life Cycle
Systems analysis
Systems design
Programming
Testing
Conversion
Production mode and ongoing maintenance
39.
40. Management: 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
41.
42. Management: 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
43. Management: 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
44.
45. Management: Legal Issues with Information
HIPAA. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act,
1996
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, 1999
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
46. Strategic 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
47. Strategic 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
48.
49.
50. Some 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
51. Technology 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?
52.
53.
54.
55. How 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
56.
57.
58. Class 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?
59. What have we learned?
Strategic advantage from information technology
Latest information technologies
How do you successfully select, implement and manage a new
IT?