Investing in the It That Makes a Competitive Difference
www.hbr.org
Studies of corporate performance reveal a growing link between certain kinds of technology investments and intensifying competitiveness.
Investing in the IT That Makes a Competitive Difference by Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson
Included with this full-text Harvard Business Review article: 1 Article Summary The Idea in Brief—the core idea The Idea in Practice—putting the idea to work 2 Investing in the IT That Makes a Competitive Difference 11 Further Reading A list of related materials, with annotations to guide further exploration of the article’s ideas and applications
Reprint R0807J
Purchased by Steven Stillman (sstillm@post.harvard.edu) on March 13, 2013
Investing in the IT That Makes a Competitive Difference
The Idea in Brief
It’s not just you. It really is getting harder to outpace the other guys. Since the mid1990s, competition in the U.S. economy has accelerated to unprecedented levels. The engine behind this hypercompetition: IT. Thanks to powerful tools like ERP and CRM, backed by cheap networks, companies are swiftly replicating business-process innovations throughout their organizations. The firm with the best processes (order fulfillment, field installation, job closing) wins, but not for long. Rivals are striking back with their own IT-based process innovations. To gain—and keep—a competitive edge in this environment, McAfee and Brynjolfsson recommend a three-step strategy: • Deploy a consistent technology platform, rather than stitching together a jumble of legacy systems. • Innovate better ways of working. • Propagate those process innovations widely throughout your company. By taking these steps, elevator-systems maker Otis realized not only dramatically shorter sales-cycle times but higher revenues and operating profit.
The Idea in Practice
The authors recommend these steps for staying ahead of rivals through IT-enabled process innovation: Deploy. Adopt a uniform technology platform to be used throughout your company.
Studies of corporate performance reveal a growing link between certain kinds of technology investments and intensifying competitiveness.
Investing in the IT That Makes a Competitive Difference by Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson
Included with this full-text Harvard Business Review article: 1 Article Summary The Idea in Brief—the core idea The Idea in Practice—putting the idea to work 2 Investing in the IT That Makes a Competitive Difference 11 Further Reading A list of related materials, with annotations to guide further exploration of the article’s ideas and applications
Reprint R0807J
Purchased by Steven Stillman (sstillm@post.harvard.edu) on March 13, 2013
Investing in the IT That Makes a Competitive Difference
The Idea in Brief
It’s not just you. It really is getting harder to outpace the other guys. Since the mid1990s, competition in the U.S. economy has accelerated to unprecedented levels. The engine behind this hypercompetition: IT. Thanks to powerful tools like ERP and CRM, backed by cheap networks, companies are swiftly replicating business-process innovations throughout their organizations. The firm with the best processes (order fulfillment, field installation, job closing) wins, but not for long. Rivals are striking back with their own IT-based process innovations. To gain—and keep—a competitive edge in this environment, McAfee and Brynjolfsson recommend a three-step strategy: • Deploy a consistent technology platform, rather than stitching together a jumble of legacy systems. • Innovate better ways of working. • Propagate those process innovations widely throughout your company. By taking these steps, elevator-systems maker Otis realized not only dramatically shorter sales-cycle times but higher revenues and operating profit.
The Idea in Practice
The authors recommend these steps for staying ahead of rivals through IT-enabled process innovation: Deploy. Adopt a uniform technology platform to be used throughout your company.