It Doesnt Matter Review
Introduction:
IT Doesn’t Matter was an article written by: Nicholas G. Carr for the Harvard Business Review Magazine in 2003. The article outlines a situation, not quite as its title suggests, that IT is less relevant that it used to be in terms of a competitive advantage in Industry.
This essay will consider what the point of view of Mr Carr is and whether it is a fair and accurate reflection of the reality on the ground. With the benefit of 9 years of hindsight, It’s more of a case of what lessons can be learned and what nuggets of wisdom can be extracted from the article and apply the lessons learned to my industry, Property Sales and rentals.
The Article. IT Doesn’t Matter. 2003. Nicholas G. Carr.
This article created a bit of a stir when it was written. There were plenty of letters to the editor*, Thomas A Stewart, of the Harvard Business Review following publication of the article, from writers outlining their levels of agreement and frustration. *HBR June & July 2003. Letters to the Editor.
So what was the fuss about?
Nicholas Carr’s article title suggests that in today’s world that IT does not matter. This is of course a ridiculous assertion as the whole modern world is co-ordinated largely through some form of IT whether it is in Business, leisure, Government administration, healthcare
Etc. What Carr was getting at was that IT in business initially was a tool used to give a strategic advantage to a particular company that chose to adopt it. As the hype of IT caught on, and huge investment was poured into it, it became a ‘must have’ in business. The problem Carr is getting at is that nowadays, everyone has IT and it no longer gives the company that uses it any advantage over their competitor. An analogy I liked that was used to convey this point was the comparison of IT rollout to the rollout of electrification of the US in the early 20th century. If you were a company then with electricity when many of your competitors had not, you had
IT Doesn’t Matter was an article written by: Nicholas G. Carr for the Harvard Business Review Magazine in 2003. The article outlines a situation, not quite as its title suggests, that IT is less relevant that it used to be in terms of a competitive advantage in Industry.
This essay will consider what the point of view of Mr Carr is and whether it is a fair and accurate reflection of the reality on the ground. With the benefit of 9 years of hindsight, It’s more of a case of what lessons can be learned and what nuggets of wisdom can be extracted from the article and apply the lessons learned to my industry, Property Sales and rentals.
The Article. IT Doesn’t Matter. 2003. Nicholas G. Carr.
This article created a bit of a stir when it was written. There were plenty of letters to the editor*, Thomas A Stewart, of the Harvard Business Review following publication of the article, from writers outlining their levels of agreement and frustration. *HBR June & July 2003. Letters to the Editor.
So what was the fuss about?
Nicholas Carr’s article title suggests that in today’s world that IT does not matter. This is of course a ridiculous assertion as the whole modern world is co-ordinated largely through some form of IT whether it is in Business, leisure, Government administration, healthcare
Etc. What Carr was getting at was that IT in business initially was a tool used to give a strategic advantage to a particular company that chose to adopt it. As the hype of IT caught on, and huge investment was poured into it, it became a ‘must have’ in business. The problem Carr is getting at is that nowadays, everyone has IT and it no longer gives the company that uses it any advantage over their competitor. An analogy I liked that was used to convey this point was the comparison of IT rollout to the rollout of electrification of the US in the early 20th century. If you were a company then with electricity when many of your competitors had not, you had