Chapter 2

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Ch 2 - Organisational strategy, Competitive advantage, and Information systems 

2.1 Business pressures, organisational responses, and IT support 

Businesses are facing a more and more competitive environment, which causes business pressures: 

1. Market pressures - changes in competition level, workforce activity, economy, & customer influence 
2. Technology pressures - the constant need to keep up with tech developments 
3. Societal/political/legal pressures - responsibility to maintain the organisation's ethical, social and legal contracts. 

Organisations can respond to their pressures by using strategic systems to increase profits and decrease threats of competitors entering their market. At the same time, maintaining/improving customer focus, producing based on order and quantity, utilising e-business to serve customers, collaborating with partners, and performing electronic transactions within the organisation. 

2.2 Competitive advantage and strategic IS 

To change an organisation's position in the business environment, they can use specific strategies for competitive advantage including low costs, uniqueness in services/goods, innovation, efficiency and customer focus.

Organisations that implement strategic information systems can help put their goals into action and improve efficiency and effectiveness.

2.3 Business-IT alignment 

Alignment integrates the IT functions and the organisation's vision, mission and goals. 
There are 6 characteristics of effective alignment: 
1. viewing  IT as an innovative tool
2. prioritising customer service
3. broaden skills by rotating business and IT professionals
4. providing clear goals
5. providing clear understanding of operations
6. creating a diverse company culture 

For the alignment process to remain effective, it is important that business and IT managers share the same objectives, embrace each other's skills, and have constant communication throughout.

Gray, H., Issa, T., Pye, G., Troshani, I., Rainer, R. K., Prince, B., & Hugh, J. W. (2015). Management information systems. Wiley.
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Quote of the week: 

"An organisation's ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage." - Jack Welch
               

Comments

  1. Gen Mowbray21 March 2024 at 22:34

    My favorite line for the post was "To change an organization's position in the business environment, they can use specific strategies for competitive advantage" in 2.2. Also the various examples of what IT alignment can look like in a business context. Nice work!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Naomi24 March 2024 at 01:23

    Your summary of chapter 2 was well written and each section was explained clearly. The structure, including your use of bullet points and bold font, made reading your summary even easier.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Graham6 April 2024 at 21:55

    Great work again! The contents on point again and its so easy to understand everything especially with how you structure everything!

    ReplyDelete

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