IS for competitive advantage

In my second week, I had learnt about the Information System for competitive advantage. It had been seen that the role of using information system itself can use to processing capabilities in one organization for the purpose of to gaining competitive advantage of another among organizations. There are five-phase planning processes that can be implemented to identify and evaluate strategy information system and to win top management support. According to Nick Rackoff, it underlying their approach is a conceptual framework that via an enterprise’s suppliers, customers, and competitors as the strategy targets of five strategic thrusts: differentiation, cost, Innovation, growth, alliance and other competitive strategies. Well, many well-known examples of use of information technology for competitive advantage involve systems that link an organization to suppliers, distribution channels, or customers. For example in Tesco Company, they use of cost leadership strategy that their objective is to become the lowest-cost producer in the industry, which understand their customers and can create competitive advantage and so benefit from lower prices and loyalty of customers. It is higher capacity utilization and can then help to reduce costs.

By using this competitive advantage, it can help the company declining costs of capturing and using information have joined with increasing competitive pressures to spur numerous innovations in use of information to create value. Other than that, a successful competitive strategy should be focuses on assessing the company unique strengths, identifying growth opportunities, collecting competitive intelligence, and responding to competitive threats. It will effectively support their company’s top-line growth objectives by helping them develop a differentiated and sustainable competitive position.

Well, in conclusion that I can made for this chapter is in order to be successful in the business, organizations should strategically aware of these competitive strategies. Strategic success requires a clear understanding of the needs of the market, and the satisfaction of targeted customers more effectively and more profitably than by competitors. Real competitive advantage implies companies are able to satisfy customer needs more effectively than their competitors. It is achieved if and when real value is added for customers.

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Reference:

http://www.tutor2u.net/business/strategy/competitive_advantage.htm

Johnston H.R,Vitale M.R, Creating competitive advantage with interorganization information systems (june 1988) MIS Quartely

.Rackoff.N,Wiseman.C,Ullrich W.A, Information systems for competitive advantage:Implementation of a planning process(dec 1985)MIS Quarterly.