Lecture Business management information system - Lecture 7: Strategic uses of information technology

Use of the Internet by businesses set off a revolution in the use of IT, so that utilizing the Internet to conduct business became the strategic use of information technology. The questions that remain are: Has the revolution ended, or does an even larger revolution loom? Does IT still matter?, and What sorts of strategic uses are companies making?

Strategic Uses of Information

Technology Lecture 7

Today lecture summary

n Use of the Internet by businesses set off a revolution in the use of IT, so that utilizing the Internet to conduct

business became the strategic use of information

technology

n The questions that remain are:

¨ Has the revolution ended, or

¨ Does an even larger revolution loom?

¨ Does IT still matter?, and

¨ What sorts of strategic uses are companies making?

Today lecture summary

n Strategic roles of IT fall into one of three categories:

1. “working inward” (improving a firm’s internal

processes and structure)

2. “working outward” (improving the firm’s products

and relationships with customers) and

3. “working across” (improving its processes and

relationships with its business partners)

Today lecture summary

n Grainger, GE Power Systems, Wire Nova Scotia, The Shipping Industry, Cisco Systems and UPS Supply

Chain Solutions, Semco, S A., A Day in the Life of an lancer, General Mills and Land O’ Lakes, Sara Lee

E-Bakery Group, and Dell Computer serve as examples of how companies are using information systems in

strategic roles

n Introduction

¨ History of Strategic Uses of IT

¨ Whither the Internet Revolution?

¨ The Cheap Revolution

¨ Episode Two: Profitability Strikes Back

¨ Does IT Still Matter?

n Working Inward: Business-to-Employee

¨ Building an Intranet

¨ Fostering a Sense of Belonging

n Use of the Internet by businesses in mid/late ’90s set off

a revolution in the use of IT

¨ Utilizing the Internet to conduct business became the strategic use of IT

n Strategic = having a significant, long-term impact

on a firm’s growth, industry and $$

n What now?

¨ Dot-com crash

¨ A larger revolution to come?

¨ Does IT still matter?

¨ What strategic uses are companies making of IT (esp the Internet)

Introduction Last 20 Years – Strategic Uses of IT

n e.g Merrill Lynch cash management account

¨Now considered ‘normal’ = competitive necessity Vs competitive advantage

Introduction Last 20 Years – Strategic Uses of IT cont.

Introduction Last 20 Years – Strategic Uses of IT cont.

n 3rd & 4th editions (1990s) cont

¨ Internet’s potential becoming evident

n Dot-coms = looked at its outward use to gain a competitive advantage

n Most established firms initially used the Internet technology internally, building intranets to improve company processes

¨Publishing e-forms

¨Accompanying workflow processes

Introduction Last 20 Years – Strategic Uses of IT cont.

n 5th edition (late ’90s)

¨ Use of the Internet for business underway

n Bursting of the dot com bubble

n E-Business has become more reality based

n Integration of the Internet into how companies work has proceeded

Introduction Last 20 Years – Strategic Uses of IT cont.

Introduction Last 20 Years – Strategic Uses of IT cont.

n 7th edition (2005)

¨ “Something has changed”

n Especially with regards to the use of IT for competitive advantage

Introduction Last 20 Years – Strategic Uses of IT cont.

¨ Some may question IT’s ability to give companies a competitive edge but it is absolutely necessary for

competitive parity (necessity?)

n Being used strategically:

¨Inward

¨Outward

¨Across

What Is the Internet?

n A network of networks, joining many government,

university and private computers together and providing

an infrastructure for the use of E-mail, bulletin boards, file archives, hypertext documents, databases and other computational resources

n The vast collection of computer networks which form and act as a single huge network for transport of data and

messages across distances which can be anywhere

from the same office to anywhere in the world

What Is the Internet?

n Technically, the Internet is a global information system defined by three characteristics:

• A network composed of computers and other devices that are logically linked together by a unique address space based on the Internet Protocol

What Is the Internet?

• A network where network devices are able to support communications using TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) or other compatible protocols

• A network that provides high-level services layered on a communication and network infrastructure

What Is the Internet?

n The largest network of networks in the world.

n Uses TCP/IP protocols and packet

switching

n Runs on any communications

substrate.

Brief History of the Internet

n 1968 - DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency)

contracts with BBN (Bolt, Beranek & Newman) to create

n 1974 - TCP specification by Vint Cerf

n 1984 – On January 1, the Internet with its 1000 hosts converts en masse to using TCP/IP for its messaging

A Brief Summary of the Evolution of the Internet

Cre ate d

198 9

Mo sai c

Cre ate d

19 93

A

Ma them ati ca l

Th eo ry o f

C om mu nic ati on

19 48

Pa ck

et

Sw itc hin

g

In ve nte d

19 64

Sili co n

Ch ip

19 58

Fir

st Vas

t

Co mp ute r

Ne two rk

Env is io ned

19 62

AR PA NE T

19

69 P/IP TC

Cre ate d

19 72

In tern et

Na med

an

d

Go es

T CP/

IP

198 4

Hy per tex t

In ven ted

19 65

Age o f

eC om merc e

Begi ns 199 5

The Creation of the Internet

n The creation of the Internet solved the following

challenges:

¨ Basically inventing digital networking as we know it

¨ Survivability of an infrastructure to send / receive high-speed electronic messages

¨ Reliability of computer messaging

Introduction Whither the Internet Revolution?

n Internet frenzy peaked in 2000

n Is the Information Revolution dead?

¨ Not if history is any guide

§ British Railway Revolution – mid 1800s

§ 10 fold increase after the boom

¨ During boom = great excitement and small companies flourished

¨ After = glamour gone Business became serious and full

Introduction Whither the Internet Revolution? cont.

n We are now in a period where organizations are

re-architecting themselves around Internet technologies

¨ Tearing down old structures as they go

n Real gains will come when Internet technology adapts to organizations and people

¨ When the technology disappears and becomes part of life

n It will be ‘quiet’ compared to frenzy of ’99/00 but many

think it will be a giant revolution

Major Internet Services

Major Internet Services conti

• LISTSERVs:

• Chatting and instant messaging :

Major Internet Services Conti

doing work on another

displaying information (including text, audio,

graphics, and video) using hypertext links

The Internet and Business Value

standard used to transfer pages on the Web

Searching for information on the Web

Internet Network Architecture

Figure 7-9

Intranets and Extranets

provides access to data across a business firm

limited access to its internal intranet

Introduction The Cheap Revolution

n CIOs are shifting from buying expensive proprietary products to buying cheap generic products

¨ “Cheap Tech”

n Cost savings are compelling

¨ Google = runs on 100,000 cheap servers

n One breaks = discards

¨ Avoids expensive service contracts and in-house staff

Introduction The Cheap Revolution

¨ “Dellification”

n Moved from selling PCs to also selling servers, printers, storage devices….

¨ “Cheap” is occurring elsewhere:

n Labor – outsourcing to other countries

n Film production – camcorders etc.

n Software – Linux Vs Microsoft

n Telecommunications – Voice-over-IP…

Revolution of Social Media

n Social media refers to online services that allow people

to publicly create, share, and discuss information

n Social media services include, but are not limited to:

• Blogs

• Social networks such as Facebook and MySpace

Social Media Conti

• Video and photo sharing sites such as YouTube and Flickr

• Microblogging services such as Twitter

• Social bookmarking services such as Digg and

Delicious

Why use Social Media?

¨Social media is becoming many people’s primary source

of news, opinion, and entertainment

•Social media is now ubiquitous widespread blogging,

social networks, video sharing sites, and opportunities to comment on and rate online content

•Power of personal connections Research shows people are more compelled to act on information that’s transmitted through personal ties

Why use Social Media?

•Relevancy for government – We can use social media to share timely government information with the people who need it

•Engaging citizens to improve government Social media allows people to engage, to provide input for improving government services, and be part of the democratic

process

Making Government Easy with Social

Social Media Strategy Development

Social Media Preferences

We reviewed analytics and surveyed social media

users, which showed:

•Interested in accessing government information via social media

•Credibility of government information on social media is critical

•Interested in having conversations with the government

Social Media Strategy Development

Social Media Preferences conti

•Interested in a variety of government information,

including:

nEmergency alerts

nSocial Security

nOther government benefits

•Relevant and timely content is critical – the technology used to deliver it is secondary

Social Media Strategy Development

Social Media Best Practices

n We examined a variety of social media initiatives and

identified these best practices:

Seek or create user interfaces that foster interaction:

n Interaction should be easy and intuitive

n Use branding elements to make it clear that users are interacting with an official source

Social Media Strategy Development

Social Media Best Practices

Social Media Strategy Development

Social Media Best Practices

Solicit feedback and encourage sharing:

n Whenever possible, invite opinions and experiences from constituents to stimulate dialogue

n Provide links or buttons to share content and

encourage users to do so with clear calls to action

Social Media Strategy Development

Social Media Best Practices

Provide relevant and timely content:

n Use social media to listen to conversations and allow constituents to identify topics of interest

n Use existing content assets to initiate timely discussions

Social Media Strategy Development

Social Media Best Practices

Dedicate resources:

n Dedicate resources to own the conversation and optimize the program based on feedback

Planning a Social Media Strategy

n We used a strategic approach to address constituents via social media, thinking about our audience and

objectives before choosing a technology

nConducted stakeholder interviews to learn about our own motivations to use social media and learn what we wanted to get out of it

Planning a Social Media Strategy conti

n Surveyed users and analyzed traffic to learn about constituents’ objectives and needs

3 Identify best practices:

n Looked at other organizations to see how they use social media to achieve objectives

Planning a Social Media Strategy conti

n Developed a scalable strategy that would accomplish our objectives, independent of technology, while

fulfilling constituent needs

Our Social Media Objectives

An extensive internal review process

revealed the need to use social media to:

n Put a human face on government

n Establish USA.gov & GobiernoUSA.gov as approachable sources of trusted information

n Create new channels to distribute existing content, news, and information

Our Social Media Objectives conti

n Spread information virally

n Interact directly with constituents

government

Summary

n Introduction

¨ History of Strategic Uses of IT

¨ Whither the Internet Revolution?

¨ The Cheap Revolution

¨ Social media