MIS625 Session #2
Dec 20, 2015
What is Strategy? (Porter 1996)
• An organization’s primary goal is superior performance.
• Two key components of performance.– Operational effectiveness– Strategy
• The two are often confused
Operational Effectiveness
• Performing similar activities better than rivals
• TQM, benchmarking, and BPR aimed at operational effectiveness
• Operational effectiveness is not sustainable because improvements in activities can be copied
Strategy
• Involves– Performing different activities than rivals
or– Performing similar activities in different
ways
• Aims at creating a sustainable competitive advantage
Strategic Positioning
• Strategy is about uniqueness – choosing a particular set of activities to provide a distinct value
• Three types of position– Variety based positioning– Needs based positioning– Access based positioning
Trade-offs to Achieve Strategic Positioning
• Trade-offs occur when activities are incompatible
• Incompatible activities require compromise if both activities are retained
• Choosing where to trade-off is a choice about fit
Strategic Fit
• First order fit – consistency between each activity and strategy
• Second order fit – a set of reinforcing activities
• Third order fit – optimization of effort (in support of strategic goals)
Strategic Fit and Sustainability
• Fit engenders operational effectiveness and a differentiation of product/service offerings
• Fit includes a bundle of related activities
• Copying a single activity is easy whereas copying a set of related activities is much more difficult
The Information Economy (Shapiro and Varian)
• Definitions of information– In terms of decision-making– Anything that can be digitized
• Information based goods are expensive to produce but inexpensive to reproduce
• Information and intellectual ‘property’• Information as an experience good• Information and the economics of
attention
IT in the Information Economy
• Systems competition and integration – complex functions may require the use and integration of multiple products
• Potential for lock-in or switching costs to avoid lock-in
• Role of network effects• Importance of standards – de facto and de
jure• Government policies
– IBM, Microsoft, and antitrust– The EU
Strategic Information Systems
• Pervasiveness of IT in firms means:– Investment in IT is no assurance of benefit– Applications that provide strategic advantage are
often the result of serendipity– Specific applications can often be copied easily
and as a consequence sustainable competitive advantage is elusive
– Sustainable advantage may result from infrastructure capabilities, management, mature processes, and the ability to leverage IT capability for the development of unique offerings and capabilities
Resource Based Theory (RBT)
• Resources– Available factors owned or controlled by
the organization• For the IS function, this includes
infrastructure and knowledge and skills
– Central point is that resources per se do not create value. Value is created by an organization’s ability to utilize those resources.
RBT Competencies
• The ability within the firm to use resources to accomplish a given task
• This can include processes, procedures, systems, technology in the broad sense, and other means to carry out important tasks
RBT Capabilities
• The strategic application of competencies to accomplish organizational goals.– Note scale up from resources to
competencies to capabilities
• Future goals define future required capabilities and this should scale down to competencies and resources.
Domains of IS Competence
• Formulate strategy – business strategy, technology use, IT investment criteria, Information governance
• Define IS contribution – prioritization, alignment, BP design and management
• Define IT capability – infrastructure, technology analysis, sourcing
• Exploitation – benefits planning and delivery, change management
• Supply – supplier relationships, standards, staff development
• Deliver solutions – management of IS processes, security