Strategic Analysis and Selection of Information Systems

The current business environment is characterized by a high level of competitive rivalry and therefore businesses have to constantly reengineer their internal business processes in to build and maintain a competitive edge . In this respect , the embedding of technological processes has become an effective process in view of the fact that this strategy speeds up the decision making process . The current business environment is also characterized by a fast pace of change and therefore it is critical for the management of an organization to collect as much information as possible about both

the external and the internal environment . Implementation of technological innovations such as the Enterprise Resource Planning solutions facilitates the information collection process . For example purchases made at different stores are captured electronically and then these data are converted into reports through expert systems which make the reports available throughout the organization . Because of this networking infrastructure , one department within an organization can instantaneously see the status of another department . The same kind of integration can be used to enhance efficiency in supply chain management

In the current business environment , businesses have three strategies of building a competitive advantage : differentiation , cost minimization and quick response . In implementing any of the three strategies , integration of information systems is a critical success factor . In differentiating positioning strategies for example , the company has to get information quickly from the market in to maintain focus on customer tastes and preferences and differentiate the product line accordingly . In the case of implementing...