A Strategic Information System (SIS) is a system to manage information and assist in strategic decision making. A strategic information system has been defined as, “The information system to support or change enterprise’s strategy.” Simply says, a Strategic Information System is a type of Information System that is aligned with business strategy and structure. The alignment increases the capability to respond faster to environmental changes and thus creates a competitive advantage. An early example was the favorable position afforded American and United Airlines by their reservation systems, Sabre and Apollo. (American Airlines worked with IBM to develop an improved booking/reservation system, and the Airline Reservation Systems (ARS) and the Semi-Automatic Business Research System (SABRE) launched thereafter in 1960. The network completed set-up in 1964, and it was recognized as the largest data processing system in existence. United Airlines developed the Apollo Reservation System, and shortly after allowed travel agents access. Continue reading
Strategic Management
Strategic management is the art and science of formulating, implementing and evaluating cross-functional decisions that will enable an organization to achieve its objectives. It involves the systematic identification of specifying the firm’s objectives, nurturing policies and strategies to achieve these objectives, and acquiring and making available these resources to implement the policies and strategies to achieve the firm’s objectives. Strategic management, therefore, integrates the activities of the various functional sectors of a business, such as marketing, sales, production etc. , to achieve organizational goals. It is generally the highest level of managerial activity, usually initiate by the board of directors and executed by the firm’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and executive team.
Survey Feedback as an Organizational Development Tool
The study of Survey Feedback played an important role in formation and history of Organizational Development (OD). Developed as an organization wide intervention by Mann and his associates (1957-1965), survey feedback is a process in which organizational members complete questionnaires on various organizational issues, receive feedback on the results, then take appropriate actions to address the critical needs and concerns. Though some type of survey method was prevalent in various organizations earlier, Institute for Social Research (ISR) of University of Michigan, USA developed a comprehensive questionnaire for conducting survey in different aspects of an organization. The basic objectives of survey feedback method are as follows: To assist the organization in diagnosing its problems and developing action plan for problem-solving. To assist the group members to improve the relationships through discussion of common problems. Process of Survey Feedback Survey feedback method usually proceeds with sequential activities involving data collection, feedback of Continue reading
Business Process Reengineering for Competitive Advantage
In business processes reengineering all the outdated processes of the business are redesigned along with the connected systems and entity’s structures with an aim to reach at a remarkable performance level along with business improvements. The corporate basis for creating these changes possibly will comprise deprived performance in terms of competition, financial aspects and reduction of market share of emerging market opportunities. Business process reengineering just not mean to introduction of new technology, automation, reorganization, and downsizing of business process etc but also involve change assessment various business components such as culture, entity, technology, processes and strategies. The relationship between a company and its customers is not limited to just the buying and selling of a product or service. It has gained new dimensions and expanded from the buying and selling of products and services to a whole range of business practices form customer service, consulting and pricing to production Continue reading
Fitzgerald and Moon’s Building Block Model
Fitzgerald and Moon’s Building Block Model suggests the solution of performance measurement problems in service industries. But it can be applied to other manufacturing and retail businesses to evaluate business performance. Fitzgerald and Moon has provided a framework for performance management in service organization using three criteria, called as building blocks, they include, standards of performance (against these dimensions are measured to review performance), rewards for performance (rewards are necessary for achieving standards of performance) and dimensions of performance (these are measures of performance). 1. Standards: You can think of standards as rules that employees of a company must follow in order to achieve the long term objective of the organization. For the standards to be motivating enough, it must have three important ingredients. These ingredients are; Equity: Performance measures should be equally challenging for all parts of business. Relaxation given to one part of the business leads to perception Continue reading
Concept of Industry Shakeout
Industry Shakeout marks a discontinuity or turning point, as the industry goes through a major upheaval. Some of the greatest risks which companies face are during times when the industry is witnessing a shake-out. An industry shakeout occurs when the rate of industry growth slows down as demand approaches saturation levels. A saturated market is one where there are few first-time buyers left. Most of the demand is limited to replacement demand. As an industry enters the shakeout stage, rivalry between companies becomes intense, with excess productive capacity and severe price discounting. Many firms exit the industry at this point. Industry shakeout provides an opportunity for those firms that are dedicated to success in this particular industry to consolidate their power, often by acquiring the assets of firms exiting the industry. At the growth stage of industry life cycle, a company should try to grow in pace with the growth Continue reading
Theories of Competitive Advantage
Strategy is the plan of action that allocates resources and activities and aims at dealing with the environment, achieving a competitive advantage and attaining the organisation’s goals. Competitive advantage refers to what sets the organisation apart from others and provides it with a distinctive edge for meeting customer needs in the marketplace. The choice that will make the organisation different is the essence of formulating strategy. In order to remain competitive, companies need to focus on core competencies, develop synergy and create value. Competitive advantage is a company’s ability to perform in one or more ways that competitors cannot or will not match. A competitive advantage is said to be sustainable when it has the means to edge out rivals when competing for the favors of customers. Although sustainability is the ideal case for advantages, the most common competitive advantages are leverageable, which means that a company can use them Continue reading