By Michael J. Earl and Jeffrey L. Sampler
In recent years, there have been calls and prescriptions for business transformation.1 There has also been growing pressure for radical change in how the IT function is organized and managed. Rockart et al. captured the consequences of an agenda for reform in the IT function, and Cross et al. proposed a possible model of a [...]
By David Robertson and Karl Ulrich
A platform is a collection of components, processes, knowledge, people, and relationships shared by a set of products, allowing companies to efficiently develop differentiated products and to better meet customer needs. The authors describe the benefits and challenges of platform planning, presenting three underlying ideas, a method for planning a new product platform, and recommendations for managing the process.
By David A. Garvin
Managers today are enamored of processes. It’s easy to see why. Many modern organizations are functional and hierarchical; they suffer from isolated departments, poor coordination, and limited lateral communication. All too often, work is fragmented and compartmentalized, and managers find it difficult to get things done. Scholars have faced similar problems in their research, struggling [...]
By Thomas H. Davenport and Keri Pearlson
What’s happening to the office? Technology has made it possible to redefine where work is done. The traditional notion of an office as the place where someone goes to work seems to be going the way of the buggy whip, the eight-track tape, and the stenographer.
Companies such as Procter & Gamble, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, AT&T, and [...]
By Anthony DiRomualdo and Vijay Gurbaxani
Three objectives -- improving IS, enhancing business performance, and generating new revenue -- that can help a company assess outsourcing.
By Ian Stuart, Paul Deckert, David McCutcheon and Richard Kunst
Companies in high-volume industries are making dramatic changes in supply chain management.1 Many factors, including the growing recognition of supply chain management’s importance and relevance, have prompted those changes. Firms in the automotive industry have reported startling results from seamlessly integrating suppliers into their operations, distribution, and new product development. These successes have established targets [...]
By Richard Y. Wang, Yang W. Lee, Leo L. Pipino and Diane M. Strong
Many managers believe that quality information is key to their success. Do they act on that belief? Not convincingly. Most senior executives have experienced the costs of decisions based on poor information. Most general managers have dealt with the frustration of knowing that they have data within the firm but they cannot access it in [...]
