GAINING
COMPETITIVE
ADVANTAGE
THROUGH
INFORMATION
SYSTEMS
Murugavel R
INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR
❑ Decision-Making Levels
❑ Functional Areas
❑ Automating: Doing Things Faster
❑ Organizational Learning: Doing Things Better
❑ Supporting Strategy: Doing Things Smarter
❑ Identifying Where to Compete: Analyzing Competitive Forces
❑ Identifying How to Compete:
❑ Choosing a Generic Strategy
❑ Resources and Capabilities
❑ Analyzing the Value Chain
❑ Value Chain Analysis & Technology/Strategy Fit
ORGANIZATIONAL 3
DECISION-MAKING LEVELS
• Executive/Strategic Level
– Upper Management
• Managerial/Tactical Level
– Middle Management
• Operational Level
– Foreman
– Supervisors
– Operational Employees
OPERATIONAL LEVEL
MANAGERIAL/TACTICAL LEVEL
EXECUTIVE/STRATEGIC LEVEL
ORGANIZATIONAL
7
FUNCTIONAL
AREAS
BUSINESS VALUE ADDITION 8
INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR 9
AUTOMATION: DOING THINGS FASTER
Primary Activity Manual Loan Tech-Supported Fully Automated Process
Process (Time) Process (Time) (Time)
Complete and submit loan Customer takes the application home, Customer takes the application Customer fills out application from
application completes it, and returns it (1.5 days) home, completes it, and returns it home via the web (15 minutes)
(1.5 days)
Check application for errors Employee does this in batches (2.5 Employee does this in batches Computer does this as it is being
days) (2.5 days) completed (1 second)
Input data from application into Applications are kept in paper form, Employee does this in batches Done as part of the online application
the information system handling time involved (1 hour) (2.5 days) process (no extra time needed)
Assess loan applications under Employee does this completely by Employee does this with the help Computer does this automatically (1
$250k to determine whether to hand (15 days) of a computer (1 hour) second)
fund them
Committee decides this on loans (15 days) (15 days) (15 days)
over $250k
Applicant notified Employee generates letters Employee generates letters with System notifies applicant via email (1
automatically in batches (1 week) the help of a computer (1 day) second)
Total time 25-40 days 5-20 days 15 minutes to 15 days
CHOOSING A GENERIC STRATEGY 10
FIVE GENERAL TYPES OF
ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGY:
1. BROAD DIFFERENTIATION
2. FOCUSED DIFFERENTIATION
3. FOCUSED LOW-COST LEADERSHIP
4. OVERALL LOW-COST LEADERSHIP
AND
5. BEST-COST PROVIDER
RESOURCES AND CAPABILITIES 11
TOYOTA IBM FACEBOOK COCA-COLA APPLE
QUALITY SERVICE USERBASE PROPRIETARY INNOVATION
VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS 12
Technology/Strategy Fit 13
▪ Organizations are constrained by time and money to
build or acquire only those systems that add the most
value
▪ Organizations try to maximize business/IT alignment
▪ Strategic necessity is something an organization must do in
order to survive
▪ In any significant IS implementation, there must be
commensurate, significant organizational change
Revenue Type Description
Affiliate Paying businesses that bring or refer
marketing customers to another business.
Advertising Free services are provided to customers
and paid for by a third party.
Revenue
Subscription Users pay a monthly or yearly recurring
fee for the use of the product/service.
Models
Licensing Users pay a fee for using protected
intellectual property (e.g., software)
in the
Transaction A commission is paid to the business for
fees/Brokerage aiding in the transaction
Digital
Traditional
sales
A consumer buys a product/service from
the website or makes in-app purchases
World
Freemium Basic services are offered for free, but a
premium is charge for special features
PLATFORM-BASED BUSINESS MODELS AND
THE SHARING ECONOMY
A digital platform enables other businesses or users to
co-create value as seen in the examples below:
Value Created/Exchanged Examples
Products Amazon Marketplace, eBay
Services OLA, Uber
Payments Paytm, PayPal, Gpay
Investments and funding Kickstarter, Lending Club
Content Wikipedia, Twitter, YouTube
Communication WhatsApp, Skype
Collaboration Dropbox
Social relationships Facebook, LinkedIn
16
ENHANCING
YOUR
CAREER
17
AMAZON CASE STUDY
