Assessing the strategic value of Information Technology: An analysis on the insurance sector

2007 ◽  
Vol 44 (6) ◽  
pp. 568-582 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paolo Neirotti ◽  
Emilio Paolucci
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Value Of Information ◽  
Insurance Sector ◽  
Strategic Value

The Strategic Value of Information Technology in Setting Productive Capacity

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 1124-1144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dawei (David) Zhang ◽  
Barrie R. Nault ◽  
Xueqi (David) Wei
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Value Of Information ◽  
Productive Capacity ◽  
Strategic Value

ERP-Driven Performance Changes and Process Isomorphism

2009 ◽  
pp. 96-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Masini
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Value Of Information ◽  
Business Performance ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Window Of Opportunity ◽  
Panel Analysis ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Strategic Value ◽  
Short Run

After observing that the pervasiveness of IT may soon render it strategically irrelevant, management scholars have recently questioned the value of information technology. This chapter challenges the above view, contends that ERP investments may contribute to the achievement of improved business performance, and examines the conditions under which this contribution occurs. The panel analysis of a sample of SAP R/3 adopters provides several insights. First, it suggests that the ERP exerts a generalized positive impact on both productivity and profitability. Second, the results confirm that the widespread diffusion of best practices embedded in the software may limit the ability of firms to use ERP to effectively differentiate from competitors. However, they also suggest that, whilst in the long run the pervasive diffusion of standardized software may decrease its strategic value, in the short run early ERP adopters can profit from a window of opportunity to obtain above average returns.

Impact of Information Technology in the Service Delivery of Indian Insurance Sector

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (7) ◽  
pp. 253-255
Author(s):  
R. Meikanda Ganesh Kumar R. Meikanda Ganesh Kumar ◽  
◽  
Dr. P. Anbuoli Dr. P. Anbuoli
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Service Delivery ◽  
Insurance Sector ◽  
Indian Insurance

Strategic Alignment Between Business and Information Technology

2011 ◽  
pp. 3582-3588
Author(s):  
Fernando José Barbin Laurindo
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Business Performance ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Continuous Process ◽  
Strategic Alignment ◽  
It Effectiveness ◽  
Strategic Value ◽  
It Applications ◽  
Important Position

Information technology (IT) has assumed an important position in the strategic function of the leading companies in the competitive markets (Porter, 2001). Particularly, ecommerce and e-business have been highlighted among IT applications (Porter, 2001). Two basic points of view can be used for understanding IT’s role: the acquisition of a competitive advantage at the value chain, and the creation and enhancement of core competencies (Porter & Millar, 1985; Duhan, Levy, & Powell, 2001). Several problems have been discussed concerned with IT project results in effectiveness of their management. Effectiveness, in the context of this article, is the measurement of the capacity of the outputs of an information system or of an IT application to fulfill the requirements of the company and to achieve its goals, making this company more competitive (Shimizu, Carvalho, & Laurindo, 2006). There is a general consensus about the difficulty of finding evidence of returns over the investments in IT (the “productivity paradox”), even though this problem can be satisfactorily explained (Farrell, 2003). Carr (2005) defends the idea that IT in itself has no more strategic value, since it is so widely disseminated that it could not be a source of strategic differentiation anymore. In order to better use these investments, organizations should evaluate IT effectiveness, which allows the strategic alignment of objectives of implemented IT applications and their results with the company business vision (Shpilberg, Berez, Puryear, & Shah, 2007; Laurindo & Moraes, 2006). Besides, it must be highlighted that if IT applications are associated with changes in business processes, it is possible to notice greater impacts in business performance (Farrell, 2003). According to Benko and McFarlan (2003), three aspects must be taken into account about IT strategic alignment: IT projects portfolio, business objectives, and the constantly changing situation of business environment. Thus, the comparison and evaluation of business and IT strategies and between business and IT structures must be a continuous process, since the company situation is constantly changing to meet market realities and dynamics.

Information Technology Business Continuity

2011 ◽  
pp. 2010-2015
Author(s):  
Vincenzo Morabito ◽  
Gianluigi Viscusi
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Information Systems ◽  
Strategic Management ◽  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
It Management ◽  
Business Continuity ◽  
Data Quality Management ◽  
Time To Market ◽  
Strategic Value

Continuity could be and should be strategic for the business competitive advantage. Besides natural disaster, from blackout to tsunami, businesses face in daily activities critical challenges in IT management for assuring business continuity; for example, business continuity management results must be strategic, because of the infrastructural, organizational, and information systems changes that are required to assure compliance with regulatory norms (see, e.g., the impact of Basel II norms in financial sector), or must have and maintain a time-to-market advantage (disasters can facilitate competitors in a first mover perspective). Nevertheless, business continuity is at present often synonymous with risk management at the IT level, disaster recovery at the hardware level, or in the best case?at the data management level?with data quality management. These perspectives fail to unveil the strategic value of IT business continuity as a framework assuring alignment of strategy, organization, and systems, allowing a competitive advantage in a dynamic competitive environment. Moreover, even when business continuity, under these perspectives, has become one of the most important issues in IT management, there still appears to be some discrepancy as to the formal definitions of what precisely constitutes a disaster, and there are difficulties in assessing the size of claims in the crises and disaster areas. Taking these issues into account, we propose: (a) an analysis of the different facets of the concept of business continuity, and (b) an integrated framework for strategic management of IT business continuity. To these ends, we move from the finance sector?a sector in which the development of information technology (IT) and information systems (IS) have had a key impact upon competitiveness. Indeed, banking industry IT and IS are considered “production,” not “support” technologies. The evolution of IT and IS has challenged the traditional ways of conducting business within the finance sector. These changes have largely represented improvements to business processes and efficiency but are not without their flaws, in as much as business disruption can occur due to IT and IS sources. The greater complexity of new IT and IS operating environments requires that organizations continually reassess how best they may face changes and exploit these later for organizational advantage. As such, IT and IS have supported massive changes in the ways in which business is conducted with consumers at the retail level. Innovations in direct banking would have been unthinkable without appropriate IS, and merger and acquisition (M&A) initiatives represent the ideal domain to show what value can lead strategic management of IT business continuity. Taking these issues into account, we point out the relevance of continuity for maintaining customers, and time-to-market in complex and evolutionary competitive environments. Due the relevance of IT to maintain a valueadded continuity, our contribution aims to clarify the concept of IT business continuity, providing a framework, exploiting the different facets that it encompasses, and showing the strategic implications to the field of IS&T.

The Ultimate Value of Information Technology

2006 ◽  
pp. 180-195
Author(s):  
Robert A. Schultz
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Value Of Information ◽  
Modern Technology ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Ethical Principles ◽  
Human Consciousness ◽  
The World ◽  
Ecosystem Level ◽  
Positive Feature ◽  
The Impact

In order to conclude our discussion of the value of information technology, we need to answer these questions: What characteristics does IT share with modern technology generally? What is its place with respect to the rest of technology and with respect to the rest of the world? The goal of this chapter is to formulate how information technology might interact with ethical principles required at the species level, ecosystem level, and the level of being as a whole. I also want to consider the impact of these ethical principles on our responsibilities as IT professionals. The most positive feature of information technology is its potential to contribute to the increase in human consciousness by making more knowledge more widely available. Yet it can just as easily enable questionable applications of technology that further our extinction as a species or the destruction of the ecosystem. Let us begin by asking of information technology the questions we asked about technology generally: Is information technology a neutral means? Does it have its own ends and point of view?

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