Purpose – The purpose of this paper is two‐fold: first, it sets out to suggest that when a new ERP system or an upgrade is considered it may be best to begin with a formal analysis of the market leader's IT strategy. This study must address how they use information across the extended...

Important new tools are now available to planning professionals and their information systems support staff. These new tools create both opportunities and hazards—including the hazard of overlooking an opportunity for competitive advantage. The problem is that, while changes in price and...

An important part of any strategic competitive analysis has always been access to timely and relevant data that can be pruned into useful information. Some new and still rapidly evolving technology is lowering the cost and simplifying access to huge data banks. This technology is already having...

This thorough field research report and reference guide by Bruce Rubinger of Global Competitiveness Council, One Devonshire Place, Boston, MA 02109, is an excellent resource. Based on interviews and Japanese language source information from over 100 firms, research institutes, and faculty...

Competitive advantage is often determined by the effectiveness of an organization's supply chain, and as a result, the evaluation and selection of suppliers has become an increasingly important management activity. But the evaluation process is complex. The data that must be considered are both...

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to build a framework for thinking about radical program redesign as a broad, forward‐looking, sustainable institutional change process rather than a traditionally narrow, periodic “project” aimed primarily at comparisons with past performance. The...

The development of information systems is no longer limited to a few locations throughout the world. They are developed in countries whose business environment and culture are very different. Culture, we suggest, is therefore an important variable in the development process and may introduce its...

When multinational organizations operate across borders they must solve a host of problems relating to culture, currencies, language, customs and laws. In addition to these local variables, organizations are under increasing pressure to integrate or coordinate operations. This study explores the...

Suggests that the development and use of an expert consulting system is vulnerable to biases in the subject‐matter expert, knowledge‐engineer, validators, maintainers and end‐users. An expert system, developed at a large insurance company, is used to study these biases. An economic model...