Introduction: The Emergence of Information Technology as Strategic Issue

Although information system in some form or another have been around since the beginning of time, information technology (IT) is a relative new comer to the scene. The facilities provided by such technology have had a major impact on individuals, organizations and society. There are few companies that can afford the luxury of ignoring IT and few individuals who would prefer to be without it . . . despite its occasional frustrations and the fears it sometimes invokes.

An organization may regard and IT as a "necessary evil", something that is needed in order to stay in business, while other may see it as a major source of strategic opportunity, seeking proactively to identify how IT-based information systems can help them gain a competitive edge. Regardless of the stance taken, once an organization embarks on an investment of this kind there is little opportunity for turning back.

As IT have become more powerful and relatively cheaper, its use has spread throughout organization as a rapid rate. Different levels in the management hierarchy are now using IT where once its sole domain was at the operational level. The aim now is not only to improve efficiency but also to improve business effectiveness and to manage organizations more strategically. As the managerial tasks become more complex, so the nature of the required Information Systems (IS) changes - from structured, routinized support to ad hoc, unstructured, complex enquiries at the highest level of management.

IT, however, not only has the potential to change the way an organization works but also the very nature of its business (see for example, Galliers and Baets, 1998). Through the use of IT to support the introduction of electronic markets, buying and selling can be carried out in a fraction of time, disrupting the conventional market and distribution channels (Malone et al., 1989; Holland, 1998). Electronic data interchange (EDI) not only speeds up transactions but allows subscribers to be confident in the accuracy of information being received from suppliers and buyers and to reap the benefits of cost reductions through automated recording processes.

On a more strategical level, information may be passed from an organization to its suppliers or customers in order to gain and provide a better service (Cash, 1985). Providing a better service to its customers and its competitors may provide the differentiation required to stay ahead of the competition in the short term. Continual Improvements to the service may enable the organization to gain a longer-term advantage and remain ahead.

The rapid change in IT causes an already uncertain business environment to be even more unpredictable. Organizations' ability to identify the relevant information needed to make important decisions is crucial, since the access to data used to generate information for decision making is no longer restricted by the manual system of the organization.

IT can record, synthesize, analyze and disseminate information quicker than at any other time in history. Data can be collected from different parts of the company and its external environment and brought together to provide relevant, timely, concise and precise information at all levels of the organization to help it become more efficient, effective and competitive.

Information can now be delivered to the right people at the right time, thus enabling well informed decisions to be made. Previously, due to the relevant information-gathering capability of the organizations, decision makers could seldom rely on up-to-date information but instead made important decisions based on past results and their own experience. This n longer needs to be the case. With the right technology in place to collect the necessary data automatically, up-to-date information can be accessed whenever the need arises. This is the information quality of IT about which Zuboff (1988) writes so eloquently.

With the use of IT, as this most things, comes the possibility of abuse. Data integrity and security is the prime importance to ensure validity and privacy of the information being held. Managing the information involves identifying what should be kept, how it should be organized, where it should be held and who should have access to it. The quality of this management will dictate the quality of the decisions being taken and ultimately the organization's survival.

With the growth in the usage of IT to support information provision within organizations, the political nature of information has come into sharper focus. Gatekeeper of information are powerful people; they can decide when and if to convey vital information, and to whom. They are likely to be either highly respected, or despised for the power that they have at their finger tips.

Such gatekeepers have traditionally been middle managers in organizations. their role has been to facilitate the flow of information between higher and lower levels of management. With the introduction of IT such information can now be readily accessed by those who need it (If the right IT structure is in place) at any time.

It is not surprising that there is resistance to the introduction of IT when it has the potential of changing the balance of power within organizations. Unless the loss in power, through the freeing up of information, is substituted by something of equal or more value to the individuals concerned than IT implementations may well be subject to considerable obstruction.

Developments in IT have caused revolutionary changes not only for individual organizations but for society in general. In order to understand the situation we now find ourselves in with respect to IT. it is as well to reflect under their developments. They attempt retrospectively, to identify major transition points in organizations' usage of IT in order to provide a chronicle of events, placing today's developments in historical context. The evaluation of technology it self, the types of application used by organizations, the roles of DP/IS function and the change in method of system development.

Such histories are not merely an academic exercises, they can serve as a foundation for future progress, allowing organizations to avoid past mistakes and to build on their successes.

Article is taken from the book written on Strategic Information Management.

By Robort D. Galliers and Dorothy E. Leidner