Business Strategy - Strategic Implication of IT

IT initially used for administrative automation. ICT (Information and Communications Technology) used for: 

1. Intra-organisational systems,
2. Inter-organisational systems, 
3. Public access networks (Internet), and 
4. Mobile data communications. 

The use of ICTS can have strategic implications for small and large organisations. IT has and will continue to revolutionise management. Following are few contributions of IT:

1. Provides new ways to design organisations and new organisational structures. 
2. Creates new relationships between customers and suppliers who electronically link themselves together. 
3. Presents the opportunity for electronic commerce, which reduces purchasing cycle times, increases the exposure of suppliers to customers and creates greater convenience for buyers.
4. Enables tremendous efficiencies in production and service industries through electronic data interchange to facilitate just-in-time production. 
5. Changes the basis of competition and industry structure, e.g., in the airline and securities industries.
6. Provides :mechanisms through groupware for coordinating work and creating a knowledge base of organisational intelligence. 
7. Makes it possible for the organisation to capture the knowledge of its employees and provide access to it throughout the organisation. 
8. Contributes to the productivity and flexibility of knowledge workers. 
9. Provides the manager with electronic alternatives to face-to-face communica- tions and supervision. 
10. Provides developing countries with opportunities to compete with the industrialised nations.