Does IT really help firms gain competitive advantage?
We're all aware of the importance of IT to organisations - but does it actually help 1 firm to gain a competitive advantage over another firm that invests less in IT? I thought you may be interested in the following article that discusses whether or not IT actually makes a competitive difference to firms.
Apparently there are 3 schools of thought on whether IT makes a difference:
School 1 - IT makes no difference to competitiveness - because it is available to all firms in an industry, it brings benefits to all competitors equally.
School 2 - IT neutralises competitive advantage - because firms are increasingly opting to buy software (from companies such as MS!) rather than build themselves, IT in fact has a leveling effect, bringing firms closer together.
School 3 - IT significantly influences competitiveness, separating winners from losers.
To date, most research has been of case study nature.
This Wall Street Journal article, however, that you can access at http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB117735476945179344.html?mod=2_1292.htm_1 is based on research obtained across 61 US industries, examining the IT "intensity" of each industry, and comparing this to the level of competitiveness in that industry.
