Because IT is so vital for business success in the modern world, the last thing executives, leaders and administrators should do is ignore it. However, dealing with IT issues can be overwhelming, to say the least. Here are four questions leaders should ask about IT planning at their organizations, as detailed in a Wall Street Journal article from MIT Sloan Center for Information Systems Research's Director Jeanne Ross and Chairman Peter Weill.
1. Is the proposed technology transforming business, or is it simply making existing processes more involved? How to use IT strategically and what the strategic implications will be for existing processes are important related considerations.
2. Are you ignoring important business differences in process standardization? While IT can make some processes easier, be sure that IT implementation does not eliminate potentially important differences in procedures within the company.
3. Who is responsible for digital strategy? Local managers alone don't have access to the entire picture. Leaders should assign someone to integrate IT information from all units of a business.
4. Is electronic data empowering or trapping your employees? While data can be used both to empower front-line employees and to centralize decisions and monitor employee performance, the former has been shown to be more effective, according to the article's authors.
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1. Is the proposed technology transforming business, or is it simply making existing processes more involved? How to use IT strategically and what the strategic implications will be for existing processes are important related considerations.
2. Are you ignoring important business differences in process standardization? While IT can make some processes easier, be sure that IT implementation does not eliminate potentially important differences in procedures within the company.
3. Who is responsible for digital strategy? Local managers alone don't have access to the entire picture. Leaders should assign someone to integrate IT information from all units of a business.
4. Is electronic data empowering or trapping your employees? While data can be used both to empower front-line employees and to centralize decisions and monitor employee performance, the former has been shown to be more effective, according to the article's authors.
More Articles on Turnarounds:
3 Strategies for Best Productivity
Patient Access to Online Medical Records: 5 Advantages for ASCs
3 Market Share Lessons From Crumbs Bake Shop's Demise