Title: Information systems: Obstacle or lever for change?

Authors: Roger Chaddock

Addresses: SRI International, UK

Abstract: Responsiveness to competition and to opportunities for new products and markets is galvanising previously stable businesses. One source of this volatility is the increasing application of information and its systems, in innovative ways that demolish old practices and transform organisations. Information systems are increasingly a more crucial resource in the affairs of organisations. Not all organisations have the ability to respond to this stimulus. There is a variety of barriers erected which conspire to thwart exploitation of information and its technology. These are obstacles that present a challenge to managers, the nature of which needs to be identified before they can be overcome. Ways in which information can be mobilised to stimulate a business are explored, and some key questions for every organisation are identified in this paper. There are no panaceas, but some clues are available to aid a concerted search. The paper concludes with a perspective of the future role of information and, through some crucial questions, suggests the decisions that every manager can use to unlock the potential for information as a key resource.

Keywords: commercial applications; economics; future trends; information systems; technology management; information technology.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCAT.1989.062689

International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology, 1989 Vol.2 No.4, pp.259 - 265

Published online: 11 Jun 2014 *

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