Information Technology and the Corporation of the 1990s : Research Studies

One of the most pathbreaking and influential business books of the 1990s is The Corporation of the 1990s by Michael Scott Morton. Its expert view of how information technology would influence organizations and their ability to survive and prosper in the 1990s has become the benchmark of thinking about information technology. Now, in a supporting companion volume, Information Technology and the Corporation of the 1990s makes available the research on which The Corporation of the 1990s was based. The research was conducted at the Sloan School of Management at MIT by the Management in the 1990s program. The program was funded by a group of 12 industrial and government sponsors from the United States and Britain which included American Express, Digital Equipment Corporation, Eastman Kodak, British Petroleum, MCI Communications, General Motors, U.S. Army, ICL Ltd., Internal Revenue Service, Ernst & Young, BellSouth, and CIGNA Corporation. Information Technology and the Corporation of the 1990s aims to disseminate ideas on how organizations can manage the impact of information technology, and also to raise issues and stimulate further thought by both academics and professionals. The book is divided into three sections which cover the information technology revolution, strategic options, and organization and management responses. It incorporates the work of many important scholars including Charles Jonscher, Michael J. Piore, Thomas W. Malone. JoAnne Yates, Robert I. Benjamin, Gary W. Loveman, Eric von Hippel, Edgar H. Schein, Stanley M. Besen, Garth Saloner, N. Venkatraman, Akbar Zaheer, John C. Henderson, Jay C. Cooprider, Kevin Crowston, Jeongsuk Koh, Gordon Walker, Laura Poppo, John S. Carroll, Constance Perin, Brian T. Pentland, John Chalykoff, Lotte Bailyn, D. Eleanor Westney, Sumantra Ghoshal, John D.C. Little, Thomas J. Allen, Oscar Hauptman, Lisa M. Lynch, Paul Osterman, Thomas A. Kochan, and John Paul MacDuffie. An Economic Study Of The Information Technology Revolution / Charles Jonscher -- Corporate Reform In American Manufacturing And The Challenge To Economic Theory / Michael J. Piore -- Electronic Markets And Electronic Hierarchies / Thomas W. Malone, Joanne Yates, And Robert I. Benjamin -- An Asserssment Of The Productivity Impact Of Information Technologies / Gary W. Loveman -- Determining User Needs For Novel Information-based Products And Services / Eric Von Hippel -- Innovative Cultures And Organizations / Edgar H. Schein -- Compatibility Standards And The Market For Telecommunications Services / Stanley M. Besen And Garth Saloner -- Electronic Integration And Strategic Advantage : A Quasi-experimental Study In The Insurance Industry / N. Venkatraman And Akbar Zaheer -- Strategic Alignment : A Model For Organizational Transformation Via Information Technology / John C. Henderson And N. Venkatraman. Dimensions Of Is Planning And Design Aids : A Functional Model Of Case Technology / John C. Henderson And Jay C. Cooprider -- Information Technology And Work Organization / Kevin Crowston And Thomas W. Malone -- Joint Venture Formations And Stock Market Reactions : An Assessment In The Information Technology Sector / Jeongsuk Koh And V. Venkatraman -- Profit Centers, Single-source Suppliers, And Transaction Costs / Gordon Walker And Laura Poppo -- The Role Of The Ceo In The Management Of Change : The Case Of Information Technology / Edgar H. Schein -- How Expectations About Microcomputers Influence Their Organizational Consequences / John S. Carroll And Constance Perin -- End User Computing In The Internal Revenue Service / Brian T. Pentland -- Computer-aided Monitoring : Its Influence On Employee Job Satisfaction And Turnover / John Chalykoff And Thomas A. Kochan -- Toward A Perfect Work Place? : The Experience Of Home-based Systems Developers / Lotte Bailyn. Building A Competitor Intelligence Organization : Adding Value In An Information Function / D. Eleanor Westney And Sumantra Ghoshal -- Information Technology In Marketing / John D. Little -- The Influence Of Communication Technologies On Organizattional Structure : A Conceptional Model For Future Research / Thomas J. Allen And Oscar Hauptman -- Technological Innovation And Employment In Telecommunications / Lisa M. Lynch And Paul Osterman -- Employment Security At Dec : Sustaining Values Amid Environmental Change / Thomas A. Kochan, John Paul Macduffie, And Paul Osterman. Edited By Thomas J. Allen, Michael S. Scott Morton. Intended To Accompany And Support Its Companion, The Corporation Of The 1990s--pref. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. This volume is a report on research, the chapters produced as part of the five-year Management in the 1990s Program at MITs Sloan School of Management. Funded by a group of 12 industrial and governmental sponsors from the United States and Britain, the program and this book is intended to accompany and support its companion, "The Corporation of the 1990s." To remain competitive in the 1990s, management will have to be innovative, develop new products and services, and respond to rapidly changing markets. Innovation is a response to changes in the market and in technology. As the market changes, firms are driven to innovate with new products and services, frequently seeking out new technology to accomplish this. Rapidly changing technology creates both new opportunities and changes in market structure. Markets are changing rapidly, while the rate of change in information technology is estimated at 20-30% per year. Information technology is now ubiquitous--integral to internal business processes, product design, delivery of services, interorganizational relations--shrinking the effects of time, distance, and altering the very nature of work. This book is intended to directly disseminate the ideas generated, to help organizations manage the impact of information technology and rapid change in markets, and most importantly, to stimulate further thought by both academics and managers This volume contains research studies that were conducted during a project at the Sloan School of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA. The contributors focused on three areas: the information technology revolution, strategic options and the organization and management response.