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Title:
Business Darwinism: Evolve or Dissolve
Review:
The basic thesis of this book is that IT has come to play a central
role in corporate activities, in the same sense that culture plays a
central role in society, and that consequently a new approach is
required which aligns IT and business strategy more closely. The
author, Eric A. Marks, draws on his experience as an IT consultant to
suggest a macro-level business model which should help reposition
businesses successfully in the face of rapid change, and pre-position
them for the future.
Marks maintains that companies must invest more aggressively in IT. He
introduces the concept of Information Mastery as a critical core
capability of any modern organisation: superior strategic use of
information requires a shift from regarding information as a budgetary
expense to regarding it as a core asset. Consequently, new metrics are
needed to relate IT to the bottom line. Case studies - e.g. Dell
Computers - illustrate how this new thinking has proven successful.
The book traces how technology - from the printing press to the
internet - has had a liberating effect on information. Using
analogies with Darwinian evolutionary theory, Marks suggests that
companies' success in surviving and competing in the short term, and
replicating (developing) the business and adapting, in the longer
term, can be measured against the four criteria of revenue, profit,
cash flow and market share.
A potted history of IT in corporations is also provided, and a New Age
- as opposed to an Industrial Age - business evolution framework is
proposed which incorporates Weill and Broadbent's <1> IT investment
categories - infrastructure, transactional, informational and
strategic - and outlines how this can be 'flexed' in response to
business need. The business strategy model used is that of Gary Hamel
<2>.
There is nothing so practical as a good theory, and this book offers a
philosophical starting point to developing an IT strategy in today's
fast-moving, IT-dependent age. You will especially like this book if
you are partial to metaphors: how does 'corporate velociraptors' grab
you? If you are not - or perhaps if you are a creationist - you could
possibly get away with reading the introduction and chapters six,
seven and eight.
If I had a criticism it would be that the book could have sneaked into
its 270 pages of smallish type - and few pictures - some
acknowledgement of the importance of the social context of information
when designing information strategies. Using technology to solve
problems generated by technology, after all, tends to create more
problems if people are not sufficiently taken into account.
Consequently, I would recommend users of this book to also read Brown
and Duguid's entertaining and thought-provoking volume "The Social
Life of Information" <3>. Perhaps Amazon should offer a discount when
you buy both books together.
REFERENCES
<1> Weill, P. and Broadbent, M. Leveraging the new infrastructure.
Harvard Business School Press, 1998
<2> Hamel, G. Leading the Revolution. Harvard Business School Press,
2000
<3> Brown, J.S. and Duguid, P. The Social Life of Information. Harvard
Business School Press, 2000
Free Pint Reviewer:
Dafydd Lewis specialises in competitive intelligence
<http://www.mayoconsulting.com> and minority language marketing
<http://www.triban.net>.
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