— JE | zk -i — a v ia a oe MM "iMac; ima pati "., SA mr Z — vr da ge da a MB Fl a, U Sd, BRA ika. je 4 ti Lomu z ; nov rr: Maaii Ber MSTI pu m: | Pra 4. i Ča Li ŠI an pa oa xx? i dua. gi ui Mi sago A a Ma V urne MM 1 Ultee 1 Fi Sa m. "us 1 ske kn ee ! č UI " rus ta ! LEA 4-3 UE ai ia A, ko ME, K - ae a, kr x k di a id a si ku HE "oa di - sive failure, bo ši tem is a business risk, the decision to: E:: - build it cannot be taken by an informa - an innovative business thrust was sum- p di "a ie ČE A die zet Ee prm zi je ae A ve | oe rav Kure ib > | ŠO s Mm pie - nee m. | 4 3 BP ped V 4 4 » z uš - t-- A: li nj 4E AR j de! f I toj k le Me m di dsou na i si 5 na? A m ae Mm go ji kas "1 sie ša APPLIED INTELLIGENCE » Developing a Strategic: Vision for Business j In this, the sec. latea JOSE, of factors that, would. 5 One of the dangers of most method- concerned with competition, technology, ond of five col- [| raise the costs of competition. <' "'.% |; ologies used for strategic planning is . suppliers, customers, industry trends ;| umns on strate. With innovation, there should be a ''' that they tend to prevent their users and, in general, factors that facilitate : gic systems, | -i; constant search for innovative ideas—to :. from seeing the strategic-systems oppor- . new, competitive thrusts. Rather than |. James Martin. —- improve products, services, production tunities. The reason is that they are con- use a planning method which excludes discusses the technigues and so on. Innovation may cerned with automating today's corpo- these factors, it is desirable to specifical- business risks of be used offensively to pre-empt competi- rate functions. Strategic-systems vision ly focus on them. In general, it is desir- building strate- tion or defensively to lessen an advan- is concerned with changing the corpo- able strategically to focus on how the gic information tage the competition has. rate functions or building new activities enterprise might be changed, rather Systems. Growth may be geographical expan- in the corporation. .. than to solely examine and model what Strategic sys- ..:: sion, expansion within an existing terri- - Many strategic planning methodolo- exists today. , tems often re-/ % tory; vertical expansion of a product; gies are derived from IBM's Business :.. 'Wiseman observes that the use of HU uičč a corpora-. Mea -line Or sllveruficatlori by BENA new. BNGA Systems re (BSP). Methodologies computers in corporations evolved from tion to do busi. -. -. pr Sonetni nome traditional data-processirig (MIS) sys- zness in arvssž en SN RE S zo EH NRETEGENe ma a AR o Aa EU]. tems to management support systems Varen Moe OM difrerent way. ' 3 ije ze | se A a ua luna € 0) 1] (MSS) and now needs to evolve to stra: — "They are innovative in the sense thal o Pa a tegic information systems (SIS). Tradi- an entrepreneur is innovative. Not all " :..; [tanek A AE RES RD RAI NENA Em ma tional data processing systems processed business innovations succeed, just as not, OM poi AR ai, GA kala, punet i, ša MI predefined transactions to produce all entrepreneurial startups succeed. $:: AE udi dnik PARA. NUNE? ...< 4 me predefined results. They included pay- '. And somte strategic systems have failed. s Leše roll, invoicing, purchasing, inventory Federal Express, for example, reaped " a Nasta control, accounts payable, accounts re- great benefits from the innovations that; se se ceivable and so on. Management-support led to its basic business, but it failed % ij ea systems were designed to satisfy the in- when it attempted to innovate ZapMail. ae Peki formation needs of managers and assist ZapMail was a system for using elec-:;:;:' kšamevsti" in the decision-making process. They tronic transmission combined with the ve Ma provided guery facilities, "what-if" capa- Federal Express computer-controlled de-'% Na: AR ČA bilities, spreadsheets and decision-sup- livery fleet for delivering documents in lesi LE ENE A im port tools. an hour or so. The strategic thrust that sd PE RAJE pa AA V Wiseman says that, many traditional ZapMail represented was a very expenii čar PIRA EI d data-processing veterans resisted the ae emergence of MSS, refusing to admit their existence. Others argued that, they were merely extensions of existing MIS systems. Similarly, many of today's sys- tems planners are ignoring strategic-in- formation systems and concentrating solely on the functions of today's enter- prise. MSS systems were often built by peo- ple who differed culturally from those A a ne a A m | E grč oči b lige) developers learned to observe what was € a s y si If the American Airlines Sabo ozreti. BE Rei A ZRIN - for travel agents had failed, that poniji BE Je S inMa ci have been disastrous for American Air- Mola ČERIN! | lines. American spent $350 million to. ei RAS bi - build the system. It was taking a major k Koči See SE RANA " business risk in the same way a startup- zk : tj ome See Growth - Company takes a business risk. But the sš ERA m EI, Sk MEGA payoff justified the risk handsomely:. ii [ie nI šo RA oo Because a strategic ns zmeraj er JEM A ! me Rabe s: i ga! 4 pr: 3 ze ta H li si k: x. Ja, "k: : ij ui ksi m. Po ' — ni 4 k ude o s lea ič. PURE". £ u alj a jr RRNA z ' ) H S a ni Jera mnm JE tai u : "a h s poši -a, se bi fu. sem J HI sa ole m Ai i He 4 ea ka — si ed: -. e. a s moi z dei Ne ME se an a, V" : MA ; za sce x HM ka, H z na - ir dai Š Tae s, oa se IE RA a mna al be " Lani s testa ph Na, eti ...e aj a K ua V TE saga pa em a oi sode, ler pe ZA da a z JE a s er s af obre beim o kač A ja. tm aw c i vo a mi ee A OE zan Da ŽE F m k pe "EH ni: j ; m "1 4 si ka ul di j d sa polaga 4h . Mo Baku v ee a ka uk, n- m ", Hi ac. ii ; v Ča f. | k a kaš. revi Na ri da ši k, k poe te koj a HA Miš "» MbaNi z viii Pa u [ Ka x t Fi di ne k: mM . h meš si 4 s LJ 4 za ime : Pa zv a - - za ped h dena systems to replace existing proce- dures. MSS developers, on the other hand, had to satisfy information needs of managers and professionals, which sim Rane alone. 'Tne zdeti, > it.o: ZNANA) ke šDetensiv oil ne m ps an information-center environment. : marized in last, week's column. Some of; zo i£ dpi keč strategies dona vision nade competition, Wiseman suggests that strategic-infor- . ira eti these examples represented sweeping sej see hno liers. cus indus nds mation systems should be conceived and changes in the businesses discussed and | tec logy Ded paneli, lomers, - ry ire designed by a different group in a cor- resulted in a new mode of operations; ;'.... KE ie aelora inal ci MNE new, Sompeliline | ihrusts. o... poration than that which designs MIS or for their industry. Most examples of ' PENE PU deddi MSS. Strategic-information systems are strategic systems are less dramatic but SA s hi: š ZE V I not designed by observing existing func- of major importance, to, the Porporatlori s. Mi. -) tions but by inventing new funetions. in guestion. BENA MČ types of o dUcte Growth may be done with different names that are used by They reguire a different type of ereativ- Charles Wiseman, in his book "Strate- x voffensively, or it may be done to protect large consulting or accounting firms are ity and business acumen. People good at gy and Computers," classifies strategic' ai the sales from competing thrusts. «often variants on BSP. The ideas of BSP conceiving SIS differ culturally from thrusts into five categories: differentia- /<' ' In the alliance strategy, a corporation have been taught in various forms in most of the people who design tradition- tion, cost, innovation, growth and alli-. ;: may buy or merge with another Corpo- -thousands of IBM training classes and al MIS or MSS. Once specified, SIS might ance. | gi ' ration or form a strategic partnership in are the basis of various IBM guides on be constructed by the professionals who For each of these, the thrusts can na , order to expand its market, or make its Systems Planning. IBM's BSP manual construct other systems. either offensive or defensive. There is'' | product line more complete or more use- ' states that its objective is "to provide an . Next week, we'l look at strategic ap- thus a matrix of possibilities, as the ac- .;, ful. This, again, may be an offensive: information systems plan that supports . plications of personal computers. B companying figureshows. . . :.., HEE strategy to pre-empt competitlori, or it the business s short- and long-term in- | In the first case of differentiation, a ' ;. may be defensive to lessen an advantage formation needš and is integral with the 'The James Martin Productivity Series, corporation can move to differentiate its ' achieved by the competition. business plan." an tnformation service updated guar- product or services from those of its The technology that. makes new stra- BSP defines "environment" as those terly, 1s available through High Pro- competition. The move to make a prod- , tegic thrusts possible is very different things that lie outside the scope of the ductivity Software Inc., of Marble- uct stand out from its competition is an '' now from when Baron de Reuter or Bar- planning study: the economy, govern: head, Mass. (617) 639-1958. For infor- olfensive strategy. A defensive strategy on de Rothschild used carrier pigeons to ment regulations, labor, consumerism, mation on seminars, please contact (in is designed to improve the product to ,;..: gain a competitive advantage. Today the competition, industry position, industry the United States and Canada) Tech- reduce the differentiation achieved by ... technology keeps changing, constantly trends, suppliers and technology. The nology Transfer Institute, 741 10th St., competing products. opening up new possibilities. Types of BSP manuals instruct planners to ignore Santa Monica, Calif. 90402 (213) 394- As for the cost thrust, there are many ' technology that support an information "these environmental factors when con- 8305. In Europe, contact Savant, 2 types of thrusts to reduce the cost of a PROS are listed in, [oe ,accormpariying ducting the BSP study. New St., Carnforth, Lancs., LA5 9BX product. A company may also manipu-, , chart. ' KA ZNA iak, keto GI Strategic systems vision is very much United Kingdom (0524) 734 505. iii Kose ev nm | 4 V gol ' | br |e laik (. Te il) Vi me | Ga