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Technology and innovation

7 September, 2015 - 14:20

One of the main drivers of information systems development is to take advantage of technological innovation to change the way business is done. As an example, take how the emergence of the Internet changed business practices in the late 1990s allowed new businesses to flourish (Amazon.com, Google, and eBay spring immediately to mind) and, to a lesser extent, existing businesses to benefit.

However, for every success, there were many failures. Every innovative venture carries risk, and while many dot- com failures were due to a lack of solid business planning, others failed because they could not master the new technology or tried to use it inappropriately. (Bob Glass’s books refereed to previously is filled with horror stories illustrating these dangers.) The problem is that if the technology is new, there are no successful examples to follow– and by the time these examples show the way, it may be too late, since others, the successful adventurers, may have occupied the space you would like to carve out for yourself. The difficulty, then, is to know how close to the leading edge you want to be: not too close, or you might be bloodied; and not too far behind, or you’ll be left in the dust.

A related problem is that of change saturation. A mantra dear to business authors is “reinventing the organization.” This may be good advice, but an organization cannot keep reinventing itself every day. Your most important stakeholders – customers, employees, even shareholders – may get disoriented and no longer know what to expect, and the organization itself may lose its sense of purpose.