Competitive strategy and information systems

Putting into place a sound economic footing for technology strategies has gained new interest and importance after a spate of dot dotcom failures and a downturn in spending in information technology. Management science is replacing trial and error in evaluating technology initiatives. A number of prominent researchers from around the world have come together in this mini-track to critically examine business models, assess the apparent value of information technology investments, and provide strategies for evolving models to survive in the competitive marketplace for capital and customers. Under what conditions do investments in information technology payoff? This is the question addressed by the first paper in the mini-track. Using an extended data sample and a panel of experts to rate the use of IT in firms, Richardson and Zmud examined stock price reactions to IT investment announcements. Multivariate analysis reveals that firms that use IT to transform or informate business strategy development. These effects are shown through get a statistically significant and positive stock price reactions, as reported in the article. The information goods industry has been most transformed by developments in e-commerce. Digitization and digital communication have transformed the way many intellectual property based property-based goods are created and distributed. Traditional channels are increasingly in the danger of being disintermediated. Clemons, Gu and Lang combine the theories of resource-based based competitive advantage and that of newly vulnerable markets to create a framework to determine which markets are ripe for attack