Information System For Competitive Advantages

Information Technology (IT) is in line with technological changes that helped businesses to reshape output of products, services and information that are provided to customers to build value to its customers. While, according to Harvard Business Review (1985), it is stated that information can provide a competitive advantage by giving companies new ways to outperform their competitors and spawns new businesses, often from within the company's existing operations.

            Furthermore, human resource operations is considered as a benefits of HRIS, Ngai & Wat (2004). Besides that, there are five competitive forces which are, rivalry within an existing industry, threats of new entrants,Shin (2001). substitution products, and bargaining power of the customers and suppliers. Whereas, Porter (2001) justifies even there is a change in terms of suppliers, channels, substitutes or even competitors but still the competitive forces determines the profitability.

             Here, i would like to give brief example of the business that are related to those competitive forces which is Al-Ikhsan Sports and Royal Sporting House which is selling sports goods. One thing that i can say is Al-Ikhsan would gain competitive advantage because in terms of prices people tend to choose Al-Ikhsan as a substitutes because on price differences. Other than that, Al-Ikhsan has variety of sports products rather than Royal Sporting House and in terms on suppliers Al-Ikhsan has more choices of sports brand compared to Royal Sporting House which only sell the selected brand items.

         As a result, there are competitive strategies that would help to retain the businesses alive. The strategies are as such, cost leadership, differentiation strategy, innovation strategy, growth strategy and alliance strategy. For instance, alliance strategy in other word merging. Google and Motorola merge to compete with Apple in a telecommunication world. In summary, any business that would attain competitive advantage it is possible to follow on the five competitive strategies.

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References:

1.      Michael E.Porter and Victor E.Millar, How Information Gives You Competitive Advantage, Harvard Business Review, July-August, 1985.

2.      E.W.T. Ngai and F.K.T. Wat (2006). Human Resource Information Systems: A Review and Empirical Analysis. Vol. 35 No.3, pp. 297-314

3.      Namchul Shin (2001). Strategies for Competitive Advantage in Electronic Commerce. Journal of Electronic Commerce Research, Vol. 2, No. 4, pp. 164-171.

4.      Porter, M. (2001). Strategy and the Internet. Harvard Business Review. Pp. 62-78