Abstract

There is considerable confusion among academics and practitioners over how (or if) information technology (IT) impacts corporate performance. Some have stated that IT has become a ubiquitous input, like electricity or railroads, which confers little competitive advantage to a company that employs it. Others have argued that IT is crucial, but failed to find systematic correlations between IT spending and business performance. Others still have claimed that IT is important, but based their arguments on a few, pre-selected examples of outstanding companies, like Dell and FedEx, that have long used information technology as a differentiator. The crucial question has still remained open—can a typical company truly benefit from a focus on information technology to differentiate itself from competitors and achieve business objectives?