Streamlining: Using New Technologies and the Internet to Transform Performance

Clearly it's a skeptical world out there these days when it comes to the over-promises of information technology. But this book argues that the latest Internet and other communications and data-processing technologies can help your organization meet the less-is-more challenge dictated by the current economy. Streamlining attempts to debunk the Internet debunkers and looks at companies such as Dell, Oracle, Siemens, and BP that have successfully leveraged technology to improve operations and bottom lines. One example: De Kare-Silver shows how auto insurer Progressive Insurance employed 1-800 numbers, wireless PCs, and an electronic data warehouse to authorize checks to customers minutes after an accident, service that dramatically improved the company's market share. Chapters cover the streamlining of the supply chain, knowledge management, procurement, and customer relationship management.