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A Discussion of The Next Frontier in IT Strategy -- A McKinsey Survey

From time to time, Prof. Karl Lang at Baruch, invites me to have a discussion with his class on issues related to IT.

Last night the discussion as about the McKinsey report mentioned as the title to this post.  The preparatory note for this discussion can be found here. 

This post is intended to be the start of a threaded discussion with the students (and other interested people) on this subject of IT strategy.

I also want to thank Prof. Lang and the students for an enjoyable and worthwhile evening.  I'm not sure my remarks ever survive good scrutiny by good students.  I come away from this sessions learning more about other views on the matter at hand.  That is good. 

Posted on Friday, September 28, 2007 at 07:28AM by Registered CommenterJames Drogan | Comments4 Comments

Reader Comments (4)

As always, Jim left us with valuable insights based on his own business experience and research and also with some provacative thoughts. How to design effective IT Strategy in uncertain business environments emerged from his guest seminar as a key question for aspiring managers. How should businesses respond to rapid technology change and changes in consumer preferences and behavior?
September 28, 2007 | Unregistered CommenterKarl Lang
This morning I came across a post by Gary Hamel in Harvard Business Online, "What Does the Future of Management Look Like to You?" See http://discussionleader.hbsp.com/hamel/2007/09/what_does_the_future_of_manage.html

The opinions expressed in this piece and its associated comments reflect a lack of consensus on the future characteristics of organization and management. These characteristics are important determinants of strategies for the investment in IT.

This is a matter we did not discuss last Thursday. It bears consideration.

To some extent it bears on Prof. Lang's question. That is, organization and management are a response to consumer preferences and behavior.
September 29, 2007 | Unregistered CommenterJames Drogan
In the class discussion, the issue of getting to know different researches happening in the world was put forth. Recently, I came across a site which gives a comprehensive report for such researches.( www.gartner.com ). It is available to CUNY students for free, though faculty and students have to go through the CUNY protal.
Hope the information is useful.
September 29, 2007 | Unregistered CommenterSeejo Purushothaman
Following on Seejo's comment, you may recall that I held up a copy of Wood, Gordon S. Revolutionary Characters : What Made the Founders Different. New York: Penguin Press, 2006, 978-0-14-311208-2 and remarked that I thought I had solved a lot of problems in one discipline using ideas gained from another discipline.

While Gartner is mostly associated with business and technology, Seejo is, I think, reminding us to look far and wide for ideas that lead to action.

And speaking of action, I would like to draw your attention to '"Systems Thinking" and Me: Never the Twain Shall Meet' from Tom Peter's blog (see http://www.tompeters.com/entries.php?rss=1&note=http://www.tompeters.com/blogs/main/009986.php)

It's a reminder of what really counts and, therefore, how a structure for strategy ought to behave.

September 30, 2007 | Unregistered CommenterJames Drogan

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