Competitive Advantage

All over the world, large organizations are recognizing the importance of information. Whereas computers have provided individual companies with the opportunity to gain an edge over their immediate rivals, it is information which is starting to revolutionize the much wider competitive landscape. It is information which will be the single most important battlefield of business as we go into the next century. Whatever sector we are in; whatever markets, whatever products or services, information is starting to change radically the way in which we do business. We could go on; information is changing the basic premises on which we manage all our businesses.
Previously, in the situations of economies of scale, the largest booksellers could afford to make the largest reductions because their sales per square meter were high enough to absorb the reduced margin on the discounted lines. Meanwhile, publishers, to protect their margins, significantly increased the recommended price of books — clearly to the detriment of the book buying consumer.
It would be a sorry state of affairs if it were not for the coincidental appearance of Internet-based booksellers, notably Amazon. Here was a company that was not obeying any of the implicit “rules” of the industry. It had no shops, no sales staff in the traditional sense, but what it did have was a phenomenal range and costs so low that it could easily undercut the discounts offered by even the largest conventional bookshop, even though the number of volumes it processed might be significantly fewer.
Economies of scale count for nothing in this new virtual environment where physical processes are replaced by information. Not surprisingly, other booksellers have had to respond in kind (playing by Amazon’s rules rather than their own), by setting up their own Web-based outlets.
As it was mentioned before, Amazon has a very strong competitive advantage (perfect web platform). In order to continue to be a leader it should focus its attention towards issues of IS-user relationships, processes, and skills. And secondly, a particularly neglected area is that of capabilities, and skills within information systems functions themselves. A focus on key capabilities and skills reflects a resource-based approach to how organizations can survive, pursue stakeholder objectives, and compete. (Currie and Galliers 1999)
Information systems offer various opportunities, they should be perceived as a tool to improve the business and their potential is almost endless.
Their efficiency can be maximized through motivation of IS staff, differentiation, supply and distribution coordination, customers, decision-making, and communication.
Organizations that do not pay much attention to their information system functioning will be bypassed by competitors.
Web presence is crucial for success in the globalized business world, and business processes depend and are supported by information systems.
Information system can be considered a definite competitive advantage and influential mean for business expanding.

References

Betz F. (2001), Executive Strategy: Strategic Management and Information Technology, John Wiley & Sons
Currie W. and Galliers B.,(1999), Rethinking Management Information Systems: An Interdisciplinary Perspective, Oxford University Press,: Oxford. Publication, p.300.
Earl M.,(1998), Information Management: The Organizational Dimension, Oxford University Press
Porter M. (2011, March), Strategy and the internet, Harvard Business Review
Taulli T. (2011, Mar. 30), Amazon Shares: 3 Pros, 3 Cons, The stock looks strong for some time to come