Critique of Strategic Thinking for Information Technology - Essay Example

27 August 2007 Strategic Thinking for Information Technology: A Critique The second chapter of the bookentitled strategy by Bernard Boar illustrates the concept of strategy and its application to the current information age (Boar 115). Considering the enlightening discussion set about by Boar in this chapter, this critique will examine the main concepts he presented and relate this to the concepts laid out by Thomson and Strickland who discussed the general concept of strategic management. Boar begins his discussion through review of strategy and its application in the business world.

He asserts that “strategy is a discipline that requires study and preparation” as well as “a discipline that enables one to develop deep and far reaching conclusions about the information age and IT fighting.” Strategy is seen as an essential factor in the success of a business organization especially in an IT company where alignment is highly required. He also stressed that alignment is not a point-in-time concept and that IT must change in response to the changes that the organization faces.

The chapter also presents the scenario of the information age where bits become source of value and where IT intensifies rivalry among industry players. In response to this, the traditional sustainable advantage is replaced with throwaway temporary advantage. Boar stresses that in order to keep up with the current competition, business organizations need not capitalize on long-term capacities but on short term competitive advantage. The main idea is to keep up with the competition by manoeuvring across time.

An important point that Boar discuss is the importance of having a strategy in order to propel a business organization to its expected end (Boar 62-63). The author furthers his point by stating that business organizations can strategically position themselves by acquiring advantages both competitive and sustainable. In the end, his emphasis is on acquiring temporary competitive advantage that building on long-term sustainable advantage. This point is in direct contrast with what is taught by strategic management theorists Thomson and Strickland.

In their book entitled Strategic Management, these thinkers recognize the importance of turning competitive advantage into sustainable advantage. They argue that business organizations should focus on the long-run and thus, find ways to sustain the competitive advantage that they have. The ideas presented by Boar contrasts that of Thomson and Strickland. While Boar favors competitive advantage, Thomson and Strickland are advocating sustainable advantage. These differences can be explained by the nature of the business organization that these authors are discussing While Boar focus on IT companies where technological advancement is rapid and the external environment is more volatile, Thomson and Strickland are referring to typical business organizations.

Works CitedBoar, Bernard H. “Strategic Thinking for Information Technology.” 1997. John Wiley and Sons: USThomson, Arthur & A. J. Strickland. “Strategic Management: Concepts and Cases.” 2005. Irwin McGraw-Hill: US