Information Technology (IT) is already a vital strategic tool in such service industries as banking and airlines. But in the manufacturing sector, visions of paperless offices, automated plants, and virtual enterprises have failed to materialise. To determine how manufacturers can harness information to gain a competitive advantage, IT experts Rolf-Dieter Kempis and Jurgen Ringbeck headed up a team from McKinsey & Company and researched 70 companies in the United States, Europe and Asia. In DO IT SMART, Kempis and Ringbeck identify four cultures of information technology users and, based on the practices of the most profitable, provide seven rules for developing an effective IT organisation. To perform well, the authors show, managers must make IT a top management issue and a priority in product development. In addition to reducing administrative applications, business should create customer-oriented IT service networks and integrate IT into marketing, sales and cutomer service. DO IT SMART demonstrates step-by-step how to transform organisations into industry leaders, making this required reading for senior managers and information officers who want their business to gain a competitive edge.
