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Improvement Project of Science Construction CS

Abstract Science Construction’s business is in planning, developing and building road projects. The major of its clients are municipalities, city governments, and other public sector entities. While the bankruptcy rates for these clients is very low, when economic downturns happen, their ability to pay in a timely fashion also suffers. This leads to businesses such as Science Construction needing to take on additional debt and to find creative methods in order to stay afloat during times of recession. Methods such as selling accounts receivables at discounted rates and taking larger lines of credit through banks and other lending institutions are some of the ways organizations can remain viable when their cash inflows have turned into a trickle. Science Construction is asking the Turkish Courts to postpone their bankruptcy proceedings for a year while they attempt to restructure. Through this, suggestions such as forcing shareholders to pay their debt to the organization, gaining credi...
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How does information systems provide competitive advantage to organizations?


The Resource-Based View (RBV) is a theory developed by Wernerfelt in 1984 that analyzes and interprets a firm’s internal resources, its capabilities in formulating and implementing unique value-creating strategies through  increased knowledge, increased motivation, increased engagement which are not currently or would not be potentially in use by competitors to improve business performance and achieve sustainable competitive advantages (Pankaj, 2010).  Some of these resources are the firm’s assets, efficient organizational procedures, processes, attributes, culture, information, or knowledge controlled by the firm, brand names, technological abilities, human resources (Barney, 1991).


What makes the firm achieve sustainable advantage is the fact that its resources cannot be easily transferred or purchased, are immobile, require an extended learning curve or a significant change in the organization climate and culture. The resources are costly in terms of developing or using it. Because of these advantages, firms outperform competitors by adding value in customer value chain, developing new products, expanding in new marketplace, making their goods or services superior to all of a customer’s other choices through providing reasonable or more excellent value either by means of lower prices or by providing more significant benefits and service that justifies higher rates (Kimberly, 2018).  

To create a competitive advantage, these resources have to be valuable, rare, inimitable, and non-substitutable (Vincent, 2011). Resources are useful if they, for example, improve the efficiency of an organization. The exclusivity of a supply that is not easy to copy for competitors represents the basis for a (sustained) competitive advantage. If a resource is non-substitutable due to its uniqueness, it is hard for competitors to create alternative solutions to work their way around it. The non-substitutability of a resource is often secured by patent law (Vincent, 2011).


Information Systems (IS) play an essential role in achieving a sustainable competitive advantage. As we saw from the Zara and Netflix case study, a significant part of their sustainable competitive advantage came mainly from their information systems. Information technology helped in many aspects; sales, marketing, inventory and above all customer services. IS is involved in the product life cycle; pre-production, production or post-production phases. To sum up, IS makes it possible for businesses to lower costs,  increase proficiency and efficiency, innovate, focus on creating new business models as well as developing and improving their products and services.
Briefly comment on Carr’s ‘It Doesn’t Matter’ argument, offer your thoughts.
Carr’s argument is very interesting !. He claims that developing information technology is risky and consumes many resources. The value is significant, but it diminishes relatively quick compared to traditional competitive advantages. Competitors can copy the new technology with fewer resources and do not risk themselves into failure (Carr, 2003). Although Carr’s “IT Doesn’t Matter” argument is provocatively aimed at the IT industry and represents a slightly biased and simplistic view. At its heart, however, it contains some valid cases that managers should consider before making an IT investment. Carr’s statement is based on tangible benefit. However, there is something leading many firms to invest in IT projects. These benefits are outweighing the risks and costs. The roles of information systems in a firm’s competitive advantage are enormous. Therefore, if companies continue to seek business innovations, they would need to make use of information technology in their quest. The world is becoming digital. There is no way to escape this fact!


References


Barney, J. B. (1991). Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management, 17(1), 99-120. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/014920639101700108
Bednarz, A. (2013). Nick Carr’s It doesn’t Matter still Matters. Retrieved from https://www.networkworld.com/article/2166249/cloud-computing/nick-carr-s--it-doesn-t-matter--still-matters.html
Carr, N.G. (2003). IT doesn’t matter. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2003/05/it-doesnt-matter
Kimberly, A. (2018). What Is Competitive Advantage? Three Strategies That Work. Retrieved from https://www.thebalance.com/what-is-competitive-advantage-3-strategies-that-work-3305828
Pankaj, M. M. (2010). Resource Based View (RBV) of Competitive Advantage: An Overview. Retrieved from https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1578704
Vincent, B. (2011). Barney’s Resource-Based View Model[Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Q_m5hZ35eg

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