The received wisdom on information technology (IT) chargeback is that a chargeback system with certain key characteristics, such as usage-based charges, stable rates, understandable bills, and so forth, will help firms make effective decisions on IT investment and use. Eccles' model of transfer pricing provides a theoretical framework for this claim, and it also explains why chargeback systems can raise issues of fairness or create conflict between IT and its clients, as the IT literature has pointed out. Applying Eccles' model, this paper reports on a study of 10 organizations' IT chargeback systems and their impacts on business managers' economic decisions and on evaluations of IT and business unit performance. Respondents in just four of the 10 firms reported that chargeback had significantly influenced IT investment decisions. In addition, the business unit respondents at those same four firms offered more positive assessments of IT than their counterparts at other sites. These differences in chargeback-related outcomes could not be accounted for by looking at differences in the chargeback characteristics that are most commonly described in the IT literature. What was different in these four firms was that chargeback was being used to foster communication between IT and the business units. This communication was generating a rich shared understanding for both parties of the costs and benefits of alternative IT investments and service offerings. The literature on partnership argues that complex IT investment decisions demand a strong IT-business partnership. The analysis suggests that IT units in just four of the 10 firms were tapping into the potential of chargeback to facilitate the development of a partnership with their business unit counterparts.
Post-sale maintenance is already an important part of the competitive strategy of some firms and will become increasingly important to many others in the future. Information technology can be a significant factor in leveraging investments in maintenance and in directing a firm's overall approach to the maintenance issue. This paper presents a conceptual framework for understanding, along with a series of examples that illustrate, the role information technology can play in the maintenance process. The framework and examples are intended to serve as a catalyst for identifying applications of information technology to post-sale maintenance.
Many well-known examples of the use of information technology for competitive advantage involve systems that link an organization to suppliers, distribution channels, or customers. In general, these systems use information or processing capabilities in one organization to improve the performance of another or to improve relationships among organizations. Declining costs of capturing and using information have joined with increasing competitive pressures to spur numerous innovations in use of information to create value. This article draws on concepts of competitive advantage and on experience gained from successful innovations to generate classifications and a framework to guide the search for opportunities. The ideas do not constitute a procedure leading inexorably to competitive advantage. However, they have been of value when combined with an appreciation of the competitive dynamics of specific industries and a grasp of the power of information.
This article describes the risks of information systems success achieved in the absence of appropriate regard for the potential impacts. A framework, developed from some general considerations of using technological change for competitive advantage, is proposed as a way of assessing the risks. Finally, some suggestions are made for management policies and procedures to insure that potentially high-risk projects receive the appropriate degree of attention before they are implemented.