Discuss this question Information Syaytems can enable a comp

Discuss this question..

Information Syaytems can enable a competitive advantage, but for how long can industry leaders sustain this?

Solution

As already stated, Information systems can bring competitive advantage on table for a firm. This is beacuse, using IT, in an innovative manner, can substantially reduce costs on one hand and increase efficiencies on the other hand.

But this advantage cannot be sustained forever. It cannot be sustained even in the long term. The reason is simple. Other firms will try and duplicate the Information systems of the leader firm.

For example, Uber, using information systems in an innovative way, created a platform to bring together cab drivers and people looking to hire cabs. They acted as an aggregator. This IT model became an instant hit and lead to Uber becoming a big company. However, other companies in the business have replicated the IT model as well as the business model. There are several players like Uber offering similar services.

Thus it is very hard to sustain the competitive advantage created by the IT systems over the long run.