Questions
1. What were your impressions from watching the video?
I can definitely see where Carr is coming from and can agree that some of his statements did make made some sense, but I can honestly say that I disagree on his overall statement that IT doesn't matter. I don't think that a company's competitive advantage is solely based on IT investments and the amount of access people have to that same technology. How managers choose to implement and utilize these technologies is what drives the competitive advantage. If there were no investments on new software or hardware, some companies would be operating through outdated systems, being left behind in the vastly growing age of information technology.
2. Do you agree with Carr's concept that the PC has been commoditized and is no longer a competitive advantage? Why?
Even though PC's in the workplace are more common than they were two decades ago, I still think their uses play a crucial role in almost every business. Technology is constantly advancing, and because of this, they are still a competitive advantage within the industry. Every day, new programs and software products are being developed to accommodate these technological advances. The capabilities of a PC today far outweighs the capabilities of a PC ten years ago. If it weren't for the strive for competitive advantage, we wouldn't have the many of the programs or PC's we have today.
3. Can you find any sources that agree with him?
After doing much research online, I didn't find many sources that completely agreed with Carr; However, I did find that Carr was actually not the first person to bring up this topic. Paul Strassman and Stephen Roach were the two most notable. Paul Strassman, a well known chief corporate information systems executive, has "made a second career not finding the benefits of IT." Stephen Roach, a Morgan Stanley economist, also suggested in the early 1990's, that there were no benefits of increasing investments on information technology (Metcalfe).
References
Metcalfe, R. M. (June 1, 2004). Why I.T. Matters. Retrieved from: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/402800/why-it-matters/
Alex:
What were your impressions from watching the video?
As a viewer the video set a negative tone in relation to the proper utilization of technology with an organization, or business. Although a number of valid points were made in Mr. Carr's arguments, I found his logic to be quite different from mine. The ideal that technology is no longer an advantage is one that I can't agree with Mr. Carr on. The PC has become an interval part of a number of business, and establishments that currently thrive within their realm of services provided to the customer. The PC has innovated both the spend of service provided to the consumer, and the amount of revenue needed to employ staff members.
2) Do you agree with Carr's concept that the PC has been commoditized and is no longer a competitive advantage? Why?
No, I don't agree with Carr's concepts fully, due to the number of small business that still rely on mental capability to run the account aspect of their company. A commoditized society would have a vast majority of businesses small and large that utilize the PC as a basis for the success of their business. As a whole many of the business are that are local community vendors are having a hard time keeping up with the speed of technology, and the advancements of lager scale companies. The implementation of PC and software is still not a cheap addition to a starting or existing company. The vast majority use minimal forms or technology for record keeping and financial data entry.
3) Can you find any sources that agree with him?
Yes, a source that depicted his statement in a manner that was relatable to the objective listener. Simple stated that a commodity is something that becomes so relevant to everyone it becomes a standard, and no longer an advantage. A prime example of a current commodity would be PC usage at home and the use of automobiles in daily life commutes. As a whole a commodity is something that no longer sets one apart from another. This article was about to enlighten me on exactly in what Mr. Carr meant in both his interview and his book. "Modular products are made up of a number of components that share standard interfaces. A personal computer is a good example: it is made up of a hard drive, a motherboard, memory, a microprocessor, and various other bits and pieces, all of which share standardized interfaces" (Howard, 2011) .
Reference:
Howard (2011) Rethinking strategy to escape commoditization, IMD, retrieved October 27, from http://www.imd.org/research/challenges/TC078-11.cfm
Bigricker12
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