Ebook: Competitive Information in Small Businesses

This book is about using information in small businesses to compete; it is about strategy and information systems. It examines problems that these businesses face and suggests some solutions. It looks at how strategie planning takes place and how information systems should be designed and developed in line with strategy, from a business rather than a purely technical point ofview. The main contribution made is proposing an approach to crafting strategy, designing new business processes and information systems planning that could realistically be used by the average small business, that is one without great knowledge of strategy or information systems, and one that cannot afford to buy in this knowledge. The approach differs from others suggested in the literature in that it emphasises the important role of creativity in the process of creating strategy and in information system design and illustrates where this creativity may come from, it emphasises the importance of getting staff involved and it attempts to lessen the communication problems that exists between business people and information system developers, something that historically has caused problems.

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This volume is about strategy and information systems, examining the relationship between these topics and the problems that small businesses face. It suggests some solutions, principally an approach to crafting strategy, developing new processes and designing information systems to support these processes that could realistically be used by the average small business, i.e. one with limited resources of time, money and knowledge. Emphasis is placed on the crucial role of creativity in the process of strategy and information system design, the importance of getting staff involved in these activities, and the vital issue of communication between strategists, software users, and information system developers, historically an area that has caused problems. This book treats those areas and shows how improvement can be achieved.

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This volume is about strategy and information systems, examining the relationship between these topics and the problems that small businesses face. It suggests some solutions, principally an approach to crafting strategy, developing new processes and designing information systems to support these processes that could realistically be used by the average small business, i.e. one with limited resources of time, money and knowledge. Emphasis is placed on the crucial role of creativity in the process of strategy and information system design, the importance of getting staff involved in these activities, and the vital issue of communication between strategists, software users, and information system developers, historically an area that has caused problems. This book treats those areas and shows how improvement can be achieved.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xiii
The Importance of Being Small....Pages 1-7
Strategic Planning....Pages 9-31
Strategic Information Systems....Pages 33-46
Business Process Modelling....Pages 47-67
Use Cases....Pages 69-77
Creativity....Pages 79-92
Strategy and IS Planning in Small Businesses....Pages 93-104
Evaluation....Pages 105-116
Afterword....Pages 117-117
Back Matter....Pages 119-180

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This volume is about strategy and information systems, examining the relationship between these topics and the problems that small businesses face. It suggests some solutions, principally an approach to crafting strategy, developing new processes and designing information systems to support these processes that could realistically be used by the average small business, i.e. one with limited resources of time, money and knowledge. Emphasis is placed on the crucial role of creativity in the process of strategy and information system design, the importance of getting staff involved in these activities, and the vital issue of communication between strategists, software users, and information system developers, historically an area that has caused problems. This book treats those areas and shows how improvement can be achieved.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xiii
The Importance of Being Small....Pages 1-7
Strategic Planning....Pages 9-31
Strategic Information Systems....Pages 33-46
Business Process Modelling....Pages 47-67
Use Cases....Pages 69-77
Creativity....Pages 79-92
Strategy and IS Planning in Small Businesses....Pages 93-104
Evaluation....Pages 105-116
Afterword....Pages 117-117
Back Matter....Pages 119-180
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