ICT System Strategy and Management: Innovation Report

This report examines the crucial role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) strategies in fostering product and service innovation within business enterprises. It delves into the significance of IT strategy in achieving competitive advantages, supported by research from journal articles, academic books, and websites. The report elucidates how innovation, particularly technological innovation, drives business growth by enhancing efficiency, attracting customers, and solving complex problems. It showcases examples of Australian companies, such as Woolworths and BHP Billiton, that have successfully integrated technological innovations into their business processes. The report further outlines the basics of IT strategy, including its elements and importance in aligning with business goals, managing resources, and mitigating risks. The report also highlights the impact of IT on product and service innovation, providing examples like BGL Corporate Solutions, Nike, and Alibaba. Finally, the report emphasizes the link between IT strategy and innovation, discussing how companies can leverage technology to gain a competitive edge and achieve organizational objectives.

Individual Research Question
ICT System Strategy and Management
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Abstract
Information and Communication Technology System and Information Technology strategy takes into
account the information technology for the purpose a successful planning of the technology to be invested into the
business. It is important for the business enterprises to make the innovation effective and acceptable and providing
higher value to the customers. The assignment is made particularly on the role of innovation into the business
enterprises and also use of effective and planned IT strategy that can benefit in getting competitive advantage. For
the discussion, the research is particularly made upon the journal articles, academic books and website sources as
the secondary research. The results are helpful in the understanding of the IT strategy for the innovation of the
products and services and also the importance of IT strategy in the success of the innovations being made.

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1. Introduction
ICT strategy system is the plan made by the companies for providing strategic direction in order to ensure
coherently use of resource, process and technology (Numata, et al., 2016). It gives constant assurance to the Chief
Executive that the firm’s technology is appropriately invested. Thus, IT Strategy document is to be reviewed by the
concerned Executive and updated accordingly. This system plays an important role into the organization as it
addresses the opportunities and challenges concerning into the technological advancements. Thus, the companies
make efforts to implement IT strategies for the purpose of effective use of technology (Mithas & Rust, 2016). Thus,
the report discusses the use of product or service innovation into the business enterprises through the use of effective
IT strategy. It clearly identifies the role of information technology for the innovation in the products and services.
Also, the report discusses the implementation of IT strategy for making innovation into the organization. It discusses
the multiple factors that may affect the investment of technology. The major focus of implementing the IT strategy
is to attain the organizational goals by providing value to the stakeholders such as customers, business partners and
employees.
2. Role of Innovation in Business Enterprises
Innovation refers to the creation of new idea or thought that can add value to the business in terms of profitability
and enhanced reputation. Innovation is made in various ways into the business which can help the business to grow.
It can be done either through the introduction of new processes into the organization or making innovations into the
products or services by offering value to the customers and other existing stakeholders (Tidd & Bessant, 2018).
Successful innovation is seen as business strategy which can help the company to get profits in the long-run. The
most crucial aspect of innovation is technological innovation which is the emerging innovation into the business.
This not only increases the efficiency but also helps in attracting maximum customers. Technological or digital
innovation made into the organization helps in the solving of the complex problems and increasing the productivity
through efficient and productive methods (Kogan, et al., 2017). This helps the business to get the competitive edge
through the creatively designed products. Innovation made in the technological aspect bring efficiency into the
operations and also helping into the expansion of the firms through making continuous advancements and alterations
into the technology being used into the company. The following are some of the examples of Australian companies
that have made technological innovations into the business process that makes them digitally forward:
• Woolworths, which is the leading Australian retailing company has introduced WooliesX as the new digital
business to undertake e-commerce and customer service and loyalty. This model is introduced for the purpose of
connecting with more customers and using the digital platform for the purpose of being technologically ahead of
competitors into the retailing industry (Crozeir, 2017). This innovation was made to create amazing shopping
experience for the customers through the availability of diverse products on the digital platform.

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Fig 3
Source: (Pulker, et al., 2018)
• BHP Billiton as a mining company has invested into the rapid technologies for lower emissions. The
company has undertaken innovative techniques to meet the climate goals. The company has strategized their
activities along with the range of technologies that can reduce the emissions. The company has been focusing upon
carbon capture and storage for the purpose of reducing the fugitive emissions into the oil and petroleum assets (BHP
Group, 2018).
3. Basics of IT Strategy
IT Strategy involves the outline or the plan of the technology being successfully implemented. An IT Strategy is
majorly focused towards the attainment of maximum shareholders value for the organization (Dodgson, 2018). The
plan of creating an IT Strategy is majorly focused towards the achievement of creating maximum value and
reducing the risk associated with the technology. Also, it creates a competitive advantage for the beating the
competitors. IT Strategy sets strategic direction for the functions of the company that is related to information
technology. The following are some of the elements of IT Strategy:
• An IT Strategy consists of the blueprint that assists in the overall business strategy that considers the
stakeholder’s value.

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• It precisely consists of the overview of the mission, vision, objectives, core values and using the
approaches of the IT department for accomplishing the goals of the company.
• It also comprises of the budget of the IT project and a detailed outline of the present and potential IT
projects of the company along with the timelines and milestones (Hao & Song, 2016).
• IT Strategy is particularly concerned with the determination of the internal and external factors that provide
an opportunity to analyze the technological requirements of the company in the future.
• The strategies made enable in the prediction of the potential opportunities and the risk that facilitate in the
positioning of the organization.
3.1 Importance
Nowadays, technology is becoming an important part of the business who wants to expand. Also, the
organizations that do not have an IT strategy are clueless and often being directionless. The organizations are
expected to have a comprehensive IT strategy as it has become an important factor for the survival of the
organization in this technology specific world. In order to execute the appropriate the strategy by utilizing the IT
power and harnessing the effectiveness of economies of scale, a company strives for the robust and proactive
strategy that leverages the business process (Martinez-Simarro, et al., 2015). Apart from the proper alignment of the
opportunities and threats, IT strategy provides an opportunity to make use of the resources and technology and
reducing the operational hurdles. Thus, it can be noted that good IT strategy helps in overcoming the competitors
and using the IT strategy for getting sustainable advantage.
Also, there are also key drivers that influence the IT strategy is as above:
• Due to the rapid change into the technology, the companies are highly focused upon changing the way of
business model. If the companies avoid the technological changes, the companies are more likely to lose the
winning into the market.
• As the companies are heading towards the new emerging trends brought up by the introduction of
technological advancements, a company strives to build an IT strategy and the plan of action for using the
investments into the new technology. This means that the level of competition into the market thrives for the
development of IT strategy (Chuang & Lin, 2017).
• Mobility is also one of the key drivers of IT strategy as the employees are more favorable to the companies
who have built an IT strategy or have invested in the technological investments. Rather than the employees may
leave the organizations when they do not find the organizations attractive in terms of revenue or in terms of
recognition.
• Due to the technological advancements, the companies are heading towards the development of web-based
applications for their products and service. Thus, a company makes an IT strategy to expand the market through
digital means and beat the competitors into the market (Parry & Lind, 2016).

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• Further, knowledge management is directly associated with innovation. Therefore, an IT strategy is a pool
of knowledge and that is needed to be managed in such a manner that it leverages the assets of the company and
creating knowledge through fostering innovations which are being made by investing into the new technologies.
4. Role of Information Technology in Product/Service Innovation
Nowadays, business enterprises have been making innovations into their offerings by use of information
technology as a digital component. Therefore, IT has been playing a crucial role in the innovation since decades and
is providing a value to the customers through enhanced designs and development processes. Information
Technology tools are used by the firms to encourage the product development and also higher sales of the firms
(Nambisan, 2013). Also, information technology is used to enhance strategy, structure and processes of the
organizations as the key elements. Due to rapid pace of the technology, the companies have digitalized their services
through we based and mobile based applications to diversify their products through e-commerce platforms and have
created value for their customers and also have satisfied the customers with customer-friendly alternatives.
Apart from this, the companies redefine their resources and products by harnessing the technology and make
improvements in the overall customer experience. Furthermore, the innovations made into the service create
superior experience for the customers meeting their expectations through the development of personalized services
for the customers. Also, the service innovations can be witnessed through self-service checkins into the retailing and
hospitality sectors (Zhang, et al., 2016). Moreover, the following are some of the examples of the companies who
have used information technology into their core business processes by doing innovations into the digital aspect:
• BGL Corporate solutions which is a IT company indulged in the creation of accounting software has
introduced a self-managed super fund (SMSF) as the Artificial Intelligence based software that automatically
receives the transactions and corrects it into the ledger. It has used AI to allocate the transactions and provides the
confidence of 6 million transactions (Financial Review, 2019). Also, the company has used AI for reviewing the
process and through continuous auditing and clients can review their transactions as well thoroughly to determine if
AI has made the correct choice.
• Nike has introduced FitAdapt tech through the Nike Adapt BB basketball shoe. It has created a custom fit
shoe for the athletes along with the power lacing system and also the company has chosen the basketball as the first
sport for Nike Adapt due to the fact that the athletes were the major customers of the company who used sports
shoes (Newcomb, 2019).

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Fig.1.
Source: (Profitworks, 2019)
• Alibaba that has been successful in terms of business and e-commerce, it is now taking the business
towards the ways of Artificial Intelligence where it is redefining the experience of customers the Chinese online
stores (Erickson & Wang, 2017). Apart from this, the company has been earning the trust of their customers through
the satisfaction of preferences of the customers. Further, virtual storefronts and online chatbots for solving the
queries of the customers are the major technological stroke of the company against the competitors.
5. Using IT strategy for Innovation
IT strategy is precisely concerned with the development of plan to be made for the appropriate use of technology
as an innovation. A company strives to make an IT strategy for the success of innovation being made into the
organization. The strategy usually involves the making an analysis of internal and external forces that may have
impact upon the technology being introduced by the company (Salunke, et al., 2019). Hence, IT strategy provides
the way by which the company can use the technology and can get the benefit of technologically advanced business.
It can be noted that there is a link between IT strategy and innovation. Once a company has made innovations and
has planned about the technological ideas to bring into the business, the next thing that the company can do is
initiate the actual plans. Thus, IT strategy provides the ways in which the planned innovative is to be implemented.
It comprises of the facilitation of all the requirements and setting a predefined target for the company that has be
achieved from the existing technology. The following are the examples of some of the companies that have
successfully made innovations their business processes by using an effective IT st

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• Amazon as the fastest growing company has made innovations through Prime Memberships feature
through successful IT strategy and has earned a total 60% of sales on the entire site (Robischon, 2017). The
company has made its place into the most innovative companies list.
• Procter and Gamble has introduced new and innovative products which are ivory soap, tide detergent and
other diversified products under various existing categories (Brown & Anthony, 2011). The company’s
technological advances were due to the Ivorydale Plant.
• Wal-mart has increased their categories of products and made technological advancements by enhancing
the digital channels and online shopping popularity. In the digital transformation, the company has inaugurated
cloud network for the storing of the data and allowing the customers and merchants to do customizations (Afable ,
2019).
Fig 2
Source: (O'Connell, 2019)
• Toyota as an automobile company has made transformations through use of technology and it majorly
combines the business process, technology and design and purpose of the company for creating the best experience

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for the customers (Mainwaring , 20 18). Also, the company has made technological collaborations with the business
partners through ride-sharing applications that makes easier for the people to move.
6. Recommendations
From the above analysis, it can be understood that innovation is crucial for every business enterprise whether it is
technological or non-technological. It can be recommended that being technological ahead of other fellow
companies, a company can adopt innovational techniques for overcoming the competitors and also being attractive
from the customer point of view. Also, the companies should be more focused towards the digitalizing their
products and services through various innovative channels and doing improvements into the services availed to the
customers in order to make excellent experience for the customers and also be technologically ahead of the rival
industries into the market.
Moreover, it is coupled with a good IT strategy that takes the innovation towards the path of success. It can be
recommended that IT strategy should be used by the business enterprises for the purpose of outlining the activities in
the use of innovation. A company should build effective IT strategy that leads the innovation being accepted and
successfully triggered. IT strategy must provide the accurate timelines and the precise gathering of the requirements
for the purpose of making the company more specific towards the innovation. Also, the company’s technological
change or advancement should be linked with the IT strategy in order to avoid any risk and problems associated
with the performance as the IT strategy involves the careful identification of internal and external forces that may
affect the business. IT strategy of the business enterprise is recommended to be coherent and proactive which is
made as per the prior analysis of the current and potential position of the firm.
7. Conclusion
To conclude, it can be said that Information Technology strategy is made into the company that precisely
contains the policies, plans, objectives and the purpose of the use of technology as the innovation into the products
and service. There is huge role of IT strategy as it defines the business process and effective use of innovation into
the business enterprise. Both the terms are highly linked with each other as the innovation needs to be made through
IT strategy that provides sufficient knowledge and resources for using the innovation for products and services into
the business enterprises. The report highlights the role of IT strategy into the product and service innovation into the
business enterprises. In support of this argument, the report has clearly analyzed the importance of innovation into
the business. Thus, it can be said that innovation is crucial for every business whether it is small or medium sized
business and the preparation of IT Strategy has to be implemented for the successful execution of innovation. Also,
the companies that have innovated their products strive for an IT Strategy that helps them in gaining the attention of
large number of customers by the checking the viability of the innovation made.

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