Strategic IS/IT Innovation in Organizations: Case Studies and Analysis

This report critically discusses the strategic application of Information Systems and Information Technology (IS/IT) by organizations to achieve IS/IT-enabled innovation, focusing on information systems rather than mobile apps and social media. It presents four case studies—Amazon, Dell-EMC, Toyota, and General Electric—analyzing their IS/IT implementations, success factors, and lessons learned. The report examines the impact of internal factors (organizational, individual, and management) and external factors (market, industry, social, economic, technological, and political/policy) on the success or failure of IS/IT innovation. It concludes with recommendations and guidelines for organizations seeking to leverage IS/IT for innovation, supported by at least ten academic references. Desklib provides this solved assignment and other resources for students.

Running head: MANAGEMENT OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS
MANAGEMENT OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS
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Executive summary:
Innovations in the field of information systems play an important role in the organization
behavior as well as other overall growth of the economy. It adversely affects the society as well
as the economy in both positive and negative ways. Innovations in information systems help in
automating organizational tasks thereby releasing the work pressure on human work force and at
the same time ensuring accurate results and outputs comparable to human calculations. This
report will study the role of information systems in the recent post for the organizations. Four
companies, which are Amazon, Toyota, General electric as well as Dell-EMC, will be studied in
details in the following report regarding their implementation of information systems within their
business operations and the success factors they had made use of in the past.

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Table of Contents
Introduction:....................................................................................................................................4
Discussion:.......................................................................................................................................4
Use of Information system and information technology in innovation:......................................4
Example 1 – Amazon prime:...................................................................................................4
Success factors:........................................................................................................................5
Lessons learnt..........................................................................................................................6
Recommendations for Amazon:..............................................................................................6
Example 2 – Dell-EMC:..........................................................................................................7
Success factors for Dell-EMC:................................................................................................7
Lessons learnt:.........................................................................................................................8
Recommendations for Dell:.....................................................................................................8
Example 3 – Toyota motors:....................................................................................................8
Success factors for Toyota:....................................................................................................10
Lessons learnt:.......................................................................................................................10
Recommendations for Toyota:..............................................................................................10
Example 4 - IT innovation in General electric:.....................................................................11
Success factors for General electric:......................................................................................11
Lessons learnt:.......................................................................................................................12

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Recommendations for General electric:................................................................................12
Internal analysis of information system/information technology innovations:.........................13
Organizational internal factors:.............................................................................................13
Individual factors:..................................................................................................................13
Management factors:.............................................................................................................13
External analysis of information system/information technology innovations:........................13
Factors of the market:............................................................................................................13
Industry factors:.....................................................................................................................13
Factors affecting economy and society:................................................................................14
Technological factors:...........................................................................................................14
Political/policy factors:..........................................................................................................14
Conclusion:....................................................................................................................................15
References:....................................................................................................................................16

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Introduction:
Information systems are implemented by most of the companies in today’s world for the
successful and more efficient implementation of the business operations. The organizations are
coming up with their own innovations in technology as well as business strategies using
information systems in order to compete with its market competitors.
The following report will highlight the different internal as well as external factors such
as market analysis, economic considerations associated with the implementation of information
systems within the organizations will be discussed in details in the following paragraphs. By the
end of the report, the reader will have a clear understanding of the role of information systems
within the organizations and recommendations will be provided regarding development plans for
the organization in the field of information technology and information systems.
Discussion:
Use of Information system and information technology in innovation:
Example 1 – Amazon prime:
Amazon has come up with different kinds of advanced innovations in information
systems for the overall efficiency of its business operations. It has used information systems to
automate processes within the business as well as help managers take better business decisions.
Some of the most important applications of information systems as used by Amazon are
explained below:
- A transaction processing system: Every customer needs to create his own profile in
amazon.com in order to place any order and he can personalize his account using web
tools such as like shopping cart as well as wish list. The one click purchase feature of this

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system also enables the customers to directly place any order without even having to fill
up the order form each time (Luo et al. 2013). The secure debit card/credit card system
included in this innovative information system also ensures that the transactions are
carried out securely.
- A recommendation system and an interactive searching system: Based on the previous
shopping behavior of a particular customer the search engine algorithm will return
recommended products to the customer to improve his surfing and online shopping
experience (Vieru and Rivard 2014). In the process of searching, any particular product
the customer is also often asked for feedbacks and surveys related to the overall
experience and further improvement and maintenance of the website.
Figure 1: Transaction processing system of Amazon (Source: As used by the author)
Success factors:
- A prominent market image: The excellent image that the ecommerce giant Amazon
maintains across the world in terms of the quality of products and after sales service is
one of its major strengths.

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- Excellent structure of cost planning: Amazon has been able to efficiently determine it
areas of investments in field of technology as well as information systems. It ensures it is
always in a process of upgrading its business models as well as internal operations to
ensure that it consistently meets the level of expectations from the customers as well as
the ever-changing needs of the market.
- Innovation in products/services: Amazon has recently come up with its all-new Bluetooth
speakers that supports Alexa, which is capable of controlling home appliances. It can
power on and off home appliances from anywhere (Learn.scu.edu.au, 2018). It has also
come up with its innovative application known as the anytime app that is more user
friendly than the previous mobile application that it had.
Lessons learnt.
- Amazon has only used information systems for its ecommerce operations, whereas other
avenues of growth and better business are also possible using advanced systems and
better business models.
- Amazon does not have proper back up plans for the future in case its market competitors
such as Jabong and eBay come up with better and more attractive technological
innovations.
Recommendations for Amazon:
- Amazon can look forward to opening brick and mortar physical retail stores across the
United Stated first that would make use of advanced information systems as well as
upgraded technologies eliminating the need of use of its online application for users how
would prefer to visit their offline stores (Venkatesh, Brown and Bala 2013). In this way,

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Amazon can also capture the market comprising of people who are not that technology
friendly and still prefer brick and mortar stores in the markets.
Example 2 – Dell-EMC:
Dell-EMC has recently come up with innovations in information technology in the field
of medical healthcare. Advanced technology solutions have been provided by the organization
for EMR optimization, which is capable of performing tasks such as medical imaging, genomics
as well as digital pathology. EMC has made use of the innovations in the information systems as
to build hybrid cloud infrastructures to prepare the healthcare industry for the ever-changing
future. EMC is helping them to build a trusted hybrid cloud infrastructure to prepare for the
future (Laudon and Laudon 2015). It will empower the doctors as well as other healthcare
professionals to drive agility in business as well as becoming the IT services brokers in the
future.
Success factors for Dell-EMC:
- Dell-EMC has recently come up with innovations in its big data analytics tools in which
the capacity to quickly gain the capacity of web scale has been incorporated. This has
been done without any service disruption by core scaling with the cloud architecture.
Need for data migrations has been eliminated using these innovations in the bog data
analytics within the organization causing it to be a success.
- Massive data storage capacity using a centralized repository of big data information
systems.
- In addition, the gaps in organizational data storage techniques have been eliminated.
Newer opportunities have been identified and complex tasks such as

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descriptive/predictive data analytics or even diagnostics have been benefitted using the
innovations in the information systems.
Lessons learnt:
- There are different kinds of issues in the heterogeneous storage area networks within the
connection that still has to be properly addressed by Dell-EMC.
- Dell-EMC should consolidate the servers in order to ensure better and smoother business
operations, which in turn will also be beneficial for the customers.
- Proper support post implementation of dell servers should be provided to the clients as
well as customers (Xu et al. 2014). The company has presently designed no such
information systems and the challenge remains.
Recommendations for Dell:
- Dell must develop innovations in storage technologies in order to enable customers better
optimize technologies and incorporate the storage solutions in a rapid rate. This can help
the company to maximize the uptime of systems in unforeseen production environments.
- Dell must make use of more cost effective and efficient tools in order to overcome the
heterogeneous issues faced in the storage networks as suggested by IDC.
- Dell should also come up with innovations in their information systems in disaster
management in order to ensure that there are no loss of data and normal operations
continue even in unforeseen situations such as system breakdown or natural disasters.
Example 3 – Toyota motors:
Toyota innovations were aimed to respond efficiently to the dynamic external
environment and the changing market needs in the automobile industry. Rapid globalization as
well as innovations in car technologies, as well as in the sales and marketing division of Toyota

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(J.X and Quaddus 2013). Car electronics have seen immense development, by taking the
economy of Japan as well as the rest of the world into consideration.
Toyota has been able to attain such success in office automation and corporate business
applications by coming up with its own CAD/CAM systems in order to generate newer avenues
of business activities and extended them to the different suppliers for better supply-chain
management within the organization. In the period of 1990s to early 2000s, administrative
decisions have been improved from the overall improvement of the information systems in the
management structure (Bharati and Chaudhury 2015). From early 2000s, Toyota started
implementing information systems on a global scale in its famous Toyota production system in
order to standardize all of its business operations as well as systems of application to make more
efficient use of the available resource and information (Chatterjee and Ravichandran 2013).
Changes were also seen in their IT framework such as integrated circuit network systems were
standardized on a global scale and a more advanced systems using TCP/IP model started to be
used in Japan as well as their other branches all across the world (Bell 2013). Systems
development has always been prioritized by Toyota using advanced innovations and techniques
of information systems.

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Figure 2: Toyota assemble plant at Indonesia (Source: As used by the author).
Success factors for Toyota:
- Use of the Toyota production system that ensures that ensures lean manufacturing and
eliminating waste or “muda”. Information systems are so designed that it meets the
human corporate behaviors in order to facilitate managers take better decision about their
productivity (Davies, Dean and Ball 2013).
- Another important success factor for Toyota revolves around its people. Toyota believes
in the principle of Kaizen shows that shows that it expects the employees to be in a
continuous process of self-development. This is attained by information systems as well
as knowledge management systems aimed for training and development purposes within
the organization. This also helps the company to eliminate waste or “muda”.

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Lessons learnt:
- Previously the company had been producing automobiles that did not abide by the “Japan
air pollution control act” and manufactured vehicles that produced large amounts of
carbon monoxide emissions into the atmosphere.
- Employee vandalism due to implementation of newer technologies and innovations,
which were not readily accepted, by many employees and factory workers was another
important challenge for the organization (Hitomi 2017). Often these posed market threats
as well since the changing market needs or even the customers did not accept some of
the company’s innovations in the past.
Recommendations for Toyota:
- Toyota should hire more number of pollution control professionals and make use of more
scientific and advanced techniques such as the Compound Vortex Controlled Combustion
or (CVCC) method using the philosophy of “Toyota total clean system”. Catalytic
methods should also be used in the laboratories to check the emission levels or harmful
gases before actually implementing them in their automobiles.
- The organization should also come up with innovations in the field of training and
development of the employees since employee self-development is one of the key aims of
Toyota (Stow 2014). Often due to employee job dissatisfaction, issues such as vandalism
and improper customer service and lack of interest of factory workers have been seen in
the past within the company.
Example 4 - IT innovation in General electric:
General electric has been able to implement Electronic Recording Machine, Accounting
(ERMA) information systems in the past in order to create an automatic check clearance system