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  • August 1995
  • Background Note
  • HBS Case Collection

Managing in an Information Age: IT Challenges and Opportunities

By: Lynda M. Applegate
  • Format:Print
  • | Pages:19
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Abstract

The co-evolution of technology, work, and the workforce over the past 30 years has dramatically influenced our concept of organizations and the industries within which they compete. No longer simply a tool to support "back-office" transactions, IT has become a strategic part of most businesses, enabling the redefinition of markets and industries and the strategies and designs of firms competing within them. But to achieve these information age benefits, companies must adopt information age technology architectures. Organizations must radically transform outdated IT architectures and the IT organizations required to support them. The technological transformation is every bit as daunting as the organizational transformation. This note, along with Designing and Managing the Information Age IT Architecture, describes general frameworks and concepts that managers can use to analyze their existing IT architecture and to define and manage the IT architecture required to support the information processing requirements of the Information Age organization.

Keywords

Information Technology; Information Management; Restructuring; Technological Innovation; Corporate Strategy; Organizational Design; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Information Technology Industry

Citation

Applegate, Lynda M. "Managing in an Information Age: IT Challenges and Opportunities." Harvard Business School Background Note 196-004, August 1995.
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About The Author

Lynda M. Applegate

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  • Wilburn Medical USA By: David Ager, Lynda M. Applegate and James Barnett
  • AEEC: Building Ecosystem Partnerships for Digital Transformation By: Lynda M. Applegate and James Short
  • Communities In Schools (Atlanta): Innovating a College Program By: V. Kasturi Rangan, Lynda M. Applegate and Alexis Lefort
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