FREE online courses on Information Technology - Chapter 5 MANAGING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY - Concentrate on Inter-organizational Linkages

 

In the previous chapter discussed the trend toward interorganizational systems the firm creating linkages with suppliers and customers. This strategy can be extremely effective internationally as well. It can be very difficult to set up these linkages because of differing telecommunications capabilities in different countries. In some regions phone systems do not work well and transmitting data over them is probably not viable. Other contras, like France, have an extremely well-developed infrastructure for business communication. There are problems managing IT development projects when all participants are from the same country and work in the same location. Coordinating multinational project teams presents an even greater challenge. Language and distance make it difficult to coordinate. A New York bank has a development team with members in New York, Lexington, Massachusetts and Ireland! In some foreign countries, hiring staff with the appropriate skills to work on technology can be difficult. Interviews with IT managers for multinationals in seven countries found dramatic differences in their accomplishments and their capabilities. Lack of personnel skills can be a major impediment to developing international systems; not all countries have educational programs to prepare individuals for systems analysis or programming jobs.