Assessing the Competitive Worth of Information
Three elements—cost leadership factor, distinctiveness, and innovation—are needed to assess the competitive worth of information. Cost leadership factor is a metric used by an organization to gauge operating expenses. The need to cut business process expenses while also attempting to lower costs incurred by clients or suppliers is a key factor to take into account. Differentiation is the process by which a company develops distinctive features using information technology (Stenzel, 2011). This aids in lowering the competitive advantage a competitor might have due to differentiation. The application of information technology to develop new goods or services is what is meant by innovation, on the other hand (Stenzel, 2011). Alternatively, it can develop niche markets to change the business processes through automation. All these factors apply to all businesses as the endeavor is to ensure that the costs of doing business is low while at the same time ensuring that a business’s products and services are unique to create a competitive advantage.
Social Media and Competitive Advantage
Social media provides a competitive advantage to an organization’s Web strategy as it brings the business and its clientele or customers together in an innovative way. It creates a platform for interaction with customers. A robust web presence is desirable to all company executives as the interaction in this place provides valuable information that can be used to improve the entity’s processes. As the CIO of a company's point of view, use of social media will help in responding to customer requests. Additionally, a social media presence may help in attracting quality staff and resolve problems that may arise. Further, a company with social media presence may market its products online; hence creating a niche for itself or being favored by this established community.
Reference
Stenzel, J. (2011). CIO best practices: Enabling strategic value with information technology. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
