[FDE] The Impact of Information Technology (IT) on Businesses and their Leaders

[Ali, Saqib]

In his recent Blog post, professor Andrew McAfee of Harvard Business
School, discusses how IT has been viewed by Business Leaders in the
past and how the perception is changing with the advent of Web 2.0:
http://blog.hbs.edu/faculty/amcafee/index.php/faculty_amcafee_v3/is_general_management_being_transformed_by_it/

Excerpt of Blog post:
To this day general managers believe that IT is some combination of
the following:
- Low-level. IT decisions can and should be made at relatively low
levels in the organization. After all, what do senior executives know
about the best router, or the most appropriate computer-aided design
software?
- Able to be delegated. Top managers are busy people, and would love
to have one less thing to do. If there's no real downside to
outsourcing IT decisions, why not do so?
- Impenetrable. Many managers feel like they can't get past the
jargon, and can't learn to 'speak IT.'
-Overhyped. One of the most common complaints I hear is that IT
proponents have an enduring tendency to overpromise and underdeliver.
After managers feel like they've been sold a technology bill of goods
a few times, they stop listening to the sales pitch.

However the landscape is changing with Enterprise 2.0 enabled
applications, as these are intended towards organizational level
rather then single task or process.

Read More at:
http://blog.hbs.edu/faculty/amcafee/index.php/faculty_amcafee_v3/is_general_management_being_transformed_by_it/