The Evolving Roles of Information Systems in Organizations Assignment | Get Paper Help

I need 2 peer reviews of the 2 papers attached.Instruction and examples also attached Peer reviews: Peer review is a part of the peer-to-peer (P2P) learning, which is an educational practice in which students interact with other students to attain educational goals. Each week, you will be assigned to review two classmates’ papers. Who you are assigned to review will change each week and will be posted as an announcement in Blackboard. This peer review model is an important part of the learning process for you and your classmates. Since your classmates come from diverse industries with diverse perspectives and work experience, this is the opportunity for each learner to share knowledge and collaboratively accomplish the learning goals.

In the article, “IT Doesn’t Matter,” Nicholas G. Carr addresses the main concerns of information technology and how over the years it has become a commodity. IT is available and affordable to all, which may cause more risks rather than potential strategic advantages. Carr believes that the key to be successful in any business is to avoid overinvesting in IT. Companies should focus on three main key points: spend less, follow, don’t lead, and focus on risks, not opportunities.

Question 1: Carr’s argument  – In the article Carr focuses on explaining the importance of cutting down costs and the importance of making investments in IT. His argument became clear when he explains that investing in IT helps to control competitiveness between companies and allows IT to become more affordable and accessible to everyone. “No one would dispute that information technology has become the backbone of commerce,” (Carr, 2003). This allows for who industries to benefit instead of allowing one competitor to advance. Carr believes that it is important for companies to manage IT defensively. By doing so, monitoring costs within the company, and avoiding risks. One business that made an IT decision that aligned with Carr’s argument is the Cleveland Metroparks. There are many automated and manual controls in place to prevent against cyber and security attacks. Some manual controls in place are security badge scanning, passwords, and security cameras throughout the location. While some automated controls allow for restrictions within what users are able to access and employees utilize a VPN, which is a Virtual Public Network. This allows them to access the database remotely, which mitigates risk of potential hackers. It is crucial for IT to have strong relations with the HR department, within a company, especially when employees are terminated. IT will restrict access by deactivating their security badge, removing the employee’s business email, and removing an access to the building and accounting system. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there is an increase in cyber attacks due to the phishing emails. The Metroparks IT department is aware of this risk and is taking big precautions to prevent attack on their systems. They have increased security by really focusing on emails coming from outside sources that do not contain the “@clevelandmetroparks.com” email address. These outside source emails are put through a screening process and if any red flags come that are common with phishing emails, IT is notified and resolves these issues immediately. I think Carr’s argument on IT spending is more relevant today with the Covid-19 impact on business because companies are more susceptible to hackers due to the fact that they cut essential employees which allows for more outside threats. There are less people working to ensure the security of the company. The employees that are working in the IT department, many are working remotely and it’s challenging to create a strong defense to outside attacks when people are unable to work together.

Question 2: McAfee and Brynjolfsson argument – According to McAfee and Brynjolfsson, IT needs to stay competitive. They recommend a three-step strategy: deploy, innovate, and propagate. This will allow for shorter sales-cycle times but higher revenues and operating profit. One company that focuses on competitive advantage is Apple. Apple is a brand that everyone knows and is constantly growing. They focus on investing in research and development. Throughout the years, Apple has increased its spending on research. “Apple’s ability to spend so much on research and development – spending that ultimately fuels the development of its product pipeline – is directly related to its financial success. The more revenue and gross profit that a company generates, the more that it can afford to spend on research and development while still delivering robust profitability and profit growth for its stockholders” (Eassa, 2018). Another company that focuses on competitive advantage is Amazon. Amazon’s goal is to offer low prices, a variety of products, and create a convenient shopping atmosphere, compared to its competitors. Amazon focuses on its system design by creating a software code that will help create strong competitive advantages and make it difficult for competitor to match the software. Amazon was innovative and efficient.

Conclusion: It is essential for companies to focus on their IT department. Technology is a crucial component in a business and according to Carr, investing in IT and lowering company spending will ensure success in the company. According to McAfee and Brynjolfsson, a company needs stay competitive in order to be relevant. This will help make the company stronger and create a strategic to create growth.

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References

McAfee, A., & Brynjolfsson, E. (2012). Big Data: The Management Revolution. Harvard Business Review, 1-9

Carr, N., G. (2003). IT Doesn’t Matter. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from: https://hbsp.harvard.edu/download?url=%2Fcourses%2F712773%2Fitems%2FR0305B-PDF-ENG%2Fcontent&metadata=e30%3D

Lohr, S. (2004). Does Nick Carr Matter? Business Books. Retrieved from: https://www.strategy-business.com/article/04213?gko=66f36

Eassa, A. (2018). 2 Advantages Apple has Over the Competition. Retrieved from: https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/07/23/2-advantages-apple-has-over-the-competition.aspx

Mohammed, S. (2018). How Did Amazon Build Its “Sustainable Competitive Advantage”? – The Key Success Factors. Retrieved from: https://medium.com/@shahmm/how-did-amazon-build-its-sustainable-competitive-advantage-88cfee7fe2c8