Articles

Recent developments in computer software have substantially improved the group brainstorming process. The authors describe research showing that electronic brainstorming groups are more productive than groups that use traditional, oral brainstorming -- and participants like the process more. Electronic brainstorming allows widely dispersed groups to interact, reduces problems associated with oral brainstorming, and improves the productivity of larger groups.

Managers have learned that, to exploit the advantages of new process technologies, they must adapt those technologies to fit the organization and its strategy. But exactly how and when to make those changes is not well understood. The authors argue that technological improvement is seldom a steady process but instead alternates between short episodes of intensive change activity and longer periods of routine use. Data from European and U.S. firms show that adaptation to new technologies often occurs in a "lumpy" or episodic pattern. Examination of several leading Japanese organizations reveals a similar pattern, with one important difference: managers in these operations actively exploit the episodic pattern of adaptation around a given technology. Drawing on these observations, the authors suggest that managing the uneven pace of adaptation can yield important benefits to firms pursuing both efficiency and change.

Everyone is speeding products to market these days. But reducing product development time is only half of the equation; the other half is penetrating the market quickly. The author draws on published research and industry practice to develop five recommendations for reducing market penetration time. He also develops a tracking and diagnostic tool to help managers determine where their market penetration strategy is week.

Are supplier relationships critical to Japanese firms' success? And why are Japanese suppliers more cooperative and willing to take risks than U.S. suppliers? Using their research on supplier-automaker relationships in the United States and Japan, the authors focus on the advantages of the Japanese approach and suggest ways to adopt the practice for American companies.

Eastman Kodak's success in outsourcing its information systems (IS) department has triggered intense interest. Many executives are asking whether the IS function can be considered a commodity service, best managed by a large supplier. To dig beneath the media success stories, the authors studied fourteen Fortune "500" companies that faced outsourcing decisions. Their experiences are sobering news to anyone ready to jump on the bandwagon. More detailed descriptions of their case studies appear in the authors' book, Information Systems Outsourcing: Myths, Metaphors, and Realities (Wiley, 1993).

The topic of organizational learning has gained a lot of attention, but there is little agreement on what organizational learning means and even less on how to create a learning organization. The critical issue is how individual learning is transferred to the organization. The author develops a model that links individual and organizational learning through mental models, the thought constructs that affect how people and organizations operate in the world. His model can guide the search for new tools to help organizations learn.

The track record for information technology (IT) implementation is not very good. MIT's Management in the 1990s program concluded that the benefits of IT are not being realized because investment is heavily biased toward technology and not toward managing changes in process and organizational structure and culture. The authors draw on general change management literature to develop a framework for managing IT-enabled change. They argue that IT-enabled change is somewhat different from change driven by other concerns. Nonetheless, a number of models from the change management literature can be quite useful. Their framework provides a common language for managers implementing IT-based change and shows how technology, business processes, and organization must be adapted to each other for such change to be effective.

Corporate use of consultants has increased exponentially, and many managers wonder if the time and expense involved in working with them ever pays off. The authors argue that clients and consultants must work together in new ways to increase the productivity of their work. They suggest how clients and consultants can better focus their collaboration on issues that matter, accept more responsibility for facing the tough decisions, increase the speed and effectiveness of their efforts, and ensure that the people charged with implementing change have the commitment and understanding necessary to do so effectively.

Database marketing programs are attracting increasing amounts of companies' marketing resources and talents. But too often, marketers ignore consumer fears about the widespread availability and use of personal information. Innovative marketing tactics provoke a consumer backlash that can lead to restrictive legislation. The authors analyze the conflicting perspectives on database marketing and suggest some guidelines for companies to use for improving both the practice of database marketing and its climate. The best approach is to follow the "sunshine principle," they argue, and allow consumers more access to and control over the information concerning them.

In a time of shortening product life cycles, complex corporate joint ventures, and stiffening requirements for customer service, it is necessary to consider the complete scope of supply chain management, from supplier of raw materials, through factories and warehouses, to demand in a store for a finished product. Hewlett-Packard has developed a framework for addressing the uncertainty that plagues the performance of suppliers, the reliability of manufacturing and transportation processes, and the changing desires of customers. The author describes several cases in which entire product families have been reevaluated in a supply chain context. The methodology he presents should help others to manage their own supply chains more successfully.