1. Chapter Discussion A Conversation About IT
MIS 7003
MBA Core Course in MIS
Professor Akhilesh Bajaj
The University of Tulsa
Chapter Discussion
A Conversation About IT
© Akhilesh Bajaj, All rights reserved.

2. Technology Denial
Luddites: Any of a group of British workers who between 1811 and 1816 rioted and
destroyed laborsaving textile machinery in the belief that such machinery would diminish
employment.
One who opposes technical or technological change (
Differentiate between a healthy skepticism for the “bleeding edge” and a denial of the
inexorable advance of technology
Examples:
USA President Rutherford Hayes on the telephone
The “horseless carriage”
The personal computer, invented by IBM as a hobby & delay in recognizing it
The Internet and Microsoft’s delay in recognizing it
© Akhilesh Bajaj, 2004,2005. All rights reserved.

3. A Conversation About IT
Productivity due to IT: up or down?
IT Keeps changing, and employees need
retraining
Are upgrades in S/W worth it? New versions of office?
Open office:
What happens when one upgrades an ERP or CRM?
How do we evaluate the economic impact of IT on a business?
Does IT provide competitive advantage?
Businesses invest in IT because of: upgrades by vendors, remain technologically compatible to share information with other businesses and “keep up” with the competition.

4. Technology Diffusion Within Societies
Technology diffusion curve
Early adopters differ from the majority steady state user group
Steady state adoption of technology
When does technology actually pay off?
Confluence of Technology, Society & Market forces
The IT productivity paradox in the early 1990s.
Technology changes: small periods of intense revolution punctuated by periods of
assimilation.
© Akhilesh Bajaj, 2004,2005. All rights reserved.

5. Types of Information Technology Today
Internet & Broadband Networks: standardized, low cost access of a common
channel
The WWW & High performance servers: Standardized storage of multimedia information
across the world
URL & Browsers: Standardized tools for locating information across the world (also
Free search engines like
Multimedia Digital Devices: Laptop computers, cell phones, game boxes.
Wireless networks and protocols: Becoming standardized rapidly. E.g., Wi-fi, and now
Wi-Max. GSM for cell phones. In Finland, cell phones are used to pay bills, pay at pump,
buy coffee, etc.
Programming language & data sharing standards: Java, .Net, XML
© Akhilesh Bajaj, 2004,2005. All rights reserved.

6. Can Emerging Technologies Disrupt Existing Business Models
IBM was a mainframe leader in the 1960’s
Mini Market was given over to DEC, HP & Sun in the 1970’s.
In the 1980’s the PC was undersold by IBM, but grew into a powerhouse. Sales in first month of 250,000 exceeded the 60 month forecast. IBM was in denial. Client server began to dominate by the early 1990’s.
Today:
IBM is betting heavily on linux based servers and providing outsourcing services today.
IBM is betting heavily on Java based platforms today.
Other examples of non IT businesses??