CSC408: Information System and Management Case Study, UiTM, Malaysia Manufacturers are experiencing a turbulent global environment that embodies challenges, opportunities, and uncertainties

Manufacturers are experiencing a turbulent global environment that embodies challenges, opportunities, and uncertainties. While “the biggest problem in managing an organization today is failing to adapt to the changing world”, companies do not embrace this new environment due to custom. As this attitude might prevent companies from being competitive in the global market, it is crucial for companies they gain a broad understanding of the environment in which they operate.

One driver of global competitiveness is information and communication technology (ICT), also called IT, which has created the global village that allows customers access to services or products anywhere at any time. This has significantly changed the way business is conducted in the 21st century and requires manufacturers to adapt in order to become competitive or sustain competitive advantage.

Operating in the global market environment requires an adequate approach to the integration of management information systems for companies to be in a better position to obtain real-time data for better decision-making. This means that manufacturers must develop new capabilities if they are to adapt rather than stagnate. It has been noted, “companies that use ICT grow [sic] faster, invest more, and are more productive and profitable than those that do not”.

However, stress that it is not easy to develop a competitive advantage through IT, and argue that this can be attributed to the lack of “creating a foundation for business execution by these companies”. An added challenge is that the global village is constantly changing as new developments are made in IT.

Research into success within the global market of companies in both developed and developing countries suggests that companies lack an understanding of the constantly changing global environment and do not develop the IT-enabled business capabilities necessary for the emergence of sustainable competitive advantages. As a result, some manufacturers do not survive within the global market. According to [4], the potential benefits of IT have not materialized because the strategic aim is not incorporated during the adoption and implementation of IT.

This has resulted in manufacturers succeeding technically but still failing in terms of strategic business. These authors further note that Business Process Reengineering (BPR) involves justification and classification in relation to the selection and implementation of the right IT systems. This paper reports on a study that explored how manufacturers can exploit management information systems for competitive positioning. The remainder of the paper is organized as follows:

Section 2 highlights the problem statement, Section 3 presents the literature review and theoretical framework as well as the key elements of integrated management information systems for competitive positioning and Section 4 discusses the methodology used in the study. In Section 5, the results of the study are presented, with the interpretation and discussion of the results given in Section 6. Section 7 concludes the study and provides recommendations for future research.

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