Successful interactive business : integration of strategy and IT

Abstract

Strategy may or may not lead to success and glory. In the case of modest success, strategy may be considered as faulty. It often gets the blame. In addition to strategy, there may be other forces in the game as well, preventing the strategy to work as it is aimed to. Among these may be poor implementation of strategy, including motivational and perceptional factors, or non-strategy-related factors like business industry, firm size, organization architecture, or management. Technology can be an enabling factor, but also a hindrance. In interactive, electronic business, information technology is an enabling and crucial factor. Poor technology, system design, and/or integration may lower the performance. In this study, strategies and IT-use, and success, are explored in the interactive business context. The context is reviewed and modeled. Strategy concept, themes and factors in its implementation, as well as information technology in implementing interactive e-business are reviewed. Strategy is first examined on a broad basis, then focusing on the interactive, e-business. A triangulating, multimethod approach is taken in the empirical part of this exploratory research endeavor, with qualitative studies on both Finnish and international actors, and a quantitative survey among 1017 Finnish firms, of which 271 participated. A framework of strategic implementation of interactive, electronic business is created and evaluated. Conducting truly interactive, electronic marketing – e-commerce and e-business – is challenging. The characteristics of the e-context require an integration of two different views: a modern marketing perspective that focuses in relationships, with a relatively broad scope and external view of firm, and a capability perspective, also found and applied in marketing domain, but even more applied and required in information systems science. This inbound view focuses on transactions, processes, capabilities, and efficiency. Both aim at optimizing firm performance, but address the subject from distinct perspectives; integration of these is hence not simple. Success requires integration of different, both comprehensive and partial strategies, flexibility to implement these, and responsiveness to the new markets accessed. Firms surveyed in this context are mainly successful in this complex business context, although the success perception varies among these.