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7.1: Introduction

  • Page ID
    9787
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    For over fifty years, since the microprocessor's invention, computing technology has been a part of the business. From UPC scanners and computer registers at your local neighborhood store to huge inventory databases used by companies like Amazon, information technology has become the backbone of commerce. Organizations have spent trillions of dollars on information technologies. But has all this investment in IT made a difference? Do computers increase productivity? Are companies that invest in IT more competitive? This chapter will look at the value IT can bring to an organization and try to answer these questions. We will begin by highlighting two important works from the past two decades.