COMPUTER-NETWORKS AND COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE IN BUILDING SOCIETIES

The paper looks at the adoption of computer networks in the building society sector and at their use as a source of product, process and organizational innovation. The analysis highlights the strategic importance of interrelationships between information and communication technologies (ICTs), business activities and organizational structures and processes. The capacity of building societies to exploit new ICTs, particularly computer networks, in order to achieve sustained competitive advantage is critically dependent upon organizational innovation. The analysis shows that sustained competitive advantage derived from computer networked systems finds its major obstacle in the requirement for deep organizational changes. It is argued that organizational changes are necessary if competitive advantage, deriving from new ICTs, is to be sustained and optimized. © 1990.