In adapting the company to market changes, management, logistics, and customer interaction play a strategic role as a competitive weapon in the hands of the enterprise. Information technology allows firms to communicate effectively with customers, suppliers, agents, and strategic partners. Thanks to IT, it has become possible to synchronize activities and create continuous flows without any interruptions or failure, thus ensuring the coordination and integration of processes between agents, streamlining tasks, reducing inventory, and improving customer service. Accordingly, IT is critical for a company to create competitive advantages.
Data management systems can significantly improve a company’s position in the market. An example is the Deutsche Post DHL corporation, the leader in European ground transportation. The company was founded in 1969 in Germany and had more than 6,500 offices in more than 220 countries with more than 475,000 employees (Wright, 2020). DHL provides many services to its customers, such as transportation, storage, and distribution. The adoption of innovative IT technologies was driven mainly by the company’s need to unify and improve its data system. DHL chose the knowledge management system KMS Lighthouse to solve the problem (Wright, 2020). After implementing, KMS Lighthouse helped to synchronize and unify the work of DHL contact centers worldwide. Implementing KMS Lighthouse has reduced the duration of calls and the average conversation time with a client by 15%, and the training time for new employees has been reduced by 50% (Wright, 2020). It has become easier for operators to assimilate information about internal procedures, products and tariffs. Thanks to this, the company began to spend less on operating activities. At the same time, customer satisfaction from communication with call centers has increased.
Another critical area of application of information technology in business is online sales. The specific features of web technologies allow companies to expand the range of benefits of their online stores. FREITAG plastic bags are an example of successful IT implementation in online commerce. By implementing a 360-degree view of their goods exhibits in their online store, the company reduced product returns by 70% (Kodama, 2021). Creating an online platform allowed to double sales via the Internet and the efficiency of order processing in the first two years.
Another example of the effective use of IT systems is the online bookstore “buch.ch”, which competes with similar companies such as Amazon. The firm has combined its online sales platform with community platforms that offer a wide range of functions, allowing it to increase the level of interaction with customers. The book community created by “book.ch” enables the company to access the preferences of its customers and adjust its business strategy. Although competitors soon followed “buch.ch”, the firm maintains the first and largest online book community in Switzerland by dominating the local market (Kodama, 2021). Processing customer preferences with the help of IT gives businesses a significant competitive advantage. Such information allows companies to adjust the approach to marketing and selection of the assortment for the formation of individual offers.
Information technology helps optimize the enterprise’s various tasks at its different stages. Modern technologies significantly increase the enterprise’s competitiveness concerning those companies that do not use them. Given the process of globalization and increasing competition, companies must invest in tools that will allow them to strengthen their position in the market. When used correctly, information systems optimize and improve business activities.
References
Kodama, M. (2021). Managing IT for Innovation: Dynamic Capabilities and Competitive Advantage. Routledge.
Wright, A. F. (2020). How Technology and a Changing Consumer Behaviour Instigated Change in the Deutsche Post DHL Group: An Analysis on Organizational Change. Bachelor of Commerce Best Business Research Papers, 13, 116–133.