Technology Investments and Shareholder Value - A Consulting Perspective

Executive Summary: Change has become the new normal across industries. Healthcare industry is dealing with changing market dynamics and is only now realizing the full impact of Affordable care act. The finance sector is facing the ever increasing regulatory challenges on one side and the opportunities offered by the recovering global economy on the other side. US retail and b2b banking sector is under the impact of changing customer preferences vis-à-vis mobile banking. US Retailers are dealing with domestic “low price” challengers and the avenues offered by the investment opportunities in the emerging economies, especially in the e-commerce sector. Manufactures have the need to optimize the production and supply chains in order to lower costs. This article explores how effective IT decision making could help firms deal with the constant flux in their business models. Healthcare: The market dynamics in healthcare is changing, as the firms involved understand the true impact o...

Executive Summary: The networked world has transformed the ecosystem we live in. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that we live in the most revolutionary times after the Industrial revolution. The highly informed consumer is more empowered than ever and that is posing both challenges and opportunities to firms engaged in business. This article explores some of the ways in which key players in Retail industry could respond to the changes and how the future of retail might look like. Disruption in Retail e-Commerce retailers, with their focus on reducing fixed costs, have had a major impact on big box retailers for a while now. The ubiquitous smart phones in the hands of the consumer have lead to show rooming, where the consumers check out a product physically in store, look up the product on their smart phones for the lowest price offered elsewhere and leave the store to order it online. Advances in back end connectivity have also resulted in integrated supply chain mana...