【正文】 o turn the ability to access and use information into a potential source of petitive advantage:l rapid flow of information and the more efficient management of increased information sharing capability using electronic or l increase in the number and power (or capability) of PCs. informationcarrying infrastructure available to firms worldwide through the Internet and World Wide Webl panies being wired to link themselves to customers, employees, vendors and suppliers around the globel trade conducted on the Internet is expected to increase dramatically from $ billion in 1997 to $ 105 billion by 2000The continued rapid introduction and diffusion of new information technologies also may have interesting implications for firms such as America Online (AOL), as they battle to both understand and create users39。 future information access and use needs.To better position itself, AOL acquired its largest petitor, CompuServe, through an agreement with WorldCom. As a result, AOL has increased its revenues almost 40fold, from $53 million in 1993 to $2 billion in 1997. Increasing Knowledge intensity.It is being increasingly apparent that knowledgeinformation, intelligence andexpertisemay not only be a critical organizational resource, but may be a source ofpetitive advantage. As a result:l Organizations must improve their ability to transform the accumulated knowledge of employees into a firm assetl Shareholder value can be positively impacted by the value of a firm’s intangibleassets, such as knowledge (Note。 Intangible assets will be discussed more fully in Chapter 3.)This means that, to achieve petitive advantage in the new, informationintensivepetitive landscape, firms must move beyond accessing information to exploiting information by:l Capturing intelligencel Transforming intelligence into usable knowledgel Embedding it as organizational learningl Diffusing it rapidly throughout the organizationThe implication of this discussion is that, to achieve strategic petitiveness and earn aboveaverage returns, firms must develop the ability to adapt rapidly to change or achieve strategic flexibility.Strategic flexibility represents the set of capabilitiesin all areas of their operations that firms use to respond to the various demands and opportunities that are found in dynamic, uncertain environments. This implies that firms must develop certain capabilities, includingl Organizational slacks which affords firms with the ability to respond to environmental changes.l The capacity to learn continuously, which provide the firm with new skillsets.Teaching suggestion。 Use the text39。 s example of CocaCola39。s development of an effective distribution system and the establishment of anchor bottlersin their global bottling networkto build the resources and expertise necessary that enable CocaCola to enable the strategic flexibility that will enable them to take advantage of opportunities across a broad range of global markets.Two models describing key strategic inputs to a firm39。s strategic actions are next discussed: the Industrial Organization (or externallyfocused) model and the Resourcebased (or internallyfocused) model.THE I/O MODEL OF ABOVE ARAGE RETURNSTeaching suggestion。 The remended teaching strategy for this section is to first discussthe assumptions underlying the I/O model. Then, use Figure 13 to introduce linkages in theI/O model and provide the background for an expanded discussion of the model in Chapter 2. The I/O or Industrial Organization model adopts an external perspective to explain that forces outside of the organization represent the dominant influences on a firm’s strategic actions. In other words, this model presumes that the characteristics of and conditions present in the external environment determine the appropriateness of strategies that are formulated and implemented in order for a firm to earn aboveaverage returns.The I/O model is based on the following four assumptions:l The external environmentthe general, industry and petitive environmentsimposespressures and constraints on firms and determines strategies that will result in superior returns. In other words, the external environment pressures the firm to adopt strategies to meet that pressures while simultaneously constraining or limiting the scope of strategies that might be appropriate and eventually successful. l Most firms peting in an industry or in an industry segment control similar sets of strategicallyrelevant resources and thus pursue similar strategies.This assumption presumes that, given a similar availability of resources, the majority of firms peting in a specific industryor in a segment of the industryhave similar capabilities and thus follow strategies that are similar. In other words, there are few significant differences among firms in an industry. l Resources used to implement strategies are highly mobile across firms.Significant differences in strategically relevant resources among firms in an industry tendto disappear because of resource mobility. Thus, any resource differences soon disappearas they are observed and acquired or learned by other firms in the industry.l Organizational decisionmakers are assumed to be rational and mitted to acting only in the best interests of the firm.The implication of this assumption is that organizational decisionmakers will consistentlyexhibit profitmaximizing behaviors. According to the I/O modelwhich was a dominant paradigm from the 1960s through the 1980sfirms must pay careful attention to the characteristics of the industry in which they choose to pete, searching for one that is the most attractive to the firm, given the firm39。s strategically relevant resources. Then, the firm must be able to successfully implement strategies required by the industry’s characteristics to be able to increase their