New Publication on the Future of Strategy in Information Systems
© 2017 EPFL
Prof. Weber, together with several leading researchers in the field, identifies important directions of inquiry in the economics of information systems. In their paper on “Understanding the Information-Based Transformation of Strategy and Society,” in the fall issue of the Journal of Management Information Systems, the authors argue that the design of information flows is essential for economic agents and their viability across their various modes of interaction.
Abstract.
The world economy is undergoing dramatic changes, largely driven by the new availability of fine-grained information. Innovative ways of using data—large and small—have also prompted a rethinking of the boundaries for the combination and use of knowledge. The strategic design of information flows in the economy has the upside of higher economic rents and competitive advantage, as well as the downsides of wealth inequality and abuse of power. This has brought a wide range of regulatory challenges. To understand the nature of these sweeping changes, it is important to examine the new ways information is used, and how information flows can be leveraged to create competitive advantage and dampen competition. The analysis in this article examines four economic entities that produce and consume value, as well as three determinants for the modes of their operations. The economic entities include consumers, producers, markets, and society, whose interactions are determined by viability, networks, and agency. In this framework, we paint a picture of the transformation of information-based strategy in the future and suggest promising research opportunities. 
The co-authors of the paper are Eric K. Clemons, Professor of Operations, Information and Decisions at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Rajiv M. Dewan, Xerox Professor of Business and Professor of Computers and Information Systems at the Simon Business School of the University of Rochester, and Robert J. Kauffman, Professor of Information Systems and Associate Dean (Faculty) at the School of Information Systems, Singapore Management University.
Reference
Clemons, E.K., Dewan, R.M., Kauffman, R.J., Weber, T.A. (2017) “Understanding the Information-Based Transformation of Strategy and Society,” Journal of Management Information Systems, Vol. 34, No. 2, pp. 425—456.
[Preprint: http://ssrn.com/abstract=3018371]
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