The nature of technical expertise has become increasingly important and problematic in the post-modern era, as structured hierarchies and production methods are revised. Financial services, one of our most important economic sectors, has also been confronting very high degrees of uncertainty that reflect great institutional and market changes. In this fluid and competitive environment technological change - in particular the widening scope of information technology (IT) - has become vitally important.
This study is about the strategic uses of IT in retail financial services. It is based on the Scottish part of the industry, a highly cohesive sector in its own right, but one with universal linkages to UK and global finance. A set of seven case studies forms the empirical base, while the study also focuses on key strategic projects within these case companies. The purpose is to arrive at an understanding of how firms develop a strategic approach to IT.
This hinges on the management of expertise - the ability to integrate detailed technological expertise with wider organizational and marketing goals. The study examines a number of themes around this key issue: the process of formation of IT strategy, sectorial influences on the implementation of computer-based systems, and the occupational and career factors that shape IT expertise.
Retail financial services is a sector in which technological change--and particularly information technology (IT)--has become critically important. This collection looks at how firms develop a strategic approach to IT in this sector. The contributors present seven case studies from Scottish industry while focusing on key strategic projects within these case companies.
For those who are curious and want to learn about a new multidisciplinary field of research which nowhere fits into the patterns of traditional compartmentalized disciplines, the book is highly interesting ... the book includes a helpful index, which invites the reader to work with the book and to continue to learn much from it after having read it for the first time.
