Information technology and perceived competitive advantage: an empirical study of engineering consulting firms in Taiwan

Using the 13 leading engineering consulting firms in Taiwan as samples, this empirical research adapts Bakos and Treacy's (1986) model to study the impact and linkage of information technology (IT) and competitive advantage. The five sources of competitive advantage are; competence in design and trade-off analysis, unique capability and services, switching costs, internal efficiency and interorganizational efficiency. Twenty-five ITs are identified and classified into five categories; administration and decision support, engineering analysis, organizational communication, design and project management, and advanced computer technology. For the firms surveyed, the design and project management system and the administration and decision support system have offered very good implementation results. Different ITs are shown to impact on the sources of competitive advantage differently. The diverse relative weights attached to the different sources of competitive advantage from the individual firm match the gen...

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