Applications of Global Information Technology: Key Issues for Management

Carefully crafted investments in global information technology offer firms an opportunity to increase control and enhance coordination, while opening access to new global markets and businesses. But engineering such global systems presents numerous challenges to management. In this article, we relate these challenges as they were described to us by 25 senior managers from Fortune 500 firms responsible for implementing and managing global applications of information technology. Among the findings of the interviews are four common approaches for managing global information technology.