UK: Analysis:
Analysis: Impacts on the Business
When considering the impacts of IT on businesses, especially non-IT businesses, technology factors play an important role. It is strongly recommended that a business open a sales office in the UK. The strong IT environment in the UK coupled with governmental policies that foster business, the chances of success for a business which opens a sales office are great. Expansion of business within the UK, given the IT environment is also a very viable option. This would be very easy in an environment with the IT infrastructure the UK has.
Setting up a regional office not only within the UK, but using the UK as a regional base of operations is another excellent opportunity. Rather than looking at the UK in isolation, it is quite realistic to look at the UK as part of the European Union as a whole. A base in England represents a hub for countries wishing to do business in and out of Europe. In this manner, the UK becomes a regional gateway to Europe.
Although IT manufacturing in the UK is technically easy, when
one considers the competitive advantages of the country, it becomes a waste
of resources. This is due to the high cost of labor which makes manufacturing
impractical and infeasible. However, the support for the IT infrastructure
in the UK is strong, especially when considering the high rate of use of
LAN and WAN. This support is very good, and better than most countries,
although the UK lags somewhat behind the US in internet development.
This is attributed to the emphasis placed on WAP, which is not fully developed
at this point.
This infrastructure is readily available in the UK, but can be
costly to connect to the internet due to the high VAT.
Additionally, there is ready availability to IS professionals
who are highly trained, but very expensive.
The cases of success and failure seem to mirror those in the
United States. Due to the similarity of culture and the same language
between the US and the UK, it is very easy for US firms to expand into
the UK. Like the high tech companies in the United States, companies
like Boxman, who were rated as one of Europe’s hottest tech firms, has
filed for liquidation in the last few weeks. Success stories in the
UK include companies like Amazon, whose business model works well across
country borders
This report was completed in December 2000 for the class Impacts of National Information Technology Environments on Business given by Prof. Carmel in the program of Management Of Global Information Technology at the Kogod School of Business at American University in Washington D.C.