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Guide

your PerSonal comPetitive advantaGe

Consider the following possibility: You work hard, industry. How does Pfizer, for example, use a customer
earning your degree in business, and you graduate, only to information system to sell to doctors? How can your knowl-
discover that you cannot find a job in your area of study. You edge of such systems differentiate you from your competition
look for 6 weeks or so, but then you run out of money. In for a job there? How does Pfizer use a knowledge management
desperation, you take a job waiting tables at a local restau- system? How does the firm keep track of drugs that have an
rant. Two years go by, the economy picks up, and the jobs adverse effect on each other?
you had been looking for become available. Unfortunately, The fourth and fifth items in Figure 3-12 concern lock-
your degree is now 2 years old; you are competing with stu- ing in customers, buyers, and suppliers. How can you inter-
dents who have just graduated with fresh degrees (and fresh pret those elements in terms of your personal competitive
knowledge). Two years of waiting tables, good as you are at advantage? Well, to lock in a relationship, you first have to
it, does not appear to be good experience for the job you want. have one. So do you have an internship? If not, can you get
You’re stuck in a nightmare—one that will be hard to get out one? And once you have an internship, how can you use your
of, and one that you cannot allow to happen. knowledge of MIS to lock in your job so that you get a job
Examine Figure 3-12 again, but this time consider those offer? Does the company you are interning for have a sales
elements of competitive advantage as they apply to you per- tracking system (or any other information system that is im-
sonally. As an employee, the skills and abilities you offer are portant to the company)? If users are happy with the system,
your personal product. Examine the first three items in the what characteristics make it worthwhile? Can you lock in a
list and ask yourself, “How can I use my time in school— job by becoming an expert user of this system? Becoming an
and in this MIS class, in particular—to create new skills, to expert user not only locks you into your job, but it also raises
enhance those I already have, and to differentiate my skills barriers to entry for others who might be competing for the
from the competition?” (By the way, you will enter a national/ job. Also, can you suggest ways to improve the system, thus
international market. Your com-
petition is not just the students
in your class; it’s also students in
classes in Ohio, California, British
Columbia, Florida, New York, and
every place else they’re teaching
MIS today.)
Suppose you are interested
in professional sales. Perhaps you
want to sell in the pharmaceutical
industry. What skills can you learn
from your MIS class that will make
you more competitive as a future
salesperson? Ask yourself, “How
does the pharmaceutical industry
use MIS to gain competitive advan-
tage?” Get on the Internet and find
examples of the use of information
systems in the pharmaceutical
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