How Technology & Business Get Along

By Chad Wegner

Business Lessons in Technology

Technology is an amazing thing. It allows us to connect to people across the world in the blink of an eye; to track data and make better decisions as managers and business owners; to make calculations at a rate that would have Einstein’s head spinning. But what truly is the role of technology in business?

To answer that question, I rely on one of my favorite business books, “Good to Great” by Jim Collins. In his book, Mr. Collins hypothesizes that great companies look at and deploy technology in a different and unique way. Great companies don’t even consider technology as a factor in why they are great companies. To them, technology is simply an Accelerator. But what does Mr. Collins mean by Technology as an Accelerator? This concept simply means that the core value chain activities (sales, marketing, service, operations, etc.) of a business are the most important factors that affect bottom line. The role of technology in the business model is to be deployed only where it can enhance a core value chain activity to a degree greater than the cost of implementation.

How well does your organization evaluate technology as an accelerator? And once it has been decided that a specific technology might help your organization, is it properly deployed? I asked a friend the other day if his organization had any type of a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool available to their sales people, his response was,

“We did.”

“But nobody used it.”

“So we got rid of it.”

Mr. Collins, please cover your ears.

My humble advice would be to keep the “Technology as an Accelerator” concept first and foremost in mind when making technology decisions that will affect your organization. The proper evaluation and deployment of technology as a bottom line driver is imperative for greatness. Of course, you could just ignore this article or toss out this newsletter altogether. Just promise not to yell at me when you toss out the latest, greatest technology that was supposed to take your business to the next level, too.

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