From the authors research and analysis, they have concluded that a strong IT staff, the

concept of core competencies and the potential for IT outsourcing are the main areas that a
company must address to increase an organisations performance.
Feeny and Willcocks have also identified the three main challenges that a company needs to
regularly assess in order to achieve lasting competitiveness. The first is the combination of
business and IT to develop new business strategies, the second is the delivery of IS services at
a low cost and of a high quality and the third is the design of the companies IT architecture,
which needs to be able to adapt to any changes in the business model.
From the authors three strands of research (CIOs experience/role, IS/IT outsourcing and
capabilities highlighted by CIOs), they have established nine core IS capabilities to address
these challenges:
1. Leadership: An effective leader needs to combine both business and IT in order to
achieve their goals.
2. Business Systems Thinking: IS/IT should be considered at the beginning of any
important new business developments.
3. Relationship Building: A strong relationship and better communication between IT
staff and the end users is important for the success of any organisation.
4. Architecture Planning: A flexible IT infrastructure design that is created in-house is
needed, this architectural plan should be able to adapt easily to any changes in the
business.
5. Making Technology Work: In-house technical staff is integral to maintaining an
organisations business and IT needs.
6. Informed Buying: A buyer that has an in-depth knowledge of the business structure
and design can be very cost effective.
7. Contract Facilitation: A single point of contact for all service level agreements can
lead to a stronger relationship between vendors and end users.
8. Contract Monitoring: Constant monitoring of vendor contracts and service level
agreements can help maintain a high level of standard and performance.
9. Vendor Development: Working with a vendor to solve any problems that might occur
can be more financially agreeable than trying to start a new working relationship with
a new supplier.

From further analysis, Feeny and Willcocks advise that older capabilities such as project
management should be viewed as non-core. They explain that project management can be

Daithi OConnell

K00179559

achieved using the nine core capabilities as it becomes a business project with IS and is the
responsibility of the business manager.
To apply the nine core capabilities to an organisation, the authors recommend that a small inhouse team of cross-trained employees is preferable who have a mixture of technical,
business and interpersonal skills.

Implementing the core capabilities IS model into an

organisations design can be very challenging. Each business is different and the core
capabilities should be used as a guideline when making any business structural decisions.
The authors conclude that it is better to anticipate and plan for any new changes in
technology and having flexible IS measures in place will greatly help an organisation when
this inevitably happens.

Daithi OConnell

K00179559