New 'digital enterprise' center created
at Broad School

Michigan State University recently announced that it will provide initial funding for a new research center to be established at the Broad School. The Center for Leadership of the Digital Enterprise will study how firms can creatively - and successfully - combine information technologies (IT) with business processes and strategies.

Robert B. Duncan, the Eli and Edythe L. Broad Dean, said that "The center is a great example of how we can leverage our faculty's leading-edge research interests against one of the most pivotal challenges for organizations today: How can organizations best use IT as a strategic asset?"

According to the center's executive director, Vallabh Sambamurthy, the Eli Broad Professor of Information Technology, the question of IT's role in a company's success has recently taken on new urgency. "During the past five to eight years," said Sambamurthy, "there has been convincing evidence that information technologies have contributed to consumer welfare and firm productivity. However, in many firms, there is a significant anxiety about how to sustain business innovation through IT."

Sambamurthy said that he and his colleagues hope to help academics and executives understand how to create and lead an effective "digital enterprise;" that is, a firm that generates superior performance and competitive advantage by integrating the best practices in IT management throughout their operations. "We hope the new center will emerge as a premier source of research and insights about how firms can embrace the transformation to a digital enterprise, as we generate related economic, strategic, managerial and organizational knowledge."

Sambamurthy said that the center will "be an intellectual infrastructure of research projects, databases and case studies with a keen focus on the strategic needs of an innovative corporation. The tangible outcomes of the center's activities include annual conferences for industry and academic partners, doctoral dissertations, industry-sponsored research projects, and research papers. Sambamurthy expects to receive continuing funding from various sources such as the National Science Foundation and corporations interested in the center's mission.

The center will initially focus on four different program research "tracks":

• Agility and competitive strategy
• Digitized supply chains
• Innovation and change management
• Transformational IT management

Several key Broad School faculty will direct these research tracks: From the Marketing and Supply Chain Management Department, The Eli Broad University Professor of Business Roger Calantone and The John H. McConnell Chair in Business Administration David J. Closs, and from the Accounting and Information Systems Department, Professor Brian Pentland and Associate Professor Cheri Speier. The center will be directed by Frederick Rodammer, Supply Chain Management Professor of Practice.

Calantone, who also leads the Broad School's new Information Technology Management (ITM) degree programs, said that the center's goals will focus on four main research questions:

1. What organizational capabilities, structures and corporate cultures align IT and business activities?
2. What frameworks should executives apply in developing business strategy, directing investment and guiding tactical decisions in the digital enterprise?
3. How should executives assess the economic value of their investments in IT?
4. What are the key factors for effectively transforming existing companies into successful digital enterprises?

Ultimately, Calantone said, the center will generate benchmarking standards for firms to use in assessing progress toward becoming a successful digital enterprise. "We look forward to a high level of corporate involvement in the new center," said Calantone, "starting with the creation of our Corporate Advisory Board. The Corporate Advisory Board and the complementary Corporate Steering Team will include members from premier companies who will be involved in the strategic direction setting for the center."

For a more detailed description of the center, click here.

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