Business transformation, information technology and competitive strategies: learning to fly

'Business transformation' is an overarching concept encompassing a range of competitive strategies which organisations adopt in order to bring about significant improvements in business performance. These strategies include business process re-engineering, organisational development/learning, Total Quality Management and use of information technology. In this article different models of business transformation are explored. This is followed by a full case study analysis of how a leading aerospace company, Short Brothers (now known as Bombardier Aerospace-Shorts), have transformed themselves since privatisation from an organisation in crisis to a leading performer in their market sector. The findings identify the realities of business transformation and support the argument that true business transformation should be viewed as a multi-stage process which demands an integrated approach to the application of supporting competitive strategies. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.