Technology investment has a substantial and quantifiable impact on business productivity, according to a series of reports from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) and the London School of Economics (LSE).
According to the ONS, manufacturing companies in the UK achieve an extra 2.2 per cent in productivity for each additional 10 per cent of employees using computers. In newer firms, this extra productivity effect rises to 4.4 per cent.
The effect associated with internet use is greater, with productivity rises of 2.9 per cent being achieved for each additional 10 per cent of employees using the Internet. Again, for newer firms the effect is larger.
Interestingly, one piece of research shows that US owned firms in the UK are more successful in exploiting Information Technology (IT) compared to all other firms, and IT accounts for much of their productivity advantage.
The title of the research report - 'It ain’t what you do, it’s the way that you do I.T.' - sums up pretty well the growing recognition within Government that you can't just throw IT at business problems and expect it to work.
The way IT is deployed within the business is vital to success and it appears that we've a lot to learn from the States about how this is done.
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