In the homogeneous banking industry information technology and profit performance are never related. Information technology is related to input but not to output. The only plausible explanation for any differences is the manner in which any enterprise has taken a unique approach to combining its various elements of people, skill, motivation, and technology to deliver a result that differs from what competitors do with the identical resources. Summary Those who see the future of information professionals as one in which atomized individuals earn their living as infomercenaries working for deconstructed organizations should reexamine their predictions. Organizations are not machines.
Organizations are organic systems.
If you view humans as machines, their component organs and chemical structure are very much alike and often surgically replaceable. The prophets of the Internet, in conveying their vision of the future for professional workers, had better come up with scenarios that are supported by proven patterns of success. The year 2020 is not so far off that we do not already have clues as to what works and what doesn't. Information systems work is a means for an organization to achieve cooperation, integration, coherence, and uniqueness. I do not think that infomercenaries can deliver that.