Solow's paradoxIn 1987, Robet Solow, an American economist, highlighted the following paradox: we do not find the expected spectacular productivity gain linked to the progressive computerization of companies in the years 1980-1990. This initial finding has led to many further studies, and many explanations. The paradox itself became less evident over the next two decades. What are the elements that impact productivity gains linked to computerization
These cultural elements, driven mainly at the macroeconomic level, have led us to ask ourselves the question: in the few SMEs that we know, what has been and what is the effect on the productivity of computerization?
Once these observations have been made, what are the possible strategies? Outsource
One of which we have seen great success since the arrival of web 2.0 is application outsourcing, or Saas to use the jargon of the moment. Then, the competitive advantage of SaaS applications is largely linked to the fact that they are very recent, so they have not yet had to deal with long-term maintenance issues. However, an application that must be shared among 1000 users will ultimately be much more complex to maintain than 1000 separate applications, since the need to evolve the application to attract new customers will conflict head-on with the need for stability of existing users as soon as the application is at all critical for their activity. We are already seeing the first signs of this with older SaaS applications such as Gmail. In addition, the last 30 years have seen a very significant reduction in the cost of computer equipment, so that nowadays a server with the best level of reliability costs only 1000 €. Finally, the decision-making process linked to an outsourcing seems to us unsuitable since the objective is a gain in productivity rather than a simple headlong rush. Changing the decision-making process
As we have just seen, the decision to outsource is often (too often) taken a priori, as a (too) obvious response to IT that no longer gives satisfaction.
The problem is, organization is inherently iterative, in small steps, and continually challenged by environmental changes, where the process just described involves one big step without going back. . Most users will not be able to 'model' their requirements on paper. They need to do to realize. Even less will they be able to anticipate with precision the consequences on productivity of a compromise between what they asked for and what is proposed at the level of the existing application studied. In the end, if the objective is productivity, the best computer system, it is not at all the one that corresponds to the idea that we have a priori of our activity, therefore which presents the best game. initial functions, but the one that costs the least to change when you realize that what you want has changed. Strengthen management capacities
Now that we have denounced the mirages of the moment, let's describe what seems to us the way of the future, and therefore interests decision-makers who want to be in the long term. For this, let us ask ourselves the question of the role, and therefore of the skills and tools of management in a company. Let us return for a moment to the technological environment of companies of the XIXth century, a period during which productivity exploded. Let's go back to the present time, or to the near future, where the organizational support of the company is becoming digital, computerized.
In short, the problem comes down to providing IT tools adapted to the management of companies. However, to achieve this, it is necessary to return to common sense, excluding two extreme attitudes. The first is that the right IT tool for management is one that can be learned intuitively, without investment in learning. The second is that, conversely, we can allow ourselves to base a company's organization on tools so complex that they require a lifetime and a whole team to be mastered, so that management loses the capacity for autonomous and rapid action. For further↣ Statement on Wikipedia of Solow's paradox ↣ Article dealing with the Solow paradox, and summarizing the book 'Wired for innovation' |