Three major roles of information systems

Information system also help store managers make better decisions and attempt to gain a strategic competitive advantage. For example, decisions on what lines of merchandise need to be added or discontinued, or on what kind of investment they require, are typically made after an analysis provided by computer-based information systems. This not only supports the decision making of store-managers but also helps them look for ways to gain an advantage over other retailers in the competition for customers.
Three major roles of information systems:

1. Support of Strategic Advantage (Competition strategy)
2. Support of Managerial decision-making
3. Support of Business Operation

Gaining a strategic advantage over competitors requires innovative use of information technology. For example, store managers might make a decision to install computerized touch-screen catalog ordering systems in all of their stores, tied in with computer-based telephone ordering systems and an Internet-based computer shopping network. This might attract new customers and lure customers away from competing stores because of the ease of ordering merchandise provided by such innovative information systems. Strategic information systems can help provide strategic products and services that give a business organization a comparative advantage over its competitors.