Not long ago, Rena Granofsky, President of RIT Experts, was called upon to join a prodigious Think Tank led by the visionary IT Thought Leader, Don Tapscott. The program constituted the definitive investigation of information technology-enabled business strategies for the 21st Century Corporation. Rena led the research into the impact on the retail sector and explored how retail organizations can capitalize on IT-enabled business transformation.

Nicholas Carr questioned the value of technology in his provocative Harvard Business Review article, “IT Doesn’t Matter” (May 2003) and argued that IT has become a commodity – necessary for competitiveness but insufficient for advantage.

In response, a group of twenty-three forward-thinking North American corporations launched the definitive investigation of information technology-enabled business strategies for the 21st Century Corporation. IT Strategist, best-selling author and thought leader Don Tapscott spearheaded the IT & Competitive Advantage (IT&CA) research, and the program explored how organizations can capitalize on IT-enabled business transformation. Refer to www.newparadigm.com.

Rena Granofsky, President of RIT Experts, led the research into the impact on the retail sector. The team developed white papers to examine best practice usage of state of the art retail technology, and developed a framework to select retail technologies for competitive differentiation by satisfying customer needs and wants.

The team also developed six case studies from around the globe, examining lighthouse use of technology for competitive advantage, and applications for retailers in similar and other sectors.