You will have to prepare a paper that critically discusses how organisations apply the
strategic use of IS/IT to achieve competitive advantage. Some aspects and issues you may discuss in your
paper could include (but are not limited to):
• Discuss at least one (1) successful and one (1) unsuccessful examples of the use of IS/IT for gaining
or enhancing competitive advantages.
• Highlight some success factors for the successful example.
• What are some lessons learned (i.e., what went wrong?) for your unsuccessful example
• Suggest some internal (e.g., organizational, individual, and management factors) and external factors
(e.g., market, industry, social, economic, technological and political/policy factors) influencing the
success or failure of organisations’ attempts at gaining and enhancing competitive advantages? Are
internal factors more important than external factors? Or the other way around?
• How can competitive advantages gained via IS/IT be sustained?

You should show evidence that you have read at least
10 references, which must be published after January 2011, in the literature (including references from
academic and professional publications) to prepare this assignment. A variety of references are expected
including books, refereed journals, case studies, newspapers, magazines and electronic references.

Your assignment should contain:
• Title page
• Table of contents
• Introduction
• Main body of report with suitable headings and subheadings
• Conclusions
• Reference list
• Appendices (if relevant).