The value of good management appears again in an article by Stephen J. Dorgan and John J. Dowdy in McKinsey Quarterly <a title="The McKinsey Quarterly: When IT lifts productivity " href="http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/article_abstract.aspx?ar=1477&L2=13&L3=11&srid=27&gp=0">When IT lifts productivity (2004, Number 4). Dorgan and Dowdy have written before about the value of good management. This time they looked at manufacturing companies investing in information technology and found significantly better performance in those companies who ranked high on a management practices scale.
From the abstract:
Many economists have long argued that good management, rather than more computing power, is the key to higher productivity. A new study of 100 manufacturing companies in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France shows that IT expenditures have little impact on productivity unless they are accompanied by improved management practices.