Adaptable Techniques for Making IT-Related Investment Decisions

The author investigated the main methods used for making IT-related investment decisions. In the view of these methods it can be said that no method was found that would help to make investment decisions 'routinelike'. The use of traditional financial indicators – which would be suitable for so-called regular investments - has a lot of obstructions and it would be dangerous to base decisions only on them. Return on Investment (ROI) methods are used in the case of classical investments (buildings, machineries) to analyze capital investments. Their simplest explanation is that net profit is expressed in percentage of invested capital. If it is a planned investment, a quotient is used for comparing variations. Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) has gained upon from the 60’s (in case of several IT-related investments as well), as it made possible to consider certain not quantifiable factors and uncertain elements too, so it meant a great help for choosing between different alternatives. Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)-model was created by GartnerGroup in the beginning of the 90’s, which is an excellent method for monitoring IT infrastructure and for analysing direct and indirect costs of possessed and used softwares and hardwares. An another method for making investment decisions, Rapid Economic Justification (REJ) is an attempt made by Microsoft and Intellectual Arbitrage to develop a better-balanced approach for examining and developing IT projects as it had been before. REJ offers the possibility of assessment balance against the cost-models dealing with only the cost side of a project

Business information systems in Hungary

Nowadays the issue of information technology in business is moving into the centre of attention, which is also indicated by the fact that more and more companies, not accidentally, recognize its importance. Business information systems are not only fashionable – their application promotes more efficient operation of the company and also improves the supply of information to decisionmakers; applying such systems can also play an important role in helping companies to put greater emphasis on information technology in order to gain a competitive advantage. My aim was to present the circumstances of the decisions made about the introduction of business information systems and problems emerging during the introduction as well as to analyze the usage habits of companies applying these systems, and to explore the relation between the application of business information systems and the operational effectiveness of the business

The Impacts of Using Business Information Systems on Operational Effectiveness in Hungary

Business expectations regarding the introduction of business information systems were investigated according to company size categories. The results clearly showed that according to the majority of the respondents the information supply for decision-makers improved. In contrast, business information systems as a means of improving competitiveness were only regarded by corporations, this aspect was only around the average in the other company size categories. The respondents evaluated to what extent the usage of business information system provided assistance for their economic analyses. The obtained results show that business information systems can be utilized well in controlling and reporting. There are differences in their judgement by size categories. Particularly corporations can take advantage of the support of business information systems mainly in the field of planning, plan-actual analysis and the exploration of cost reducing possibilities

The Impact of ICT on Economic Sectors

As the author could not find a reassuring mathematical and statistical method in the literature for studying the effect of information communication technologyon enterprises, the author suggested a new research andanalysis method that he also used to study the Hungarian economic sectors. The question of what factors have an effecton their net income is vital for enterprises. The highest increment of specific Gross Value Added was produced by thefields of ‘Manufacturing’, ‘Electricity, gas and water supply’,‘Transport, storage and communication’ and ‘Financialintermediation’. With the exception of ‘Electricity, gas andwater supply’, the other economic sectors belong to the groupof underdeveloped branches (below 50%).On the other hand, ‘Construction’, ‘Health and social work’and‘Hotels and restaurants’ can be seen as laggards, so theygot into the lower left part of the coordinate system.‘Agriculture, hunting and forestry’ can also be classified as alaggard economic sector, but as the effect of the compoundindicator on the increment of Gross Value Added was lesssignificant, it can be found in the upper left part of thecoordinate system. Drawing a trend line on the points, it can bemade clear that it shows a positive gradient, that is, the higherthe usage of ICT devices, the higher improvement can bedetected in the specific Gross Value Added

A Conceptual Framework for Definition of the Correlation Between Company Size Categories and the Proliferation of Business Information Systems in Hungary Download article

Based on a conceptual model, this paper aims to explore the background of the decision-making process leading to the introduction of business information systems among enterprises in Hungary. Together with presenting the problems arising in the course of the implementation of such systems, their usage patterns are also investigated. A strong correlation is established between the size of an enterprise, the scope of its business activities and the range of the business information systems it applies

The State of Information and Communication Technology in Hungary – A Comparative Analysis

A novel comparative research and analysis method is proposed and applied on the Hungarian economic sectors. The question of what factors have an effect on their net income is essential for enterprises. First, the potential indicators related to economic sectors were studied and then compared to the net income of the surveyed enterprises. The data resulting from the comparison showed that the growing penetration of electronic marketpalces contributed to the change of the net income of enterprises in various economic sectors to the extent of 37%. Among all the potential indicators, only the indicator of electronic marketplaces has a direct influence on the net income of enterprises. Two clusters based on the potential indicators were indicated

The study of using information and communication technology in Hungary and in the 27 countries of the EU

The rate of personal computers and workstations in the 27 countries of the EU reached 96 %. The biggest backlog can be observed in the number of enterprises having and maintaining a website. Hungary's rate of 47 % is less than the EU average by 13 % and this rate was enough to overtake only two countries (Latvia and Portugal). In terms of small-sized enterprises having Internet access, Hungary, with 85 % came in last behind Lithuania (86 %) among the surveyed countries. The average penetration rate of intranet in the EU-25 was double than that of Hungary's

An Empirical Study of the Development of Information and Communication Technology in Hungary

As I could not find a reliable mathematical and statistical method for studying the effect of information communication technology on businesses in the literature, I proposed a new research and analysis method that I also used to study the Hungarian economic sectors. An essential question for enterprises is what factors have an effect on their net income.. First, I studied the potential indicators related to economic sectors, then I compared those indicators to the net income of the enterprises surveyed. The data resulting from this comparison showed that the growing penetration of electronic marketpalces contributed to the change in the net income of enterprises in various Hungarian economic sectors to the extent of 37%. Among all the potential indicators, only the indicator of electronic marketplaces has a direct influence on the net income of enterprises. However, the effect of electronic presence is also significant as it has a huge effect on the potential indicator of electronic marketplaces. It was practical to determine two clusters based on the potential indicators. Eight economic sectors have been placed in the first, while five sectors have been placed in the second cluster. Only the money which is spent on professional training has a more significant effect on what cluster a sector belongs to

The macroeconomic effect of the information and communication technology in Hungary

It was not until the beginning of the 1990s that the effects of information and communication technology on economic growth as well as on the profitability of enterprises raised the interest of researchers. After giving a general description on the relationship between a more intense use of ICT devices and dynamic economic growth, the author identified and explained those four channels that had a robust influence on economic growth and productivity. When comparing the use of information technonology devices in developed as well as in developing countries, the author highlighted the importance of the available additional human capital and the elimination of organizational inflexibilities in the attempt of narrowing the productivity gap between the developed and developing nations. By processing a large quantitiy of information gained from Hungarian enterprises operating in several economic sectors, the author made an attempt to find a strong correlation between the development level of using ICT devices and profitability together with total factor productivity. Although the impact of using ICT devices cannot be measured unequivocally at the microeconomic level because of certain statistical and methodological imperfections, by applying such analytical methods as cluster analysis and correlation and regression calculation, the author managed to prove that both the correlation coefficient and the gradient of the regression trend line showed a positive relationship between the extensive use of information and communication technology and the profitability of enterprises

The Economic Impacts of Information and Communication Technology In The Hungarian Economy

As the author could not find a reassuring mathematical and statistical method in the literature for studying the effect of information communication technology on enterprises, the author suggested a new research and analysis method that he also used to study the Hungarian economic sectors. After a brief introduction to the theoretical background of the Information Age, the author examines the question of what factors have an effect on their net income is essential for enterprises. First, the potential indicators related to economic sectors were studied, then the author compared those indicators to the net income of the surveyed enterprises. The data resulting from the comparison showed that the growing penetration of electronic marketplaces contributed to the change of the net income of enterprises in various economic sectors to the extent of 37 %. Among all the potential indicators, only the indicator of electronic marketplaces has a direct influence on the net income of enterprises. It was practical to determine two clusters based on the potential indicators