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HowFinancialFirmsDecideonTechnology，介绍国际大银行在决定对信息技术投资时的考虑要点和他们具体的实施过程。HowFinancialFirmsDecideonTechnology(Abstract)Thefinancialservicesindustryisthemajorinvestorininformationtechnology(IT)intheU.S.economy;thetypicalbankspendsasmuchas15%ofnon-interesteexpensesonIT.Apersistentfindingofresearchintotheperformanceoffinancialinstitutionsisthatperformanceandefficiencyvarywidelyacrossinstitutions.NowhereisthisvariabilitymorevisiblethanintheoutcomesoftheITinvestmentdecisionsintheseinstitutions.ThispaperpresentstheresultsofanempiricalinvestigationofITinvestmentdecisionprocessesinthebankingindustry.Thepurposeofthisinvestigationistouncoverwhat,ifanything,canbelearnedfromtheITinvestmentpracticesofbanksthatwouldhelpinunderstandingthecauseofthisvariabilityinperformancealongwithpointingtowardmanagementpracticesthatleadtobetterinvestmentdecisions.UsingPCbankingandthedevelopmentofcorporateInternetsitesasthecasestudiesforthisinvestigation,thepaperreportsondetailedfield-basedsurveysofinvestmentpracticesinseveralleadinginstitutionsHowFinancialFirmsDecideonTechnology(PartOne)信息技术对金融服务业的影响正在增加，不仅仅表现在银行的15%无息开支上，而且对金融服务业的运做和战略也有很强的影响。一个对金融机构的长期研究表明，不同的机构的效率和表现也不同。其决定的因素有以下一些其中的一个因素就是对投资的决定和管理。SBS是一个失败的例子，但是成功的公司也不少。本文注重解答以下的问题：１.银行对ＩＴ投资的评估和管理过程？２.在对ＩＴ的管理过程中，理论和实际操作的结合如何？３.ＩＴ投资的管理和银行性能的关系如何？1.0IntroductionInformationtechnology(IT)isincreasinglycriticaltotheoperationsoffinancialservicesfirms.Todaybanksspendasmuchas15%ofnon-interestexpenseoninformationtechnology.Itisestimatedthattheindustrywillspendatleast$21.1billiononITin1998,andfinancialinstitutionscollectivelyaccountforthemajorityofITinvestmentintheU.S.economy.Inadditontobeingalargecomponentofthecoststructure,informationtechnologyhasastronginfluenceonfinancialfirmsoperatonsandstrategy.Fewfinancialproductsandservicesexistthatdonotutilizecomputersatsomepointinthedeliveryprocess,andafirms'informationsystemsplacestrongconstraintsonthetypeofproductsoffered,thedegreeofcustomizationpossibleandthespeedatwhichfirmscanrespondtocompetitiveopportunitiesorthreats.Apersistentfindingofresearchintotheperformanceoffinancialinstitutionsisthatperformanceandefficiencyvarieswidelyacrossinstitutions,evenaftercontrollingforfactorssuchassize(scale),productbreadth(scope),branchingbehaviorandorganizationalform(e.g.stockversusmutualforinsurers;banksversussaving&loans).Giventhecentralrolethattechnologyplaysintheseinstitutions,atleastsomeofthisvariationislikelytobeduetovariationsintheuseandeffectivenessofITinvestments.WhilesomeauthorshavearguedthatthevalueofITinvestmenthasbeeninsignificant,particularlyinservices,recentempiricalworkhassuggestedthatITinvestment,onaverage,isaproductiveinvestment.Perhapsmoreimportantly,thereappearstobesubstantialvariationacrossfirms;somefirmshaveveryhighinvestmentsbutarepoorperformers,whileotheresinvestlessbutappeartobemuchmoresuccessful.BrynjolfssonandHittfoundthatasmuchashalfthereturnstoITinvestmentareduetofirmspecificfactors.OnepotentiallyimportantdriverofdifferencesinITvalue,andoffirmperformancemorebroadly,islikelytobethedecisionandmanagementpeocessedforITinvestments.HorrorstoriesofbadITinvestmentdecisionsabound.Considertheexampleofthenewstrategicbankingsystem(SBS)atBancOne(AmericanBanker1997).BancOneCorp.andElectronicDataSystemsCorp.agreedlastyeartoendtheirjointdevelopmentofthisretailbankingsystemafterspendinganestimated$175milliononit.AsstatedintheAmericanBankerarticle,SBSwasjustsooverwhelmingandsocompletethatbythetimetheyweregettingtomarket,itwasgoingtotaketoolongtoinstallthewholething,saidAlanRiegler,principalinErnst&Young'sfinancialservicesmanagementconsultingdivision.However,notallthestoriesarenegative.NewITsystemsareplayingavitalroleinreshapingthedeliveryoffinancialservices.Forexample,newcomputer-telephonyintegration(CTI)technologiesaretransformingcallcenteroperationsinfinancialinstitutions.Byinvestingintechnology,moreandmoreinstitutionsaremovingoperationsfromhigh-costbranchoperationstothetelephonechannel,wherethecostpertransactionisone-tenththecostofatellerinteraction.ThisITinvestmentnotonlyreducesthecostofservingexistingcustomers,butalsoextendsthereachoftheinstitutionbeyonditstraditionalgeographicboundaries.Inthispaper,weutilizedetailedcasestudiesofsixretailbankstoinvestigateseveralinterrelatedquestions:１.WhatprocessesdobanksutilizetoevaluateandmanageITinvestments?２.HowwelldoactualpracticesalignwiththeoreticalargumentsabouthowITinvestmentsshouldbemanaged?３.WhatimpactdoesthatmanagementofITinvestmentshaveonperformance?HowFinancialFirmsDecideonTechnology(PartTwo)Forthefirstquestion,wedevelopastructuredframeworkforcatalogingITinvestmentpracticesandthenpopulatethisframeworkusingacombinationofsurveysandsemi-structuredinterviews.WethencomparetheresultsofthisexercisewithasynthesisoftheliteratureonITdecisionmakingtounderstandinghowpracticesvaryacrossfirmsandtheextenttowhichthisisconsistentwithbestpracticesasdescribedinpreviousliterature.Finally,wewillcomparetheseprocessestointernalandexternalperformancemetricstobetterunderstandwhichsetsofpracticesappeartobemosteffective.Toma