Impact of Key Success Factors in IT Industry (Essay Sample)

Key Success Factors in Business
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Key Success Factors in Business
Describe The Way a Company Identifies Its' Key Success Factors (KSFs)
Every organization has a well-defined vision and mission. The former entails the goals and objectives the company intends to accomplish while the latter denotes the strategies it will employ to transform the vision into a reality (Pourhanifeh & Mazdeh, 2016). Critical success factors, otherwise known as KSFs, are vital for the attainment of these core aims. They refer to the conditions, vectors, and procedures essential for maintaining topnotch performance within an organization (Pourhanifeh & Mazdeh, 2016). The survival, competitiveness, and success of every corporation rely on the identification of KSFs.
A company employs three crucial steps to identify its' KSFs. Firstly, it adequately defines its' process value chain by pinpointing the current and future needs of its clientele and developing viable solutions to meet them. An organization must continuously assess its innovative and operational processes to determine the areas that require modification and continual improvement. Secondly, an organization evaluates the cause-and-effect relationships between specific procedures and activities executed to create value, to gauge the business factors that take precedence over others (Pourhanifeh & Mazdeh, 2016). The assessment allows them to gain a profound understanding of the association between employee training and elevated levels of customer satisfaction and sales expansion. For instance, investing in staff training makes the staff increasingly knowledgeable and allows them to respond appropriately to queries related to the company's products (Pourhanifeh & Mazdeh, 2016). Evaluations made on cause-and-effect relationships enable organizations to identify critical success factors such as staff learning and development. Finally, an organization strives to determine the core drivers of excellent performance to identify KSFs. A company defines its lag indicators, otherwise known as outcome measures such as heightened profitability, market expansion, decreased staff turnover, and elevated customer satisfaction, to determine the goals it wants to accomplish (Pourhanifeh & Mazdeh, 2016). Afterwards, the business enterprise develops the perfect combination of performance drivers and outcome measures to gauge the effectiveness of the strategies used to execute the business strategy. Hence, an organization employs three necessary steps to determine its' KSFs.
Examples of KSFs in the IT Industry
Apple Inc. is an excellent example of a company that operates in the IT industry. Just like other IT corporations globally, Apple prioritizes three core KSFs. The first is exceptional IT knowledge and skills among staff. Business executives should possess the knowledge and skills required to evaluate the risks associated with different IT investments to ensure minimal risks that pose little threat to their organization's stability (Kurti, Barolli, & Sevrani, 2013). Exceptional knowledge and skills in IT allow managers to streamline business operations, improve them, and forge strong alliances with both suppliers and clients (Kurti, Barolli, & Sevrani, 2013). IT skills are, therefore, a critical success factor in the IT industry. The second KSF is exceptional leadership skills. Effective leadership is a critical success factor in IT companies such as Apple because it fuels corporate success. IT executives with sound leadership skills inspire exceptional performance, lead by example, and motivate their subordinates to reach optimum levels of excellence (Kurti, Barolli, & Sevrani, 2013). Then again, they prioritize innovation and nurture talent to generate creative ideas that can increase their organization's competitiveness. The final example of a critical success factor in Apple is employee training and development. The IT industry is highly competitive. The extent to which a company retains its competitiveness depends on its' ability to generate unique ideas and products that adequately meet the needs of the intended market (Kurti, Barolli, & Sevrani, 2013). Frequent training enables individuals to gain the knowledge and expertise required to handle complex procedures, complete the assigned tasks flawlessly, and meet the set objectives (Kurti, Barolli, & Sevrani, 2013). Employee training has become a precondition for organizational productivity and flawless performance. It is the means through which IT companies such as Apple gain a competitive advantage. Hence, companies operating under the IT industry prioritize high-order IT skills and knowledge, effective leadership, and employee training and development to achieve success.
The Way Companies Use KSFs to Develop Goals and Objectives
Apple Inc. relies on KSFs to develop achievable goals and objectives that align with the strategic management process. KSFs enable the corporate heads to determine the areas of business that require improvements and allow them to implement the changes such as the reallocation of resources, cost-cutting, and modifications in the product mix to promote both operational and organizational efficiency (The & Kourdi, 2015). It also prevents the manage