Geo-Business

Book excerpt: Exploit the advantages of Geographic Information Systems in your business Once the domain of cartographers and other specialists, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are increasingly being employed by the business community. Location-based services, supply chain management, management of field-distributed equipment, geographical marketing and promotion, and the spatial web are some of the current business applications which make use of GIS principles. Written specifically for the businessperson, Geo-Business: GIS in the Digital Organization is the first book to provide comprehensive coverage of GIS applications in the business and organizational environment. Going beyond a strictly geographical focus, this book sets GIS in the context of business information systems and other business sub-disciplines such as logistics, marketing, finance, and strategic management. It presents from an organizational perspective the advantages of spatially enabling existing enterprise systems and illustrates how GIS is applied in the real world through rigorous case study analyses of twenty companies, including Baystate Health, Chico’s, Kaiser Permanente, Lamar Advertising Company, Rand McNally, Southern Company, Sears Roebuck, and Sperry Van Ness. In this book, you’ll find out: What GIS is and how it can be integrated into your organization’s existing information infrastructure. How GIS is currently making businesses better, and how you can apply the same techniques to your industry or organization. The expanding roles of GIS and spatial technologies in the web and mobile environments. The ethical, legal, and security issues of special technologies How to conduct a cost/benefit and ROI analyses for GIS. Grounded in the real world of business and IT, Geo-Business will show you how spatially enabling your IT systems can give you a unique advantage to beat your competitors in the market, win and retain customers, grow your business, make better decisions, develop new products and services, and optimize your workflow.