IT’s Big (Budget) Spenders

Despite the economic slump, five of the biggest companies in America were talking big about IT in their 2001 annual reports. Take this quiz, and match the boast to the company that made it. (One of the boasts comes from a 2000 annual report.) Normally, if you got them all right, we’d give you a prize, but, hey, we’re in an economic slump too. Answers below.

THE BOASTERS

a. Wal-Mart Stores

b. Citigroup

c. Enron

d. General Electric

e. IBM

THE BOASTS

1. We have invested $10 billion in information technology since 1998 to make digitization a vital part of the company.

2. By the end of the year, our Web-based system had executed 548,000 transactions with a notional value of $336 billion, and it is now the world’s largest Web-based e-commerce system.

3. Most companies attempt one major reengineering project at a time. In 1994, we launched 11, from the way we manage internal information systems to the way we develop products and serve customers.

4. We use the Internet to provide expanded services to our customers. In one line of business, approximately 70 percent, or $1 billion, was generated and processed online.

5. Technology and logistics are among the company’s most innovative areas. Our computer system is the most powerful in the corporate world?only the U.S. government has a larger computer network.