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IT and Business: A History of Scandinavian Airlines. By Jens Christensen. Aarhus, Denmark: Aarhus University Press, 2000. 440 pp. Tables, figures. Paper, $45.95. ISBN 8-772-88820-2.
A splendid book-and two stories in one. The first is the history of Scandinavian Airlines (SAS), and the second is about the development of information technology (IT) applied to SAS. Both are success stories, but by merging them we better understand the success of SAS and the usefulness of IT applied in business. Had either story been presented separately, it would have resulted in a less enlightening account.
The book is an expanded version of a Ph.D. thesis written at the University of Aarhus. The author's access to large amounts of SAS sources and the forty-seven interviews he conducted with high-ranking managers indicate that he was affiliated with SAS management himself. Until now, no book based on original sources has been published on SAS's history. In the first chapter, Christensen discusses his sources, the business environment, and the theories on which he has based his work, including theories of the firm and IT. He is well acquainted with Alfred D. Chandler Jr. and Michael E. Porter, among others.
The second chapter describes the founding of the firm, its expansion, and the crises it encountered up to the 1970s. In spite of SAS's decision to concentrate on the mass market and to...