Top-down versus bottom-up approaches for organizational benefit

Top Down and Bottom Up Approaches

In different organizations different business strategies are utilized for different reasons. The top down and bottom up approaches are both utilized in different organizations for different reasons. The top down approach is where the organization breaks down a system to gain insight into its composition (Wikipedia, 2010). The bottom up approach is where the organization pieces together different pieces of their information system to gain information about the system and the company (Wikipedia, 2010). These two business approaches are often utilized by management when making decisions about the information systems and technology utilized by the organization. In this paper I will discuss both the top down and the bottom up approaches and how it utilized differently by organizations. I will also show how the top down approach offers more benefits.

Top down Approaches

The top down approach has been around for a long time and is a recognized approach. It is often utilized in the business-to-business (B2B) transactions. Software transactions, purchases and agreements are often very expensive; they cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Executive and decision makers in business organizations know the magnitude and cost of software acquisition therefore it is usually a decision that is made by the top decision makers. These executives make high level decisions about software purchases, make the purchases and then mandate that everyone in the organization must use the software (Yoskovitz, 2010).

Bottom up Approaches

The bottom up approach is often utilized by business organizations when dealing with business-to-customer (B2C) customer relationship. Businesses must sell their software product one at a time; they must sell to each individual customer or user. The bottom up approach is used because they are marketing to each individual customer. Businesses cannot market to one customer and expect the one customer to force everyone else to use that software. Businesses must market to each individual customer (Yoskovitz, 2010).

Beneficial Approach