The Merrill Lynch cash management account financial service: a case study in strategic information systems

The authors believe that this rigorous analysis of the CMA case can provide insight into the phenomenon of strategic information systems.

Abstract

The authors discuss aspects of Merrill Lynch's cash management account (CMA) financial service that have not received attention in previous reports. These include the industrial and organizational context in which the CMA financial service was conceived and developed, the reaction of competitors and the factors that influenced that reaction, and the impact of central asset accounts on the industry. The authors believe that this rigorous analysis of the CMA case can provide insight into the phenomenon of strategic information systems.>