Examining the strategic benefits of information systems: A global case study

In the context of the emerging evaluation of Information Systems (IS) as strategic enablers, this paper critically reviews the literature relating to the strategic benefits of IS. Understanding the importance of IS benefits can be significant in the development of strategy in an organisation, although most organisations have diverse environments and, likewise, diverse benefits for decision-makers. Thus, taxonomies of the benefits of IS are produced from both the academic literature and published case studies. In this way, a classification of benefits as they relate to organisational strategic focus has been developed to provide a greater understanding of the benefits needed to obtain a specific focus. The result of this paper is a taxonomy of IS benefits in the strategic focus of IS, using Y bank as a case study. This categorisation can support the evaluation of IS processes, which will, in turn, support decision-makers throughout the planning process

Strategic Information Systems Planning: A Literature Review

Strategic information systems planning (SISP) pertains to the process of creating plans for the deployment of information systems to fulfill corporate strategic objectives. Though practice of planning for Information Systems is in existence for more than four decades, SISP continues to be one of the major issues in the corporate environment with the increased focus on IS to gain competitive advantage. Numerous research articles have been written in the SISP area dealing with various issues involved therein. Research on SISP has evolved over a period of time with various themes dominating at different times. This research study will systematically examine the published research in the area of information systems planning to deduce the state of the art of the field and provides framework for future research

Strategic Alignment Impacts on Organizational Performance in Indonesian Banking IndustrY

Strategic alignment has attracted the attention of researchers and practitioners for the last 15 years. This paper reports findings from a survey on the impacts of strategic alignment on organizational performance in the Indonesian banking industry. The survey was conducted through internet-based and postal questionnaires sent to selected companies.Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is utilized to apprehend the strategic alignment concept as an emergent variable derived from the co-variation of  level of business strategy and level of IS/IT strategy. Hence, we explore the role of this emergent concept as a determinant of organizational performance. Analysis of the data reveals a generally positive impact towards the organizational performance

The Relationship between Knowledge Sharing Behavior and the Effectiveness of Information Systems Strategic Planning (ISSP): An Empirical Study in Taiwan

“Improving information systems strategic planning” remains among one of top ten issues facing IS/IT executives and corporate general managers. As e-business strategies have received growing attention from enterprises, information systems strategic planning (ISSP) is now considered critical in developing a successful e-strategy. However, numerous researchers have examined the relationship between various factors and the effectiveness of information systems strategic planning, the effects of knowledge sharing behavior on the effectiveness of information systems strategic planning still have little been examined. The main purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between knowledge sharing and the effectiveness of information systems strategic planning. Furthermore, we explore the factors influencing knowledge sharing behavior among stakeholders in the ISSP process. Data were collected by a questionnaire survey sent to the IS directors of 805 large companies in Taiwan. Survey results indicate that knowledge sharing behavior influence of the effectiveness of information systems strategic planning. The implications of this finding for practice and future research are also examined herein

Assessing the influence of management control on it performance-an empirical analysis

Control and governance of corporate IT departments have become quite critical in organizations due to enormous size of their expenditure. Surprisingly, this topic is rarely discussed in management accounting and IS literature. In this paper, we present a research model that examines the relationship between the design and use of management control systems and their direct or indirect impact on IT performance. Based on data from 58 organizations the model is tested using Partial Least Squares (PLS) analysis. As a result, we identify various types of management control information and controller capabilities that have a significant impact on IT performance

Strategic Information Systems Planning: An Empirical Evaluation of Its Dimensions

Strategic management of Information Technology (IT) has long been regarded as a critical component of business performance. This study addresses two objectives. Firstly we investigate the practice and effectiveness of Strategic Information Systems Planning (SISP) as a function of strategic management in 29 large Australian organizations. Secondly we review these results through a theoretical lens established by Segars et al. (1998) who identified six dimensions that provide a structured approach to reviewing the SISP process. Our results show that SISP was widely used in these 29 organizations in aspects such as planning associated with strategic IS investment and application, and whilst the theoretical review generally supported the literature, some amendments are required to the participation and focus dimensions suggested by Segars et al. (1998). Such results have implications for both practitioners and researchers

Defining CSFs for information systems strategic planning in holding companies: a case study of an Iranian managerial holding company (system group)

Holding companies (HCs) differ in their nature and behavior from other types of companies. Their role is to support, control and budget their subsidiaries. In general, HCs do not compete directly with one another, as it is difficult to find two HCs with the same product and service portfolios. Competition occurs instead at the subsidiary level against companies, which may or may not be part of other HCs, in overlapping markets with similar products and services. This concept of competition, which differs from that of typical commercial companies, is central to the development of HC strategies for supporting and controlling their subsidiaries. Information Systems Strategic Planning (ISSP) attempts to align information systems strategy with business strategy by directing the investment in information systems so as to satisfy strategic goals. Traditionally, ISSP methodologies have addressed the definition of information systems for Strategic Business Units (SBU). This research demonstrates, using a case study of an Iranian Managerial Holding Company, how ISSP can be applied instead to Strategic Business Processes (SBP). It illustrates how to define Critical Success Factors (CSFs) and Information System Needs (ISN) on Strategic Processes instead of Strategic Units. Moreover, this study combines the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) with a statistical questionnaire survey to define strategic processes

It takes two to tango: the fit between network context and inter-organizational strategic information systems planning

The view of evaluating Strategic Information Systems Planning (Grover & Segars, 2005) process and effectiveness has matured. However, the inter-organizational view or network view is understudied. The introduction of information strategy in networks seems more reactive than proactive; many organizations continue to use SISP as a way to support their internal decision-making process without actually cooperating with their business partners. This article aims to qualitatively explore and validate, respectively, context and process dimensions in two inter-organizational cases: a network of municipalities in Finland and a network of healthcare organizations in the Netherlands. The first case study explores the network context and theorizes how network context influences inter-organizational SISP, discovering that the inter-organisational SISP process is influenced by the context, especially by the role of trust and complexity. The second case study is the exploration of three process dimensions: contingency, certainty and contractual agreements

Business IT Alignment through the Lens of Complexity Science

Business IT alignment has been a top concern for academics and corporate managers for over 30 years. Despite a rich literature, it is still far from been an achieved objective in companies. Leveraging on the similarities between Information and Complex Systems, researchers have recently adopted a new perspective to study Information Systems and their alignment with business. The present study is based on an extensive literature review that spans three domains of research: Information Systems, Complexity Science, and Organization Science. The paper proposes to contribute to the study and implementation of alignment by presenting a classification framework for the different alignment approaches exploiting methods derived from Complexity Science. Four types of approaches to alignment are identified and for each of them the potential contribution to alignment dimensions is discussed