Abstract
The paper depicts the current state of IS strategy research with the aim of identifying research needs as well as appropriate ways to study IS strategy in the future. To this end, the paper introduces the results of an extensive analysis of academic literature on IS-strategy. In addition, it sheds light on current practice as uncovered in case-study research and through in-depth interviews with IS strategy professionals. A comparison reveals that the issues prevalent in practice and the ones traditionally focused on in the academic debate on IS strategy often vary considerably. A conspicuous attempt to fill this is the so-called “Strategizing” framework put forward by Robert Galliers. This framework, which is receiving increasing attention in the current academic debate, calls for a practice turn in IS strategy research in that it treats strategy as something people or, more precisely, IS strategists do. In addition, by identifying the challenges and problems IS strategists are faced with, the framework intends to better reflect the new planning conditions which are often seen as characteristics of the information age. The framework distinguishes three general problem domains of IS strategizing: exploration, exploitation, as well as implementation and change management.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
We prefer to speak of an IS strategy. Thus we intend to avoid overemphasizing either the technological means (IT) or the ends to which they are employed (i.e., information provided and exchanged). The term IS strategy simultaneously expresses that information and technology are used in pursuit of business purposes and that they are embedded into the organization. Information Systems are socio-technical systems and as such constitute themselves through the relations between business information needs, the users and the technology employed.
References
Aier S, Riege C, Winter R (2008) Unternehmensarchitektur – Literaturüberblick und Stand der Praxis. WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK 50(4):293–304
Aier S, Krupjuweit JS, Winter R (2009) Enterprise architecture design as an engineering discipline. AIS Transactions on Enterprise Systems 1(1):36–43
Allen DK, Wilson TD (1996) Information strategies in UK higher education institutions. International Journal of Information Management 16(4):239–251
Ansoff HI (1994) Comment on Henry Mintzberg’s rethinking strategic planning. Long Range Planning 27(3):31–32
Arthur Andersen & Co (1982) Method/1. An information systems methodology. Subject file AA4665, Item 57, Arthur Anderson, Chicago
Auer T, Reponen T (1997) Information systems strategy formation embedded into a continuous organizational learning process. Information Resources Management Journal 10(2):32–43
Baker B (1995) The role of feedback in assessing information systems planning effectiveness. Journal of Strategic Information Systems 4(1):61–80
Boddy D, Boonstra A, Kennedy G (2005) Managing information systems: strategy and organization, 2nd edn. Pearson Education, Harlow
Brady T, Cameron R, Targett D, Beaumont C (1992) Strategic IT issues: the views of some major IT investors. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems 1(4):183–189
Brown ITJ (2004) Testing and extending theory in strategic information systems planning through literature analysis. Information Resources Management Journal 17(4):20–48
Brown ITJ (2010) Strategic information systems planning: comparing espoused beliefs with practice. In: Alexander PM, Turpin M, van Deventer JP (eds) Proc 18th European conference on information systems. Pretoria
Buhl HU, Fridgen G, König W, Röglinger M, Wagner C (2012) Where’s the competitive advantage in strategic information systems research? Making the case for boundary-spanning research based on the German business and information systems engineering tradition. Journal of Strategic Information Systems 21(2):172–178
Buxmann P, König W (1998) Das Standardisierungsproblem: Zur ökonomischen Auswahl von Standards in Informationssystemen. WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK 40(2):122–129
Carr NG (2003) IT doesn’t matter. Harvard Business Review 81(5):41–49
Castells M (2009) The rise of the network society. The information age, 2nd edn. Economy, society, and culture, vol I. Blackwell, Malden
Cavaye ALM, Cragg PB (1993) Strategic information systems research: a review and research framework. Journal of Strategic Information Systems 2(2):125–137
Chan JE, Reich BH (2007) IT alignment: what have we learned? Journal of Information Technology 22(4):297–315
Chan YE, Huff SL, Barclay WW, Copeland DG (1997) Business strategic orientation, information systems strategic orientation and strategic alignment. Information Systems Research 8(2):125–150
Chen D, Mocker M, Preston DS, Teubner RA (2010) Information systems strategy: reconceptualization, measurement, and implications. MIS Quarterly 34(2):233–259
Cheon MJ, Grover V, Teng JTC (1995) Theoretical perspectives on the outsourcing of information systems. Journal of Information Technology 10(4):209–219
Chi L, Jones KG, Lederer AL, Pengtao L, Newkirk HE, Sethi V (2005) Environmental assessment in strategic information systems planning. International Journal of Information Management 25(3):253–269
Ciborra C (1997) De Profundis? Deconstructing the concept of strategic alignment. Scandinavian Journal of Information Systems 9(1):57–82
Ciborra C (2001) From control to drift: the dynamics of corporate information infrastructure. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Clark C, Clark J, Gambill S, Fielder B (2000) Strategic information systems planning paradoxes. Information Strategy: The Executive’s Journal 17(1):27–31
Conrath DW, Ang JK, Mattay S (1992) Strategic planning for information systems: a survey of Canadian organizations. Informatica 30(4):364–378
Das SR, Zahra SA, Warkentin ME (1991) Integrating the content and process of strategic MIS planning with competitive strategy. Decision Sciences 22(5):953–984
De Vaujany FX (2008) Strategic alignment: what else? A practice based view of IS value. In: Proc 29th international conference on information systems, Paris
Doherty NF, Marples CG, Suhaimi A (1999) The relative success of alternative approaches to strategic information systems planning: an empirical analysis. Journal of Strategic Information Systems 8(3):263–283
Duhan S, Levy M, Powell P (2001) Information systems strategies in knowledge-based SMEs: the role of core competencies. European Journal of Information Systems 10(1):25–40
Earl MJ (1989) Management strategies for information technology. Prentice Hall, Essex
Earl MJ (1996) Integrating IS and the organization. In: Earl MJ (ed) Information management: the organizational dimension. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 485–502
Earl MJ (2000) Every business is an information business. In: Marchand DA, Davenport TH (eds) Mastering information management. Financial times. Prentice Hall, London, pp 16–22
Earl MJ (2003) Integrating business and IT strategy: reframing the applications development portfolio. In: Luftman JN (ed) Competing in the information age: align in the sand, 2nd edn. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 51–61
Flynn DJ, Goleniewska EA (1993) Survey of the use of strategic information systems planning approaches in UK organisations. Journal of Strategic Information Systems 2(2):292–319
Galliers RD (1991) Strategic information systems planning: myths, reality and guidelines for successful implementation. European Journal of Information Systems 1(1):55–64
Galliers RD (1993) Towards a flexible information architecture: integrating business strategies, information systems strategies and business process redesign. Journal of Information Systems 3(3):199–213
Galliers RD (1999) Editorial: towards the integration of e-business, knowledge management and policy consideration within an information systems strategy framework. Journal of Strategic Information Systems 8(3):229–234
Galliers RD (2006) Strategizing for agility: confronting information systems inflexibility in dynamic environments. In: De Souza K (ed) Agile information systems. Butterworth Heinemann, Oxford, pp 1–15
Galliers RD (2011) Further developments in information systems strategizing: unpacking the concept. In: Galliers RD, Currie W (eds) The Oxford handbook of management information systems: critical perspectives and new directions. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 229–245
Galliers RD, Newell S (2003) Strategy as data plus sense-making. In: Wilson DC, Cummings S (eds) Images of strategy. Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, pp 164–196
Galliers RD, Merali Y, Spearing L (1994) Coping with information technology? How British executives perceive the key information systems management issues in the mid 1990s. Journal of Information Technology 9(3):223–238
Gibson CF, Nolan RL (1974) Managing the four stages of EDP growth. Harvard Business Review 52(1):115–126
Gottschalk P (1999) Implementation predictors of strategic information systems plans. Information and Management 36(2):77–91
Gottschalk P, Solli-Saether H (2005) Critical success factors from IT outsourcing theories: an empirical study. Industrial Management and Data Systems 105(6):685–702
Grover V, Segars AH (2005) An empirical evaluation of stages of strategic information systems planning: patterns of process design and effectiveness. Information and Management 42(5):761–779
Hackney R, Burn J, Dhillon EC (2000) Challenging assumptions for strategic information systems planning: theoretical perspectives. Comm AIS 3(1):9
Hartono E, Lederer AL, Sethi V, Zhuang Y (2003) Key predictors of the implementation of strategic information systems plans. The Database for Advances in Information Systems 34(3):41–53
Hatten ML, Hatten KJ (1997) Information systems strategy: long overdue – and still not here. Long Range Planning 30(2):254–266
Hay G, Munoz R (1997) Establishing an IT architecture strategy. Information Systems Management 14(3):67–69
Heilmann H, Heinrich LJ, Roithmayr F (1996) Information Engineering. Wirtschaftsinformatik im Schnittpunkt von Wirtschafts-, Sozial- und Ingenieurwissenschaften. Oldenbourg, München
Henderson JC, Sifonis JG (1988) The value of strategic IS planning: understanding consistency, validity, and IS markets. MIS Quarterly 12(2):187–200
Henderson JC, Venkatraman N (1989) Strategic alignment: a framework for strategic information technology management. CISR working paper No. 190, Center for Information Systems Research, Sloan School of Management, Cambridge
Henderson JC, Venkatraman N (1993) Strategic alignment: leveraging information technology for transforming organizations. IBM Systems Journal 32(1):4–16
Hildebrand K (1994) Strategische Informationssystemplanung (SISP). WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK 36(1):69–73
Hoey A (1998) Inside the RUC: information technology and policing in Northern Ireland. International Review of Law Computers 12(1):15–26
IBM (1984) Business systems planning: information systems planning guide. GE20-0527-4, 4th edn. IBM Corporation, Atlanta
ITGI (2008) IT governance global status report 2008. ISACA/IT. Governance Institute, Rolling Meadows
ITGI (2011) IT status report on the governance of enterprise IT (GEIT) – 2011. ISACA/IT. Governance Institute, Rolling Meadows
Ives B, Learmonth GP (1984) The information system as a competitive weapon. Comm ACM 27(12):1193–1201
Jarzabkowski P, Balogun J, Seidl D (2007) Strategizing: the challenge of a practice perspective. Human Relations 60(5):5–25
Johnson G, Melin L, Whittington R (2003) Micro strategy and strategizing: towards an activity-based view (guest editor’s introduction). Journal of Management Studies 40(1):3–22
Kaucky G, Niedereichholz J (1988) Strategische Planung betrieblicher Informationssysteme unter Berücksichtigung des informationstechnologischen Angebotes. Angewandte Informatik 30(6):235–236
Kettinger WJ, Grover V, Guha S, Segars AH (1994) Strategic information systems revisited: a study in sustainability and performance. MIS Quarterly 18(1):31–58
King WR, Teo TSH (2000) Assessing the impact of proactive versus reactive modes of strategic information systems planning. Omega 28(6):667–680
Kurbel K, Eicker S, Kersten F, Schnieder T, Teubner A (1994) I-CASE bei der Entwicklung eines großen Informationssystems: eine Information-Engineering-Fallstudie. WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK 36(2):130–144
Laurence S, Margolis E (1999) Concepts and cognitive science. In: Margolis E, Laurence S (eds) Concepts: core readings. MIT Press, Cambridge, pp 3–81
Lederer AL, Gardiner V (1992) The process of strategic information planning. Journal of Strategic Information Systems 1(2):76–84
Lederer AL, Mendelow AL (1993) Information systems strategic planning and the challenge of shifting priorities. Information and Management 24(6):319–328
Lederer AL, Salmela H (1996) Toward a theory of strategic information systems planning. Journal of Strategic Information Systems 5(3):237–253
Lederer AL, Sethi V (1988) The implementation of strategic information systems planning methodologies. MIS Quarterly 12(3):444–461
Lee GG, Hsu WL (2009) The evolution of planning for information systems. In: King WR (ed) Planning for information system. ME Sharpe, Armonk
Lehner F (1993) Informatik-Strategien: Entwicklung, Einsatz und Erfahrungen. Hanser, München
Lehner F (2003) Informationsgesellschaft und wissensbasierte Volkswirtschaft: Bilder des wirtschaftlichen und sozialen Wandels. In: Institut Arbeit und Technik (eds) IAT Jahrbuch 2002/2003. Institut Arbeit und Technik, Gelsenkirchen, pp 55–76
Lehner F (2005) “Alte” und “neue” Industrie. In: Institut Arbeit und Technik (eds) IAT Jahrbuch 2005. Institut Arbeit und Technik, Gelsenkirchen, pp 8–28
Leidner DE, Lo J, Preston D (2011) An empirical investigation of the relationship of IS strategy with firm performance. Journal of Strategic Information Systems 20(4):419–437
Luftman J, Ben-Zvi T (2011) Key issues for IT executives 2011: cautious optimism in uncertain economic times. MIS Quarterly Executive 10(4):203–212
Luftman J, Kempaiah R, Nash E (2006) Key issues for IT executices 2005. MIS Quarterly Executive 5(2):27–45
Maier JL (1997) Rethinking strategic information systems. Information Systems Management 14(4):42–48
Martin J (1989) Information engineering. Book 1: Introduction. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs
Mata FJ, Fuerst WL, Barney JB (1995) Information technology and sustained competitive advantage: a resource-based analysis. MIS Quarterly 19(4):487–505
McAfee A, Brynjolfsson E (2008) Investing in the IT that makes a competitive difference. Harvard Business Review 86(7–8):98–107
McFarlan FW, McKenney JL, Pyburn P (1983) The information archipelago – plotting a course. Harvard Business Review 6(1):145–156
McGee K, Plummer DC, Comport J, Tully J, Hafner B, Mahoney J, Fenn J, Morello D, McDonald MP, Prentice S, Kutnik D (2005) The Gartner scenario 2005: IT leaders’ next big decisions. Gartner Inc
Melville N, Kraemer K, Gurbaxani V (2004) Review: information technology and organizational performance: an integrative model of IT business value. MIS Quarterly 28(2):283–322
Merali Y, Papadopoulos T, Nadkarni T (2012) Information systems strategy: past, present, future? Journal of Strategic Information Systems 21(2):125–153
Mintzberg H (1990) Strategy formulation. Schools of thought. In: Frederickson JW (ed) Perspectives on strategic management. Harper Business, Grand Rapids, pp 105–235
Mintzberg H (1994) Rethinking strategic planning. Long Range Planning 27(3):12–21 (Part I) und 22–30 (Part II)
Mocker M (2007) Defining the content of information strategy: linking theory and practice. Doctoral dissertation, Information Systems Department, University of Münster. http://miami.uni-muenster.de/servlets/DerivateServlet/Derivate-4151/diss_mocker.pdf, Accessed 2012-06-04
Mocker M, Teubner RA (2006) Information strategy – research and reality. In: Ljungberg J, Andersson M (eds) Proc 14th European conference on information systems. Goteborg, Sweden
Newkirk HE, Lederer AL (2006) The effectiveness of strategic information systems planning under environmental uncertainty. Information and Management 43(4):481–501
Newkirk HE, Lederer AL, Srinivasan C (2003) Strategic information systems planning: too little or too much? Journal of Strategic Information Systems 12(3):201–228
O’Connor AD (1993) Successful strategic information systems planning. Journal of Information Systems 3(2):71–83
O’Reilly C, Tushman M (2004) The ambidextrous organization. Harvard Business Review 82(4):74–81
Österle H, Winter R (2003) Business Engineering. Auf dem Weg zum Unternehmen des Informationszeitalters, 2nd edn. Springer, Heidelberg
Parsons GL (1983) Fitting information systems technology to the corporate needs: the linking strategy. Teaching note 9-183-176, Harvard Business School, Boston
Piccoli G, Ives B (2005) IT-dependent strategic initiatives and sustained competitive advantage: a review and a synthesis of the literature. MIS Quarterly 29(4):747–776
Picot A, Reichwald R, Wigand R (2008) Information, organization and management. Springer, Berlin
Porter ME, Millar VE (1985) How information gives you competitive advantage. Harvard Business Review 63(4):149–160
Potter K, Smith M, Guevara JK, Hall L, Stegman E (2011) IT metrics: IT spending and staffing report, 2011. G00210146, Gartner Inc
Powell TC, Dent-Micaleff A (1997) Information technology as competitive advantage: the role of humans, business, and technology resources. Strategic Management Journal 18(5):375–405
Rackoff N, Wiseman C, Ullrich WA (1985) Information systems for competitive advantage: implementation of a planning process. MIS Quarterly 9(4):285–294
Reponen T (1994) Organizational information management strategies. Information Systems Journal 4(1):27–44
Rockart J (1979) Chief executives define their own information needs. Harvard Business Review 57(2):81–92
Roithmayr F, Wendner J (1992) Ergebnisse einer empirischen Studie über den Zusammenhang zwischen Unternehmensstrategie und Informationssystem-Strategie. WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK 34(5):472–480
Ross JW (2004) Enterprise architecture: driving business benefits from IT. CISR working paper Nr. 359 and MIT Sloan working paper 4614-06, Center for Information Systems Research, Sloan School of Management, Cambridge
Sabherwal R, King W (1995) An empirical taxonomy of the decision-making processes concerning strategic applications of information systems. Journal of Management Information Systems 11(4):177–214
Salmela H, Spil TAM (2002) Dynamic and emergent information systems strategy formulation and implementation. International Journal of Information Management 22(6):441–460
Salmela H, Lederer AL, Reponen T (2000) Information systems planning in a turbulent environment. European Journal of Information Systems 9(1):3–15
Schmid BF (2001) What is new about the digital economy? International Journal of Electronic Markets 11(1):44–51
Schumann M, Hohe U (1988) Nutzeffekte strategischer Informationsverarbeitung. Angewandte Informatik 30(12):515–523
Segars AH, Grover V (1999) Profiles of strategic information systems planning. Information Systems Research 10(3):199–232
Senn JA (1992) The myths of strategic systems: what defines true competitive advantage? Information Systems Management 9(3):7–12
Smits MT, van der Poel KG, Ribbers PMA (1997) Assessment of information strategies in insurance companies in the Netherlands. Journal of Strategic Information Systems 6(2):129–148
Steininger K, Riedl R, Roithmayr F, Mertens P (2009) Moden und Trends in Wirtschaftsinformatik und Information Systems. WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK 51(6):478–495
Szyperski N (1981) Geplante Antwort der Unternehmung auf den informations- und kommunikationstechnischen Wandel. In: Frese E, Schmitz P, Szyperski N (eds) Organisation, Planung, Informationssysteme. Poeschel, Stuttgart, pp 177–195
Tanriverdi H (2005) Information technology relatedness, knowledge management capability, and performance of multibusiness firms. MIS Quarterly 29(2):311–334
Tanriverdi H, Rai A, Venkatramen N (2010) Reframing the dominant quest of information systems strategy research for complex adaptive business systems. Research commentary. Information Systems Research 21(4):822–834
Teo TSH, Ang JSK (2000) How useful are strategic plans for information systems? Behaviour and Information Technology 19(4):275–282
Teo TSH, Ang JSK (2001) An examination of major IS planning problems. International Journal of Information Management 21(6):457–470
Teubner RA (2003) Information Engineering. WISU – Das Wirtschaftsstudium 32(8):1061–1070
Teubner RA (2006) IT/Business Alignment. WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK 48(5):368–371
Teubner RA (2007) Strategic information systems planning: a case study from the financial services industry. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems 16(1):105
Teubner RA, Mocker M (2005) Strategic information planning – insights from an action research project in the financial services industry. ERCIS working paper No 3, Münster ERCIS working paper
Teubner RA, Mocker M (2008) A literature overview on strategic information systems planning. ERCIS working paper No 6, Münster
Teubner RA, Mocker M (2009) Towards a comprehensive model of information strategy. In: Galliers RD, Leidner DE (eds) Strategic information management: challenges and strategies in managing information systems, 4th edn. Chapman & Hall, London, pp 147–170
Teubner AR, Pellengahr RA (2013) The IS-strategy divide and its implications for research. ERCIS working paper No 16, Münster
Teubner RA, Mocker M, Pellengahr RA (2009) Information strategy: confronting research with practice. In: King WR (ed) Planning for information systems. Sharpe, Armonk, pp 387–412
Teubner RA, Pellengahr AR, Mocker M (2012) The IT strategy divide: professional practice and academic debate. ERCIS working paper No 12, Münster
Ward JM (2012) Information systems strategy: Quo vadis? Journal of Strategic Information Systems 21(2):165–171
Ward J, Peppard J (2002) Strategic planning for information systems, 2nd edn. Wiley, Chichester
Watson RT, Kelly GG, Galliers RD, Brancheau JC (1997) Key issues in Information systems management: an international perspective. Journal of Management Information Systems 13(4):91–115
Webster J, Watson RT (2002) Analyzing the past to prepare for the future: writing a literature review. MIS Quarterly 26(2):XII–XXIII
Weill P, Subramani M, Broadbent M (2002) Building IT infrastructure strategic agility. Sloan Management Review 44(1):57–65
Wexelblat RL, Srinivasan N (1999) Planning for information technology in a federated organization. Information and Management 35(5):265–282
Whittington R (1996) Strategy as practice. Long Range Planning 29(5):731–735
Whittington R (2006) Completing the practice turn in strategy research. Organization Studies 27(5):613–634
Wilson T (1991) Overcoming the barriers to the implementation of information system strategies. Journal of Information Technology 6(1):39–44
Wiseman C (1985) Strategy and computers: information systems as competitive weapons. Dow Jones-Irwin, Homewood
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Accepted after three revisions by Prof. Dr. Peter Buxmann.
This article is also available in German in print and via http://www.wirtschaftsinformatik.de: Teubner RA (2013) Informationssystem-Strategie. Theorie, Praxis und Herausforderungen an die Forschung. WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK. doi: 10.1007/s11576-013-0374-2.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Teubner, R.A. Information Systems Strategy. Bus Inf Syst Eng 5, 243–257 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12599-013-0279-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12599-013-0279-z