IS 4407:IS Strategy &

Management
Six Stages of IT Strategic Management:
Kovacevic & Majluf [Sloan Management Review – Summer
1993].

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 IT Strategic Management
• “A change of approach is needed. Rather than think of IT projects,
the public sector needs to think in terms of projects to change the
way Government works, of which new IT is an important part. Our
recommendations aim to achieve this change.”

• “The change in approach described …… is about bringing in a

focus on business change. This means that, when organisations
are managing programmes and projects, it is vital they
concentrate on how to deliver improvements to the way they do
business. Too often we have seen an approach that looks only at
part of the change programme (for example, bringing in new
technology) and does not integrate this with other elements (such
as culture change) or take an overall view of the whole change
process. Achieving and maintaining this integration is a vital, and
ongoing, management task.”
(“REVIEW OF MAJOR GOVERNMENT IT PROJECTS – Successful IT: Modernising Government in Action” The McCartney Report, 2003)

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 IT Strategic Management Contd …
• Methodologies
– Approach: to anything & everything that can be encapsulated for a discipline or
series of processes, activities & tasks e.g. s’ware development; Proj Mgnt; Business
Process fields.

– Stages & Steps > typically waterfall

– Documentation + Online Support
– Logic behind which stages & steps and order in
which they are taken. Concepts; theories; assumptions; philosophies;
theories; rationale…

– Experience. Hints, FAQ, Case studies,

explanations ….

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 IT Strategic Management Contd …
• Methodologies contd….
– Tools & Techniques
– Models
– Commercial use of Methodologies

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 IT Strategic Management Contd …
• Conditions for Effective IT Strategic Management (compare items to
previous Articles / Authors)

– Formulation Issues:
• Iterative and hierarchical (M’berg)
• Multiple time horizons (Porter + Eisendhart ….)
• Action focused (M’berg on For. + Imp. …. +decision making…)
• Commitment of participants
• Establishment of planning Team (Leadership …)
• Establish Role of IT
• ID opportunities (Esp Eisenhardt + some of Porter)
• Prioritise strategic options (Porter’s “Trade Offs” + Eisenhardt
boundary & Priority rules)

– What other items were highlighted as being important but not

addressed in the literature? (bottom RHS, 1st page)

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 IT Strategic Management Contd …
• Organisational Terms:
– Corporate > overall organisation
perspective
– Business > “line” / core business activities
– Functional> support activities
• IT Strategic planning is NOT:
– Just a technical activity
– Just an IT concern

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 IT Strategic Management Contd …
• Some key approaches to IT Strategy Formulation:
– Establish the role of IT in the organisation
– Business understanding
– Partnership > shared view
– Communication & consultation
– Agreed problems and opportunities
– Priorities
– Arrive at shared view
– Alignment

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 IT Strategic Management Contd …
• For each of the Six Stages write-up a
summary along the following headings:
– Objectives / outputs
– Inputs or conditions to complete
– Key issues for consideration
– Broad approach / techniques

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 IT Strategic Management Contd …
• Stage 1: Firm Strategy:
– Determine Corporate Strategy + SBU’s ( Mintzberg +Porter…)
– Determine Functional Strategies + Strategic IT Units
– In Table 3, what other / newer technologies would you include here?
• Stage II: External Analysis:
– IT Systems supporting Industry?
– Step 6: Interorganisational Systems?
– Uses of ICT by other Firms in Sector!
• Stage III: Internal Scrutiny:
• IT as an enabler of Competitive Advantage.
• Current Assessment: knowing where you are!
• Process improvement – innovation.
• Product / Service innovation.

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 IT Strategic Management Contd …
• Stage IV: Formulation & Assessment
– Possibility
EMC, Ryanair…)
of IT leading innovation – can you think of examples? (Dell,
– Defining and implementing Action Programmes: see slides below
– Typical components of an IT Architecture: the technical dimension to
IT Strategy
• Communications
• Operations / systems
• Applications: functionality; integration??
• Data
• Security

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IT Strategic Management Contd …
– Some issues on IT Delivery:
• Sourcing – make or buy?
• “bleeding edge” or tested!
• Rationalising and creating synergies porter’s value chain &
activities! Rationalise the process / set of activities, enabled by IT…. .
• Costs Vs service delivery: the central / decentralised IT
org debate. Cost drivers > central infrastructure + standards with portfolio
management …and local application deployment….

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 IT Strategic Management Contd …
• Stage V: Assessment of Financial Needs

– CBA!
– Justification of Infrastructure?
– Total Cost of Ownership!
– Resource allocation models – De/Central.
Outsourced or other!
– Capital Vs Revenue balance

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 IT Strategic Management Contd …
• Stage 6:Internalisation?
– The Rational Vs Human debate (Mintzberg …)
– What motivates people at work?
– Impacts for the IT Group of new Strategies:
• Role of ICT & org culture / strategic imperatives!
• Cross functional working teams …etc … .
• The Nature of IT Projects and the need for Strategic
Alignment: tech Vs business!
• “Doing the Right Thing Vs doing something the right way” >
key to understanding strategy. (see slide below)

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 IT Strategic Management Contd …
• Summary:

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IT Strategic Management Contd …
• Implementation perspective

(Logica CMG)
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 IT Strategic Management Contd …
• World-wide Survey Results – Ideal Vs Actual approach to
implementing programmes of work.

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