Example Model: Managerial Levers
Example Model: Managerial Levers
Business Strategy Business strategy drives organizational strategy and IS strategy. The organization and its IS should clearly support defined business goals and objectives.
• Definition: A well‐articulated vision of where a business seeks to go and how it expects to get there
• Example Models: Porter’s generic strategies model; dynamic environment models
Organizational Strategy Organizational strategy must complement business strategy. The way a business is organized either supports the implementation of its business strategy or it gets in the way.
• Definition: The organization’s design, as well as the choices it makes to define, set up, coordinate, and control its work processes
• Example Model: managerial levers
IS Strategy IS strategy must complement business strategy. When IS support business goals, the business appears to be working well. IS strategy can itself affect and is affected by changes in a firm’s business and organizational strategies. Moreover, IS strategy always has consequences—intended or not—on business and organizational strategies.
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29Discussion Questions
Definition: The plan the organization uses in providing information systems and services
• Models: A basic framework for understanding IS decisions for platform, applications, network and data‐relating architecture (the “what”), and the other resource considerations (“who” and “where”) that represent important planning constraints
Strategic Relationships Organizational strategy and information strategy must complement each other. They must be designed so that they support, rather than hinder, each other. If a decision is made to change one corner of the triangle, it is necessary to evaluate the other two corners to ensure that balance is preserved. Changing business strategy without thinking through the effects on the organization and IS strategies will cause the business to struggle until balance is restored. Likewise, changing IS or the organization alone will cause an imbalance.
D I S C U S S I O N Q U E S T I O N S 1. Why is it important for business strategy to drive organizational strategy and IS strategy? What might happen if the business
strategy was not the driver?
2.
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