IS Strategy: Strategic Development Process

Strategy is defined as a plan of action to achieve a position of advantage and meet organizational goals (Mintzberg 1987) . IS strategy is considered an output of the strategic development process . The classical quadrant of strategy determines the approach for IS strategy, which refers to an organisational perspective on the investment in , deployment , use and management of information systems (Mintzberg 1987) . IS strategy is of central importance to IS practitioners and researchers . Prior literature suggest that we operationalize IS strategy in terms of a shared organizational perspective and view Information system as an enabler of innovation ( McFarlan et al. 1983; Tai and Phelps 2000), while some view IS playing a supporting role in

2001; Atkins 1994; Hatten and Hatten 1997; Hidding 2001). (Porter,1960) suggested the generic strategy framework, where the IS strategy help organizations improve its cost position through IS initiatives (Brady and Targett 1995). IS strategy should considered as an integral strategy and not only support but push the business strategy to achieve potential impact on organisational performance (Agarwal and Sambamurthy 2002; Galliers 2004; Preston and Karahanna 2009b). The second conception provides a broader view of IS strategy and is highly prevalent in existing literature which focuses on the IS strategy to run the IS function planning efficiently and effectively. According to Mintzberg the aim of IS strategy plan is to identify the required IS assets, efficiently allocate the IS assets and this conception also helps understand the two subdomains of (Earl,1989) triangle model, which contains IT strategy to direct effective management of IS resources and IM strategy to develop technology architecture and policies. The assumptions underlying this second conception suggests that IS strategy is assigned as functional strategy rather than organizational

(Chen et al ) proposes a new typology of IS strategy which is consistent with the third conception of IS strategy( ie. IS role as a shared view within the organization) and suggests to operationalize IS strategy. According to him some firms seek to view IS as an enabler of innovation, emphasis is on ways in which firm seeks to innovate with IS resources and the IS strategy is operationalised as a shared organizational perspective. Within this IS strategic typology there are two types of defined IS strategies: IS innovators and IS conservatives, adopted by mindful organisations and the IS innovative strategy they pursue have better presumption to organizational outcomes (Swanson and Ramiller , 2004). IS innovators seek to be innovative, engage in exploration and present an organizational perspective through new IS initiatives . IS innovators have consistent strategic perspective to be an IS leader within its industry, they are the first to explore, develop and benefit from innovative IS initiatives . Companies like Dell Computer and Walmart are IS leaders within their respective industries, as they constantly engage in innovative IS strategy which is important for the success of the organization (Piccoli and Ives