MIS 495 IT and Strategy

1
MIS 495IT and Strategy

• Dr. Steve Ross
• Winter 2008

Based on Chapter 1 of Applegate, Austin, and
McFarlan, Corporate Information Strategy and
Management, 7th ed., 2007.
2
Business Model

• How an organization interacts with its
  environment
• Unique strategy
• Attract resources
• Build capabilities
• to create value for all stakeholders

3
Strategy Audit

• Strategic positions define
• Market/channel
• Product
• Value chain/value network
• Boundary

4
Competitive Forces

• What do the customers want?
• What do competitors provide?
• What is our unique product and/or market?
• What will we do, and what will we seek from
  others (suppliers, designers, fulfillment,
  retail, )?
• Core activities
• Lower cost / higher quality if done by self
• Cost / risk for self lt cost / risk for outside
• What is the context?

5
Strategic Shifts

• Enhance
• Incremental change to existing product or service
• Expand
• Launch of new product or service
• Extend
• Launch of a new business
• Exit
• Drop product, market, or business

6
Putting Strategy into Action

• Initiatives
• Projects

7
Strategic Grid
8
Strategic Alignment

• Strategy domain
• Context
• Purpose
• Positioning
• Projects
• Goals
• Capabilities domain
• Leadership
• People/partners
• Processes
• Organization
• Infrastructure

• Business as a whole
• Strategy
• Capabilities
• Information Technology function
• Strategy
• Capabilities

9
Strategic Alignment

• What do we want to do?
• Determine strategic alignment between Business
  and IT
• Do we have the capabilities?
• Determine capability match between Business and
  IT
• Do capabilities match strategy?
• Within Business
• Within IT

10
Opportunity ? Risk

• Opportunity
• Attractive, durable, timely
• Anchored in a product or service that creates or
  adds value for the buyer or end user (p. 40)
• Evaluating an opportunity
• Change basis of competition?
• Change balance of power buyers/suppliers?
• Build or reduce barriers to entry?
• Increase or decrease switching costs?
• Add value to existing or create new?

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Opportunity ? Risk

• Risk
• Can an emerging technology disrupt current
  business models?
• Are we too early or too late to exploit an IT
  opportunity?
• Does IT lower entry barriers?
• Does IT trigger regulatory action?
• (p. 49)