Information Systems

1
Chapter 5

• Information Systems
• and
• Strategic Planning

2
Learning Objectives

• To understand
• what a Management Information System is
• what role a Management Information System plays
  within an organisation
• strategy and strategic planning
• what Strategic Management is

3
The MIS Question ?

• Question What is a Management Information System
  ?
• Answer The basic concept of a management
  information system is that of a system that
  provides, to all levels of management,
  information that is accurate, relevant and timely
  for the support of the process of management.

4
The MIS Triangle
5
Information Management

• Information management depends on the following
• Governance Governance or information politics,
  is used not only to exercise authority but is an
  art for achieving corporate consensus. It guides
  how individuals and groups cooperate to achieve
  business objectives.
• Business Plan Alignment IT business plans must
  be congruent with the organizations business
  plan or the worth of the IT plan will always be
  suspect.

6
Management Information Systems

• Within organizations today the most valuable
  commodity they possess is information.
• A management information system is a valuable
  resource to the entire organisation.
• A management information system should be used by
  everyone within the organisation if they have the
  need.

7
What is a Strategy ?
Question What is a Strategy? Strategy is a
broad based formula for how business is going to
compete, what its goals should be, and what
policies will be needed to carry out those goals.
The essence of formulating competitive strategy
is relating a company to its environment, M. E.
Porter, (1980 ) Strategic decisions are
concerned with The scope of an
organizations activities The matching of an
organizations activities to its environment
The matching of an organizations activities to
its resource capability The allocation and
reallocation of major resources in an
organisation The values, expectations and
goals of those influencing strategy The
direction in which the organisation will move in
the long term. G. Johnson K Scholes, (1989)
8
Strategy

• Strategy is the pattern of resource allocation
  decisions made throughout an organisation. These
  encapsulate both desired goals and beliefs about
  what are acceptable and, most critically,
  unacceptable means for achieving them.
• (Robson,97)
• Therefore, it is always possible to see what an
  organisations strategy is by inspection of the
  whole of what is does.

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Types of Strategy
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Corporate Strategy

• Provides the framework for the business style
  that reflects the business strategy and
  influences the business strategy in terms of
• Outsourcing
• Diversification
• Scale
• Scope
• Deals with the entire organisation. (Robson,97)

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Business Strategy

• Business strategy is the intent of the business,
  that is, the way the business wishes to go.
• It deals with a single business unit, i.e. a unit
  within the organisation
• Porter (1985) classified business strategies as
  either cost leadership or differentiation of
  products and may encompass an entire market or be
  focused on a particular part of it.

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Strategic Management

• Question What is Strategic Management ?
• Strategic management is a systematic approach to
  a major and increasingly important responsibility
  for general management to position and relate the
  firm to its environment in a way which will
  assure its continued success and make it secure
  from surprises. H. I. Ansoff,
  (1984), Implanting Strategic Management,
  Prentice-Hall.
• Strategic management is a stream of decisions
  and actions which leads to the development of an
  effective strategy or strategies to help achieve
  corporate objectives.
  W F Gleck
  L R Jaunch, (1984), Business Policy and Strategic
  Management, Prentice-Hall.
• Strategic management is the decision process
  that aligns the organizations internal
  capability with the opportunities and threats it
  faces in its environment. A J Rowe et al,
  (1989), Strategic Management, Addison-Wesley.

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Strategic Management

• Deriving and describing the strategy
• Applicable to all organisations large or small
• Includes the entire organisation
• Looks past the day-to-day running of the company
• Focuses on the long-term prospects and
  development.

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Elements of Strategic Management(Robson,97)
Formulation of strategy itself
Often referred to as tactics
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ANALYSIS

• What is occurring or will occur in the business
  environment and what will be its effect on the
  organisation. Changes will be economic, social,
  technological and competitive.
• Resources - physical, financial skills available
  in order to determine strengths and weaknesses of
  organisation.
• Culture or organisation, management style, power
  of individuals and groups.

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STRATEGIC CHOICE

• Generates number of possible strategies, evaluate
  and select.
• STRATEGIC IMPLEMENTATION
• deployment of resources, analysis and
  implementation of changes needed in
  organisational structure.
• The strategy must be a product of what the people
  involved want the organisation to be, to do and
  to achieve.

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What Is the Difference Between Strategic Planning
and Strategic Management?

• 1. Strategic planning is focused on making
  optimal strategy decisions, while strategic
  management is focused on producing strategic
  results new markets, new products and/or new
  technologies. To paraphrase Peter Drucker,
  strategic planning is management by plans, while
  strategic management is management by results.2.
  Strategic planning is an analytical process,
  while strategic management is an organizational
  action process.3. Strategic planning is focused
  on business, economic and technological
  variables. Strategic management broadens the
  focus to include psychological, sociological and
  political variables. Thus, strategic planning is
  about choosing things to do, while strategic
  management is about choosing things to do and
  also about the people who will do them.4.
  Strategic management consists of formulating
  strategies, designing the firm's capability,
  managing implementation of strategies and
  capabilities.

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Strategic Planning Process

• This is not a linear activity
• Definition
• The process of developing and maintaining
  consistency between the organisations objectives
  and resources and its changing opportunities.
• Aims to define and document an approach to doing
  business that leads to satisfactory profits and
  growth. (Robson,97)

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Model of Strategic Planning Process
Mission
Goals
Strategies
Policies
Decisions
Actions
20
Summary
This lecture has given descriptions of Management
Information System and the role a Management
Information System plays within an
organisation. Also strategy, strategic management
and strategic planning have been covered.
21
An Overview to Strategic Planning for Information
System Decision Makers
Presentation Objectives at the end of this
course module, IRLS613 students will be able to

• Discuss the rationale for conducting a strategic
  plan
• Draft an abridged strategic plan for a new
  information system that includes
• An associated technology plan
• An associated review of stakeholders
• A training plan
• An implementation plan

22
An Overview to Strategic Planning for Information
System Decision Makers
If you dont know where you are going, any road
will take you there. The Cheshire Cat, Alice in
Wonderland
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An Overview to Strategic Planning for Information
System Decision Makers

• If you do not plan properly you may realize
• Higher costs
• Lack of coordination
• Confusion
• Internal competition
• Duplication
• Inefficiency
• Budget battles
• Lost opportunities

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An Overview to Strategic Planning for Information
System Decision Makers

• Why do strategic planning for Information
  systems?
• Systems are costly planning enables you to
  anticipate
• One time costs
• On-going costs
• Identify your stakeholders at the outset impact
  of a new system is felt by co-workers, your
  users, your administration
• Properly assessing expectations first can lead to
  success

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An Overview to Strategic Planning for Information
System Decision Makers

• Information System can encompass a lot of
  territory
• Integrated Library System
• Learning Management System
• Content Management System
• Online databases to electronic information (e.g.,
  journals, books, abstracts, newsletters,
  pre-prints, etc.)
• What else?

26
An Overview to Strategic Planning for Information
System Decision Makers

• Strategic planning provides
• A direction, a framework, a vision
• Increases your chance of success
• Identifies upfront related functionality
• Is characterized by flexibility

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An Overview to Strategic Planning for Information
System Decision Makers

• Processes to use when developing your plan
• Analyze the current environment and benchmark
  your status against other organizations
• Create a vision of where you want to be
• Develop a business case of what it will cost to
  realize your vision
• Identify stakeholders

28
An Overview to Strategic Planning for Information
System Decision Makers

• Processes to use when developing your plan,
  continued
• Analyze your options
• Develop a plan
• Implement, refine, adjust, improve,

29
An Overview to Strategic Planning for Information
System Decision Makers
The road ahead is neither straight nor
isolated. Once people become involved with
technology marvelous changes and new directions
are experienced. John Seely Brown, keynote
address EDUCAUSE 2001, October 31, 2002,
Indianapolis, IN.
Cover photo on Bill Gate's book The Road Ahead,
1996
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An Overview to Strategic Planning for Information
System Decision Makers

• Categories for a strategic plan can include
• Key business drivers and needs (e.g., what you
  need from your information system to deliver
  services that meet your mission and vision)
• Identify what opportunities await a success
  implementation
• Identify what challenges await a success
  implementation

31
An Overview to Strategic Planning for Information
System Decision Makers

• Categories for a strategic plan, continued
• The role of a particular information system
• Review of the current state future state
• Features and functionality
• The anticipated return on investment (ROI) or
  the anticipated return on expectations (ROE)
• Implementation plan one-time on-going costs
  timeline

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An Overview to Strategic Planning for Information
System Decision Makers

• Effective technology plans
• are short term, not long term.
• focus on applications, not technology.
• go beyond enhancing existing services.
• define technology as more than computers.
• stress integration of technology into the overall
  strategic plan.
• are tied to staff development plans.
• From John See, Minnesota Department of Education
  http//www.nctp.com/html/john_see.cfm

33
An Overview to Strategic Planning for Information
System Decision Makers
What are your readiness requirements? That is,
what are the minimal requirements to ensure a
steady course towards successfully realizing
your vision?
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An Overview to Strategic Planning for Information
System Decision Makers

• Readiness categories
• Leadership/Sponsorship promote the vision be a
  change agent for your organization
• Governance involve all at appropriate levels
  use cross-functional teams and be sure to involve
  IT staff from the start
• Competencies assure at all levels strategic,
  management, technical, operational

35
An Overview to Strategic Planning for Information
System Decision Makers

• Readiness categories, continued
• Cultural identify potential barriers
• Financial identify all associated costs budget
  for on-going determine extent of success based
  upon ROI
• Technology establish guidelines standards
  ensure that the needed infrastructure is in place
  for a successful implementation
• Organizational identify a process for
  implementation, workflow changes, job changes,
  cross-functional linkages

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An Overview to Strategic Planning for Information
System Decision Makers

• Mapping your stakeholders
• Ask yourself What do I need from them?
• Ask yourself Who are my key stakeholders?
• Ask yourself What do they need from me?
• Ask yourself Who do they influence?
• Ask yourself Where do they stand?
• Ask yourself Who influences them?

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An Overview to Strategic Planning for Information
System Decision Makers

• Identify your stakeholders according to their
  impact
• High impact Involve these people closely in the
  process
• Medium impact Seek advice from these
• Low impact Inform these

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An Overview to Strategic Planning for Information
System Decision Makers

• Stakeholder analysis
• What is the perceived level of support?
• What do I want from this stakeholder?
• What is important to this stakeholder?
• How could this stakeholder block my success?
• What can I offer or exchange?
• How can I enhance this stakeholder support?
• Who influences this stakeholder?
• Who does this stakeholder influence/

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An Overview to Strategic Planning for Information
System Decision Makers

• Employ appropriate communication channels
• Electronic email, video, discussion forums,
  Web, messaging
• Print printed newsletters daily bulletins
• Interactive kickoff meetings, brown bag lunches,
  special presentations and demos, reading rooms
  open forums
• Advertising posters, CD-ROMs displays

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An Overview to Strategic Planning for Information
System Decision Makers

• Factor into the plan ways to address
• Organizational politics
• Recognize who has the power, build on it and use
  it
• Build and maintain formal and informal contacts
  cultivate relationships
• Listen to the grapevine
• Clearly establish who is accountable and who is
  responsible
• Avoid sins of omission