preview

The Development of Strategic Information Systems Theory Essay

Better Essays

The Development of Strategic Information Systems Theory During the last 15 years, an area has developed within the Information Systems discipline which is generally referred to as 'strategic information systems'. It concerns itself with systems whose importance to the organisation extend beyond merely assisting it to perform its existing functions efficiently, or even just effectively. A strategic information system is instrumental in the organisation's achievement of its competitive or other strategic objectives. This paper presents a critical summary of the literature, and is accompanied by an extensive reference list. It begins by tracing the development of contemporary theory about strategic uses of corporations' internal …show more content…

It may also be compared with other critical interpretations such as Swatman & Swatman (1992), Galliers (1993) and Ciborra (1994). The notion and its origins are first discussed. The emergence of the key ideas is then traced. The process whereby strategic information systems come into being is assessed. Finally, areas of weakness are identified, and directions of current and future development suggested. Origins The role of Information Systems (IS) has developed during the years. The original conception was of automation of existing manual and pre-computer mechanical processes. This was quickly succeeded by the rationalisation and integration of systems. In both of these forms, IS was regarded primarily as an operational support tool, and secondarily as a service to management. During the 1980s, an additional potential was discovered. It was found that, in some cases, information technology (IT) had been critical to the implementation of an organisation's strategy. The dominant sense in which the term is used is that a strategic information system (SIS) is an information system which supports an organisation in fulfilling its business goals. An alternative interpretation of the term is that it is not necessary a particular IS, but rather the combination of those parts of an organisation's cluster of information systems which provide information into its strategic

Get Access