Chapter 2

Review of Literature

Review of literature

1. Bennett (1987) suggested that the Decision support system task is not only to dictate a

particular decision in form of solution. Rather it can function in many ways:

I. They can organize information for decision situations

II. They can interact with decision maker

III. They expand the decision maker horizons in many aspects.

IV. They present information for decision makers understanding.

V. They may add structures to the decision to remove complexity.

VI. They use multiple criteria decision-making models.

The decision support system has been conceptualized as a process instead of a product.

The focus of the decision support system is on the decision maker‘s interaction with the

system and not one the output generated. It was also proposed that rather than creating its

own decision support system in the initial thrust it will be advisable to use a package of

interrelated hardware and software called Decision Support System generator. But after a

time gap every firm should create its own system.

2. Keen (1978) had forwarded the ―Decision Making Style‖. The decision making style

could be broadly classified into Analytical and the Traditional styles. In the analytical

decision making, the emphasis is on the scientific methods and the decisions are not left

over the discretion of an individual rather a process is designed in which step by step

procedures are clearly defined. The quantitative information is recorded and analyzed

through various models and statistical tools, and thus the information is retrieved. But for

this sort of system timely and accurate information is needed along with a fast calculation

based retrieval system is needed. The traditional decision-making is more or less based

on the intuition of an individual. Like an intuition is based on some past experiences,

similarly in this the decisions are based upon the past experience of individual. This is the

fastest way of decision making, but the system is based on the hit and trial method.

According to him if the organization wants to be successful than analytical decision-

making is needed and with the growth of the organization it becomes impossible to run

organization with sheer intuition.

3. Nolan (1974) has designed a four-stage model through which the information system

of any company moves. According to him every information system has its own life

cycle and by closely monitoring them we can see that ―what is the standing of

information system in the organization‖

The different stages formulated by him are as such

I. First Stage or Initiation Stage: Under it the technology is introduced in the

system but none is there to use this technology.

II. Second Stage or Expansion Stage: There is huge and uncontrolled growth in

technology in this stage. Many people in organization assimilate themselves

with the new technology.

III. Third Stage or Control Stage: A strict control over the technology by the

management is put. Cost effective criteria is used, sometimes it crosses the

limits and becomes a barrier in attaining its maximum.

IV. Fourth Stage or Maturity Stage: Under this finally the company gains a proper

control over the technology and starts harvesting the crop beard by

information system.

V. In the year 1979- The maturity stage was replaced by further three more

stages:

VI. Fourth Stage or Integration Stage: The benefits from the technology are on the

top and control is minimized. The major thrust is over the integration in the

system.

VII. Fifth Stage or Data Administration Stage: The controls are lowered to the last

and thus it helps organization in developing its strategic competence.

VIII. Sixth Stage or Maturity Stage: Stability comes into picture; the system starts

working smoothly at a constant pace. According to him the third and the last

stage shows a bend if we draw a graph keeping expenditure on Y axis and

administration on X-axis. This is due to the fact that in the third and the Sixth

stage proper control is administered.

Figure 2.1 Maturity Stage

According to Richard by introducing the new technology the Maturity Stage can be

overpowered and a new cycle could be seen in the picture.

4. McFarlan and Mckenney (1983) forwarded broad guidelines for evaluating the current

and proposing the future need of information system he forwarded a strategic grid which

has following important components

I. Strategic: This part of activity is most critical because it is important both in

current situation and as well in future situation.

II. Factory: These activities are although the cornerstone of the current system

but may be an obsolete activity in the future system.

III. Support: These activities could be a support to the current operation. But they

are not the part of the critical operations and are not included as part of future

strategic direction.

IV. Turnaround: These activities have no relevance in the current situation but in

the coming time it could prove its utility because these activities play an

important role in the transition period.

Figure2.2 Strategic Grid

5. Kalia, Goyal and Bansal (2002) have found that, for judging the requirement analysis

that out of Questionnaire, Interview, internal records, and onsite observation. The

interviews are best suited for studying the requirement analysis in both through the users

and the developers view point. The second rank goes to the internal records and the third

one to the onsite observation. The study emphasized that for system analysis tool high

variation was seen in the viewpoints of the developers and the users. In the developer‘s

viewpoint, the data dictionary, data flow diagrams, entity relationship diagram and flow

charts are more important whereas in user perspective, the flow charts, data flow

diagrams and organization chart are important. One more important point raised was that

according to developers the users are not clear about the problem themselves and user

approaches them frequently for modification even after the requirement phase is

completed.

6. Turkle (2003) says that in the 1980‘s the computer engineers used to be designers in

the computer field, but now for increasing specialization an individual from his own field

will have to come forward so as to help its operation. The reason behind it is that only a

person working in a specific environment knows about the intricacies involved in that

environment and thus that person who can propose an effective information system. So if

an information system for hospitals is to be designed than Doctors should be one who

actively participates in that process.

7. Saini (2002) highlighted that keeping aside the operational level functions the Punjab

State Electricity Board is lagging behind in computerization. This is due to the financial

constraints and the employee‘s perception that computers could lead in the shunting of

employees in the organization. Many efforts has been started to computerize the working

in the organization but still that is only limited to the operational level. Moreover the

suggestion was forwarded that if the P.S.E.B. wants to improve its functioning than it

should allocate a separate fund for establishing computer based system. It will not only

improve the effectiveness but will bring the costs lower in the short span.

8. Malik (2001) says a model can applied to any organization using the following steps.

I. Identify the views and the sub views for which the information system

effectiveness needs to be evaluated. It is recommended that the first time

evaluation must be done for all the views defined for the model. However,

subsequent evaluations can be done on selective basis for the views and sub views

on which we have to focus for improvement.

II. Select the sample of respondents representing the population of the organization

under study.

III. Get the responses as per the instruments defined for the views under

consideration.

IV. Evaluate the effectiveness as per the steps defined for evaluation for the related

instrument.

V. Take counter actions to improve the areas indicating low level of effectiveness.

VI. Repeat the steps 2nd to 5th till the desired level of effectiveness is achieved for

area of concern.

VII. Repeat steps 1st to 4th after a reasonable gap of time depending upon the

dynamics of the organization/ industry / environment.

9 Balasubramanian and Shankaranarayanan (2002) have opined that the organizations

collect and manage large volumes of data as a consequence of e-business and. its

supporting technologies. The strong push to gain business intelligence has increased in

the different ways the data is analyzed and the types of decision-tasks it is used for.

Decision-makers are forced to become more responsive and make quicker because of

having access to resources (data, models, etc.) anywhere, anytime (including real-time).

Decision-makers perform different decision tasks using models and share outcomes with

several other decision makers. This creates dynamic decision environments characterized

by high frequency and a large variety of decision tasks and multiple stakeholders (model

designers, model custodians, and consumers). Model management is an integral part of a

digital enterprise and in such environments efficient model management demands not

only providing access to the models but also providing access to the metadata (and

knowledge) associated with each.

10. Alter (2002) forwarded a nine work system elements, which can improve the

Decision making in any organization. He has also proposed possible solutions to improve

that elements functioning. These are as such.

I. Business process: How changes in particular business process characteristics

(such as degree of structure, range of involvement, complexity, and so on)

affect the process efficiency and decision quality. The proposed suggestion for

it is: Possible variations in the sequence of steps or in the methods used for

performing particular steps.

II. Participants: How individual characteristics such as personality type, risk

aversion, gender, background, and status affect sense making and decision

making, both for isolated individuals and for individuals working in teams;

how to recognize and address significant differences concerning assumptions,

goals, and understanding related to a particular decision The solution for it is:

Better training, better skills and higher levels of commitment.

III. Information: How information can be used to minimize the effects of common

flaws in decision-making effects, effects, such as overconfidence, poor

probability estimation, and groupthink. The scope of improvement is through:

‗Better information quality, information availability, and information

presentation.

IV. Technology: How better tools can help people understand situations and deal

with information overload; continued development of established tools and

techniques such as mathematical modeling, statistical methods, data mining,

etc. The solution is: Better data storage and retrieval, models, statistical or

graphical capabilities; better, computer interaction.

V. Product and services: How to evaluate the quality of decisions, especially as

part of the decision process rather than after the effect. Solution: Better ways

to evaluate potential decisions

VI. Customers: How to involve customers in the decision process and obtain

greater clarity about there needs and goals. Solution: Better ways to involve

the customers in the decision process and to obtain greater clarity about their

needs.

VII. Infrastructure: More effective ways to exploit shared infrastructure within

decision processes. Solution: More effective use of shared infrastructure might

lead to improvements.

VIII. Environment: How to visualize whether a possible decision might conflict

with the surrounding environment, and how to adjust the decision accordingly.

Solution: Better methods for incorporating concerns from the surrounding

environment.

IX. Strategy: How to assess and represent the extent to which a possible decision

is aligned with the corporate, departmental, and individual strategies.

Solution: A fundamentally different operational strategy for the work system.

11. Parikh and Fazlollahi (2002) pointed that for the success of any system there are two

forces behind it namely System Use and the System Effectiveness. If one of them will be

missing then success of system is doubtful. The effectiveness of system depends upon the

factors like Decision Quality, User Learning, Decision Time, Cost benefit advantage,

System Reliability, and System Responsiveness. The system use depends upon the factor

that what is the intention to use and the actual use which further depends upon the factor

like system usefulness, ease of use, user confidence, information relevance, user training,

user experience and skills, user expectations, organizational support, user involvement

and responsiveness. Moreover the factor that could play havoc in this is the environment

impact on the users, team, organization, industry, economy, and society.

Figure 2.3 Factors for System Success

12. Liu and Schulz (2000) have discussed about the intelligent outage data processing

algorithm that provide more accurate outage information for the estimation of fault

locations by combining data from trouble call, AMR and distribution SCADA. The initial

data validation is being developed to avoid non-outage notifications. A fuzzy logic

algorithm is then used to model uncertainty and to reconcile conflicting data. The filtered

outage data could be used for outage location determination and system restoration for

both non-storm and storm conditions.

13. Sridharan and Schulz (2001) have discussed the development of an intelligent

information filter for automated metering systems. The filter prevents false outage

notifications in addition to improving the quality of outage data. The nature of wireless

communication in the AMR system introduces uncertainty issues in the query process.

This uncertainty has been modeled using probabilistic and fuzzy engineering techniques.

The filter has also been tested using historical outage data.

14. Liu and Schulz (2002) outlined the research work to incorporate AMR information in

outage management. The first technique combines AMR data with SCADA and trouble

call data to identify an outage and then uses AMR polling to verify the outage and its

level. The second technique provides a way to use AMR to confirm restoration of all

customers below an outage device.

15. Liu et al (2002) outlined various efforts to incorporate intelligent system techniques

into distribution outage management. These efforts include using fuzzy logic to filter

multiple sources of information related to outages as well as a knowledge-based system

to identify the location of an outage and then verify the outage status using meter polling.

Such techniques allow users to process additional data providing more real-time analysis

techniques for distribution systems.

16. Dugas (2005) has stressed on the fact that global communications phenomenon has

clearly taken hold in the AMR industry. With the help of the AMR systems, utility

companies have the potential to install systems that read meters from anywhere at any

time. Utility personnel and contractors can read individual meter data without leaving

office and can easily check up on network status and receive automatic alerts in case of a

anomalies such as leakage, tampering etc. Part of improvement in the AMR networks

chain comes from increased use of GSM-SMS-GPRS services. This new wireless (M2M)

technology complements wire line PSTN networks to get data from filed back to utility

office when using a fixed network topology.

17. Kumar and Rajput (2006) has pointed out the use of IT in metering started with the

advent of static energy meters. These meters were microprocessors based. Gradually the

new technology which various power utilities are implementing is the AMR. It is a

process of digitally noting the energy meter readings. This process eliminates the

traditional pen and paper and errors associated wit the manual reading. AMR also makes

the data recording fast and saves on time. AMR can be classified between meter reading

station and target meter. Firstly the local AMR wherein a meter man goes to read meter

with hand held device for collecting readings. Secondly Remote AMR in which the meter

is dialed from the central office using appropriate modems to collect the meter reading

from a distance. The second type is most widely used and is known as RMR.

18. Aggarwal, Mishra and Chandra (2008) have highlighted that power sector in country

sustains a loss of over 20%-30% because of pilferage of electricity. The weakest cog in

the wheel is the human element involved in the reading of the meters and also the easy

accessibility of meters to the customers, a large number of whom tamper with it. To

overcome this flaw, the East DISCOM in MP has taken initiative to implement AMR.

Previously meter reading activity of the HT customers in East DISCOM was undertaken

manually. But there were cases of thefts and losses. To overcome this problem it was

decided that billing of HT consumers should be carried out through MRI downloads. But

it was observed that substantial amount of time and manpower was engaged in monthly

reading of HT consumers. In view of this DISCOM implemented Remote Metering so

that the valuable manpower involved in meter reading activity could be utilized in more

purposeful and result oriented activities.

19. Dass (2009) has highlighted how New Delhi Power Ltd (NDPL) has been benefited

from implementation of AMR. This technology has helped NDPL to streamline the

billing process and reduce thefts. Conventional method of billing used to send a meter

reader to the site where meter is installed and then that meter reader use to note the

reading of meter in notebook or sheet. After that an era came when meter reader use to go

with the hand held device (HHD). He used to punch the reading in the HHD. But in this

case there were chances of mistake as reading in HHD is punched by reader. This

problem was solved by Meter Reading Instrument (MRI). But in MRI reading of the

meter took more time and in case the meter box is sealed it has to be opened every time.

So the solution is provided by AMR.

20. Land (1982) has pointed out that the systems which have the capacity of adopting to

changing user requirement must be founded on accurate and perceptive models of the

organizations in which they have to function. A project is conceived, requirements are

analyzed, feasibility is established, a series of design are conceived and embodied in

specification and system is customized. The new system operates until it no longer

effectively meets the needs of the organization. A new system may take three years to

design, program, test and implement. Because it is very difficult to build a completely

flexible system which is capable to accommodate any change, the system planners have

to define in some way the extent of change it is possible to accommodate. This is known

as forecasting horizon. Forecasting horizon will vary from organization to organization.

But one thing which is most important in the forecasting horizon is the expectation of

changed requirements from the system together with the uncertainty regarding these

changes. The other determinant is the extent to which the designer can build the

flexibility.

21. Earl and Hogwood (1994) pointed out that for both the researchers and managers

there is an increasing realization of the problems in information systems area. Many IS

specialist adopt a partial than idiosyncratic view of the role of the information processing

does and can serve in the organization. Indeed information systems are increasingly

operating in a rather isolated, albeit comfortable, organizational niche. That is not to say

that it lacks influence. Isolated though, it may sometimes be for more active processing

information in the organizations. But we should not overlook the fact that today‘s

organizations do contain a mix of vibrant and varied information flow and processes. The

routine co-exists with the non-routine and despite the massive investment in the formal IS

and the application of the limited information decisions concepts, the undercurrents of the

non-routine and unofficial have survived. For the routine decisions, information systems

are the key but for the non-routine decisions, managers have to rely on the other sources

of the information such as task forces, liaison roles and even the grapevine etc. Investing

heavily in the routine, official IS mangers often forget and excluding in investing in the

development of the competing counter-balancing overlapping and reinforcing

information flows and processes. Indeed, a vital taste of information management needs

to be explication of a better framework processing in the organizations and an

understanding of routine and non routine information and its implications of the IS

analysis and design.

22. Galliers (1986)

puts forward an important point that how can companies ensure that

their investment in the information technology is reaping dividends? The evidence is that

comparatively few British organizations have successfully exploited information systems.

But at the same time one encouraging point emerge that the in present time great majority

of the firms are at least attempting to plan information system developments. When it

comes to stated outcomes of the IS planning process, there is a heavy emphasis on the

factors like identification the information needs of the organization. Similarly

identification of the resources required for the information systems are very important.

About the factors that are important for the success and failure of the IS, the author has

pointed out are commitment from the senior management, involvement of the senior

management and also the involvement of the middle level management is every

important. Similarly pitfalls in the IS planning are highlighted by the author which

include lack of the managing commitment, lack of the IS planning experience, lack of the

business plan.

23. King and Kraemer (1984) presented a comprehensive view of the Nolan‘s model

study. Richard Nolan‘s model first appeared in 1973. It had four stages i.e. Initiation

stage, Contagion Stage, Control Stage and Integration Stage. But this version does not

assert cause and effect relationship. This was borne out in the 1974 version of the model

which translated the descriptive model into a perspective tool to aid managers dealing in

information systems. The most important change was the new formulation of the maturity

stage instead of the integration stage. In 1979 Nolan introduced two new stages. The new

model was formulated. In the stage I, few applications are installed, control is lax and

planning is non-existent. In the stage II, development is encouraged but lack of the

planning results in the poor quality of design. In the stage III, the problems from bad

design and rising costs create difficulties for the users and management, so control

becomes tighter. In the stage IV in which the costs continue to increase as computing use

increase. Database systems are brought in which helps in the resource management. In

the stage V focus of the computing management turns completely to data administration

in which the control of computing resources is tight but slack is maintained. In the stage

VI, maturity is achieved when the applications portfolio is complete and its structure

mirrors the organization and the information flows in the company.

24. Wiseman (1985) opined that firm with a powerful strategic information systems

vision zealously encourages the search for the application to use information systems to

gain the competitive edge. And when these are discovered, it marshals the proper

resources to support them. In some cases, a strategic information system develops into an

image of the future that top management uses to navigate the firms strategic path. The

paper presents two examples to support this fact. Firstly Dun and Bradstreet Corporation,

the first credit reporting firm in the US. By 1978, Dun and Bradstreet diversified into

information systems, publishing marketing services and broadcast. In 1984 Dun and

Bradstreet made two significant strategic moves, it acquired McCromack and Dodge a

software company and departed from the broadcasting industry by selling stations. It

reflects its strategic vision. Its management has executed strategic moves supported by

IS, move that serve to support or shape the company‘s long term objectives of

concentrating its efforts and resources in the business service and information industry.

The second example is of the McKesson Corp., in 1984 it was nations largest distributor

of the ethical drugs, fragrances, wines and spirits. McKesson saw a direct connection

between its ability to gain competitive advantage and its use of IS to support and shape

strategies. Over the past 10 years, the company has introduced computer based services

to help it to gain an edge with its suppliers and customers, an edge that translated into

distinct advantage over its distributors.

25. Parsons (1983) forwarded the important point that the significant advances in the

technologies of the computers, telecom data access and storage devices have created a

wide spectrum of new applications for the businesses managers. The speed, cost, size and

capabilities of the new information technology continue to improve at the rapid pace. In

spite of the new wealth of the technological resources available to the business, however

the ability of the most of the business organizations to assimilate and apply IS to the best

lays far behind the available opportunities. At the highest level the IS changes the

fundamental nature of the industry within which the firm competes. In some industries IS

will alter the very nature of the industry product and service, geographic distribution

possibilities for the product and services will be expanded and the speed of the

distribution will be increased. Similarly the IS represents the competitive weapon for

reducing buyers power. By introducing the switching cost, IS makes it more costly for a

buyer to change supplier. Similarly IS provides a potential resource to motivate the

factors driving the suppliers power. Also the IS becomes important weapon to deal with

the new entrants both offensively and defensively. The quality of the service and ability

to service to a worldwide customer base is built on the IS capabilities. The firms IS

represents a capital barrier and also supports a reputation barrier.

26. Cash (1985) pointed out that the most dramatic and influential contemporary

organizations involve a system that transcends company boundaries. These systems in

some cases dramatically change the balance of power in buyer supplier systems and in

some cases dramatically changes the balance of power in buyer- seller relationship,

provide entry and exit barriers in some industry segments and shift the competitive

position of the intra-industry rivals in the most instances. Firstly an Inter Organizational

Systems are an automated IS used by the two or more separate companies. It consists of

the computer and communications infrastructure that permits the participants to share the

execution of the applications. There is an increasing need for the fast, reliable,

information interchange between suppliers and buyers of rapidly changing product and

services. This trend has primarily based on significant shifts in three areas i.e. the world

economic order, increasing international competition and increasing commitment to the

greater deregulation and open competition by the regulatory biding.

27. Ives and Learmonth (1984) have argued that the information systems traditionally

been considered primarily in the terms of their effects on the individual organization.

Researchers have concentrated their efforts on delineating the nature of the information

systems functioning on operational support versus decision support, impact of IS on end

users and the importance of IS to organization as a whole. But more recently however,

the external use of the IS as competitive weapon is under consideration. This can be

attributed to the several factors including a decline in the cost of supporting information

technologies, structural changes in the economy is caused by the global competition and

perhaps most importantly the deregulation of many industries. The authors have given a

model that can be used to explain use of IST (Information Systems Technology) in a

competitive strategic environment. This model considers a firms relationship with its

customers and how this relationship can be change or enhanced by the strategic

application of IS. To acquire the products offered by the organization the customer goes

through a resource life cycle. This frequently requires a considerable investment of the

time and effort. If the supplier can help the customer in managing this life cycle, then

supplier may be able to differentiate itself from the competitors. In that process the

supplier will introduce the switching cost for its customers. A customer resource life

cycle will be supported by the application of the IS, provided by the supplier.

28 Ward (1986) has stressed that since the 1950‘s when the computers were first used by

the commercial organizations, the overall objective has been to improve the

competitiveness of the enterprise. In the early days, in spite of the cost and risk involved,

computers were seen as a means of improving the efficiency of those operations where

the primary task was information processing. Many of the early applications merely used

computers as rapid, reliable calculator and data processing system. The benefits derived

were limited in nature. In the 1970‘s the computers had become a repository of

practically valuable management resource information. But unfortunately the information

had been stored to maximize efficiency rather than the ease of access. Also the tools and

techniques were not suitable for the ad-hoc enquiry and analysis. But only recently it has

been possible to overcome the problems generated by previous information systems.

Organizations now are gaining the competitive advantage from the IS. The rate of

improvement in IT, the integration of computing and communications technologies and

the significant developments in the software capabilities have also opened up new

opportunities. Products and services can be directly modified or derived from the use of

the technology. The relationship between the organization and the environment can be

adjusted by the use of the IS. But to reap the benefits of the IS it is very much important

for the organizations to co-ordinate the IS with the key strategic planning process and

should focus on the key strategic areas.

29. Hartney (1994) highlighted the importance of the effective management of the IS

projects. The author conducted in depth interviews of IS project managers from the

varied fields which includes health care, petrochemical, banking and manufacturing. The

responses of 28 individuals were also taken who were observers of the performances of

selected managers. The incidents reported by the observers represented 16 major themes

classified into 5 clusters i.e. serve the customer, create the solution, drive the process,

master the unexpected and influence the players. It was found that perceptions of the

effectiveness of IS project managers varied somewhat among sub groups of respondents

and the output gave the signal that the management of IS projects is a complex activity

and there is no set rule that can ensure proper results from the information systems. It was

stressed by the authors that due diligence should be given by the management of any

organization to effectively manage the IS projects.

30. Rockert and Short (1989) brought out the fact that there are ample numbers of factors

for the development of information systems in any organization. They viewed at the

major factors like the organization‘s internal structure, power and hierarchy. Another area

of focus was the changing work groups. The study also points out that the organizations

are disintegrating their borders because of the decreasing cost of the electronic

interconnection among the firm‘s suppliers and the customers. And the last but not the

least was the area of technical perceptive. It was proposed that today‘s technological

advances will lead to the systems integration within the business. The authors pointed out

that considering all these facts information systems are the most important player in

allowing the organizations to manage organizational interdependencies.

31. Hagel-III and Scely (2001) has highlighted that all the fortune 500 companies have

the presence on the web. They also emphasized on the importance of being present on the

web. But they also highlighted one of the most astonishing facts that only 25% exploit the

full range of internal capabilities of gaining market research data and utilizing the online

technology for marketing of their products. They also pointed out that online marketing

adds to the value of the product and this is the main reason that online ordering and

payment, online advertising and number of links to websites are increasing significantly

since 1997. All these facts are visible in the case of all the fortune 500 companies. The

authors also points out that in order to make sustainable business in present time the

organizations have to use all these tools to gain the competitive edge. The organizations

can not afford to neglect its customers and they have to present all the time for their

customer. To gain this type of competitiveness the organizations have to use the

information systems very innovatively.

32. Reneny (1996) highlighted the importance of information systems for organizations.

He also pointed out that various organizations are presently using the concept of

information systems for gaining the right information at the right time. But still there are

various blunders that the organizations are committing time and again. One of the main

mistakes is the inadequate funding in ITES. Still top management sometimes thinks that

it is the waste of time to invest in IS. Sometimes companies do not have the adequate in-

house facilities for the development of the IS but they resist outsourcing. As a result there

are flaws in the IS developed internally and another mistake is that the organizations are

making is the paying less heed to the demands of the users. The IS should be designed by

taking into account the expectations of the users. By ignoring them, the organizations

cannot design appropriate information system for gaining the competitiveness.

33. Rackoff, Wiseman and Ullrich (1985) highlighted that Information Systems have

performed in the past for the operational and management support. But recently

companies have begun to use the IS strategically to reap the benefits of competitive

advantage. In the conventional view, the target of IS application was the organizational

planning and control processes. But in today‘s time this viewpoint is very much myopic.

Organizations are using IS as tool to gain competitive advantage but it is very much

important to plan the strategic information systems properly otherwise its benefits will

not be achieved. This study highlights the case of GTE. GTE is a telecom and electronics

company. GTE not only used IS as a tool to gain the strategic advantage but most

importantly GTE planned the implementation properly. In the first phase, information

management department introduced the strategic information systems concept to the GTE

president. In the second phase, strategic information systems idea was shared with the

middle level management and in the third phase, this idea was shared with the executives,

in the last phase, strategic information systems idea was communicated to the business

planners. So in the planned way response and suggestion from each level was taken and

then a system was designed for each and every strategic activity of the organization.

34. Turban, Aronson and Peng (2005) concluded that strategic orientations of the

company have a high business impact, but their planning within the strategic information

system plan is relatively simple. Setting strategic orientations is not a task to be carried

out within strategic information system planning, but the key task of management. Thus

it is necessary to get information about these orientations within the project of strategic

information system planning, either through discussions or from written documents. The

acquired information should be organized for the needs of strategic plan

35. Galliers, Swatman and Swatman (1995) discussed on the relationship between the

Strategic Information Systems Planning (SISP) and Employee Data Interchange (EDI)

and suggests that SISP offers an appropriate framework for the organizations wishing to

take the strategic approach to the implementation of EDI as an infrastructure for the

business redesign. Initially SISP was considered to be primarily concerned with the

identification of a portfolio of IS application and necessary technology to support these

applications. Although still this concept persists, but the additional aspect that

organizations are seeking to provide with the SISP are

I. New or better product and services

II. An environment which provides platform for flexibility and change

III. As a means by which business processes may be re-engineered in line with the

opportunities provided by new IT and changed business imperatives

The authors also argued that continuous evaluation and review of system is very

important for successfully reaping the benefits of the IS. The authors have enlisted

various parameters to support their argument

I. One of the prime reason for the slower than anticipated acceptance of EDI and

SIS is that the organizations are giving less importance to the IS department. They

usually think that information systems department is not contributing anything

substantial to the organizations overall growth.

II. EDI and SIS are often considered in isolation both from technological innovations

and from the changes in the business practice

These prevailing orientations in both EDI and SIS present an obstacle in the closer

integration of the IS with the business strategy and formulations

36. King and Teo (1996) conducted a field survey to determine key organizational factors

that facilitate or inhibit the development of the strategic application of IS in the business

firms. The authors have firstly utilized key organizational facilitators and inhibitors from

the past studies. Then a structured questionnaire was made. The results from the factor

analysis exhibited seven key dimensions. The stepwise discriminant analysis selected key

dimensions

I. Innovative needs

II. Competitive position

III. Environmental economies of scale

IV. Top management guidance

These are the most critical points which distinguishes between the facilitators SIS and

non SIS group. Similarly three key dimensions i.e. the lack of IT drivers, Lack of

economies of scale, lack of innovative needs are the key inhibitors that distinguishes

between SIS and non SIS groups. The organizations who want to implement SIS should

try to encourage facilitators and try to nullify inhibitors.

37. Eardley, Avison and Powell (1997) looked at the changing nature of the strategy and

examines a framework that may enhance the strategic flexibility. A number of techniques

are presented to gain the strategic flexibility. The authors have pointed out that for the

development of the SIS three components should be present. Firstly, there should be a

framework that is capable of modeling or describing the firm‘s strategy. Second, analysis

techniques should exist for creating the mechanisms by which the strategy is carried out.

Thirdly, appropriate technology infrastructure should be available to put the mechanism

into place. Due to the changing nature of the organizations, the SIS needs to support

strategic flexibility or corporate agility rather than competitive positioning. The authors

have given various techniques for inculcating the concept of flexibility

I. Competition Analysis Technique

II. Impact Analysis

III. Application portfolio Management technique

IV. Scenario Modeling

The information system can be made by considering the internal aspects only, but the

organization has to consider all the external factors for making the appropriate

information system. The information systems should be flexible in nature to gain the

competitive advantage. The aforementioned techniques can be used to add flexibility.

The competition analysis technique can be used to identify the competitors in the market

and by knowing the competitors the organization can make better information system.

The impact analysis technique tells about the possible impact of the information system

on the organization‘s key activities. The application portfolio management technique

helps the organizations to segregate their key activities from support activities. And with

this application the organization can make the use of information system considering

these application areas individually. Also the organizations can make the information

system considering various scenarios prevalent in the market.

38. Brady and Targett (1995) have opined that the financial sector has gone through

various stages in its adoption of IT. In the first stage, the IT was used to automate routine

transactions. The first stage involved the use of computers for the batch processing of

data. In the second stage IT was used to improve the effectiveness. In this stage, use of

computers extended beyond the back office to front office. In the third stage IT is used to

cerate new services and products. In this stage, financial sector realized that IT provided

the possibility of offering the new products and services. These include electronic cash

management, ATM‘s etc. Banks realized IT offered a means of cutting cost, at the same

time enhancing the services and expanding the products and services. More recently the

fourth stage came into play in which the IT is being used as the marketing of new

products and services. But due to the intensive competition, the rules of game have

changed. As mangers had accustomed to in the past of using the IT to solve their

problems, but now found IT as a part of problem. Because the very product that they

were offering was now all IT based and they are easily reproducible or copied. Achieving

sustainable competitive advantage is very difficult. So the authors rightly summed up

their paper by putting across this fact that financial sector should not blindly go for

achieving the competitive advantage rather banks should be very cautious in

implementing the IS for competitive advantage.

39 Scarbrough (1997) has taken a very unique factor that is important for the

development and implementation of information systems in an organization. The study

focuses on the social constructs in an organization. The success of any information

system is not only dependant on the technical aspects but a major role is played by the

social aspects i.e. acceptance from the various departments of the organization. This

study draws on the findings from a sample of large Scottish based financial institution to

examine the development and impact of innovative SIS. The author has pointed out that

there are factors which cause some IS projects to be classified as strategic and others not.

It has both theoretical and empirical elements. The theoretical element involves viewing

the strategic IS as socially constructed outcome of the interaction between IS expertise

and wider organization. This paper then empirically tests this approach on the Scottish

financial service sector. Evidence from these cases supports the view that the attribution

of the strategic status is primarily a social construct, involving interactions between

expert groups in the IS, accounting and general management areas. Social constructs

addresses the way social actors construct the realties that confront them. The main aim of

this approach is to examine the social structures and processes which produced strategic

IS as a powerful organizing principle.

40. Hamilton (1999) is concerned with the portfolio-level planning and implementation

of integration of information systems structures driven by the development of

information architectures. The study indicates the importance of information system

architecture in planning of information systems. The research was based on a longitudinal

case study of the IS integration practice in the telecommunications organization, Telestra.

Feedback from the participants was analyzed with a view to isolate some of the key

issues involved, which were then utilized in the development of process model. The

model reflects a major shift in the perspective, based on the idea that IS architecture

development and management should be decoupled from the system development and

implementation processes. In this view, the IS architecture‘s role would be that of a

knowledge structure, valuable for representing the structural impacts of individuals IS

decisions, and as an aid in conceptualizing systems planning objectives. The author then

gave a model in which the key element is the IS architecture development and

maintenance activities are decoupled from the application and database processing. In

this understanding, the architecture is an information asset, which can be used both to

asses the impact of new system and as the impact of new system as well as source for

specific constraints on implemented application structures.

41. Lathan (1998) pointed out that for any organization wishing to make changes their

processes by incorporating IT into their activities, a strategy is an essential part of

management of that change. Schools are prime examples of businesses where IT is still in

its infancy. In order to function effectively it is necessary to have a long term directional

plan, defining how IT resources and technologies will be developed. IT can provide

support and solutions in the area of administration, curriculum management and

curriculum delivery and is increasingly useful in providing access to knowledge bases.

Since 1980‘s there has been considerable change in the way that the public services are

managed and these changes have a significant effect on the educational system. Most of

the literature also assumes that one of the prime aims of strategy is to develop a portfolio

of applications to satisfy business needs. The goal of commercial organization tends to be

making profits. The goal of schools is not primarily market driven. Yet there are

similarities. Both have organizational goals and both need to manage their resources

effectively, so schools need to frame two broad categories of strategies. First is the IS

strategy, this is concerned with developing an appropriate application portfolio. Schools

need to consider what type of information system is to be developed in present structure.

A school needs to pay attention to the choice of technical platform and decide how

applications are to be delivered. And the second is the Information Management strategy

concerns the day to day management of IT. Schools must schedule their resources and

co-ordinate IT across subject areas to develop the training plan.

42. Segars and Grover (1999) have stressed that strategic planning has been a

fundamental activity of the top management. This activity is undertaken to reduce

uncertainty, co-ordinate the efforts of the organizational members, establish dialogue and

lines of communication among various organizational sub-groups and proactively search

for business opportunities within comparative domain. For SIS planning there are various

dimensions which characterize the activity of the strategic planning. The most important

one are

I. Comprehensiveness- The extent to which an organizations attempts to be

meticulous in decision making and integrating strategic decisions.

II. Formalization- It refers to the existence of structures, techniques, written

procedures and policies that guide the planning process.

III. Focus- It refers to the balance between creativity and control orientations inherent

within the process structure of the strategic planning.

IV. Flow- Based on the locus of activity or devolution of responsibilities for the

strategic planning, flow is typically described as top- down from top management

to the lower management and bottom-up from lower levels to the higher levels.

V. Participation- Whereas planning flow is concerned with the vertical orientation of

the planning system; participation captures the breadth of involvement in the

strategic planning.

VI. Consistency- It is characterized by a continuous planning process with frequent

meetings, constant combination among the planning participants and frequent

assessment and revision of strategic direction.

The study stressed that all these activities should be taken into consideration before going

for the designing of strategic information systems.

43. Levy, Powell and Yelton (2011) highlighted that strategically IS are used to either

lower the cost of production and transactions or to add value to the product or service.

Even the SME‘s have begun to exploit the benefit of IS. This paper presents a model of

IS for SME‘s. The model which is termed as focus-dominance model proposes that an

SME‘s strategic content, is defined by its strategic focus i.e. cost reduction versus value

addition and its market positioning. Twenty- seven firms are analyzed in order to validate

the model. IS have long been used for automating transactions processes as a means of

cost reduction in order to improve operational efficiency.

Low

Customer Dominance

High

Cost Value Added

Strategic Focus

Figure 2.4 Model of IS for SME

Co-ordination Innovation

Efficiency Collaboration

The model has two dimensions of strategic focus and customer dominance. The various

strategies that are available for the organization are efficiency, co-ordination,

collaboration and innovation.

44. Acur and Englyst (2006) have stressed on the fact that the environment conditions

that firms face have changed rapidly. Today‘s global competitive environment is

complex, dynamic and largely unpredictable. To deal with the unpredictable level of

change, a lot of thinking has gone into the issue of how strategies are to be formulated.

Strategic management is about managing the future and effective strategy formulation is

crucial. Four generic approaches are identified namely goal centered, comparative,

normative and improvement approach. The authors pointed out that to shape the future

for business, management can no longer create a strategy by focusing internally. It is

necessary to ensure that the changes in the external environment are monitored and

reflected in strategy of organization. The strategy formulation process should gather

necessary information and if necessary also redesign strategic issues. The study also

added that in today‘s dynamic environment firms can not only rely on the corporate

strategies but also on their financial, R&D and manufacturing strategies. Being aware of

these relationships can help the organizations to manipulate operational and market

attributes as well as it leads all levels to share same strategic objectives.

45. Furey (1991) has observed that, information technology is the key factor in the

present era of the globalized world. Now a days there is more focus on the service

industry. For the service industry it is very important that the customer should get proper

attention and proper service otherwise the organization can loose that customer. Service

organizations are innovatively adding various capabilities to ensure that the customers do

get the right service. The study opines that the IT based service options may directly or

indirectly improve customer service, as this type of service provides the means for

gathering customer data, which can be useful in improving operational efficiency and

service quality. By securing the vital piece of information regarding the customer, the

organization can get the insight into the mind of the customer. With this information the

organizations can deliver a more relevant and more prompt service according to the

demand of the customer. The problem lies in collecting the relevant and important

information. The IT based service can help to collect and process this information for the

service organizations.

46. Ahmed (2004) indicated that there are adequate funds for buying and installing IT

hardware but there are changes expected in long term. He identified a significant

problem; the severe lack of in-house IT expertise to solve even minor problems. There is

an acute shortage of staff across even the leading Indian states in the provision of e-

governance. Problems also lie in the planning processes, and the type of technology

platforms that are required to be utilized. Standardizing programs across the board is

another prominent issue that crops up as different departments use different programs.

Thus, more time and resources are expended on the unnecessary duplication of databases

in government departments.

47. NASSCOM (2003) says that research has indicated that the three Indian states leading

in e-governance provision are Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, while the

states of Kerala, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Rajasthan are

not far behind. There has been a tremendous increase in the automated work flow within

the notoriously bureaucratic Indian government departments, and e-governance seems to

be a promising development.

48. Asgarkhani (2005) said that e-Technology has become a catalyst for enabling more

effective government through better access to services and the democratic process. As

public interest in the Internet and e-Technology solutions continues to grow, there is an

increasing expectation that they will be utilized in national and local governments for not

only more efficient governance but also improving public access to information and

services.

49. Dawes and Rowley (1998) observed that the service experience and perceptions of

service quality can be fundamentally affected by the use of information technology.

Increased use of IT by the service providers has changed the nature of service delivery

system. Their study indicated that IT based services had a positive impact on overall

service quality and customer satisfaction in consumer banking sector.

50. Nordby (2003) indicated that numerous other factors can hinder the successful the

introduction of e-Government and e-Service initiatives including:

I. Lack of ICT skills;

II. Inadequate resources;

III. Too many initiatives;

IV. Resistance to change;

V. Low take-up;

VI. Lack of public access;

The study points out that these factors are inhibitor to the growth of the e-governance.

The author has suggested that these factors should be checked and controlled for the

better and effective implementation of the e-governance initiatives.

51. Nord, Horn and Nord (1995) pointed out that ESS is the computer based systems that

provide top managers with the capability to attain easy access to the information which is

relevant for strategic decisions. It was also pointed out that ESS are increasingly gaining

in importance are growing at a very fast rate. The paper then elucidates following points

to support this fact

I. The ESS has the capability to access internal as well as external information

II. It has the capability to communicate and confront problems electronically

III. It has the capability to report information with a combination of graphics and

tables

IV. Scheduling agenda, setting and follow-up capabilities are present in the

systems

V. The capability to integrate with other software‘s

VI. Statistical and drill down capabilities

VII. Functionality for decision support and what if analysis

VIII. Easy to use

The study also highlights one more important point that ESS is not only for the top

management but is applicable for each and every level of management considering the

kind of diverse roles that each and every level performs. The author going further on the

ability of ESS and gives following points to show how important ESS are-

I. With the help of ESS, managers are able access and understand the situation

quickly

II. ESS guides the managers to confront the multiple problems together

III. ESS helps the managers to set agendas

IV. ESS helps to maintain the corporate view

V. Maintains an industry perspective

The study then empirically proves this fact by taking the case of selected fortune 500

companies and it was concluded that ESS helps the top companies in various ways for

example the 50% of the organizations are using the ESS for decision making, 43.8% of

the organizations are using ESS for electronic mail, 37.5% organizations are using the

ESS for electronic briefing and 31.3% of the organizations are utilizing the concept of

ESS for the follow-up procedures.

52. Rogerdson and Fidler (1994) have pointed out that there is growing number of

importance given to information in today‘s scenario and how organizations are

attempting to develop IS/IT strategies which interrelate with their business strategies

which together support corporate missions. Today Strategic Information System

Planning (SISP) has become an integral part of overall corporate strategic planning

process. An SISP technique provides a structured approach to perform an activity. An

SISP is considered to be purposely built set of techniques that cover all aspects of SISP

process. An SIS planning is an abstract systems which converts the inputs (current IS,

Business IS, Organizational influences and Society influences) to the output (Strategic

plan). The framework for classifying SISP methodologies involves evaluation on two

dimensions

I. Structural

II. Application

Then the paper in detail points out the criteria that should be taken into account in case of

structural complexity which includes

I. Ability of methodology to adapt with the requirements

II. Number of possible ways technology can interrelate

III. Number of techniques within the methodology

IV. The potential of ambiguity with regard to the terminology used

Application dimension includes

I. The evolution rate of methodology

II. The objectives of the participants

III. The planning policies of the organization

IV. The number of participants involved

53. Kavan, Frohlich and Samli (1994) have pointed out that the goal of any service

organization is to become the leader in their industry. Service originations exists within

particular environment, these entities must gather information on

I. How will the inputs from the resources are converted to the outputs

II. How will the outputs are received by environment

So it is very important to make a system that will develop a model depicting a balance

between internal and external information. The authors then gave a model depicting the

relationship between the internal and external information. The model includes two vital

parameters i.e. internal information and external information. And between these two

parameters the IS can take four possible stances

I. Internal Skewed Systems- This type of system lay more emphasis on internal

information and lacks on external information

II. External Skewed Systems- This type of system is one that has sufficient

external information but lacks on internal information for decision process.

III. Information Under load Systems- this type of system lacks on both fronts i.e.

internal as well as external information

IV. Balanced Systems- This type of system provides optimum outcome because in

this system there is perfect balance between the internal and external

environment.

The paper concluded by giving stress on the fact that service organizations should try to

develop balanced systems to become market leader

54. Bai and Lee have quoted that Information System Strategic Planning (ISSP) is very

essential in integrating IT into an organization to increase a firm‘s strategic competitive

advantage. In fact ISSP is one of the top ten issues facing the corporate general managers

and IS executives. ISSP process involves a long range planning horizon for funds, human

services, technology, expertise, hardware and software capabilities. The study is

conducted on 1000 corporate manufacturing and service companies in Taiwan. The

empirical study shows that co-operative factors plays significant role in ISSP. The also

indicated that unsuccessful IT results from the conflict from CEO‘s. In fact it is the duty

of CEO to understand the advantage of the IS/IT and must be willing to take advantage of

IS/IT opportunities. Study also reveled that there is strong relationship between ISSP and

successful organizations. And in the end the study points out that as the centralization

increases the quality of ISSP starts worsening. Strategic IS plan will face problem in

achieving internal consistency and badly effect the implementation if organizational

decision making is overly centralized.

55. Daniels (1998) pointed out that Information Systems (IS) have traveled a long

journey. Initially role of IS was to automate the basic operations. In the next stage of IS

became the single separate systems. But still the role of IS was to support the basic

operations. But now in the present time the IS are being used to get strategic edge. Author

pointed out that ―Intelligent Companies‖ are fast realizing the need of SIS. They also

understand the environment in which they are operating and thus can best evaluate the

potential benefits of SIS. But if the organizations have to use IS at the strategic level then

there are various policy issues that need to be assessed which cut across the entire range

of local, generic, functional and organizational level. Taking a coherent view of the

organization, IS would permit the organizations to have an easier interface between the

disparate levels and is financially viable.

56. Roberts and Wood (2002) focused on implementing the IS at the strategic level for

the micro enterprise. The use of information systems is considered strategic because

competitive advantage is achieved by using the information systems. This competitive

advantage can be achieved through improving the relationship between suppliers and

customers. In this study the author has taken the case study of Lanzarote first. Lanzarote

first was established as a specialist holiday service for holiday tour operator. Author has

divided the use of IS into three parts

I. Efficiency

II. Effectiveness

III. Strategic

Out of these three uses, the strategic use of information system is very important and it is

the deciding factor for the organization. Strategic benefits change the organizations

product or the way in which the organization operates and competes. The Lanzarote first

identified these benefits and implemented SIS. The spreadsheet they made by using the

IS provides a useful information regarding availability of the villas. It gives the accurate

information. Lanzarote first made a complete list of the clients which helped to keep the

track of their customers. Similarly information regarding cash flow and liquidity improve

the financial performance of the organization. Lanzarote first also developed their

website and with the help of web site perspective clients can get the instant information.

The study has well documented the fact that the IS should not only used to automate

operational processes but also be used at the strategic level.

57. Markxu (1999) conducted the research on 55 UK firms and have tried to evaluate the

application of the IS at the strategic level. IS have been increasingly used in marketing

since 1980‘s. But still the information systems are being used at the rudimentary level.

The study reveled that marketing managers perceive marketing as a strategic function.

Then the study tried to find out the extent to which IS are used to support the marketing

as the strategic function. The result reveled that 67.5% of IS are used for managing the

sales and sales promotion and support for the strategic function is rather limited in

marketing segmentation and targeting which is 47.3% and competition analysis is 45.5%.

But the organizations which are using the IS for their critical activities are very satisfied

with the results of the IS. The study also attempted to explore the manager‘s views on the

barriers of implementing the IS. The results were that

I. Lack of a strategic sense and vision by some of marketing managers

II. Failure to understand the benefits of SIS

III. Lack of strategic marketing culture

IV. Organizational support

The study also reveled that the currently IS do not have functionality to support the

marketing strategic activities. As one of the key feature of strategic oriented marketing is

the interaction with the external environment. Systemically gaining the understanding of

the changes in market place can enable a company to promptly adjust its market position

and strategy. This suggests that the IS needs to be embodied with the market environment

scanning function through which an external orientation is maintained. The systems

should be designed to systematically collect, filter, decode and transmit market

information throughout the organization.

58. Karababas and Cather (1994) have researched to develop the IS planning for Small

and Medium Enterprise (ISP-SME)

The objective of the ISP-SME is to

I. Analyze how better use of IS in long term can give the competitive edge

II. Establish the vision and initiate the mission statement for the IS department

III. Propose, plan and prioritize IS for the short and long term development

IV. Establish IS that will assist management to perform their task better

The paper presents four stage procedures to achieve these objectives

I. Initiation Phase- This phase starts with the setting up of the directions for the

use of ISP-SME

II. The second phase comes which is the data collection. It is concerned with the

gathering of the data, identifying of business goals, and future plans

collecting, technical information. This phase is followed by the top- down

analyses, operational analysis and examination of the existing information

system.

III. The next stage comes of the strategy formulation. This phase is concerned

with the preparation of IS strategic plan. It includes mission statement, generic

strategy directions and IS requirement determination.

IV. The last stage comes in the form of the IS selection. It is concerned with the

defining and planning the IS. It includes

i. IT Specification- In this sub part, each of the long term IS objective should

be specified

ii. Cost and Benefit Analysis- At this juncture cost and benefit analysis of the

IS is done to know the future costing and benefits accounting from it

iii. Priorities Setting- This Stage is concerned with the setting up of the

priorities which are very much important for the implementation of the

proposed IS.

59. Bharati and Berg (2003) summarized that service organizations are continuously

endeavoring to improve the quality of the service provided. This is the prime reason for

their investment in the IS. It has been observed that information systems are the main

reason for the improved quality of the service industry. But still most of the companies

encounter the major problem in evaluating the impact of IS on the service quality. That is

why it is very much important to understand how information system impacts the service

quality. The authors have given a conceptual model that elucidates relationship between

the various factors that comprise the IS and service quality. Service quality means

systems quality, information quality, technology support and employee IS characteristics

that affect service quality directly. The systems quality includes the tangibles, reliability,

responsiveness and assurance of the information system.

Figure 2.5 Service Quality

The employee IS characteristics include the perception of IS as a key factor in

determining the performance of the employees. Attitudes and feelings of the employee

towards IS, the experience they have had in IS and training they had in IS. The technical

support visualizes the kind of technical support that organization provides for the

fostering of information systems. The technical support has an impact on the service

quality, especially when the information system is critical to the performance of the firm.

Information quality means the information provided by IS which plays a pivotal role in

service organization

60. Fletcher and Donaghy (1994) pointed out that business world is an arena of

competition yet the management understanding of their competitors is often minimal or

even inaccurate. It was stressed that even if organizations which realize the importance of

knowing about the competitors, many fail to convert information in a systematic fashion.

Service Quality

Systems Quality

Information Quality

Technology Support

Employee IS

Characteristics

The information which is collected remains at the top or held in huge volumes of paper,

such as company‘s accounts, customer records. As a result this information is not

available at the time of need. Considering all these reasons the organizations need

Competitor Information Systems. It is that type of IS which gathers competitor data from

the various sources both inside and outside the organization, transforming the information

into meaningful information and holding it within well structured systems. This

competitor information can then be readily available as an aid to strategic decision

making. The paper then gives the detailed account of stages required to develop the CIS.

I. Stage I- In this stage the identification of the main competitor is done. For this

the management can use the technique of questionnaires and can utilize the

market statistics data.

II. Stage II- Having identified the key competitors the next step is to identify

strategic issues company face

III. Stage III -Here the identification of potential users of system and their needs

is done

By considering all these issues an overall system is developed which can counter the

competitors in the market and also help the organizations to develop information systems

by considering various players in the market.

61 Krebs, Holden, Williams, Basualdo, Spence (2007) pointed out that increasingly

groups and communities are working together to address various social issues and

improving the public services. In an information based society, knowledge is regarded as

a crucial resource, and harnessing this resource is of paramount concern. With the

assistance of information systems, knowledge management has evolved as a total system

that allows collaboration of agencies to share, exchange and build on existing knowledge.

The study presents new type of system known as Community action plan information

system (CAPIS) which will inform the agencies to direct resources towards the

advancement of society welfare issues termed as Quality of Life (QOL). The potential

benefits of CAPIS are

I. It will inform that who is engaged in QOL activities

II. What is being done, and at what level of engagement?

III. What are the patterns in QOL initiatives that help in understanding the

present and future focus of enhancing the QOL in community?

IV. The identification, interpretation and mapping of the QOL actions and

QOL recommendations provide the new insights into QOL enchantments

activities and priorities

62. Leen and Bumyong (2001) pointed out that as the companies face enormous

challenge, the IT plays an important role in gaining opportunities and taking

competitiveness advantage. But in this situation every organization needs the structured

plan to manage and implement information strategic planning (ISP) which has gained

considerable interest in recent past. So failure to conduct ISP effectively can cause

incompatible systems and wastage of resources. Authors in this paper have tried to make

a system which can make IT projects more efficient and effective. Due to ever changing

IT and business environment, traditional ISP methodology often fails to produce expected

results. In order to generate new ISP methodology, eleven critical factors are to be

ensured in ISP

I. Alignment of business strategy with the information strategy

II. Top manager‘s commitment

III. User commitment

IV. Supporting the analysis of current model

V. Supporting for developing improved model

VI. Education on IS/IT

VII. Qualitative analysis of IS effect

VIII. Supporting decision making

IX. Embodying implementation plan

X. Supporting analysis technique

XI. CASE tool support

The information systems should be designed in the following way. Firstly the project

team identifies internal strategic information needs and analyzes the technical

environment. Then the external and internal environment is scanned. The next step

should be analysis of the functional structure, data structure, organizational and technical

architecture of the current enterprise by modeling and conceptualization. Then the

improved models are generated on the basis of the improved process. After that

evaluation of the model is done and in the end the project team finally gains the approval

from the top management. In the end the maintenance of the ISP is developed. The paper

also presents procedures for evaluating ISP, which includes four dimensions i.e.

Completeness, Validity, Consistency and Feasibility.

63. Yasin and Quigley (1994) pointed out that today business organizations operates as

an open system that utilizes sophisticated technologies to compete in an efficiently and

effectiveness oriented global business environment. The architecture of a strategic

competitive advantage in such an environment requires the input process and the output

sub systems of the business. Organizations have to work in independently and

synergistically in responding effectively to a dynamic environment. IS are basic

infrastructure of the modern organization, they co-ordinate the resource and activities of

input, process and output sub systems of the organization. In addition IS can be use to

scan the external environment and internal operations continuously to ensure the

organization effectiveness is achieved. The paper also presents a model that illustrates the

organizations role of IS in the light of environmental and technological developments as

they relate to the inputs, process and output sub systems. The critical issues involved are

I. The input subsystems of the business organizations have gone through

some dramatic changes in the past. The products are being made according

to the wishes of the customers. Gathering such a voluminous data

manually is an impossible task, also the taste and preferences of the

customers are fast changing. The organizations have to keep abreast with

these changes. The modern input subsystems relies heavily on the IS in

order to function effectively and effectively

II. The process sub systems of the business organizations have undergone an

automation revolution. IS are the backbone of these automations

III. Output sub systems of the business organizations have changed due to the

customer‘s demand for high quality and environmentally sound products.

64. Flitman (1996) stressed that common complaint about strategic plans is that once

developed, they tend to be largely forgotten until the next planning cycle. What is

needed is a reporting tool i.e. Strategic Control Reporting (SCR) that actively tracks

the progress towards the strategic goal and motivates employees and managers to

strategic success. SCR is not only concerned with the formulation of a strategy but

also with its communication to all the levels and its adherence to the strategic

objectives. The study presents the methodology for implementing SCR

I. Strategic Programming- This results in the definition of the strategic

direction

II. Measure Definition- This step develops the measures or yardstick to

form a balanced view of the strategic performance.

III. Report design and prototype production – This produces a simulated

report and it is used to find the data requirements specification as well

as that for the user requirement

IV. Model development and production procedures- This provides the

transition from the simulated to real report

V. Live report implementation- It will facilitate the streamlining of

procedures.

65. Salazar, Hackney and Howells (2003) conceptualized the strategic impact of the new

internet technology in biotechnology and pharmaceutical firms. It argues that the

competitiveness of the modern business depend on their ability to create and

commercialize new knowledge as much as their ability to produce new products. The

authors have suggested that Knowledge management (KM) plays a key role in

determining organizational performance levels and value creation. KM refers to not only

to the technologies for processing information and distributing knowledge, but also to

enhance the organizational structures for the strategic fit. The internet is seen as core

technology enabling the creation of organizational networks. The pharmaceutical industry

is a high value and knowledge intensive sector. With the help of the new internet

technology a radical change in people perception of what is near and far has occurred.

Companies can obtain access to customers globally. Whole new markets can potentially

are opened. Internet technology enables the organizations to distribute a new product

within tightly controlled order and delivery. E-commerce offers a tremendously wide

variety of electronic business tools and opportunities. It may include trading of physical

goods and intangible. It also covers the virtual collaboration of company and research

team. But the implementation of e-commerce in context to distributed innovation

processes will not be effective without redefining the ways the individuals, teams and

firms share, use and transform information into knowledge to compete effectively.

66. Dong, Fang and Jian (2007) pointed out that IS planning (ISP) is a critical concern for

the top executives and chief information officers of the enterprise. This paper summarizes

the process dimensions of ISP and proposes a descriptive model to describe these

dimensions and their relationship with the planning effectiveness. The research model is

empirically tested by the data collected from 125 clients of Chinese organizations. ISP is

a process of defining objectives for the organizational computing and identifying the

suitable potential information systems on business performance. This study presents a

model to describe the current Chinese enterprise structure of ISP, which exhibits strong

relationship between the process dimensions and the effectiveness of the planning

process. To study the relationship between the process dimensions and the effectiveness

of the planning process, the first thing that is needed is to identify the process dimensions

and the defining of planning effectiveness. The result of the empirical study indicates two

major findings. First planning flow has a direct influence on process dimension,

participation, control, formalization and comprehensiveness. Second participation and

control influence planning effectiveness while formalization and comprehensiveness has

no effect. According to the process model, ISP should be initiated by the top management

so that the ISP can get enough resources. Meanwhile, the relationship between the

process dimensions and the effectiveness of the planning process imply that during the

analysis, ISP should involve participants from different areas and process should be

controlled or monitored to ensure that the collected information is correct.

67 Martinsons and Chong (1999) stressed that despite remarkable advances in the

information technology many computers based IS still fall short of the performance

expectations. A growing share of these implementation failures are due to non technical

factors. As the authors have rightly noted that the role of IS in industry has rapidly risen

during the past half century. Effective IS adoption typically require both the

technological and organizational change. This study identifies the range of human factor

issues that may arise during the planning, development and implementation of IS.

Inadequate consideration and poor management of human factors can hinder the use and

effectiveness of IS. The characteristics of individual users and their work environment

can influence IS performance. A single configuration of hardware, software, database and

procedures is most unlikely to suit everyone in the organization. The HR specialist plays

important role in the implementation of IS in any organization. They provide input on the

relative appropriateness of different technologies, the best approach for introducing,

integrating, institutionalizing, motivating and control measures that will encourage

desired results. However the HR specialist must encourage and understand the human

factors associated with the IS. These issues may be divided into two categories

I. Those associated directly with the process

II. Those associated with the consequences of the process

The HR expert may be helpful in IT phobic workforce. The consequence issues also need

HR attention. Even when the changes directly imposed by the technology are well

managed, the psychological transition to a new system may be problematic. HR

specialists can recommend an appropriate sequence of change activities based on the

sound behavioral principles.

68. Phadke and Ranjan (2003) in their research had worked on prospective of electricity

reforms in India. Their research suggested that success of electricity reforms in India

depend critically upon the existence of sort of restraining or disciplining mechanism in

the sector, in the absence of which the current efforts will likely result in a transition from

the inefficient public ownership to the profit-gouging monopolies or oligarchies. In

principle, such a mechanism could be strong, independent and effective regulatory

oversight over the public or private monopolies or significant competition among the

large number of public and private entities. They also stressed that it is important to

examine without bias, and as thorough as possible, the feasibility and effectiveness of

both these sector disciplining mechanisms before making any claims regarding the

desirability of privatization. The authors also argued that the issues related to protecting

the environment, extending access to the poor and other off-grid populations and strategic

concerns to import dependence and foreign private ownership needed to be addressed up-

front in order for reforms to be broader public interest.

69. Bajaj and Sharma (2007) in their research viewed that India faces endemic electrical

energy and peaking shortages; the Power Sector is plagued with the mounting

commercial losses due to various inefficiencies, colossal commercial and technical losses

and increasing subsidy burden on the states. These shortages have had a very detrimental

effect on the overall economic growth of the country. In order to re-vitalize the sector and

improve the techno-economic performance, the Government of India initiated the reform

process in 1991. This paper analyzed the pre-reform era and identified the key concerns

which led to the initiation of the reforms. It also analyzed the likely impact of the major

policy and regulatory initiatives that have been undertaken since 1991 including the

provisions of the new enhancements which have come to force eventually in the form of

the Electricity Act, 2003. This paper detailed out the key feature of the Act and its likely

impact on the Indian electricity industry in the merging scenario. The paper also

discussed major issues like role of regulatory in the new regime, issue of open access,

power trading, introduction of power markets and the role of Appellate Tribunal for

Electricity in harmonizing the orders of various regulators.

70. Tongia (2003) in his project discussed the existing reforms and suggested new ones in

the power sector in India. He identified that Electricity Regulatory Commissions are the

key to reforms. Moreover, the author stated the most restructuring would come through

unbundling and corporatization of SEB‘s, and quoted the examples of Orissa, Andhra

Pradesh and Delhi. The researcher also identified that grid design; IT and innovation in

electricity sector are the key pointers to future growth and for research. Also the study

revealed that India only focused on the quantity and not on the quality of power. Also, the

system should focus on the theft detection, real time systems, forecasting and advanced

communications.

71. Zhang, Parker and Kirkpatrick

(2002) in the study provided an econometric

assessment of the effects of privatization, competition and regulation on the performance

of electricity generation industry of 51 developing countries, over the period of 1985 to

2000. The study identified the impact of these reforms on generating capacity, labour

productivity, capability utilization and industrial and residential user prices. The paper

concluded that competition appeared to bring favorable results for service penetration,

capacity expansion, labour efficiency etc. the co-existence of the reforms of privatization

and competition correlated with greater electricity availability, more generations capacity

and higher labour productivity.

72. Yadav, Roy, Khaparde and Pentayya (2005) this paper described the efforts of the

Indian government to upgrade its power systems to account for the increasing

interconnections due to the rapid regional development. These include the unibus act

(EA2003), which address the issue of public sector monopoly and opens up the field for

competition, private participation and reforms, and the implementation of the ABT to the

intrastate level. The reforms and restructuring policies of the government have assured as

adequate rate of return to investors. The study also started that the electricity policy

implementation is expected to fulfill the aim of meeting more demand at a higher security

level.

73. Singh and Sood (2008) stated that the global demand is expected to increase

considerably during the next decade at the same time environmental pollution is also

increasing with the development of conventional energy source. Every country intends to

meet the additional demand of energy in part by renewable energy (RES). To meet the

global energy demand various support schemes and policies for promotion of renewable

energy sources in restructured power sector were discussed in this paper. These support

policies for renewable energies encouraged the economic viability of electrical power

generation from renewable sources. These policies reduced one or more key barriers in

the development path of renewable energy. The paper took a close look at the regulatory

policies for the promotion of electricity generation from renewable energy sources, which

are currently at the centre of global discussion.

74. Saxena, Bhatnagar and Saxena (2003) points out that an electrical distribution

systems transfer‘s electrical energy received at sub-station to domestic, industrial,

agricultural and commercial customers. All the customers expect electrical energy to be

always available. But there are problems in accurate supply because of electrical losses.

Electrical loss is defined as the difference between energy available at the customer level

and the energy effectively produced by different electrical utilities. The study then

highlights two types of losses in the distribution network. There are technical and non

technical losses. The technical losses are inherent to the efficiency of the system to

transport the energy to the ultimate customer. This includes resistive loss in the copper

and aluminum of the transformer windings and lines and core losses

The second group, classified as non technical losses, which include

I. Theft and pilferage:. Possible means of theft and pilferage are by bypassing

the neutral from the meter and using the phase and earth connection, by

tampering with the connections, and by taking supply directly from the mains.

II. Metering problems: Metering problems also cause revenue losses. These

problems include using unmetered power supply by bypassing the meters

completely, submitting incorrect meter readings, tampering with meters, and

defective meters.

III. Management inefficiency: Poor planning of load management, poor

maintenance of substations, and improper communications with the consumer

lead to heavy loss, poor power demand management, non distributed

electricity bills, manipulated readings, mismanagement of unpaid bills, fewer

payments by customers, customer payment difficulties, connivance by staff,

illegal connections, and subsidized supply to the customer.

IV. Inherent system losses (which are technical in nature): The following losses

are basically technical in nature: corona loss, copper losses in the line, feeder,

and transformer, iron loss in the transformer, auxiliary supply loss, loss due to

low power factor operation of certain equipment, loss due to reactive power

flow in lines, weak transmission and distribution system, overloaded lines,

unbalanced loads, and incorrect voltage levels.

The study then presents a Loss Management Model to assess the loss and rectify that loss.

The essence of Loss Management is integration of human and other resources in a

manner that leads to effective performance. The Loss Management policies aim at

making the best use of available resources for providing effective, efficient, and low-cost

solutions to Loss Management. Loss Management problem of the Electric Distribution

System in India is a multi-factorial, multi-dimensional, and multi-criteria problem. The

Loss Management model, which is based on MCFDM (Multi-Criteria Futuristic Decision

Making) methodology, projects a plausible future with a proposal to reach a desirable

future for different time horizons. MCFDM methodology provides one with a

comprehensive framework for solving the basic multi-criteria futuristic problems of

decision making to choose the best one in a set of competing futuristic alternatives. These

are evaluated under conflicting criteria and enable one to make multi-criteria and multi-

actor futuristic decisions to cope with the intuitive, the rational and irrational, all at the

same time.

75 Sagar, Ramana, Prasad, Kukde and Eisendrath (2004) highlights that the distribution

reforms in India began in the mid- 90s, and followed the World Bank‘s model of

privatization. This goal required intermediate steps of unbundling and corporatisation of

vertically integrated state utilities. So far, Orissa and Delhi have already privatized their

distribution companies, while Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have undertaken aggressive

steps in the same direction. The study gives the insight into these reforms done by various

states. The reform process began with the enactment of the Orissa Electricity Reform Act

in 1995. Orissa was the first state to initiate the reform process. The Act was designed to

address the fundamental issues responsible for the poor performance of the industry in

the state. The new legislation was enacted for the purpose of restructuring the electricity

industry, for taking measures conducive to increasing the efficiency of each activity i.e.

generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity, for opening avenues for private

participation and for establishing the Regulatory Commission. Similarly the study

presents the cases of the Delhi, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The study also highlights

various key issues that need to be addressed before going for any type of reform. These

are

I. There is a need for full and sustained political, administrative and financial

support to the distribution companies in their efforts to improve and run

the electricity distribution business.

II. This support would enable them to disconnect illegal consumers, reduce

theft and improve collection efficiency.

III. Baseline data was required to be reasonably correct.

IV. Multi-year regulation was called for to reduce regulatory risk and

uncertainty.

V. Government commitment and sustained support

VI. Improved base-line data on loss levels.

VII. Full and continuing involvement of the Regulatory Agency

VIII. Rational and fair valuation of assets – valuation based on revenue stream

IX. Clean balance-sheets assured to discoms

X. Material stocks, loans to personnel to be based on actual after audit

XI. Capital support from government via Accelerated Power Development

and Reform Programme (APDRP), and from Power Finance Corporation

(PFC).

XII. Model structure assures returns which in turn makes entity creditworthy.

76. Hattori, Jamasb and Pollitt (2005) highlights that the Electricity sector reforms are

transforming the structure and operating environment of the industry across many

different countries throughout the world. Although the main purpose of these reforms is

to introduce competition and market the mechanisms into electricity generation and

supply, there is a growing interest in regulatory reforms to improve the efficiency of the

natural monopoly activities of distribution and transmission networks. The electricity

supply industry and its regulation in UK and Japan are somewhat similar utilities.

Utilities are in private ownership in both countries; the UK firms were privatized in 1990

but the Japanese electricity supply industry has been privately owned since 1951. The

industry in Japan is dominated by 10 Electric Power Companies (EPCOs) responsible for

generation, transmission, distribution, and supply of electricity to final customers. There

is no independent regulator in Japan but the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry

(METI) acts as regulator. Thus, in both UK and Japan, one regulator (OFGEM in UK and

METI in Japan) regulates a similar number of distribution utilities. However, the

structure of the industry differs between the two countries. In Japan, the electricity

distribution function is undertaken in vertically integrated electric utilities while in the

UK regional distribution companies perform this task. The UK distribution companies are

legally separate from other parts of the electricity supply chain though they may be part

of a larger company that includes generation and/or retail assets. Another difference

between the two countries is the regulatory regime. The UK introduced price cap

regulation at privatization in order to control the distribution tariff while Japan relied on

rate-of-return (ROR) regulation to control the final prices of electricity. Although it

would be difficult to separate the effect of a different regulatory regime from other

country-specific factors, with a long panel data set to investigate changes in efficiency

over time, it might be possible to isolate the effect of regime changes. This paper

examines relative performance of electricity distribution in the UK and Japan between

1985 and 1998. The results of our comparative efficiency analyses indicate that the

productivity gain in UK electricity distribution utilities has been larger than that of the

Japanese electricity distribution. It also suggests that efficiency scores are generally

higher for UK utilities.

77. Ranganathan and Rao (2004) points out that the Electricity reforms in India formally

started along with economic liberalization in 1991-92. Despite aggressive reform policies

in the 90s, private sector participation was moderate at best, and the financial losses and

cash flows of State Electricity Boards (SEBs) reached crisis proportions. In June 2003, a

few months following the workshop on Power Sector Reforms in India, held at the Indian

Institute of Management Bangalore, the Electricity Act came into effect, spurring a rapid

succession of rule promulgations by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission

(CERC) on open access, transmission pricing and trading. The implementation of the Act

and the CERC rules almost immediately generated market activity. New trade licensees

were registered, and bilateral and regional trade increased. This paper takes stock of the

reform efforts leading up to the Electricity Act and raises many salient concerns that

merit attention in the next phase of reforms. The number and reach of the policy changes

introduced by the Electricity Act of June 2003 are unprecedented in the history of Indian

power sector development. They aim to provide customers with alternatives to

government supply of electricity, in all elements of the value chain, and make the sector

financially viable. The initial steps have been progressive, but there is still lot to be done.

Given that the financial viability of the state utilities has hardly improved, and that the

Electricity Act has given full freedom to set up power plants for wholesale and retail

sales, the logical short-term outcome is likely to be a selective growth of the system for

lucrative (most likely industrial) customers. Also little in the Act addresses organizational

inefficiencies within the SEBs. Cross subsidies are to be eliminated – but how? These are

some prominent issues in today‘s scenario

78. King (1978) reveals that the modern view of an IS as an organizational decision

support system is inconsistent with the design/development approaches which are

appropriate for data processing. The organization's operating efficiency is but one aspect

for consideration in management decision making. The achievement of greater

organizational effectiveness is the paramount consideration in most of the management

decisions which the IS is to support; it also must be of paramount importance in the

design of the IS. There is an intrinsic linkage of the decision supporting IS to the

organization's purpose, objectives, and strategy. This article describes an operationally

feasible approach for identifying and utilizing the elements of the organization's "strategy

set" to plan for the IS strategy set.

Organizational Strategy Set IS Strategy Set

Figure 2.6 Organizational Strategy Set

Above figure abstractly shows the overall process for performing IS strategic planning.

This figure shows an "IS Strategic Planning" process which transforms an

"Organizational Strategy Set," made up of organizational mission, objectives, strategy,

and other strategic organizational attributes, into an "IS Strategy Set," consists of system

objectives, constraints, and design principles. Figure describes an information-based

approach to strategic planning for the IS in that it identifies an information set — the "IS

Mission

Objectives

Strategy

Other Strategic

Organizational

Attributes

System Objectives

System Constraints

System Design Strategies

Strategy Set" — which will guide the design and development of the IS. While the

elements of this IS Strategy Set — system objectives, constraints, and design principles

are generally recognized to be the guiding considerations in developing the IS design.

Figure shows the IS Strategy Set as emanating directly from another information set, the

"Organizational Strategy Set."

79. Bergeron (1991) puts in the picture that the information systems can be used

strategically by an organization in order to secure gains over its competitors. Information

systems for competitive advantage are defined as information systems that drive or

formulate the organization's competitive strategy in order to provide it with (or to

maintain) a competitive advantage. Such systems reflect the fundamental objectives of

the firm and may have a significant impact on its success. Information technology may be

used to help the organization produce at lower cost, to differentiate itself from its

competitors, or to identify and concentrate on a particular market segment. These three

strategies may be achieved by using information technology to raise entry barriers,

increase negotiating power with suppliers, create new dependencies for clients, offer new

products or substitutes, and even change the grounds for competition or the nature of the

stakes. To provide a competitive advantage, information technology must modify the

structure of the industry, improve the position of the firm, or create new business

opportunities. Basically, a competitive advantage is created when a firm Increases its

comparative efficiency or its bargaining power. Any competitive strategy should aim at a

durable competitive advantage. Such advantage is accomplished when differentiation

affects the consumer's perceptions favorably, when the firm has the capacity to maintain

this differentiation over the competition, and when it endures. Gaining a competitive

advantage should result in a long-term added financial return for the organization even if,

at times, benefits are difficult to quantify. There are, however, different view points on

the actual meaning of competitive advantage. One the one hand, from an economics of

innovation point of view, a firm has a competitive advantage if it is able to obtain a return

on its investment that is better than normal in a given industry and if this advantage is

sufficiently long lived to be considered as altering industry structure. More precisely,

information systems for competitive advantage should reduce costs, add value and entail

substantial switching costs for customers and users, and also provide sufficient time for

the innovating firm to reap the benefits before it is imitated by its competitors.

80. Kettlnger (1994) informs that the sustainability of competitive advantage may be

achieved by leveraging unique firm attributes with information technology to realize

long-term performance gains. Competitive advantage is dependent upon unique

characteristics that enable a firm to maintain a dominant position within its respective

industry. Sustainability of competitive advantage, or the ability to maintain an initial gain

in business performance from strategic viewpoint, is a concept that has grown in

importance. Information systems that facilitate competitiveness in both the short and long

run have a premium value to the firms. Conversely, systems that cannot sustain their

business impact have only transient value or offer negative value if they lead to a "bigger

and better" response from competitors. The paper then lists various factors facilitating

sustainable competitive advantage. In general, three sets of factors are observed. These

factors should be considered before going for the design of the information systems that

are used for gaining the competitive advantage.

I. Environmental Factors—Factors that reflect environmental and unique

situations that could affect sustainability (i.e., unique industry

characteristics, changes in regulatory environment, political changes, etc.);

II. Foundation Factors—Factors that exist by virtue of the firm's

infrastructure and that have evolved over time; and,

III. Action Strategies—Factors that require definitive actions/strategies by the

initiating firm to leverage the foundation factors through the strategic IS

application to create sustainable competitive advantage.

81. Emery (1990) pointed out that the concept of an SIS, as it is sometimes promulgated,

has inherent flaws that can lead management to make some serious errors. Two of the

more misconceptions about SIS are

I. The SIS is a thing apart from the organization's management information

systems

II. An SIS can be implemented through a deliberate effort to build an

information system aimed specifically at meeting strategic objectives.

Almost all of the information systems that have a legitimate claim to be strategic have

roots in an effective transaction processing system. Consider American Airline's Sabre

system, which provides one of the few examples of a system that has had an indisputably

strategic impact on the business. Much of Sabre's strategy value comes from the way it

thoroughly permeates many aspects of the airline's activities. Sabre supports external

relationships with travel agents and frequent flyers, but it also has critical links with a

wide variety of internal applications dealing with such detailed matters as yield

management, scheduling crews and aircraft maintenance, and meal planning.

Furthermore, the initial version of Sabre was installed nearly three decades ago with the

relatively limited goal of improving the efficiency and accuracy of handling a growing

volume of reservation traffic. The system has evolved to its present state only through a

continued massive investment aimed at achieving constant improvements and added

functionality. It is inconceivable that Sabre could ever have been implemented initially as

the strategic information system that it subsequently has become. Rather, Sabre provides

an adaptive platform that enables American Airlines to build on its strengths as an

aggressive and well-managed airline. The advantages that American Airlines has been

able to sustain over a long period of time have come only through an enormous effort that

presents a formidable moving target to its competitors. There are some valuable lessons

here regarding the nature of strategic information systems:

I. Strategic advantages come often—"almost always" is perhaps too strong a

term—from major enhancements in the efficiency and effectiveness at the

operational level

II. Strategic systems come through a long-term adaptive process, rather than

through a major breakthrough that brings quick rewards.

The study stresses that we cannot set out to develop an SIS; we can only develop an

effective MIS. This proposition does not rest merely on an academic exercise in

semantics. Rather, it goes to the heart of the process of developing information systems

that have strategic relevance. It is critical for an organization to focus the design of its

information systems on strategic objectives, but it is a delusion to think that these

objectives can be met through an independent SIS. A quest for such an SIS diverts

attention from the very difficult, but far more rewarding, task of making continual

improvements in the MIS in order to adapt to the changing strategic needs of the

organization. Information technology offers a variety of ways in which the MIS can

contribute to the strategic objectives of the enterprise. Embedding greater "intelligence"

within a transaction processing system offers one of the more attractive avenues. Product

customization and the reduction of delivery time can also have important strategic

effects. Clearly, information technology can play an essential part in making such

improvements. In searching for strategic opportunities, it is important to take a realistic

view of what can be accomplished through strategic systems

82. Lemay (1986) examined the way in which motor carrier managers gather, process,

and use information to create strategy. When faced with a strategic question, where does

the manager get data for making a decision? What parts of the carrier's environment are

important? What variables are used to monitor the internal working of the firm and the

external forces which present both threats and opportunities? What role does the

computer play in these decisions? Drawing from theory in both strategic management and

information systems, interviews were conducted with motor carrier strategists and

managers. The results of these interviews provide insights into the strategic thinking of

top managers in the industry. Also, using the data gathered in this study, a model of the

strategic information system was developed. To conduct this research, sixty-three

managers and executives from a convenience sample of twenty-two LTL motor carriers

were interviewed. The model consists of environmental and process factors. In the

environment of the SIS are the strategic decisions making process, the human and

technological inputs to the system, and the internal and external environments of the firm.

As a special case, the model also shows the strategic informants. Strategic informants are

individuals with special knowledge which relates to the environment, the firm, or the

process of designing systems and making decisions. A special role was reserved in the

model for these individuals because they are capable of providing an extraordinarily rich

and specific kind of data or information. The four processes of scanning, filtering,

analysis, and synthesis remain at the heart of the SIS, along with adaptation, which serves

to fit the system into the decision making environment. In scanning, the areas and factors

of interest are identified. Filtering reduces the data, eliminating unnecessary data to

produce information relevant to decisions. Analysis structures the data for particular

decisions. In synthesis, all of the data relevant to a particular decision are assembled and

made cohesive. Through the adaptation process, in the model as a series of feedback

loops, the SIS processes continually interact with the organizational data base. If new

requirements are discovered during the analysis and synthesis of data, the system returns

to the databases to collect additional information now deemed important.

83. Brown, Gatian and Hicks (1995) stressed that Investment in strategic information

systems (SIS) is advocated by numerous authors as an important way for firms to seek

competitive advantage. Yet there is still little empirical evidence that implementation of

SIS results in long-term competitive advantages. This is primarily due to the difficulty of

isolating economic benefits attributable to SIS implementation. In this research, thirty-

five sample firms who have successfully implemented SIS are analyzed for evidence of

long-term financial success. This analysis is conducted over a thirteen-year period,

centered around the year in which firms were identified for employment of SIS to either

support growth, control costs, form alliances, differentiate products, or provide

innovation of products/processes. Results show that the superior performance by firms

investing in SIS. The sample firms, firms identified as SIS leaders, tended to perform

better than their industries and individual companies within their industries with respect

to all the measures tested except sales per employee. The degree of better performance

differed for each variable. The measure of performance showing the greatest difference

between sample and control firms was return on assets (ROA). ROA is a comprehensive

measure and is arguably the most important measure used in the study. Further evidence

of superior performance by SIS firms is provided by the significant average excess return

corresponding to the date that the investing public became aware that the sample firms

were employing SIS for competitive advantage. The significant excess return implies that

the market assessed the investment in SIS as value-relevant. Direct evidence of greater

than industry growth for sample firms was found primarily in the early part of the sample

period. It is particularly interesting that the superior performance in return on assets,

return on sales (ROS) (profitability), and income per employee occurred during the post-

zero-year period. Of further interest is that ROA performance tended to be better whether

the control was the industry or the firm. ROS and income productivity were only

significantly better in the firm comparisons. All other measures, when significant, tended

to be significant in the industry comparisons. It is also important that all the statistically

significant tests in this research showed SIS firms to be performing better than their

respective industry or companies within their industry. In only two cases—accounts

receivable turnover in years did a statistically significant test show SIS firms to be

performing below the level of their industry or peers. When a large number of t-tests are

performed, as in this research, one would expect some spurious significant differences.

However, if SIS firms are performing no differently than their industry, then spurious

significance differences should be distributed such that SIS firms would also be

spuriously performing worse than their industry. Thus, the overall pattern across all t-

tests in this research supports the theory that SIS firms do outperform their industry as a

whole and companies within their industry. Specifically, these findings provide general

support for the belief that strategic investments in innovative technology may in fact

result in measurable financial benefits which further translates into a period of

competitive advantage for investing firms. This finding should be very interesting to

CEOs considering investment in SIS. It should also be interesting to researchers involved

in theory development around these issues.

84. Earl (1993) revealed that the Strategic information systems planning (SISP) remains a

top concern of many organizations. Accordingly, researchers have investigated SISP

practices. This study examines SISP experience in 27 companies; all were large

companies that were among the leaders in the banking, insurance, transport, retailing,

electronics, IT, automobile, aerospace, oil, chemical, services, and food and drink

industries. Annual revenues averaged £4.5 biilion. They were all headquartered in the

U.K. or had significant national or regional IS functions within multi-national companies

headquartered elsewhere. Their experience with formal SISP activities ranged from one

to 20 years. The scope of SISP could be either at the business unit level, the corporate

level, or both. By adopting this broader perspective, the investigation reveals companies

were using five different SISP approaches: Business-Led, Method-Driven,

Administrative, Technological, and Organizational. Each approach has different

characteristics and, therefore, a different likelihood of success. The business led approach

has "assumption" of this approach is that current business direction or plans are the only

basis upon which IS plans can be built and that, therefore, business planning should drive

SISP. The emphasis is on the business leading IS and not the other way around. The

Method-Driven Approach assumes that SISP is enhanced by, or depends on, use of a

formal technique or method. The IS director may believe that management will not think

about IS needs and opportunities without the use of a formal method or the intervention

of consultants. The Administrative Approach emphasized on resource planning. The

wider management planning and control procedures were expected to achieve the aims of

SISP through formal procedures for allocating IS resources The Technological Approach

is based on the assumption that an information systems-oriented model of the business is

a necessary outcome of SISP and. therefore, that the analytical modeling methods are

appropriate. The Organizational Approach has an assumption which is quite different. It

is that the SISP is not a special or neat and tidy endeavor but is based on IS decisions

being made through continuous integration between the IS function and the organization.

The way IT applications are identified and selected is described in much more multi-

dimensional and subtle language. The approach is not without method, but methods are

employed as required and to fit a particular purpose. The study points out that the

organizational Approach is the most effective.

85. Lederer and Sethi (1992) pointed out that the strategic information system planning is

the process of creating a long-range plan of computer-based applications to enable an

organization to achieve its goals. Previous research has shown that many problems can

potentially impede information systems planners as they carry out the process. The study

uses a survey of eighty information systems planners to investigate a causal relationship

among the problems Impact of Organization Problems (Fl) on Implementation Problems

(F2).To be considered for implementation, a strategic information systems plan must be

based on top management's perspective. The plan must therefore assess organizational

goals and strategies. The failure to consider these goals and strategies sufficiently will

cause top management to doubt that the plan is consistent with its needs and expectations.

The failure to consider the organization's goals and objectives sufficiently can cause the

final document to be not very useful. Then the study points out the Impact of Hardware

Problems on Implementation Problems. The lack of a hardware plan leads to

incompatible systems and thus weakens management's resolve to implement it. Without a

comprehensive hardware and data communications plan the final output document will

not be very useful .The next focus is the Impact of Cost Problems on Implementation

Problems .SISP can be very time-consuming and expensive The excessive cost of the

planning process can deter management from implementing the plan. The extended

duration and increased cost can result in a plan that is out of date too soon. The duration

and cost, along with the outdated plan, may not be in accordance with top management's

expectations. Top management may be unwilling to support implementation if the SISP

process requires its excessive involvement, especially in tedious tasks (such as defining

strategic or other business issues in minute detail) or technical tasks (such as evaluating

detailed data models and dataflow diagrams). Hence, top management may be

incredulous about the plan and reluctant to implement it .In the paper presents the impact

of Database Problems on Implementation Problems. The lack of data adversely affects

the implementation of information systems. In fact, the most common product of SISP is

a set of subject area databases; without this there may be nothing to implement .Hence,

the failure to sufficiently provide priorities for specific databases within overall data

architecture with adequate Data Administration personnel to install and maintain them

will result in a plan that is not very useful.

86. Sabherwal and King (1995) throws light on strategic decision making process

involving eight attributes, four of which represent activities and four represent key

influences. The major findings of the paper are:-

I. The planned decision making process involves high levels of planning and top

management influences and low level of politics.

II. The provincial decision making process involving a high level of IS and top

management influence. It involves a high level of politics and low level of

planning. The IS function is mature enough to play a leading role.

III. The incremental decision making process encounters considerable

incrementalism and internal influence. It is associated with low level of

planning and top management influence but a high level of politics. The

process is associated with least successful IS application.

IV. The fluid decision making process involves little planning and top

management influence and is primarily used for inter organizational system.

The process is associated with most successful IS application.

V. The political decision making process encounters high levels of politics,

internal influence and top management influence but a low level of IS

influence. The small organization size and a less formalized structure seem to

facilitate this process..

The major limitation of the study include only senior IS executives were used to obtain

the data for this study. Despite this the paper suggests to managers deciding on

potentially strategic systems that no one process should be considered universally

applicable.

87. Szewczak (1988) stressed on the the usefulness of the strategic information system.

The concept can be defined with the help of five factors namely, strategic relevance,

factual overload, quantitative inefficiency, verifiable uniformity and timely accuracy. The

first factor captures the consistency of information with what is expected in a strategic

context. The ability of the management to focus on important information appears to be

fundamental to the success of environmental scanning efforts. The second factor suggests

that the data can be evaluated to produce facts and that facts can be further evaluated so

as to their importance in strategic decision making. The third factor deals with

quantitative information, information scarcity and information support in decision

making. The quantitative data alone is not sufficient for making strategic decisions but

must be supplemented by qualitative data. The fourth dimension suggests that strategic

information is at least verifiable. The last factor says that strategic information is biased

in a particular direction since the evaluator of data for use in strategic management

context is not impartial but instead wishes to see certain organizational mission and

objectives realized. The study supports the claim that SSP is probably preferable to more

traditional approaches to providing useful information to strategic decision makers,

where the usefulness of the information is determined by the decision makers themselves

during SSP process.

88. Henderson, Rockart, and Sifonis (1987) examined the critical assumptions underlying

the CSFS and to identity opportunities for investment in management information

systems (MIS), decision support systems (DSS), and executive support systems (ESS).

The investment in these management support systems will directly impact the investment

in the large transactions in the infrastructure of the firm. There is a need for planning

methodology that can achieve the following goals;

I. Provide a linkage between the strategic business plan and the strategic

information systems plan;

II. provide a means to coordinate the investment in a range of management

support systems' that are responsive to management needs; and

III. Provide a common foundation for integrating management support systems

into the technological infrastructure of the firm.

This paper discusses an extension to the critical success factor (CSF) planning

methodology as one means to achieve these goals. The CSF methodology has proven an

effective approach for introducing a top management perspective and, hence, strategic

direction into information systems planning.

The approach provides a framework with which to build and refine a strategic data model

for the firm. This data model illustrates the classes of data and indicates how they directly

or indirectly affect a support system. The role of information technology in the

competitive advantage of the firm is rapidly increasing. However, the opportunity for

competitive advantages cannot be fully exploited until management can coordinate its

investments in professional and management support systems to ensure that they will

impact the strategic issues of the firm. This study supports the notion that these

investments can be coordinated in an efficient and effective manner.

89. Montgomery & Weinberg (1979) have highlighted the dramatic increase in the use of

strategic planning tools in the past decade. The quality of strategic planning is greatly

impacted by the quality of the information inputs, thus, increasing attention should be

paid to the systematic development of strategic intelligence systems. A strategic plan can

be no better than the information on which it is based. There has been little focus on

strategic intelligence systems, the selection, gathering, and analysis of information

needed for strategic planning. The construction of viable strategic intelligence systems is

exceedingly complex because of the unstructured nature of strategic decisions, the

difficulty of separating out important and relevant information from the vast amounts of

data accessible to the manager, and the reliance of managers on personal information

sources. For a strategic intelligence system to be useful, a company must have a real

commitment to strategic planning. Otherwise, the planning process, if carried out at all,

becomes only an exercise and managers appear to place limited effort towards gathering

and communicating accurate, relevant intelligence. There are a number of different

organizational policies which can be utilized to promote the transformation of data into

information and the utilization of this information. Information systems are a means to an

end— decision making which leads to more profitable results.

90. Teubner (2007) carried out in a German financial services company (FSC) over a

period of five months in summer 2003. During this time, the enterprise situation and the

information system (IS) practices situation of FSC were studied with respect to the SISP

approach in place. The findings confirm the hypothesis that practitioners largely ignore

academic literature and do not use it in support of their SISP endeavors. This is all the

more striking since FSC extensively used guidance from IS research in other fields such

as systems analysis and software development. The case study examines in detail two

possible explanations for the gap: firstly a lacking transfer of academic knowledge to

practice, and secondly deficiencies in the academic knowledge base itself. The

observations highlight disconnect between academic discussion and practical conduct. It

was found that FSC's CIO basically perceives her role as that of a service provider to

business. While the different perceptions might be due to idiosyncrasies of FSC, related

research provided additional empirical support for the conjecture of misleading academic

assumptions about the role of IT management in practice.

91. Rishi and Goyal (2009) indicated the clear gaps existing in the development of

strategic information systems (SIS) in general and particular in the Public Sector

Undertakings (PSUs) in India. Thus, this study has been undertaken in Indian PSUs. Data

has been collected from 164 managers who were working at different levels of

management. Five critical success factors, namely, corporate planning; regular upkeep of

the machinery; fire and safety audits; quality control; quality assurance have been found

as critical success factors for the selected organizations. In particular and the other

organizations in general based on the findings of the study, it is recommended that the

organizations must take care of these critical success factors so as to develop SIS which

are successful information system and thus enable the organization to get a sustainable

competitive advantage.

92. Segars and Grover (2005) have provided two important aspects which have always

been under emphasized - the first is the planning process or how planning is

accomplished and the second is planning evolution or how planning evolves as a learning

system. Both perspectives can provide practical guidance on how organizations will

change their planning process over time in an attempt to improve their effectiveness as

well as leverage their investment in SISP. This paper identifies key dimensions of SISP

and its effectiveness. The evolution of these dimensions is studied as a three-stage model.

The results provide an interesting insight into how planning evolves as organizations

reconcile seemingly contradictory and dimensions of planning. This balanced approach to

planning is shown to be more effective, providing strong implications for both research

and practice.

93. Pollalis and Dimitriou (2008) examined the development of a systemic multi-

methodology for knowledge management in virtual enterprises. The main objective is the

strategic management of information for the acquisition of competitive advantage and the

advance of networked corporate agreements (i.e., Virtual Enterprise Projects) in order to

maintain business flexibility and innovation. Making use of systemic methodologies,

emphasis is given on the creation and the sustenance of knowledge coming from both the

internal and the external business environment, instead of directly intervening to the

operational characteristics of the modern enterprise. We present an approach to

knowledge management supported by four systemic methodologies namely the total

systems intervention (TSI), the strategic assumption surfacing and testing (SAST), the

viable systems model (VSM) and the problem structuring methodology (PSM). The

composition of systemic methodologies can result in powerful multi-methodologies that

effectively compensate complexity, combine different mental pictures and perspectives

and handle diversity in a creative and innovative manner. Information systems, especially

those involving multiple stakeholders, profoundly limit the capability of traditional

generic methods of analysis to develop and utilize interventions. In this paper, we

demonstrate the effectiveness of a multi-methodology designed to facilitate the creation

of a knowledge exchange business network in the field of consulting companies that

provide an ideal practice field for the verification and testing of the results of our study.

94. Chen, Mocker, Preston and Teubner (2010) pointed out that the Information systems

strategy is of central importance to IS practice and research. Our extensive review of the

literature suggests that the concept of IS strategy is a term that is used readily; however, it

is also a term that is not fully understood. In this study, we follow a perspective paradigm

based on the strategic management literature to define IS strategy as an organizational

perspective on the investment in, deployment, use, and management of IS. Through a

systematic literature search, we identify the following three conceptions of IS strategy

employed implicitly in 48 articles published in leading IS journals that focus on the

construct of IS strategy: (1) IS strategy as the use of IS to support business strategy; (2)

IS strategy as the master plan of the IS function; and (3) IS strategy as the shared view of

the IS role within the organization. We find the third conception best fits our definition of

IS strategy. As such, we consequently propose to operationalize IS strategy as the degree

to which the organization has a shared perspective to seek innovation through IS.

Specifically, our proposed IS strategic typology suggests an organization's IS strategy

falls into one of the two defined categories (i.e., IS innovator or IS conservative) or is

simply undefined. We also develop measures for this new typology. We argue that the

proposed instrument, which was cross-validated across both chief information officers

and senior business executives, has the potential to serve as a diagnostic tool through

which the organization can directly assess its IS strategy. We contend that our

reconceptualization and operationalization of IS strategy provides theoretical and

practical implications that advance the current level of understanding of IS strategy from

extant studies within three predominant literature streams: strategic IS planning,

IS/business strategic alignment, and competitive use of IS.

95. Kim, Shin and Grover (2010) stressed that the use of formative measurement in the

field of Information Systems has increased, arguably due to statistical tools that can test

such models. However, in the literature, there exist two contradictory views on the

potential deficiency of formative measurement. While opponents who are critical of

formative measurement argue that there are native weaknesses of the formative approach

in model estimation, proponents who are in favor of using formative measurement

counter that opponents' research methods in measurement model specification are flawed.

The goal of this work is to empirically test these opposing views on whether the alleged

estimation instability of formative measurement is due to measurement model

misspecification or simply the shortcoming of formative measurement. To assess the

integrity of arguments of both parties, we adopt a research design in which four different

cases are tested in terms of interpretational confounding and external consistency. We

find that regardless of whether there is a specification issue, formative measures can lead

to misleading outcomes. Based on the results, we offer guidelines that researchers may

adopt in planning and executing data analysis with structural equation modeling. Given

that the use of formative measurement is at a critical juncture in the IS field, we believe

that the guidelines in this research note are important to promote appropriate use of the

approach rather than relegate it to a bandwagon effect.

96. Pun, Sankat and Yiu (2010) pointed out that the Strategic Information Systems (SIS)

are computerized information systems that align the use of Information Systems (IS) and

Information Technology (IT) strategically with corporate strategies in organizations. This

paper reviews the linkage of Strategic Information Systems Planning (SISP) to corporate

the strategy formulation and performance measures, incorporating empirical findings

acquired from an exploratory study of IS/IT practitioners in Hong Kong. The findings

constitute the essential ingredients of the design and building of a generic SISP model

and a series of implementation guidelines. Besides, useful data, information, rules and

experiences acquired were incorporated into building a knowledge base for a prototype

expert system, Expert Strategic Planner (ESP). The prototype system was developed to

demonstrate how user organizations could redefine their businesses and leverage

performance in the context of SISP. The 'Human/ESP' comparison on strategy choices of

a selected firm was presented along with a discussion on the applicability of the SISP

model and the possible directions for further research.

97. Newkirk and Lederer (2006) have suggested that more extensive strategic information

systems planning (SISP) in an uncertain environment produces greater planning success.

Managers must decide whether, and if so when, to perform such SISP. Our study tested

the effect of SISP phases on planning success in more and less uncertain environments. A

questionnaire assessed SISP in terms of strategic awareness, situation analysis, strategy

conception, strategy formulation, and strategy implementation planning phases. It

inquired about environmental uncertainty as dynamism, heterogeneity, and hostility.

Finally, it measured SISP success as a composite of alignment, analysis, cooperation, and

capabilities. One hundred and sixty-one IS executives provided data in a postal survey.

More extensive strategy formulation uniformly predicted successful planning in more

uncertain environments, whereas strategic awareness generally predicted it in less

uncertain ones. Strategy conception predicted it in neither more nor less uncertain

environments. More extensive planning is thus not uniformly successful in either

environment but depends on the nature of the uncertainty.

98. Newkirk, Lederer and Johnson (2008) tested the impact of business and information

technology (IT) change on strategic information systems planning (SISP) horizon, of

horizon on the planning itself, and of the planning on the alignment of IS strategy and

business strategy. A questionnaire defined business change, IT change, and alignment as

multi-item scaled questions, and planning horizon as a single, non scaled one. It defined a

multi-item scaled SISP measure as both a second-order construct and as single-order

constructs for its individual phases. A postal survey collected data from 161 IS

executives. Constructs were extensively validated. The analysis used structural equation

modeling, and surprisingly found that business change predicted longer SISP horizons,

but IT change predicted neither longer nor shorter ones. Planning horizon predicted SISP

itself (as a second-order construct and as all of its phases), and such planning (as a

second-order construct, and as strategic awareness and strategy conception phases)

predicted alignment of IS strategy and business strategy. These findings suggest that

practitioners more carefully assess their own degree of caution in setting planning

horizons in response to business and IT change. In fact, the findings suggest it may not be

necessary for practitioners to shorten planning horizons in a rapidly changing

environment.

99. Battaglia (1991) argues that SISP is the analysis of a corporation‘s information and

processes using business information models together with the evaluation of risk, current

needs and requirements. The result is an action plan showing the desired course of events

necessary to align information use and needs with the strategic direction of the company.

The same article emphasizes the need to note that SISP is a management function and not

a technical one. This is consistent with the earlier distinction between the older data

processing views and the modern strategic importance view of Information Systems.

SISP thus is used to identify the best targets for purchasing and installing new

management information systems and help an organization maximize the return on its

information technology investment. A portfolio of computer-based applications is

identified that will assist an organization in executing its business plans and realize its

business goals. There is a growing realization that the application of information

technology (IT) to a firm‘s strategic activities has been one of the most common and

effective ways to improve business performance.

100. Vitale, Ives and Beath (1986) emphasized that the task of strategic information

systems planning is difficult and often time organizations do not know how to do it.

Strategic information systems planning is a major change for organizations, from

planning for information systems based on user‘s demands to those based on business

strategy. Also strategic information systems planning change the planning characteristics

in major ways. For example, the time horizon for planning changes from 1 year to 3 years

or more and development plans are driven by current and future business needs rather

than incremental user needs. Increase in the time horizon is a factor which results in poor

response from the top management to the strategic information systems planning process

as it is difficult to hold their attention for such a long period. Other questions associated

with strategic information systems planning are related to the scope of the planning study,

the focus of the planning exercise – corporate organization vs. strategic business unit,

number of studies and their sequence, choosing a strategic information systems planning

methodology or developing one if none is suitable, targets of planning process and

deliverables. Because of the complexity of the strategic information systems planning

process and uniqueness of each organization, there is no one best way to tackle it. They

also classify SISP methodologies into two categories: impact and alignment. Impact

methodologies help create and justify new uses of IT, while the methodologies in the

―alignment‖ category align IS objectives with organizational goals.

101. Brynjolfsson and Mendelson (1993) argued that Information is a vital ingredient for

management information system is designed to both reduce the costs and increase the

capabilities of organizational information processing. Information systems support the

operations and effective managing of major functions in an organization. Online

operations facilitate user machine, dialogue, interactive analysis, planning, and decision

making. Information systems may be viewed as a substantial extension of the concepts of

managerial accounting, operation research, and organizational theories related to

management and decision making.

102. Kasat and Joshi (2007) argued that Information systems call for analysis of a

business, management views and policies, organizational cultures and management

styles. An open system of information system offers an ability of continues changes and

adjustments or corrections in the system inline with environmental changes in which it

works. An understanding of the effective and responsible use of management of

information systems and technologies is important for managers, business professional

and other knowledge workers in today‘s internet work enterprises. They emphasise that

Information system plays a vital role in e-business and e-commerce operations, enterprise

collaborations and strategic success of business. An information system like any other

system receives inputs of data, and instructions, processes the data according to these

instructions and produces outputs. This information-processing model can be used to

depict an information system. The major purpose of an information system is to convert

data into valuable information.

103. Watson Sr. pointed out that implementing e-business application such as Enterprise

Resource Management or Customer Relationship Management (CRM) requires a

reengineering of core business process internally and with supply chain partners, thus

forcing a company to model and implement business practices being implemented by

leading firms in their industry. Of course, any major new business and initiatives can

enable a company to redefine its core lines of business and precipitate dramatic changes

within the entire inter-enterprise value chain of a business. Implementing new

business/IT strategies require managing the effects of major changes in key

organizational dimensions such as business processes, organizational structures,

managerial roles, employee work assignments, and stakeholder relationships that arise

from the deployment of new business information systems. Induction of Electronic Data

Interchange as part of an organization‘s infrastructure, while providing many benefits

cans also result in resistance to change that is brought about by the new ways of working.

IBM is a real world example that demonstrates the challenges of implementing major

business/ IT strategies and applications, and the change management challenges that

confront management.

104. Watson Jr. concluded that IBM embraces customer relationship management (CRM)

as a primary key for e-business applications. It is designed to implement a business

strategy of using IT to support a total customer care focus for all areas of the company.

Business challenges also include aggregating business functions and information to drive

greater efficiency and responsiveness, automating processes for managing data to

improve quality, efficiency and reduce costs, utilizing actionable information to enable

better business decision-making, adhering to regulatory requirements, and improving data

storage and distribution processes to increase efficiency and reduce overall costs, and

lastly, enabling brand new business functions and processes through better access to data

and diverse applications. IBM‘s high level industry expertise and global investment in

diverse application platforms and application skills helps to provide a strong foundation

for leadership in application design, development, implementation, and management.

105. White (2001) argues that people are a major focus of organizational change

management. This includes activities such as developing innovative ways to measure,

motivate and reward performance. So is designing programs to recruit and train

employees in the core competencies required in a changing work place. Change

management also involves analyzing and defining all changes facing the organization,

and developing programs to reduce the risks and costs and to maximize the benefits of

the change. For example, implementing a new e-business process like customer

relationship management, might involve developing a change action plan, assigning

selected managers as change sponsor, developing employee change teams and

encouraging open communications and feedbacks about organizational changes. Some

key tactics change experts recommend include; involve as many people as possible in E-

business planning and application development, make constant change in expected part of

the culture, tell everyone as much as possible about everything as often as possible,

preferably in person, make liberal use of financial incentives and recognition, and lastly,

work within the company culture and not around it. E-business vision created in the

strategy planning phase should be communicated in compelling change story to the

people in the organization. Evaluating the readiness for the e-business changes within an

organization, developing change strategies, choosing and training change leaders and

champions based on that assessment could be the next steps in managing organizational

changes.

106. Drake (2003) emphasized that Enterprise Resource Planning system provides a

holistic view of the enterprise and is devised to draw benefits from IT. It works around

the core activities of the organization, and facilitates seamless flow of information across

departmental barriers. ERP systems optimally plan and manage all the resources of the

organization, and hence cover the techniques and concepts employed for the integrated

management of businesses as a whole, from the viewpoint of the effective usage of

management resources to improve the efficiency of an enterprise. Direct benefits of ERP

include improved efficiency, information integration for better-decision making, and

faster response time to customer queries. However, the indirect advantages of ERP

include better corporate image, improved customer goodwill, and customer satisfaction.

107. Sethi (2009) argues that superior organizational performance is not a matter of

luck. It is determined by the choices managers make. Top executives use strategic

management to define an overall direction for the organization, which is the firm‘s

grand strategy. Grand strategy is the general plan of major action by which a firm

intends to achieve its long term goals. Within the overall grand strategy of an

organization executives define an explicit strategy, which is the plan of action that

describes resource allocation and activities for dealing with the environment and

attending the organization goals. The essence of strategy is choosing to perform

different activities or to execute activities differently than competitors do. Strategy

necessarily changes over time to fit environmental conditions but to remain

competitive; companies develop strategies that focus on core competencies, develop

synergy, and create value for customers.

108. Jungfalk (2009) argues that like other business activity, planning also has a

process and methodology. In the very beginning of the planning process it is necessary

to decide the purpose of the organization for which it works. Many organizations call it

mission. The mission or aim of the organization is a broad statement of the

organization‘s existence, which sets the direction of the organization and decides the

scope and the boundaries of the business. The task after deciding the mission of the aim

is to set the goal(s) for the organization. The goal is more specific and has a time scale

of three to five years. It is described in the quantitative terms in the form of a ratio, a

norm of a level of certain business aspects, such as the largest share leader in the

industry dominant in certain product, quality, reach and distribution, etc. the goals

become reference for the top management in planning the business activities. After

determining the mission and the goals, the next task is to set various objectives for the

organization.

109. United States General Accounting Office (2011) concludes that the objectives are

described in terms of business results to be achieved in a short duration of a year or

two. They are measurable and can be monitored with the help of the business tools and

technologies. Objectives may be the profitability, the sales, the quality standards, the

capacity utilization, etc. When achieved, the objectives will be contributing to the

accomplishment of the goals and the subsequently the mission. The next step in the

planning process is to targets for more detailed working and reference. The objective of

the business is to be translated in terms of functional and operational units for easy

communication and decision making. The targets may be monthly for the sales,

production, inventory, and so on. The targets will be the direct descendents of the

objective(s). The success in achieving the goals and objective is directly dependent on

the management‘s business strategy.

110. Robertson (2005) concludes that the Information management is a set of activities

that travels along the logical succession of interdependent stages of organization

development. Information management strategies involve harnessing information

resources and information capabilities, to enable the organization to learn and adapt to

its changing environment. In other words, information management centers on

effectively managing and controlling the use of information with respect to

coordination and control, strategic decision making and tactical problem solving.

Information system strategy is a classic model of representing decision making

processes in information systems. Information systems strategy is the plan and steps of

execution taken by the organization in providing information systems and services.

Improvising information management is a key focus for many firms and organizations.

This is driven by an array of various factors that also include a need to improve the

efficiency business processes, the desire to deliver new services, and the demands of

compliance regulations. In most of the cases, information management involves

deploying new technology solutions, like portal applications, content or document

management systems or data warehousing.

111. Schlögl (2005) suggests that only those companies that create new knowledge and

disseminate it widely throughout the organization and quickly embody it in the new

technologies and products will survive in today‘s competitive world. Additionally,

knowledge management strategies are developed to effectively implement a range of

policies and practices that the organization uses to create, develop, identify, represent,

distribute, and enable adoption of experiences and valuable insights. Such experiences

and insights comprise knowledge that are either embedded in organizational practices

or processes, or are embodied in individuals. Knowledge management strategies are

derived from information management as a discipline. The value of information-as-

knowledge and knowledge management essentially lies in the conversion of tacit

information resources to manageable information products, and the resulting expansion

of the organization‘s information resource base. Furthermore, KM strategies are aimed

at facilitating individual as well organizational learning and focuses on efficiency gains

of the organization.

112. The Antonine Education (2009) concludes that information ecology and

organizational culture are most important with respect to knowledge management.

Strategies for knowledge demand that successful knowledge management is achieved

as an outcome of willingness among organizational members and staff to share their

insights and expertise, in enhancing the organizational activities thereby increasing the

chances of achievement of desired goals and targets. Knowledge management has thus

become one of the major strategic uses of information technology. Another factor on

which information management, knowledge management and information system

strategies depend on, is information acquisition. This key factor is essential in

identifying market trends, environmental risks, opportunities, customer preferences,

internal process inefficiencies, demand patterns and an array of other information

resources that are leveraged to create challenging outcomes and competitive

advantages. Enterprise content management (ECM) is the strategies, tools and methods,

used in the context of knowledge management, to capture, store, manage, preserve, and

distribute and deliver documents and content related to organizational processes.

113. Abdisalam, Munir, Khalid and Muhammad (2010) argue that using information

systems effectively requires an understanding of the organization, management, and the

technology shaping the systems. All information systems can be described as

organizational and management solutions to challenges posed by the environment. The

advances in information systems have affect on our day-to day lives. As the technology

is evolving immensely so are the opportunities in a healthy way to prepare the

organization in the competitive advantage environment. In order to manage the IS/IT

based systems; it is important to have an appropriate strategy that defines the systems

and provide means to manage them. Strategic Information Systems Alignment (SISA)

is an effective way of developing and maintaining the IS/IT systems that support the

business operations.

114. King and. Teo (1997) suggested that Information Systems planning is becoming

important as the ―organizations attempt to leverage IS applications to improve

efficiency, reengineer business processes, gain competitive advantage, and compete

more effectively‖. It was interesting to know that there was no particular strategy being

used for the development of plans. Teo and King reported that there is no actual model

or theory available for developing the IS plan, but we have to keep abreast with the new

technologies, along with the business needs and requirements.

115. Krcmar and Lucas concluded that there are two paths to the discovery of a

strategic system. First top management engages in top-down scanning. Managers scan

the environment looking for competitive threats and opportunities; such a scan may

suggest a new strategy for the firm, a strategy which relies on information technology

and its use. Another route to the strategic use of the technology is bottom-up inventing.

An individual who is not part of senior management develops a system to meet a

perceived need. The focus here may not be strategic or competitive until someone else

points out the potential of the invention. Many firms have found strategic products

through a senior manager searching the organization to find a bottom-up invention.

116. Robson (1997) suggested that many headings can be used to categorize techniques

that could support strategic planning. These are techniques that follow the model of

planning or the decision-making process; their nature of attention, such as

opportunities; their identifying origin; their perspective view; and current business

problems. Another possibility in grouping these techniques is meeting the goal of

efficiency, effectiveness, competitiveness, business alignment, or impaction on

business. The techniques can also be grouped according to awareness, opportunity, or

positioning framework. Generally, all of these techniques are grouped according to a

judgment of their use, because their purposes intermingle, and they are applied in many

ways. Therefore, care should be taken in choosing them for applications.

117. Willcocks, Feeny and Islei (1997) suggested that IS can obtain competitive

advantage through some key factors. The availability of the technique applications to

use IS strategically is one example. Another is the knowledge of the extent to which the

business environment has been affected by the information revolution—understanding

IS strategic (ISS) planning process in terms of generating, solidifying, implementing,

and planning. If the ISS planning is treated as a system that includes input, process, and

output, the techniques are as important as input and output, in order to reach new

approaches to planning through applications of the process. This may be useful in an

unstable environment that needs to act effectively and efficiently to face any changes in

the environment. With this in mind, this work considers the adaptability of applying

strategic techniques in the ISS planning to develop a framework for evaluation of these

techniques. This framework may also be used as a tool to support the planning team

through the IS planning process.

118. Turban, Rainer and Potter (2005) concluded that the importance of the techniques

of strategic planning in the role of IS/IT is increasing. These techniques may help to

build the business model of the organization, which would support managers by

simulating a situation or providing the problem‘s solution in many ways, such as

decreasing the cost of experimentation to lower than it is in real life; simulating time in

seconds as opposed to real-life, which may require years; changing the variables of the

model in the experiment, easier than changing them in real life; and finally, using the

models to deal with uncertainty, by including ―what-if‖ roles or risk calculations.

119. Cashman and Holt (1980) noted that cooperation between team members in a

software engineering environment requires more than a simple message system, and

they argue that a means for structuring project communication is needed. They describe

a protocol-driven, computer-based message system called MONSTR, implemented

under the National Software Works project, a distributed operating system for the

Arpanet internet. In this system a manager defines the rules of communication,

including the allowable paths of communication, the meaning of messages sent over

each path, and a description of the project structure.

120. Ackoff (1979) argues that the principal benefit of planning comes from engaging

in it, and that there is a need for workers to participate directly in the planning process.

Ackoff's concept of interactive planning" emphasizes three points. First is the

importance of direct participation where workers can plan for themselves. Second,

planning should be a continuous process. Third, planning should be holistic so that

units at the same level of an organization should be planned for simultaneously and

interpedently and every level of the system should be involved in a multi-level system.

These ideas identify planning as a group activity, with decisions being made at the

lowest appropriate level and with communication and coordination between groups.

121. Anthony (1965) suggested that top management is responsible of the development

and implementation of an organization's strategy. Since information systems can have a

significant strategic impact in the manner suggested by a growing number of authors,

top management also needs to take responsibility for fostering information systems

with the potential to provide this impact. The concept of democratic planning rests on

the belief that participation in the preparation and carrying through of plans should be

spread among all members of a system, and they all should have the same amount of

resources to influence planning. Many techniques can be used in the strategic planning

processes, and it becomes clear that a business needs frameworks, which require an

understanding of different methods, techniques, and tools.

122. Wiseman C (1985) noted that information systems affecting internal operations or

traditional products and services will only have strategic impact if they support the

"strategic thrusts" of the organization. These strategic thrusts include Porter's

differentiation and cost, along with innovation, growth, and alliance, all of which

influence relationships with customers, suppliers, and competitors.

123. Selig (1982) looked at a broad set of issues associated with multinational is

management. Though focusing primarily on planning and strategy, Selig's studies

highlight the differences between managing in domestic and in international

environments. He emphasizes the increased complexity that arises from a need to deal

with multiple languages, cultures, business philosophies, governments and regulations,

non-uniform vendor support, variations in available technologies, and relative

weaknesses in external and internal is standards and protocol.

124. Natek and Lesjak (2005) stressed that the use of information technology for the

support of company‘s strategic orientation and for the support of value chains

substantially increased the complexity of the information system and has forced many

companies into strategic planning of information systems. Unfortunately, many

strategic plans were just vast documents that contained attractive business and

information models and were filled with unreasonable goals and assessments of future

investments into information technology. Thus companies became extremely cautious

and seldom decided to prepare a strategic plan. They preferred to prepare concrete

plans for the implementation of already selected information solutions, which could not

substitute strategic plans.

125. Kovaÿiÿ, Jakliÿ, Indihar and Groznik (2004) stressed that the development of

information technology and a wide supply of information solutions did not only bring

about a much better functionality, integrity, reliability and efficiency of information

support, but also increased investments in information development of companies. Such

investments increase both in absolute values and the relative share of enterprise‘s

turnover. Therefore the management should not transfer responsibility regarding these

decisions to information specialists. Once it starts taking decisions regarding strategic

development of the information system, the management should be interested in how

such investments could be perceived as sound by the shareholders and how to insure

their long term effectiveness.

126. Clemons and Row (1988) forwarded the fact that there has been considerable

attention paid to competitive and strategic information systems. Few cases, however,

have been studied and presented in detail. McKesson's order entry and distribution

system, Economost, is one of the most widely cited strategic information systems, with

wide acceptance; nearly 100% of McKesson's orders are entered electronically by

customers. Impact on customers, and on McKesson's costs, has been favorable and

dramatic. Similar systems are now widely available from major competitors; the effect

of such systems on the industry, and on industry consolidation, has also been significant

Clearly, Economost has produced numerous benefits for McKesson. Some of the key

benefits are-

I. Economost supports rapid, reliable, and cost-effective customer order entry.

The number of order entry clerks employed by McKesson has been cut from

700 to 15.

II. Sales personnel are no longer principally order takers. They can be used

actively, as business consultants to the retailers. Additionally, the number of

sales personnel has been cut in half, while orders have increased six fold.

III. Since orders are captured in machine-readable form, Economost provides a

platform for providing services for the retail pharmacist, from price tags for

shelf stock through sophisticated management reports.

IV. An additional use of machine-readable information is the optimization of

McKesson's daily warehouse operations. Productivity of warehouse staff has

increased at a rate of 17%, compounded annually, for the decade 1975 through

1985, yielding almost a fivefold increase.

V. Purchasing has been rationalized. Fewer purchasing agents, and the resulting

power of the consolidated orders they place, give McKesson considerable

bargaining power.

VI. Perhaps the most visible benefit is the increased tying of the customer to

McKesson, resulting in a larger share of the customer's business. This allows

increased sales and increased operating margins for McKesson, since order

processing and delivery costs are spread over larger orders. The total impact

of these factors on McKesson has been dramatic. From 1975 to 1987,

McKesson drug's sales have increased 424%, from $922 million to over $4.8

billion, while operating expenses have increased only 86%.