The growing risks of information systems success
MIS Quarterly
The role of memory in intelligent information systems
Proceedings of the Twenty-First Annual Hawaii International Conference on Decision Support and Knowledge Based Systems Track
The intelligent organization: some observations and alternative views
Proceedings of the Twenty-First Annual Hawaii International Conference on Decision Support and Knowledge Based Systems Track
Containing strategic information systems risk: control and intelligence
Proceedings of the Twenty-First Annual Hawaii International Conference on Decision Support and Knowledge Based Systems Track
Competition and cooperation in information systems innovation
Information and Management
The application of metaphor, analogy, and conceptual models in computer systems
Interacting with Computers
Electronic markets and electronic hierarchies
Communications of the ACM
Treatment of Metaphors in Software Engineering Education
SEEP '96 Proceedings of the 1996 International Conference on Software Engineering: Education and Practice (SE:EP '96)
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This paper posits that (1) metaphors perform a crucial role in enacting strategy and linking strategic thinking with IT planning; (2) the war metaphor, which underlies many previous discussions of strategic information systems (SIS) is inadequate, possibly obsolete, in today's environment, and the shift away from this metaphor in the past few years is evidence of this; (3) other metaphors offer potentially more useful foundations for strategic thinking and SIS planning in today's world than the war metaphor; and (4) explicit articulation and exploration of alternative metaphors help identify strategic opportunities for information technology (IT) applications, designing SIS for global enterprises, and formulating research on SIS issues. This paper outlines these arguments and identifies desirable characteristics of metaphors, and discusses alternative metaphors of the organization as: an adapting organism, city-state, participant in organized team sports, an expression of philosophy, and expression of economic forces. The paper concludes with suggestions for research on the use of metaphor in strategy formulation and IT planning.