The information system as a competitive weapon
Communications of the ACM - Special section on management of information systems
Management strategies for information technology
Management strategies for information technology
Strategic information systems: myths, reality and guidelines for successful implementation
European Journal of Information Systems
The evaluation of strategic information system planning
Information and Management
Information systems strategy and implementation: a case study of a building society
ACM Transactions on Information Systems (TOIS) - Special issue on social science perspectives on IS
Leveraging the new infrastructure: how market leaders capitalize on information technology
Leveraging the new infrastructure: how market leaders capitalize on information technology
Empirical research in information systems: the practice of relevance
MIS Quarterly - Special issue on intensive research in information systems
Strategic Planning for Information Systems
Strategic Planning for Information Systems
IT Governance: How Top Performers Manage IT Decision Rights for Superior Results
IT Governance: How Top Performers Manage IT Decision Rights for Superior Results
Information Systems Management in Practice (7th Edition)
Information Systems Management in Practice (7th Edition)
Key issues in information systems management: an international perspective
Journal of Management Information Systems
Key prescriptions for strategic information systems planning
Journal of Management Information Systems
Experiences in strategic information systems planning
MIS Quarterly
Testing and Extending Theory in Strategic Information Systems Planning Through Literature Analysis
Information Resources Management Journal
Proceedings of the 2008 annual research conference of the South African Institute of Computer Scientists and Information Technologists on IT research in developing countries: riding the wave of technology
Competitive advantage from mandatory investments: An empirical study of Australian firms
The Journal of Strategic Information Systems
The Journal of Strategic Information Systems
Simulating strategic information systems planning process using fuzzy cognitive map
International Journal of Business Information Systems
Information systems strategy: Past, present, future?
The Journal of Strategic Information Systems
Relevance of Information Systems Strategic Planning Practices in E-Business Contexts
Journal of Electronic Commerce in Organizations
Journal of Cases on Information Technology
Hi-index | 0.00 |
Strategic Information Systems Planning (SISP) is an important topic for managers and researchers alike. However, there is evidence of a gap between SISP research and practice. Taking this situation as a motivation, we conducted an in depth case study on SISP to investigate this gap. The study was 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. Our findings confirm the hypothesis that practitioners largely ignore academic literature and do not use it in support of their SISP endeavours. This is all the more striking since FSC extensively used guidance from IS research in other fields such as systems analysis and software development. Our 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. In fact, our observations highlight a disconnect between academic discussion and practical conduct. However, we found that the ignorance of academic literature on SISP is not primarily caused by a constrained knowledge transfer. In order to exclude communication barriers, we filtered the academic discussion according to the specific situation and the needs of FSC and translated it into practical recommendations. Nevertheless, the academic arguments we put forward hardly had any impact, either on IT managers' thinking or on SISP practice at FSC. Though academic literature was partly perceived as inspiring, it was not regarded as a touchstone for SISP practice. Academia, in the eyes of FSC's practitioners, ignores the ''real problems'' and thus is not accredited as a relevant source of advice. Moreover, in a final discussion with FSC's senior IT executives we got the impression that the professional identity of FSC's IT management - and more specifically the CIO's role - was different from interpretations prevalent in academia. The academic discussion assumes the CIO to be an initiator of organisational innovations and driver of business strategy on the board. In contrast, we 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.