| Abstract: | In recent years, information systems (IS) planning has come to represent a key IS management tool to practitioners and researchers. Concurrently, there has been increasing recognition by organizations that their IS can be viewed as a strategic resource. This research is an attempt to explore the relationship between these two aspects of IS. It analyzes, in an empirical setting, the contingent nature of some IS planning-related variables in the context of the strategic relevance of an organization's IS. The basis for the empirical test is the IS strategic grid framework developed by Cash, McFarlan, McKenney, and Vitale 6]. A questionnaire survey method is employed to elicit information on the strategic orientation of IS and IS planning issues within respondent organizations. The difference in emphasis on various planning aspects in organizations with different IS environments is analyzed. Results of the analysis indicate that there is empirical support for the strategic grid framework and that there are differences in planning aspects among organizations, depending on their location in the grid. The implications of these findings for IS and IS planning are then discussed. |
