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Analyzing the value of strategic planning related to IT
“You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you are going, because you might not get there.” by Yogi Berra. Similarly, firms have to formulate plans that help them achieve the desired outcomes and objectives by making sure they utilize their existing resources carefully. This process or plan is nothing but strategic planning.
Major issues why IT isn’t a part of business strategic planning is because (a) value of IT is not understood by majority of executives (b) opportunities to use information technology are not recognized and applied because more importance is given to meet business goals and objectives and (c) The pace at which consumer demands are changing at one hand and the pace at which technological innovation is going on, it is making it more and more difficult to align business and IT strategies.
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This helps build direct customer relationships Impact, analysis, and results of strategic planning related to IT (Weiss & Anderson, 2004) -
a) IT strategy planning which goes hand in hand with business objectives and goals. It is one that is going to produce and deliver more results in terms of revenues, customer satisfaction competitive advantages, and innovations breakthrough,
Strategic planning is crucial for the success of all business endeavors. Analyzing currents trends in technology, consumer markets, competition, and the workforce can play a pivotal part in whether or not the organization can survive. Overtime, strategic planning strategies must be modified in order to compensate for changes in the industry. Goals and strategic planning often necessitate change to ensure that the organization is performing at peak level, while offering the most beneficial and quality services to consumers.
Henderson and Venkatraman proposed a model for business – IT alignment; it was intended to support the integration of information technology (IT) into business strategy by advocating alignment between and within four domains (see figure 1). The inter-domain alignment is pursued along two dimensions: strategic fit (between the external and internal domain) and functional integration (between the business domain and the IT domain). The objective of this model was to provide a way to align information technology with business objectives in order to realise value from IT investments. The authors argued that the potential strategic impact of information technology requires both an understanding of the critical components of IT strategy and its role in supporting and shaping business strategy decisions and a process of continuous adaptation and change. Hence, they presented a model that defines the range of strategic choices facing managers.
An IT or technology strategy is a comprehensive plan that outlines how all facets of technology will be utilised and managed within an organisation. It is used to guide organisations on how technology can help them achieve their goals, boost their competitiveness and increase their chances of success through technological innovation, cost savings and process automation. An IT strategy should not be driven by decisions to adopt particular technologies, in fact the decisions about what technologies to adopt should be outcomes from the IT strategy.
Strategic planning consist of four steps starting from defining the company’s mission. When talking about a mission were talking about a certain phrase or slogan for say, that is intended to draw attention to customers and make them want to be even more loyal to the company. For example Walmart says, “Save money. Live Better”. Therefore, Walmart’s mission would be to let people know that they have low prices all day every day, insinuating that their products are affordable for everyone. This is a good mission because it gets the majority of the people in this world to want to go out and save money on their everyday necessities and even luxuries. The second step would be to set certain objectives and goals for the company as well. For example, CVS did use “Health is everything” as their mission and this didn’t just set out for a name it became a goal as well. Sooner or later you must set goals on your mission to understand the level that you need to get to and reach. Another example of a goal that I believe CVS set was to start selling healthier products. In the chapter it says that CVS stopped selling tobacco and other products that
Information technology (IT) strategy is long term overall plan of the company to achieve the set goal against constantly changing IT requirements (Rouse, 2012). Information strategy should align with overall company’s business strategy for the success. It strategy covers all the factors for IT infrastructure management which includes cost of software and hardware, IT resource management, vendor management and other aspects associated to IT environment. IT strategy plan should be flexible enough to accommodate the business strategy changes, new technology or technology changes, customer requirement changes and budget constraints,. Many companies opt for formalizing the IT strategy plan in a written document long with milestones and critical success factors. IT strategy is a comprehensive plan that information technology management professionals use to guide their organizations (Rouse, 2012).
Companies plan their various and multilevel activities. A company's strategic planning is a row of elements that describe how the company uses its resources concerning its inner and outer environments to reach its objectives. Resources contain financial, human, facilities and technology. Resources are limited that is why they are prioritized at GE to support the company's goals. The positioning and usage of resources includes all elements of the company and develops into strategic decisions of the company.
Strategic Planning is looking at where you are now, knowing where you want to be in the future and planning the steps to get you there.
One main apprehension that they have against Information System is the high investment cost. In addition to this there is the high maintenance and upgrade costs associated with the deployment of new IT systems. In fact they prefer to outsource the heavy IT department expenditures to other companies having IT as their core activities. In return they expected to receive a full solution pack to meet their requirements and they are ready to pay these IT services as an operating cost. At the same time the risks associated with IS are being shifted to the other
Strategic plans prove to be a vital resource for the success of a lot of businesses. While a strategic plan is not required, research shows that most successful companies have a strategy plan in place and some means of testing the effectiveness of the plan along the way. As a leader within an organization you have an obligation to provide guidance and direction for the company. A strategy plan is defined as being "management 's action plan for running the business and conducting operations" (Thompson, A., Strickland, A.J. and Gamble, J., Crafting & Executing Strategy The Quest for Competitive Advantage: Concepts and Cases, 2009 Custom Edition, pg. 6). There are three important reasons for developing a strategy plan which include: recognition
Strategic planning is the continuous and systematic process of guiding members of an organization to make decisions about its future, develop the necessary procedures and operations to achieve that future, and determine how success will be achieved.
If asked what strategic planning is one could interpret it as simply a road map that can guide the organization in the right direction. It is very unlikely that an organization would know which direction to take without a sense of direction. Managers are faced every day with decisions that have a major impact on the direction the organization must take, therefore, strategic planning can play an important role in guiding managers in the right direction. In other words strategic planning is a tool that management can use to give them a sense of direction that will guide them in doing a better job and to ensure that all the members of the organization are working toward the same goals
Information Technology (IT) is a foundation for conducting business today. It plays a critical role in increasing productivity of firms and entire nation. It is proven that firms who invested in IT have experienced continued growth in productivity and efficiency. Many companies' survival and even existence without use of IT is unimaginable. IT has become the largest component of capital investment for companies in the United States and many other countries.
Strategic planning is an organizational process in which it looks towards developing and sustaining success or balance in its ever changing environment.
Strategic planning implies establishing in advance what an individual or organization wants to achieve within a specified timeframe and deriving ways on how to achieve that. A strategic plan is basically a course of action that is used to attain desired results. It means anticipating the future and having measures on how to grow into the future. Technology is a macroeconomic factor that is rapidly growing and changing. Technology has had positive effects all over across the globe to business organization and to individuals.
Strategic planning has a focus on stabilizing the current environment, and it also support the organization's business plans and goals. Strategic planning helps to implement new projects, new technology, consolidation of data centers, data warehouses, exponential data growth, cost of ownership, and resources available in an organization to assess the future requirements. Strategic planning analyzes the business plan, potential blockage or other issues in the current architecture, processes and their implementation in new initiatives, and processes. Strategic planning helps to formulate the ideas about the key factors that are affecting the present and future development of the organization and the opportunities offered by the environment and the competence of the organization.