Strategic IS Planning Practices: A Case of Medium Manufacturing Company in Malaysia

Abstract

Abstract. Deployment of Information Technology/Information Systems (IT/IS) has been recognized as one of the potential means to supply information for timely business decision making. Despite growing importance of IT/IS in business, Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) embrace constant challenges to deploy IS effectively, and thus, hardly to optimize the IT/IS strategic values. In such situation, IS planning is getting paramount to promote more effective IT/IS management of the firms. This study reports IS planning practices of a manufacturing-based SME. The face to face interview has been carried out to explore IS planning activities in a chosen firm. The qualitative analysis suggests that the selected company did undergo the four phases of strategic IS planning process namely, planning, analysing, selection, and implementation. The owner act as the champion of the strategic IS planning process. Further, the owner and the employees plays an important role as a decision maker. Specifically, the owner decides mainly on acquiring a new technology related to the firm's core business process whereas the users responsible on the selection of relevant application (s) to be used in their respective departments. Apart from that, the owner also plays a role as a researcher for the new technology acquired whilst the users provide an input on the applications to be acquired. Background and Objective of StudyGreater reliance on Information Technology/Information Systems (IT/IS) on daily operations and strategic needs urges today's organisations to emphasise on the IS planning. Appropriate IS planning practice enables organisations to narrow the gap between IT/IS and the strategic objectives of the organisations. IS alignment then leads to a greater competitiveness and value derived from IS-related investment [1].Increased importance of IT/IS in organisation has attracted considerable research to understand the impact of IT/IS on firm performance. Specifically, IS planning emerges as one of the primary focuses as long as IT/IS deployment is concerned. IS planning refers to a process of specifying an organization's selection of computer-based applications and technologies that correspond to the organisations strategic objectives [2].

The roles of top management and users in strategic IS planning: a perspective of SMEs

“…In total, three owners or managers and four executives took part in the interview sessions. A standardized open-ended interview method was utilized because it does not predetermine the answers and allows room for the participants to respond in their own terms [53]. The interview sessions were carried out at the respective firms.…”

“…As the interview results revealed, the role of top management was not limited only to that of a decision maker, but also as a researcher when strategic IS-planning activities are concerned. All decisions with regards to the organization were made by the top management [53]. This includes the decision for acquiring the technology, as one respondent noted:…”

“…While Company A top management only sought advice from employees to prepare the working paper [53], Company C's directors sought the opinions of the expert users such as the supervisor, the account executive, the company's auditor and users from other companies when it comes to issues related to acquiring new IS. A respondent from Company C remarked that:…”

“…In this context, the top management is responsible for seeking information related to the proposed system. To illustrate, the owner of Company A stated that he studied the proposed technology including a site visit to the supplier's office [53]. Taking such role puts less reliance on his employees to supply this information.…”

“…Nevertheless, the results demonstrate that, for some firms, the roles of users in the strategic IS-planning process were not only limited to providing inputs for decision making. To some extent, the users also acted as a decision maker [53]. However, the authority to make the ultimate decision was restricted to those whom the applications were highly related to their routine tasks.…”