Information systems strategic alignment--the fit between business strategic orientation and information systems (IS) strategic orientation--is an important concept. This study measured business strategic orientation, IS strategic orientation, and IS strategic alignment, and investigated their implications for perceived IS effectiveness and business performance. Analyses of data gathered in a mail survey of North American financial services and manufacturing firms indicated that 1) business strategic orientation, IS strategic orientation, and IS strategic alignment are modeled best by utilizing holistic, 'systems' approaches instead of dimension-specific, 'bivariate' approaches, 2) three generic IS strategic orientations can be detected, 3) user information satisfaction does not capture important strategic aspects of IS effectiveness, 4) IS strategic alignment is a better predictor of IS effectiveness than is strategic orientation, and 5) business strategic orientation, IS strategic alignment, and IS effectiveness have positive impacts on business performance.
MIS as a discipline has not yet developed a tradition of historical research, Historical analyses broaden our understanding of the processes by which information technology is introduced into organizations and of the forces that shape its use. Paramount among these processes are those Schumpeter called "creative destruction." These are events that change entire organizations and industries. The end product of a Schumpeterian process is called a "dominant design," a new configuration of an organization's technology, strategy, and structure. A dominant design is manifested in several ways: a new organizational infrastructure, new functionality, new products, new services, new production functions, or new cost structures. By changing the basis of competition in the industry, a firm that institutes a dominant design secures an initial competitive edge. Although the understanding of these processes is central to the concerns of many researchers and practitioners in the field, the information systems research literature contains very few examples of historical analyses of this type. A contingency framework is developed for conducting a class of information technology-based historical studios that focuses on innovation and competition within an industry.
Historical research offers perspectives on phenomena that are unavailable by any other methodological means. They reflect the cultural circumstances and ideological assumptions that underlie phenomena and the role played by key decision makers together with long-term economic, social, and political forces in creating them. Each of these benefits is accompanied by limitations such as, in most cases, a lack of mathematical tractability. The careful application of historical methods can overcome some of these limitations. A seven-step methodology is proposed: begin with focusing questions, specify the domain, gather evidence, critique the evidence, determine patterns, tell the story, and write the transcript.
This article discusses the evolution of airline reservations systems--from their inception as manually maintained inventories of seat availability, through their description as "anticompetitive weapons" used "unlawfully" to obtain and exercise monopoly power. The evolutionary perspective reveals interdependent industry, company, and technology forces that shaped the pattern of competition. Although many facets of the airline experience are unique to the air transport industry, the authors identify three features with broad implications for the strategic use of information technology. First, large installed processing capacity can be a source of economies of scale and scope. Second, established technical competence is a necessary requirement for gaining competitive advantage. Finally, sustainable advantage need not be the result of extraordinary vision, but the result of consistent exploitation of opportunities revealed during the evolution of adaptable systems.