1. Copyright 2004 Monash University IMS5042 Information Systems Strategic Planning Week 13: Final thoughts on the who, what, when, why and how of IS Strategic Planning

2. Copyright 2004 Monash University Agenda 1. The key practical planning issues 2. Why plan? 3. What to plan? 4. Who plans? 5. When to plan? 6. How to plan?

3. Copyright 2004 Monash University 1. Introduction: Key practical issues Why do we plan – what do we aim to achieve by planning? What do we plan about? When do we plan? Who does the planning? How do they do the planning?

4. Copyright 2004 Monash University Importance of these practical issues Theory and philosophy are fun, but in the end (in real life) you have to act Formal theory and philosophy versus actual theory and philosophy Organisational realities and academic theory If you get involved in IS strategic planning it will probably be in practice, not in theory Relevance in last year’s exam Relevance to this year’s exam

5. Copyright 2004 Monash University Warning note! The simplicity of theory (and philosophy) abstracted from action The problems of real life Consistency, flexibility and contradiction Prepare to be a little confused!

6. Copyright 2004 Monash University 2. Why plan? Planning as a self-evidently ‘good’ thing to do Dominance of the rational imperative to plan Is this the best/right/only reason for planning? Some possible bases for planning: IS-content related General process-related Other

7. Copyright 2004 Monash University Why plan? ‘Good’ IS content-focussed reasons To manage and optimise organisational adaptation to technological change To identify the key long-term organisational information requirements which must be met To identify areas where IS can have strategic impact on business directions To ensure that the organisation makes optimal use of technology to improve the efficiency of business processes To ensure that IS decision-making is suitably aligned to business needs and decision- making Etc

8. Copyright 2004 Monash University Why plan? ‘Good’ Non-IS-content- focussed reasons To create a vision which inspires and motivates To persuade and convince people To give confidence/re-assurance by creating an appearance of control To provide a forum for people to contribute ideas To inform/communicate/explain what is going to happen Etc

9. Copyright 2004 Monash University Why plan? Some other reasons Because without a plan they won’t give me the money To provide justification for a pre-determined course of action To impress/intimidate/confuse people who might otherwise oppose what I want to do Because it looks good on the CV/bookshelf/CEO’s desk To put off making a decision Etc

10. Copyright 2004 Monash University Why plan? Which reason(s) apply? Our reason for planning will set the tone for how the planning is done Is planning driven by one reason? Will all people involved share that same reason? What happens if a planning process is being driven by several different reasons? (Monash case study?)

11. Copyright 2004 Monash University 3. What do we plan about? Theoretical elements Closely related to the reason for planning Based on fairly pure-minded ‘academic’ views of IS and of organisations Practical elements What aspects of IS do we really have control over? (ie IS as infrastructure) How do organisational power and control structures affect what can you plan about? What do we have the skill sets to plan about?

12. Copyright 2004 Monash University What do we plan about? Some answers from IS planning theory ‘Stages’ in organisational maturity with respect to IS/IT; Management strategies/policies/controls Information needs and the IS/IT infrastructure needed to satisfy them Business and industry directions; opportunities for competitive advantage Business processes and the scope for using IT to re-invent them Whatever is needed to align IS to the organisation

13. Copyright 2004 Monash University What CAN we plan about? Some answers from IS planning theory Theories tend to take a very optimistic view of what can be planned successfully No indications that we might want to plan/control something, but can’t Assumption that organisations will allow IS planners to plan as they see fit (‘Commitment’ issue) Is this realistic?

14. Copyright 2004 Monash University What CAN we plan about? A pragmatic view of IS Breadth of range of aspects of IS Hardware, software, systems, IT innovation, management policies, etc (see week 11) How capable are we of planning and controlling these successfully? How stable are they to enable us to confidently set strategic directions based on them?

15. Copyright 2004 Monash University What CAN we plan about? A pragmatic view of the organisational status of IS Organisational history/structures/ circumstances dictate what areas IS has control over Which areas should an organisation pass planning control as part of IS? How willingly will an organisation pass planning control on key issues as part of IS?

16. Copyright 2004 Monash University What CAN we plan about? A pragmatic view of the skill sets of IS planners Impact of breadth of IT/IS on IS practitioners What areas do we have the skills to understand and plan? Do we plan only about the things we know about? What happens to the rest! (A sacreligious thought: Do theories reflect what the author was good at?!)

17. Copyright 2004 Monash University 4. Who does the planning? Not well addressed by theory (Why not!) What type of perspectives are needed? Internal? External? What type of expertise is needed? Planning expertise? IS expertise? Business expertise? Organisational expertise? Who has rights of involvement? Senior managers Everyone

18. Copyright 2004 Monash University Who plans? Theoretical perspectives Organisation & change management experts who can understand the processes of innovation and change Middle and senior managers who can identify critical information needs Business/industry experts who can identify new strategic directions Technology experts who can identify technological opportunities Business process experts who can analyse and re-think business processes Expert experts who can identify what expertise is needed

19. Copyright 2004 Monash University Who plans? Pragmatic considerations Internal people: know and understand the organisation have the best interests of the organisation at heart don’t have enough experience of industry, etc have their own agendas and ties in the organisation External people: have wide experience of a range of industries/organisations have an independent view – no agendas or ties don’t know or understand the organisation have no commitment to the organisation’s best interests

20. Copyright 2004 Monash University Who plans? Pragmatic considerations Who has the planning expertise? Who has the organisational expertise? Who has the relevant content expertise? Who has the decision-making power? Who need to be involved to make it work?

21. Copyright 2004 Monash University 5. When do we plan? Planning as an event What are the triggers which initiate the need for planning? How do we decide that the trigger point has been reached? Planning as a process Distinguishing between planning and ‘not planning’

22. Copyright 2004 Monash University When do we plan? Theoretical perspectives As stages of maturity/innovation change As information needs change As opportunities for innovation and competitive advantage arise As technology changes Whenever it is needed Regularly All the time

23. Copyright 2004 Monash University Planning as an event vs planning as an on-going process Traditional planning processes set up planning as a task to be carried out and completed - not to be repeated until circumstances require This implies a very unlikely state of the world Contrast ‘doing planning’ as an ongoing process, with ‘having a plan’ as the outcome of a planning process

24. Copyright 2004 Monash University ‘Doing Planning’ Planning requires: Thinking about the future Gathering data about the current situation Analysing trends Assessing competitive environment Analysing your own resource base Identifying problems Bringing together perspectives; identifying conflicts Learning about the organisation, industry, customers, etc Debating/arguing/discussing; generating ideas Is there any time when you should NOT be doing these things?

25. Copyright 2004 Monash University ‘Having a plan’ Having a plan implies that: the future is known All relevant data has been gathered and analysed Trends are known The competitive environment is fixed Your own resource base is stable Problems and conflicts have been identified and resolved Debate/argument/discussion/new ideas and perspectives/ etc are no longer needed Is there any time when any of this really applies; if so, for how long will this happy state last?

26. Copyright 2004 Monash University ‘Doing Planning’ Having an on-going planning process implies that planning should be: Flexible/adaptable Open Creative Communicative Encouraging of debate and discussion Appropriate to the needs of the moment

27. Copyright 2004 Monash University 6. How do we plan? Driven very much by the answers to the previous questions Theoretical and pragmatic perspectives

28. Copyright 2004 Monash University How do we plan? Theoretical perspectives Use stages of growth theory Use CSFs Use IT for Competitive Advantage theory (Porter’s value chain, etc) Use BPR Use alignment approaches

29. Copyright 2004 Monash University How do we plan? Pragmatic perspectives IT DEPENDS! Use whatever seems like it might work … and if it doesn’t, try something else (this is very non-academic advice, but I don’t think it is worse than the textbook recipes)