Proceedings of the 34th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences

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1 Integration between Business Planning and Information Systems Planning: An Analysis of Technology Exploration and Exploitation in Different Value Configurations Petter Gottschalk and Hans Solli-Sæther Norwegian School of Management, Sandvika, Norway Abstract Integration between business planning and information systems planning has been found to have a significant impact on the extent of information systems contribution to organizational performance. Based on a content analysis of strategic IS/IT plans in Norway, the extent of integration was studied. This paper evaluates ten integration mechanisms and four integration stages. Most of the organizations practiced sequential and reciprocal integration. Furthermore, this paper investigates technology exploration and exploitation in different value configurations. Statistical analysis indicates that value shops and value networks are more concerned with technology exploration than value chains. 1. Introduction Many firms make large investments in information technology (IT) and information systems (IS) [1], and yet executives often question whether these investments support their strategic objectives, and whether opportunities to exploit IS/IT for competitive advantage are being overlooked [2]. There are both enablers and inhibitors of business-it alignment [3], and one important area for improved alignment is integration of business planning and information systems planning [4]. This paper presents results from a content analysis of strategic IS/IT plan documents in Norway. The research focus is on identification of integration mechanisms in the plans in general and on technology exploration and exploitation in the plans in particular. Research questions can be stated as: 1) What integration mechanisms are found in strategic IS/IT plans, and 2) To what extent do the integration mechanisms found in strategic IS/IT plans indicate exploitation versus exploration? 2. Integration mechanisms Although no precise definition of strategic alignment of business and IS/IT strategies has gained widespread acceptance, many authors share a similar general interpretation of the term. Strategic alignment is said to be present when: i) business strategies are enabled, supported, and stimulated by information strategies [5]; ii) the goals and activities of the business are in harmony with the information systems that support them [6]; iii) information systems support organizational goals and activities at every level [7]; and iv) choices within content and process dimensions of IS/IT planning are mutually supportive and the two dimensions themselves are harmonized in a manner that is consistent with competitive strategy [8]. Integration between business planning and information system planning is one important enabler of business-it alignment [3, 4, 9]. Teo and King [9] found a significant positive relationship between the level of business planning (BP) and information systems planning (ISP) integration and the extent of information systems contribution to organizational performance. King and Teo [10] have suggested a stage of growth model for the evolution of strategic IS/IT planning integration. The first stage is a separate planning with administrative integration characterized by the integration mechanisms in table 1 such as a technically oriented and non-strategic role of the IS function. The second stage is a one-way linked planning with sequential integration characterized by integration mechanisms in table 1 such as performance criteria of business strategy contribution. The third stage is a two-way linked planning with reciprocal integration such as frequent IS executive participation in business planning. The fourth stage is integrated planning with full integration. 3. Value configurations In the research literature activities [11, 12], resources [13, 14] and technology [15] have been identified as important sources of competitive advantage. Grossmann and Helpman [16] state that the technology can be seen as the engine of growth. What we are about to see is a growing convergence of production, information, and communication technology. The increasing popularity of electronic communications (e.g. the Internet, ecommerce) represents new challenges to conventional exchange of information /01 $10.00 (c) 2001 IEEE 1

2 Table 1. Stages of integration [10] Integration Mechanisms Purpose of integration Role of IS function Primary role of IS executive Performance criteria for IS function Triggers for developing IS applications Stage 1 Administrative Integration Administrative and non strategic Technically oriented and non strategic Functional administrator responsible for back room support Operational efficiency and cost minimization Need to automate administrative work processes Stage 2 Sequential Integration Support business strategy Resource to support business strategy IS expert who formulates IS strategy to implement business strategy Contribution to business strategy implementation Business goals considered first Stage 3 Reciprocal Integration Support and influence business strategy Resource to support and influence business strategy IS expert who provides valuable inputs during strategy formulation and implementation Quality of IS inputs into business strategy formulation and implementation Business goals and IS capabilities considered jointly Stage 4 Full Integration Joint development of business and IS strategies Critical to long-term survival of organization Formal and integral member of top management who is involved in many business matters Long-term impact on organization IS applications are critical to success of business strategy Top management participation Seldom Infrequent Frequent Almost always in ISP User participation in ISP Seldom Infrequent Frequent Almost always IS executive participation in BP Seldom Infrequent Frequent Almost always Assessment of new technologies Seldom Infrequent Frequent Almost always Status of IS executive (Number of levels below CEO) Four or more Three Two One The evolution of customer demands can be seen as a result of the evolution of technology. The changing business environment will radically effect the nature of competition and will force a rethinking of some of the basic principles of strategy [17]. Thompson [15] describes three types of technology, which are important to the understanding of the rationality in organizations the long-linked technology, the mediating technology, and the intensive technology. The three types of technology offered have distinctive value creation logic. Where long-linked technologies focus on the transformation of inputs into outputs, mediating and intensive technologies focus on the linking of customers and the solving of customers problems, respectively. Different companies in different industries are likely to have different value creation sources [12]. Porter [11] addresses the interplay between the types of competitive advantage (cost and differentiation) and the scope of the firm s activities. As a general framework for systematically examining the activities of the firm, Porter [11] introduces the concept of the value chain, which models a long-linked technology quite well. But, differences in value creation logic indicate that Porter s value chain may not be optimal as an analytical framework for all kinds of businesses. Stabell and Fjeldstad [12] introduce the value shop and the value network as alternative value configurations. The analytical framework of the value shop relies on an intensive technology to solve a customer or client problem. Selection, combination, and order of application of resources and activities vary according to the problem at hand. The analytical framework of the value network relies on a mediating technology to link clients or customers who are or wish to be interdependent. The mediating technology facilitates exchange relationships among customers distributed in time and space. Some of the characteristics of the different value configurations are shown in table 2. Core technologies are important for internal efficiency and goal achievement, but it may also represent external opportunities and threats. Andrews [18] lists several environmental influences and states that changes are taking place in varying rates fastest in technology, less rapidly in politics. Porter [11] adds that of all things that can change the rules of competition, technological change is among the most prominent. The speed and prominence of technological change is recognized as important if it affects competitive advantage and industry structure. Technological developments are not only the fastest unfolding but also the most far-reaching in extending an established company. Today this change is driven by information and communication technologies. It is important to be aware of the different value configurations when developing and implementing new information technology /01 $ (c) 2001 IEEE 2

3 Table 2. Characteristics of the three value configurations [12] Chain Shop Network Value creation logic Transformation of input into (Re) solving customer problems Linking customers output Primary technology Long-linked Intensive Mediating Primary activities Inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing, service Problem-finding, problem solving, choice, execution, control/evaluation Network promotion, service provisioning, infrastructure operation Main interactivity relationship Sequential Cyclic, spiraling Simultaneous, parallel logic Primary activity interdependence Pooled, sequential Pooled, sequential, reciprocal Pooled, reciprocal Key cost drivers Scale, capacity utilization Scale, capacity utilization Key value drivers Reputation Scale, capacity utilization Business value system structure Inter linked chains Referred shops Layered and interconnected networks 4. Exploration and exploitation According to March [19] exploration includes things captured by terms such as search, variation, risk taking, experimentation, play, flexibility, discovery, and innovation. Exploitation includes such things as refinement, choice, production, efficiency, selection, implementation, and execution [19]. These key terms of exploration and exploitation are used in the analysis and discussion of the integrative framework. Using the above definition, exploration is very much an issue of creating new activities, mixing technology and resources (both tangible and intangible). But organizations often fail to maintain an effective balance between exploitation and exploration. Knowing that innovation and change often fail, one realizes that it is a trade-off between exploration and exploitation [19, 20]. During the discussion of the integration mechanisms and the three value configurations, three research hypotheses are developed: Hypothesis 1: Value shops are more likely than value chains to facilitate technology exploration. Hypothesis 2: Value networks are more likely than value chains to facilitate technology exploration. Hypothesis 3: Value shops are more likely than value networks to facilitate technology exploration. Looking at the three value configurations presented in table 2, we will guess that the role of IS/IT in value chains are primarily concerned with operational efficiency and cost minimization (exploitation). In value shops IS/IT is a part of or co-performed with primary activities. We guess that solving unique customer or client problems requires innovative use of IS/IT (exploration). In value networks, where linking of customers is the value creation logic, IS/IT is a part of the basic infrastructure (e.g. telecommunications). We suggest that this will mean a balance between exploitation and exploration. 5. Methodology The initial research question in this research is: What integration mechanisms are found in strategic IS/IT plans? The form of the research question is what which can be explored using the research strategy of documentation and archival analysis [21]. Strengths of this form of evidence collection are stability (can be reviewed repeatedly), unobtrusiveness (not created as a result of the study), exact (contains exact names, references, and details), and coverage (all planning aspects). Specifically, this research applied content analysis, which is a research technique for making inferences by systematically and objectively identifying specified characteristics of messages [22, 23]. Content analysis classifies textual material, reducing it to more relevant, manageable bits of data [24]. According to Naccarato and Neuendorf [22], content analysis may be defined as the systematic, objective, quantitative analysis of message characteristics. There has been recognition of the difference between form variables; those that are linked to the formal features of the medium and cannot endure transfer to another media modality, and content or substance variables, and those that may exist independent of the medium. According to Weber [24], content analysis is a research method that uses a set of procedures to make valid inferences from text. A central idea in content analysis is that many words of the text are classified into much fewer content categories. The central problems of content analysis originate mainly in the data-reduction process. One set of problems concerns the consistency or reliability of text classification. Classification by multiple human coders permits the quantitative assessment of achieved reliability. A much more difficult set of problems concerns the validity of variables based on content classification. A content analysis variable is valid to the extent that it measures the construct the investigator intends it to measure [24] /01 $ (c) 2001 IEEE 3

4 In this research, content analysis was applied using key words [25, 26] for coding [27]. Key words concerning integration were treated as content constructs [22]. The model of analysis may be classified as hermeneutics. According to Lee [28], the motivating question in hermeneutics is: after a writer has implanted certain meanings in a text, how might readers of the text, especially those who belong to a different time and culture from the writer of the text, proceed to interpret the text for the meanings originally implanted in it, where other portions of the text itself are the primary, or sometimes the only, crossreferencing tools available? It can be argued that the meaning of a particular passage in a text as interpreted by the reader is related inextricably to the meanings of all other passages in the same text. In this research, manual inspection of all documents was performed to avoid this pitfall. Codes are tags or labels for assigning units of meaning to the descriptive information in collected information [27]. Codes usually are attached to words, phrases, sentences, or whole paragraphs, connected or unconnected to a specific setting. In this research, key words were derived from attributes in table 1 and table 2. The content analysis is designed to yield numerical data in terms of frequencies. This kind of quantification has the advantage that statistical methods provide a powerful set of tools not only for precise and parsimonious summary of findings, but also for improving the quality of interpretation and inference [29]. According to Krippendorf [30], by far the most common form of representation of data, serving primarily the summarizing function of analysis, is in terms of frequencies and their associations and correlation with other variables. 6. Results integration A letter asking for a copy of the IS/IT strategy was sent to 408 IS/IT managers in Norway in We received 41 IS/IT strategies in the mail (both paper mail and ), while we got messages from 15 organizations telling us that they were unable to send us their strategy for various reasons. Organization size ranged from 170 to employees. One plan was written in 1993, three in 1995, one in 1996, seven in 1997, nineteen in 1998 and ten in Time horizons ranged from two to five years. The shortest plan had 2 pages; the longest plan had 59 pages. Most organizations called their document an IT STRATEGY. Table 1 was used to identify integration stage. Specifically, for each strategic plan, a copy of the table was filled in by x-marking the most appropriate description for each of the ten integration mechanisms. The scale from 1 (administrative integration) to 4 (full integration) was kept. For example, by studying the plan document of a manufacturing company, the researcher found that the purpose of integration was support and influence of business strategy (3), the role of IS function was resource to support business strategy (2), the primary role of IS executive was formal and integral member of top management who is involved in many business matters (4), performance criteria for IS function was contribution to business strategy implementation (2), triggers for developing IS applications were business goals considered first (2), frequent top management participation in ISP (3), frequent user participation in ISP (3), frequent IS executive participation in business planning (3), infrequent assessment of new technologies (2), and IS executive one level below the CEO (4). Both the researcher and a doctoral student conducted the same coding, and the inter-rater reliability of 0.6 was considered low but acceptable to continue the research. In the following, the coding of the researcher is used in data analyses. Statistics for the ten items based on 41 observations are summarized in table 3. Assessment of new technologies achieves the highest score, while performance criteria for the IS function achieves the lowest score. The ten integration mechanisms in table 3 are treated as items on a multiple item scale. The reliability of the scale was measured using Cronbach s alpha. The scale achieves an acceptable reliability of Factor analysis was applied to investigate the existence of more than one scale. Three factors were identified as listed in table 4. Seven out of ten items load significantly on the same factor. Status of the IS executive, measured by the number of levels below the CEO, does not seem related to the other integration mechanisms since it loads on a separate factor. User participation also seems independent from other integration mechanisms since it loads on a separate factor. Findings in the available IS plans indicate that two organizations applied administrative integration, twentyseven organizations applied sequential integration, eleven organizations applied reciprocal integration while only one organization applied full integration. Integration between business planning and information systems planning was investigated in this research using four stages and ten integration mechanisms suggested by King and Teo [10]. In the following, each integration mechanism is discussed in light of the empirical results obtained. 6.1 Purpose of integration The purpose of integration varies at different stages of BP-ISP integration. At Stage 1, BP-ISP integration focuses primarily on the support of administrative work processes. This gradually changes as the IS function begins to support business strategy (Stage 2) or influence business strategy (Stage 3). At Stage 4, there is a joint /01 $ (c) 2001 IEEE 4

5 strategy development for both business and IS strategies. On average, the purpose of integration in the studied plans was to support business strategy (Stage 2). Only two plans out of forty-one plans had the ambition of full integration by documenting joint development of business and IS strategies. 6.2 Role of IS function The general transition from being technically oriented to business oriented is captured in this integration mechanism. At Stage 1, the IS function is viewed as being primarily technically oriented. Gradually, this role changes when the IS function is used as a resource to support the implementation (Stage 2) and formulation (Stage 3) of business strategies. At Stage 4, the IS function is viewed as critical to the long-term success of the organization. Again, only two out of forty-one plans defined the organization in Stage 4. Fifteen plans belonged to the first stage, while thirteen plans belonged to the second stage and eleven to the third stage. 6.3 Primary role of IS executive There seems to be a general decrease in the size of the central IS function due to end-user computing. This has resulted in a shift in the responsibilities of the IS function from systems design to systems integration, and from the role of a developer to that of an advisor. Due to increasing decentralization, the IS function will assume a staff role analogous to a federal government in coordinating the dispersed IS resources. The skill requirements of the senior IS executive have also changed over the years with increasing emphasis on both knowledge about changing technology and knowledge about the business. In addition, significant political and communication skills are required. Many IS executives perceive themselves as change leaders [31]. As shown in table 1, the role of the IS executive gradually changes from being a functional administrator responsible for providing back room support (Stage 1), to being an IS expert who formulates IS strategy to implement business objectives (Stage 3). Finally, in Stage 4, the IS executive becomes a formal and integral member of the top management team, and provides significant inputs in both IS and non-is related matters. Most of the IS executives (15) in the current study were functional administrators, quite a few (14) were IS experts who formulate IS strategy to implement business strategy, and a litter fewer (10) were IS experts who provide valuable inputs during strategy formulation and implementation. 6.4 Performance criteria for IS function As the IS function matures, the performance criteria for the IS function change from a structured focus on operational efficiency to a more unstructured concern for the impact of IS on strategic direction. It follows that the early performance criteria (Stage 1) delineated for the IS function are primarily concerned with operational efficiency and cost minimization. When the IS function begins to play a more strategic role, the emphasis gradually shifts to effective strategy implementation (Stage 2) and then to the quality of IS inputs into business strategy formulation and implementation (Stage 3). Ultimately, the performance criteria for the IS function should be its long-term impact (both financial and non financial) on the organization (Stage 4). Three out of forty-one organizations in the current study documented full integration in their plans by focusing on long-term impact on the organization from the performance of the IS function. The majority of the plans (21) focused on operational efficiency and cost minimization (Stage 1). 6.5 Triggers for developing IS applications Initially, the triggers for the development of new IS applications are opportunities for achieving greater efficiencies through process automation. As IS applications begin to be increasingly used to support business strategies, business goals become trigger mechanisms in deciding appropriate IS applications to be developed (Stage 2). At Stage 3, the joint consideration of business goals and IS capabilities becomes important as the firm attempts to develop systems for sustainable competitive advantage. Finally, in Stage 4, IS applications are developed because they are critical to the success of the firm's strategy and the creation of business value. The majority of plans (22) documented a Stage 2 perspective where business goals are considered first. 6.6 Top management participation in ISP Traditionally, as in Stage 1, top management had not paid great attention to the IS function because it was an overhead function that generated only cost. At Stage 2, greater top management participation in ISP begins when IS strategies come to be used to support business strategies. The realization that ISP can also influence business motivates top management to participate more actively in ISP (Stage 3). Finally, in Stage 4, when the IS function becomes critical for the survival of the organization, top management and the senior IS executive jointly formulate business and IS plans. None of the studied organizations defined themselves in Stage 4. Many (15) organizations seemed to have frequent top management participation in ISP /01 $ (c) 2001 IEEE 5

6 Table 3. Summary Statistics Integration Mechanism M. s.d Purpose of integration Role of IS function ** 3 Primary role of IS executive **.78** 4 Performance criteria for IS function **.60**.54** 5 Triggers for developing IS applications **.69**.52**.61** 6 Top management participation in ISP **.48**.49**.35*.35* 7 User participation in ISP IS executive participation in BP **.46**.58**.48**.46**.48**.04 9 Assessment of new technology *.49** Status of IS executive ** ** Table 4. Component matrix based on factor analysis Integration Mechanism Factor 1: Objectives Factor 2: CIO Factor 3: Users 1 Purpose of integration Role of IS function e Primary role of IS executive e e-02 4 Performance criteria for IS function Triggers for developing IS applications Top management participation in ISP User participation in ISP IS executive participation in BP E Assessment of new technology Status of IS executive Note: Extraction method: Principal component analysis, 3 components extracted. 6.7 User participation in ISP User participation in ISP is the seventh integration mechanism. Before the advent of end-user computing, user management is generally not significantly involved in ISP (Stage 1). However, as end-user computing begins to proliferate and the IS function begins to influence functional units in terms of its effects on business strategies, participation of user becomes more important in order to fully exploit the potential of information technology. User participation gradually increases through the stages. At Stage 4, users participate extensively in ISP. Most (27) studied organizations seemed to have frequent user participation in ISP. On average, user participation has highest score in table 3. Also, user participation loaded on a separate factor in table 4. It is interesting to note that although the organizations in this study seem to have a long way to go on integration, user participation seems to be strong. This is not surprising since the study was conducted in Norway. Sometimes called the Scandinavian school of information systems, user participation has for long been considered both a democratic necessity and a key to success. 6.8 IS executive participation in BP The mirror image of top business management participation in ISP is having senior IS executives participate in business planning. The traditional role of the IS function in providing administrative support does not require the senior IS executive to participate in BP (Stage 1). The senior IS executive reacts to business plans and does not have significant influence on their formulation. At Stage 2, the senior IS executive participation is initiated. As the IS function becomes more important in the achievement of business objectives, it becomes necessary to include more frequent participation of the senior IS executive in BP because the traditional participants are relatively unfamiliar with the potential of information technology (Stage 3). With greater participation, the senior IS executive becomes more informed about business objectives and is 1better able to provide higher quality inputs into the planning process. At Stage 4, the senior IS executive becomes an integral member of the top management team and participates extensively in both BP and ISP. None of the studied plans documented stage 4 integration. Most of the organizations seemed to have infrequent IS executive participation in business planning (Stage 2). 6.9 Assessment of new technologies During ISP, new technologies, which can impact on the firm, are usually assessed. The level of sophistication involved in assessing new technologies is the basis for the ninth integration mechanism. In the early stages of ISP (Stages 1 and 2), assessment of the impact of new technologies is usually done rather informally and infrequently. At Stage 3, the need for formal and frequent /01 $ (c) 2001 IEEE 6

7 procedures for assessing new technologies becomes apparent as the IS function begins to play a more important role in BP. At Stage 4, assessment of the impact of new technologies becomes an integral part of BP and ISP. Most studied organizations seem to be quite advanced in their assessment of new technologies, achieving the highest score in table 3. The majority of the organizations documented Stage 3 performance where new technologies are frequently assessed Status of IS executive The responsibilities of the IS function have changed over the years due to technological and conceptual changes that made information technology more important to organizations. IS line responsibilities are being rapidly distributed as the IS function begins to take on more staff responsibilities. With these changing responsibilities of the IS function, the status of the senior IS executive is likely to be elevated. The position of the senior IS executive (in terms of the number of levels below the CEO) can serve as an indication of the importance of the IS function to the firm s strategy. On average, the IS executive is 2.6 levels below the CEO, i.e. the CIO has often two and sometimes one executive level in between. In the factor analysis, this integration mechanism loaded on a separate factor. One explanation can be the relative size of Norwegian organizations compared with US organizations. Most Norwegian organizations are small [31], making a two level difference between CEO and CIO seem much more dramatic in Norway than in the US. 7. Results exploration Table 2 was used to classify companies according to their basic value configuration. Companies classified as chains are typically characterized as those transforming input into output, based on a long-linked type of technology. Examples from our sample are manufacturing companies producing food, drugs, paper and pulp. Companies classified as shops are typically characterized as solving (unique) customer problems using intensive technology. Examples of companies in our sample are hospitals, lawyers, and universities. Companies classified as networks are typically characterized by the linking of customers using mediating technologies. Examples of companies in our sample are telecommunications, postal services, insurance companies and banks. In our sample 14 companies where classified as value chains, 19 were classified as value shops, and 8 were classified as value networks. Operationalization of exploration and exploitation was done by selecting benchmark variable "Assessment of new technologies" (BMK9 in table 1) as the most feasible representation. Lower levels of BMK9 represent exploitation whereas higher values of BMK9 represent exploration. Hypothesis testing was carried out using t-statistic for different value configurations. While the average level of assessment of new technologies was 1.96 in value chains, it was significantly higher in both value shops and value networks. Hypothesis 1 is confirmed; value shops are more likely than value chains to facilitate technology exploration. Hypothesis 2 was also confirmed; value networks are more likely than value chains to facilitate technology exploration. Hypothesis 3 was not confirmed; the difference in BMK9 for value networks and value shops is not significant. Table 5. Significance of differences in technology assessment for value configurations Value Configuration BMK9 Shop Network Chain ** ** Shop Network 2.56 ** p<.01 The issue of technology policy, innovation and management is often forgotten in strategic management. Technically oriented ISP (e.g. search, experimentation, and play with technologies) isolated from BP might have little effect on business performance. But as we see a growing understanding of the importance of IS/IT, we will also see improved operational efficiency (exploitation). The understanding of the technological opportunities is of course essential. Recent development within production, information, and communication technology is extremely knowledge sensitive. Technologies are changing at unprecedented speed, replacing technologies that developed over centuries with new ones themselves have short life expectancies [32]. Bringing the knowledge of these technologies to business managers is a difficult but important task. Sharing of knowledge through integration of ISP and BP may facilitate assessment of new technologies, and by this exploration. In an environment with rapid technological obsolescence and rapidly changing industry settings, this requires a more entrepreneurial approach to identify new business opportunities. To avoid a technological lock-in, leadership must be build through learning, and through research and development. It is widely accepted that firms that invest in the creation of new knowledge and research perform better than those do which not [33]. Building knowledge, it is also important to be aware of the different value configurations and their different underlying technologies. If not, technology investments may be counterproductive /01 $ (c) 2001 IEEE 7

8 8. Conclusion Application of the integration mechanisms and stages suggested by King and Teo [10] confirm that these are useful concepts when doing empirical research. The study of forty-one strategic IS/IT plans in Norway indicates that integration between business planning and information systems planning is not advanced. There seems a long way to go to achieve full integration in Norwegian organizations. At the same time, there are explainable differences due to different activity configurations. Analysis of exploration and exploitation, in the three different value configurations suggested by Stabell and Fjeldstad [12], indicates that value shops and value networks are more concerned with technology exploration than value chains. 9. References [1] M. J. Earl and D. F. Feeny, Is Your CIO Adding Value?, Sloan Management Review, vol. 35, pp , [2] J. C. Henderson and N. Venkatraman, Strategic alignment: Leveraging information technology for transforming organizations, IBM Systems Journal, vol. 32, pp. 4-16, [3] J. N. Luftman, R. Papp, and T. Brier, Enablers and inhibitors of business-it alignment, Communications of AIS, vol. 1, [4] T. S. H. Teo and J. S. K. Ang, Critical success factors in the alignment of IS plans with business plans, International Journal of Information Management, vol. 19, pp , [5] M. Broadbent and P. Weill, Improving business and information strategy alignment: Learning from the banking industry, IBM Systems Journal, vol. 32, pp , [6] R. Woolfe, The path to strategic alignment, Information Strategy: The Executive's Journal, pp , [7] A. L. Lederer and A. L. Mendelow, Coordination of information systems plans with business plans, Journal of Management Information Systems, vol. 6, pp. 5-19, [8] S. R. Das, S. A. Zahra, and M. E. Warkentin, Integrating the content process of strategic MIS planning with competitive strategy, Decision Science, vol. 22, pp , [9] T. S. H. Teo and W. R. King, Integration between Business Planning and Information Systems Planning: An Evolutionary- Contingency Perspective, Journal of Management Information Systems, vol. 14, pp , [10] W. King and T. S. H. Teo, Integration Between Business Planning and Information Systems Planning: Validating a Stage Hypothesis, Decision Science, vol. 28, pp , [11] M. E. Porter, Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Competitive Performance: The Free Press, [12] C. B. Stabell and Ø. D. Fjeldstad, Configuring Value for Competitive Advantage: On Chains, Shops and Networks, Strategic Management Journal, vol. 19, pp , [13] J. Barney, Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage, Journal of Management, vol. 17, pp , [14] K. Haanes and Ø. Fjeldstad, Linking Intangible Resources and Competition, Forthcoming in the European Management Journal, [15] J. D. Thompson, Organizations in action: McGraw-Hill, [16] G. M. Grossmann and E. Helpman, Endogenous Innovation in the Theory of Growth, The Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 8, pp , [17] C. K. Prahalad and G. Hamel, Strategy as a field of study: Why search for a new paradigm?, Strategic Management Journal, vol. 14, pp. 5-16, [18] K. R. Andrews, The Concept of Corporate Strategy, Third Edition ed: The MacGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., [19] J. G. March, Exploration and Exploiting in Organizational Learning, Organization Science, vol. 2, pp , [20] M. B. Lieberman and D. B. Montgomery, First-mover Advantages, Strategic Management Journal, vol. 9, pp , [21] R. K. Yin, Case Study Research: Design and Methods, vol. 5, 2nd ed. ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, [22] J. L. Naccarato and K. A. Neuendorf, Content Analysis as a Predictive Methodology: Recall, Readership, and Evaluations of Business-to-Business Print Advertising, Journal of Advertising Research, pp , [23] D. Riffe and A. Freitag, A Content Analysis of Content Analyses: Twenty-Five Years of Journalism Quarterly, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, vol. 74, pp , [24] R. P. Weber, Basic Content Analysis, 2nd ed. ed: Sage Publications, [25] K. R. Beattie and A. M. Sohal, Implementing ISO 9000: A study of its benefits among Australian organizations, Total Quality Management, vol. 10, pp , [26] A. Crouch and J. Basch, The Structure of Strategic Thinking: a lexical and content analysis, Journal of Applied Management Studies, vol. 6, pp , [27] M. B. Miles and A. M. Huberman, Qualitative data analysis: an expanded sourcebook. USA: Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, [28] A. S. Lee, Integrating positivist and interpretive approaches to organizational research, Organization Science, vol. 2, pp , /01 $ (c) 2001 IEEE 8

9 [29] O. R. Holsti, Content Analysis for the Social Sciences and Humanities. USA: Addison-Wesley Publishing, [30] K. Krippendorff, Content Analysis: An Introduction to Its Methodology, vol. 5: Sage Publications, [31] P. Gottschalk, Strategic Management of IS/IT functions: the role of the CIO in Norwegian organizations, International Journal of Information Systems, vol. 19, pp , [32] J. G. March, The Future: Disposable Organizations and the Rigidities of Imagination, Organization, vol. 2, pp , [33] M. H. Boisot, Knowledge Assets. Securing Competitive Advantage in the Information Economy: Oxford University Press, /01 $ (c) 2001 IEEE 9