title: State of and Perspectives for IS Strategy Research
title: – A Discussion Paper –
titleType: Subtitle
Creators: name: Teubner, Alexander
name: Pellengahr, Alexander
Publisher: name: University of Muenster, Institutional Repository MIAMI
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: 004 Computer science
subject: 330 Economics

description: Notwithstanding the substantial overall research efforts in the field of Strategic Information
Systems Planning (SISP), the "IS strategy" as the goal and outcome of SISP has received only
limited research attention to date. In addition, there is considerable evidence that the debates
on IS strategy in academia and practice are largely different and independent from each other.
This observation motivates us to look into the existing research on IS strategy and its
relationship to practice in greater detail. Our analysis reveals that academic conceptions of IS
strategy do not seem to have much in common with how IS strategy practitioners interpret the
construct. Both worlds seem to have coexisted independently alongside one another for a long
time. This divergence leads to a number of problematic outcomes, not least of which is a
considerable lack of relevance and acceptance of academic research in practice. Based on an
intensive study of IS strategy perceptions in both academia and practice, we make suggestions
on how IS strategy research should be reinvented in order that it may produce more reliable as
well as practically useful and relevant insights in the face of the challenges of the 21st century.
We concentrate these suggestions in four major propositions: (1) Strategy over Strategizing,
demanding to develop an understanding of the construct of IS strategy first before focusing on
SISP as the process developing it, (2) Strategy in vivo over Strategy in vitro, demanding to
develop a fresh understanding of the construct of IS strategy by conducting research in the field
instead of relying on strategy interpretations that are preconfigured by a small number of
prevailing strategy models and theories, (3) Empiricism over Idealism, demanding that intensive
field research on IS strategy should be conducted starting with deep small-scale explorative
studies aiming at new insights instead of large-scale confirmatory surveys that test pre-existing
hypotheses, (4) Sustainability over Competitiveness, demanding to relinquish the academic
predilection for research on competitive aspects of IT in favor of issues that are much more
relevant in practice, such as efficiency, reliability, serviceability and sustainability of a company's
IT-based infrastructure.
description: 1 Introduction ..... 1
2 Setting the scene: The academic debate on IS strategy ..... 2
3 Academic research on IS strategy ..... 5
3.1 IS strategy concepts ..... 5
3.2 IS strategy contents ..... 7
3.2.1 IS strategy checklists ..... 8
3.2.2 IS Strategy Models ..... 9
4 Contrasting IS strategy research with practice ..... 11
5 Conclusions and Recommendations for IS Strategy Research ..... 15
5.1 Strategy over Strategizing ..... 16
5.1.1 Strategizing – Reframing SISP ..... 16
5.1.2 Re-establishing SISP – putting IS strategy first ..... 19
5.2 Strategy in vivo over strategy in vitro ..... 20
5.3 Empiricism over Idealism ..... 22
5.4 Sustainability over Competitiveness ..... 24
6 Epilogue ..... 26
7 References ..... 27