Strategic Planning for Management Information Systems

Planning for the information systems in an organization generally has not been closely related to the overall strategic planning processes through which the organization prepares for its future. An M/S strategic planning process is conceptualized and illustrated as one which /inks the. organization’s "strategy set" tb an MIS "strategy set. " The literature of management information systems (MIS) concentrates largely on the nature and structure of MIS’s and on processes for designing and developing such systems. The idea of "planning for the MIS" is usually treated as either one of developing the need and the general design concept for such a system, or in the context of project planning for the MIS development effort. However, strategic planning for the informational needs of the organization is both feasible and necessary if the MIS is to support the basic purposes and goals of the organization. Indeed, one of the possible explanations [6] for the failure of many MIS’s i~-that they have been designed from the same "bottom up" point of view that characterized the development of the data processing systems of an earlier era. Such design approaches primarily reflect the pursuit of efficiency, such as through cost savings, rather than the pursuit of greater organizational effectiveness.1 The modern view of an MIS as an organizational decision support system is inconsistent with the design/development approaches which are appropriate for data processing. The organization’s operating efficiency is but one aspect for consideration in management decision making. The achievement of greater organizational effectiveness is the paramount consideration in most of the management decisions which the MIS is to support; it also must be of paramount importance in the design of the MIS. There is an intrinsic linkage of the decisionsupporting MIS to the organization’s purpose, objectives, and strategy. While.this conclusion may appear to be straightforward, it has not been operationalized as a part of MIS design methodology. There are those who argue that the MIS designer cannot hope to get involved in such things as organizational missions, objectives, and strategies, since they are clearly beyond his domain of authority. This article describes an operationally feasible approach for identifying and utilizing the elements of the organization’s "strategy set" to plan for the MIS. Whether or not written state