Enterprise strategy management systems: current and next generation

Strategic planning in the ‘post-net’ era creates new challenges for senior management, due to the need for faster speed of strategy planning and implementation, frequent, significant environmental changes, and more complex organizations. Enterprise strategy management (ESM) systems promise better planning support for senior management, but are still in their infancy. Present systems focus too much on quantitative aspects, and not enough on qualitative or process aspects of planning. The article reviews the landscape of strategic information systems for ESM, identifies their contributions, and derives the requirements for the next generation of ESM systems. It also reflects on IT opportunities beyond the next generation. q 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.