Strategy - as - Identity : An autopoietic contribution to the IS / IT strategy debate

Organizational IS/IT strategy, as a possible source of organizational failure and success, has been widely discussed in both academic and business circles. Several different models for the process of IS/IT strategy formation and implementation have been presented—mostly linking it to the organizational corporate strategy through the notion of alignement. This chapter discusses a different perspectives on organizational IS/IT strategy and provides a critique of the dominant ̳alignment‘ model popular in the management literature. The work of Ciborra, Mintzberg and the strategy-aspractice approach is discussed to show that an alternative view, to the alignment model, is emerging in the literature. The chapter brings together these insights in a strategy-as-identity approach based on the theory of autopoiesis. The implications of this approach for IS/IT strategy is briefly discussed.