INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY and STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT

Information technology (IT) has been and continues to be applied in a wide range of economic activities. One of the latest and potentially most significant advances in IT in relation to organizational performance is the development of innovations in information technology that hold the potential to influence the structure of strategic management systems in organizations (Cohen, 1995).

Information is critical to organizational performance in the contemporary knowledge-based economy. As a consequence, information systems have become a primary organizational resource. The management of information systems in contemporary organizations is in a period of transformation (Balaban & Rothschild, 2002).

An effective strategy is not necessarily one that promises maximum efficiency or least total cost, but rather one that fits the needs of the organization and strives for consistency between the organization's capabilities and the competitive advantage being sought by the organization. The successful application of strategy in the contemporary global environment requires an organization to have an effective strategic management process. In turn, an effective strategic management process increasingly depends on the effective application of advances in information technology (Litman & Lohrmann, 2002).

. . .
ing will often precede strategy development, because of the cyclical character of the strategic process (Hax & Majluf, 1996). There are five generally recognized elements of the strategic cycle. These elements are as follows: (1) organizational considerations, which are concerned primarily with the organizational structure; (2) resource requirements; (3) strategic control, which is concerned primarily with the organization's internal environment; (4) strategic planning, which is concerned primarily with the external environment of the organization; and (5) the development of strategy, which is the end result of the combined effects of the other elements of the strategic cycle (Thompson & Strickland, 2001). As the description of the strategic cycle indicates, strategic planning is closely associated with an organization's external environment. It is, thus, necessary for the strategic planner to (1) know of what the external environment of an organization consists, and (2) understand how an organization's external environment affects the strategic planning process (Porter, 1996). In the late-1970s, Henry Mintzberg (1979) identified an external coalition as a description of an organization's external environment. Included i
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Contemporary Roles, Development Technology, Litschert Ramaswamy, Peter Drucker, Michael McCaskey, Toregas Stirling, Akers Porter, Ahmed Zairi, Campbell Alexander, Frigo Litman, strategic management, strategic planning, information technology, planning process, strategic planning process, external environment, leiner 2000, advances information technology, advances information, management systems, strategic management systems, knowledge management, management process, strategic management process, harvard business review,
Approximate Word count = 5392
Approximate Pages = 22 (250 words per page)