Only One Evolving Strategy

Background

Organizations continually face numerous change forces such as indicated in Figure 1. The framework developed by Scott Morton (1991) (Figure 1) illustrates the interrelationship between strategy and other forces; namely business processes, organizational structure, people and IT. External environments (Socioeconomic and Technological) influence the organization. Changes in any one or more of these forces upsets the equilibrium of the organization, a change in any one force may require changes in some or all of the forces. Essentially Scott Morton’s framework implies that strategy should be developed in a holistic fashion, taking all forces into consideration. So IT (and business processes, organizational structure, people and their roles) should not be merely aligned with the overall strategy, or be there to support the overall strategy, they each contribute and form an essential part of a single organizational strategy.

Figure 1.

Adapted Scott Morton framework of forces on organisations (Scott Morton, 1991, p. 20)

Clearly, there is a need to face these forces and challenges, and develop strategies to manage these and other changes. The successful implementation of strategy requires the ability to manage and communicate organisational change (Hempel & Martinsons, 2009). Similarly, organisational change frequently flows from a clear strategic plan.

Much of the IS literature on strategy implementation overlaps with change management. A strategic change can affect people, technology, processes, structures, suppliers, and business partners making it difficult to implement strategic change programmes (Franken, Edwards, & Lambert, 2009). “Strategic execution requires systemic thinking” (Morgan, Levitt, & Malek, 2007, p. 11), as a change in one area can affect other areas (Scott Morton, 1991). There is frequent mention of attracting, allocating, and managing the resources needed to deliver the change programs that will deliver the strategy (Franken, Edwards, & Lambert, 2009). The strategy implementation literature also stresses the importance of culture and communication. It is of interest that this literature refers to practitioners being “left in a state of confusion when having to decide which approach is most appropriate for their situation” (Franken, Edwards, & Lambert, 2009, p. 49). This is similar to the confusion facing IS practitioners when they have to decide on an approach for implementing a system.