From Strategic Management to Strategic Experimentation: The Convergence of IT, Knowledge Management, and Strategy

Abstract

The new competitive landscape of the 21st century is forcing organizations to move away from traditional conceptualizations of strategy formulation towards an approach of strategic experimentation. The central objective of this chapter is to articulate the requirements that will be placed on IT as organizations move toward strategic experimentation. We base our central argument in contingency theory, which has postulated that to maximize organizational effectiveness, the IT infrastructure must be congruent with organizational structure and processes. Strategic experimentation requires different IT and knowledge management tools to support it than the ones currently prevalent. Information technology, knowledge management, and strategy formulation will have to coevolve for strategic experimentation to fulfill its promise. Each will have to change while maintaining its fit with the other two elements. This gives a renewed mandate for a strategic role of IT in organizations, a role that is central to organizational success.