Welcome to this 4th issue of Volume 30 of The Journal of Strategic Information Systems

Purpose This study argues that strategic information systems (SISs) are necessary for organizations’ survival and corporate performance in turbulent economic environments. Applying Miles and Snow’s strategy typology, the purpose of this paper is to explore how SIS supports business strategy and corporate performance. Design/methodology/approach This study uses quantitative survey data from 389 Brazilian companies during economic crises and analyzes them using structural equation modeling. Findings There is strong evidence that SIS promotes capacity and flexibility to create competitive strategies in response to environmental changes. SIS significantly and positively predicts firms’ use of prospector strategies, reducing the need to sacrifice efficiency for innovation. SIS can predict corporate performance more strongly than firms’ strategic orientations can. Practical implications The results provide organizations insights on how SIS enables strategic planning processes to create competitive strategy and improve performance during economic turbulence. Originality/value This research demonstrates SIS’s positive effects during economic turbulence on competitive strategy and performance, revealing that corporate performance is influenced more by SIS (strategic process) than strategic orientation (content). Hence, this study fills a research gap in the information systems strategy literature by contributing new insights about SIS.

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Effect of Information Service Competence and Contextual Factors on the Effectiveness of Strategic Information Systems Planning in Hospitals

Journal of Global Information Management ◽

10.4018/jgim.2016010102 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 24 (1) ◽

pp. 14-36 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Shin-Yuan Hung ◽

Wei-Min Huang ◽

David C. Yen ◽

She-I Chang ◽

Chien-Cheng Lu

Keyword(s):

Information Systems ◽

Contextual Factors ◽

Information Service ◽

Competitive Advantages ◽

Strategic Information ◽

Strategic Information Systems ◽

Strategic Information Systems Planning ◽

Systems Planning ◽

Information Intensity ◽

Information Systems Planning

Many hospitals in Taiwan have started to encounter new and fierce competition as a result of the enactment of the National Health Insurance Policy in 1995. Hospitals should strive to use information technology (IT) strategically to improve their competitive advantage and meet the dynamic challenges in this competitive environment. This study adopts the Technology-Organization-Environment framework to understand the effects of contextual factors (e.g., environmental uncertainty and information intensity) and information service competence on the effectiveness of strategic information systems planning (SISP) to improve hospital management efficiency. A field survey was conducted using questionnaires distributed to accredited hospitals that serve patients from different regions/districts and with academic teaching qualifications/capabilities. These hospitals represent approximately a quarter of all hospitals in Taiwan. The findings show that the environmental unpredictability and business competence of IS executives are negatively related to the two SISP constructs: IT participation in the hospital planning and alignment of the IT plan with the comprehensive hospital plan. In addition, the findings demonstrate that information intensity has a significantly positive relation to both aforementioned SISP constructs. Finally, both constructs justify the significant positive correlations with the use of IT in increasing competitive advantages and improving the satisfaction of customers and end users. This research intends to guide the healthcare industry in raising competitive advantages to improve the operational efficiency of hospital management in today's highly digitalized environment.

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