Copyright 2004 Monash University IMS5042 Information Systems Strategic Planning Week 9-10: Combining Philosophies of Planning with Theories of Planning and the Conduct of Planning in Practice

Copyright 2004 Monash University 2 Agenda Recap of philosophies of planning Combining planning philosophy, planning theory and planning practice Planning in action – a case study

Copyright 2004 Monash University 3 Linking Philosophy to Practice Philosophies of IS Theories of IS Theories of Planning Philosophies of Planning Theories of IS Planning Practice of IS Planning Plan Content (What do we plan about?) Planning Process (How do we plan?)

Copyright 2004 Monash University 4 1. Recap of last week Many different possible approaches have been proposed for planning – dictatorship, utopianism, rationality, incrementalism, advocacy planning, etc Every one of these approaches has its merits and may be appropriate to certain situations Every one of these approaches has its weaknesses and may be inappropriate to certain situations

Copyright 2004 Monash University 5 Theories of planning and philosophies of planning We have looked at various planning theories: Stages of growth; CSFs IT for competitive advantage Etc How do they relate to the aspects of philosophy we have covered? Within which philosophical frameworks does each belong? This is the core of your second assignment

Copyright 2004 Monash University 6 Some aspects of planning philosophy Formalised Unified Comprehensive Utopian Rational Deterministic Directed Dictatorial Democratic Emergent Political Contingent Pluralist Pragmatic Ad hoc Incrementalist

Copyright 2004 Monash University 7 2. Combining philosophy and theory Note that the linkage of theory to philosophy is not uniform The nature of the link may vary quite significantly from one theory to another In terms of its connection to a particular aspect of philosophy, a theory may be: Clearly and explicitly linked; Linked implicitly; Not linked and therefore neutral You need to be alert to this in your reading and analysis of the theories

Copyright 2004 Monash University 8 Combining philosophy and theory: The problem of subjectivity Note that many different authors have written about these different theories/approaches Different writers may have approached their development of the same theory with different philosophical inclinations My interpretation of the theories and the writers is also based on my philosophical inclinations which affects how I respond to them ( … as will also be the case for you)

Copyright 2004 Monash University 9 Combining philosophy and theory: 1. Stages of Growth How comprehensive (or incrementalist)? How rational or (non-rational)? How deterministic (or contingent)? How directed (or emergent)? How formal (or ad-hoc)? How utopian (or ad hoc)? How unified (or pluralist)? How democratic (or dictatorial)? What bodies of theory/philosophy are most closely linked?

Copyright 2004 Monash University 10 Combining philosophy and theory: 2. CSFs How comprehensive (or incrementalist)? How rational or (non-rational)? How deterministic (or contingent)? How directed (or emergent)? How formal (or ad-hoc)? How utopian (or ad hoc)? How unified (or pluralist)? How democratic (or dictatorial)? What bodies of theory/philosophy are most closely linked?

Copyright 2004 Monash University 11 Combining philosophy and theory: 3. IT for Competitive Advantage How comprehensive (or incrementalist)? How rational or (non-rational)? How deterministic (or contingent)? How directed (or emergent)? How formal (or ad-hoc)? How utopian (or ad hoc)? How unified (or pluralist)? How democratic (or dictatorial)? What bodies of theory/philosophy are most closely linked?

Copyright 2004 Monash University 12 Combining philosophy and theory: 4. Business Process Re-engineering How comprehensive (or incrementalist)? How rational or (non-rational)? How deterministic (or contingent)? How directed (or emergent)? How formal (or ad-hoc)? How utopian (or ad hoc)? How unified (or pluralist)? How democratic (or dictatorial)? What bodies of theory/philosophy are most closely linked?

Copyright 2004 Monash University 13 Combining philosophy and theory: 5. Alignment approaches How comprehensive (or incrementalist)? How rational or (non-rational)? How deterministic (or contingent)? How directed (or emergent)? How formal (or ad-hoc)? How utopian (or ad hoc)? How unified (or pluralist)? How democratic (or dictatorial)? What bodies of theory/philosophy are most closely linked?

Copyright 2004 Monash University A case study of strategic planning in practice An example of how strategic planning actually happens (not an IT strategic plan, but in an IT- dominated environment) The usual disclaimers How reliable? How complete? How typical? Confidentiality aspects

Copyright 2004 Monash University A case study of strategic planning in practice How comprehensive? – intended vs actual How rational? – intended vs actual How deterministic? – intended vs actual How directed? – intended vs actual How formal? – intended vs actual How utopian? – intended vs actual How unified? – intended vs actual How democratic? – intended vs actual How much theory? – intended vs actual

Copyright 2004 Monash University 16 Next week No lecture! ….But then….. The nature of IS/IT and its impact on strategic planning theory and practice Start with Nicholas Carr and a highly controversial slant on it, then work back from that