SLIM/SLIP : a proposed method for linking a business strategy to the strategic systems development process

Abstract

The research begins with a number of research questions that are based on the relationship between the creation and promulgation of a business strategy and the development of strategic information systems and information technology (IS/IT) applications. A literature search is carried out in three academic domains; namely, the business strategy processes, the strategy use of IS/IT applications and the frameworks and techniques that are used to define and to develop such applications. This investigation, in conjunction with the research questions, leads to the identification of a set of strategic components that are believed to improve the process of linking the business strategy to the development of strategic IS/IT applications. The components, namely strategic vision, strategic positioning strategic flexibility and strategic cohesion or alignment, form the basis of a set of research hypotheses. Here, it is postulated that the four strategic components are important to the successful development of strategic IS/IT applications.

These research hypotheses are examined through a survey carried out among 961 successful UK companies. The survey provides useful information about the strategic use of IS/IT in such organisations and shows that a significant number of the responding companies attribute the success of their strategic systems to the presence of the postulated strategic components. Further information is gathered through the survey that relates to the methods and techniques that the organisations have used to link their business strategies to the development of strategic IS/IT applications. The findings of the survey support the research hypotheses and open the way to the second part of the research. In this part, a further literature survey is carried out that involves the investigation of existing techniques that may support the strategic linking components. Methods and techniques that have been used in a variety of business and IT contexts are identified, and a number of them are proposed for inclusion in a proposed method for supporting the process of linking the business strategy to the development of strategic IS/IT applications.

This proposed method, called SLIM/SLIP, is described and is validated by using a quasi field study. This involves in-depth interviews with respondents from six of the companies that participated in the original survey. The interviews consist of an informal examination of the effect of the SLIM/SLIP method if it had been used in the development of the firms' strategic IS/IT applications. Through this exercise, a number of theories are developed that are held to validate the use of the proposed SLIM/SLIP method for supporting the strategic linking process in a range of typical UK companies. The work finishes with a critical evaluation of the research project as a whole and suggestions for future research. It is held that there is considerable scope for further work in the area, particularly the 'packaging' of SLIM/SLIP as a commercially viable method and the observation and documentation in case studies of the method in practice.

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