Keeping IT and Corporate Strategies Aligned in a Changing Environment

On August 24, 1994, Lyon, Popanz & Forester sponsored a Business Forum luncheon for 16 senior Information Technology executives. The topic for the meeting was keeping information technology and corporate strategies aligned in a changing environment. We reviewed it in April 2008 and found it still valuable.

"Strategies are the medium that organizations use to communicate where they are going and how they will get there. In today's fast paced world, the substance of organizational strategies are found more often in the speaking and actions of executives and managers than in formal planning documents.

Strategies evolve in response to changing customer needs, new competitive opportunities and threats, and advances in management concepts. Two management concepts that are being incorporated in the strategies of many successful corporations are:

• Customer driven plans and programs that incorporate the defined needs of external and internal customers in the design and delivery of products and services.
• Collaborative or cross-functional management of projects and programs to assure that all appropriate resources of the corporation are brought to bear on major issues.

The evolving and changing nature of strategies and the difficulties of communicating in large organizations mean that all parts of the organization are challenged to stay aligned with the corporation's strategy."

The complete post: Keeping IT and Corporate Strategies Aligned in a Changing Environment

Originally posted: August 15, 1994
Updated: April 9, 2008

This material was published in Inside DPMA A Monthly Publication for DPMA and the Information Systems Profession -- October 1994, page 6 - 7.