Operationalisation of the Information Technology strategy in an organisation

Abstract

In many organisations Information Technology (IT) strategies are adopted, and never operationalised. Instead, the development and adoption is repeated on a yearly or two-yearly basis. The process and approach are prohibitive, and affect competitiveness, sustainability, and business continuity. This challenge is primarily caused by the lack of an understanding of the factors that influence or dictate operationalisation in an organisation. The objective of this research was informed by the premise; to empirically reveal the factors that influence operationalisation of an IT strategy in an organisation. In order to vertically understand the depth of challenges within context, a case study approach was selected. Qualitative data was gathered, and duality of structure of structuration theory was employed in the analysis. From the analysis, six (6) factors were revealed as the primary influencers of the IT strategy operationalisation, from both enablement and constraint perspectives. The study is intended to be of interest to organisations, particularly: promoters of IT strategy, and managers in both IT and business units of an organisation.