Tecnologías De Información

19

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORKS FOR FIRM STRATEGY:

An Information Systems Perspective

Rafael Andreu I Civit
SISTEMAS

PROFESOR ORDINARIO DE
DE INFORMACIÓN Y DIRECCIÓN GENERAL,

IESE

Kety Jáuregui
DIRECTORA ASOCIADA DEL PROGRAMA DOCTORAL ESADE-ESAN

Resumen
El concepto de estrategia y formación de estrategia puede ser analizado desde diferentes
perspectivas. Mintzberg (1990) haidentificado diez escuelas básicas de pensamiento
con relación a este tema. La estrategia es concebida como un proceso de visión, diseño,
planeamiento o posicionamiento; como un proceso de conocimiento o aprendizaje, sujeto
a influencias políticas, culturales o ambientales, o más propiamente como un proceso
centrado en la transformación. A través de los años, los sistemas de información hanvenido a jugar un papel crecientemente estratégico en los negocios, capaz de apoyar la
formulación e implementación de estrategias y, particularmente, la reformulación de
estrategias. Este trabajo ofrece una revisión de la literatura sobre el tema y relaciona los
sistemas de información con las diez escuelas de estrategia mencionadas, permitiendo la
discusión de la utilidad de los diferentes tiposde sistemas de información.

Introduction
Nowadays, firms are facing ever-increasing risks and opportunities created by a
set of distinct but interrelated factors: a
changing environment, fierce competition, industry liberalization and the emergence of a global economy. In order to
survive and compete effectively, firms
must develop a flexible outlook; in other
words, they must formulateand/or re-formulate their strategies, design and deploy

appropriate organisational structures, and
be prepared to operate in an evolutionary
mode.
The strategy concept and the strategy
formation process can be approached from
different perspectives, covering all of the
firm’s activities. Authors in the general
management field have given different
definitions of strategy, emphasising,among others, the following aspects: strategy as a means to attain competitive ad-

Año 8, n.º 14, junio de 2003

esan-cuadernos de difusión

20

vantage; strategy as a means to achieve
the organisation’s vision, mission or objectives as defined by the firm’s leaders,
etc. Mintzberg (1990) has suggested that
these approaches can be grouped in ten
schools of thought. These schoolsvariously conceive of strategy as a process of vision, design, planning, positioning; or as
a process of cognition or learning, subject to political, cultural, or environmental influences; or more particularly as a
process centred on transformation. Some
of these schools propose descriptive conceptual frameworks, while others are prescriptive.
Over the years, Information Systems
(IS) has evolvedin its organisational role.
Currently, IS has a strategic role, with the
potential to affect business operations and
industry reconfigurations, and so influence competition. For example, IS can
have a great impact on cost or differentiation when used in value chain activities
(Porter, 1980). From another perspective,
IS can be seen as a unique and valuable
«resource» that adds value to thefirm’s
activities (an illustrative and classic example is that of SABRE – American Airlines Reservation System).
IS researchers have proposed several
conceptual frameworks to support the formulation, re-formulation and implementation of a firm’s strategy. For example,
the evolution of IS in organisations, and
conceptual frameworks that help firms to
identify their critical IS. In general,the
question of how IS can be integrated with
strategy has been studied from two points
of view: (1) IS as a set of data and information flows that are necessary for the
firm’s information functions and processes in accordance with its strategy (in other words, as a set of applications that give

support to the firm’s information needs);
and (2) IS with an emphasis on technological...