methodologies that would allow an organization
to Identify, develop, and implement strategic
applications. Sinclair (1986) found the implementation
of a planning technique to be a major problem
with regard to justifying the methodology,
applying it, and evaluating its output. More
recently, Lederer and Sethi (1988) observed in
a study of 80 organizations that the implementation
of information systems planning
methodologies such as Business Systems Planning,
Information Engineering, and Strategic
Planning Systems was problematic with respect
to resources, process, and output and that
managers were only moderately satisfied with
them. Vitale, et al. (1986) define these planning
methodologies as attempting to align information
systems with organizational goals, which is the
opposite of methodologies that directly impact
organizational strategies.
At present, there is a paucity of information
available on the implementation of the impact
planning methodologies like the value chain
(Porter and Millar, 1985) and the theory of
strategic thrusts (Rackoff, et al., 1985), and new
methodologies seem to appear every day.
Because it is possible that impact planning
methodologies carry the same problems as alignment
planning methodologies, it is legitimate to
wonder about their effectiveness and efficiency.
In other words, what results can we expect from
their use? The purpose of this article is to study
the applicability and output specificity of two
impact planning methodologies used to identify
information systems from a competitive advantage
perspective.