Integration between Business Planning and Information Systems Planning: An Evolutionary-Contingency Perspective

TLDR

Strategic planning for information systems requires integrating IS planning with business planning to better support business strategies, yet empirical studies on this integration remain limited. This study investigates how BP‑ISP integration evolves over time and identifies contingency factors that shape its development. The research reveals a four‑stage evolutionary pattern—administrative, sequential, reciprocal, and full integration—where few firms achieve full integration, phase bypassing is rare, and the IS executive’s business competence strongly influences integration extent.

Abstract

:One of the key elements of strategic planning for information systems (IS) is the integration of information systems planning (ISP) with business planning (BP). This integration enables IS to support business strategies more effectively. Although this issue has received significant attention in recent years, empirical research focusing specifically on BP-ISP integration is still relatively sparse. This research extends existing results by examining the evolution of BP-ISP integration and the contingency variables that may influence BP-ISP integration.The results confirmed the existence of an evolutionary pattern that can be defined in terms of movement through four types of BP-ISP integration: administrative integration to sequential integration to reciprocal integration to full integration. Only a few firms indicated that they had reached full integration. Bypassed phases and reverse evolution, though observed, were uncommon. Among the contingency variables, the business competence of the IS executive appeared to be a key factor in influencing the extent of integration.