Three permanent objectives of information systems planning

Abstract

Since the top-down/bottom-up clash of the early 1970s, IS planning has been a subject of persistent controversy. The lack of consensus is symptomatic of weaknesses which demand evaluation aid reconstruction of available theory. To provide a stable foundation for such efforts, the basic purposes of the planning process are re-examined. The analysis Is based on an open model of the organizational information system - the set of all manual and computer-based systems that produce information in a firm. This model suggests that overall viability depends upon the relationships between system outputs and their users; system inputs and their sources; and systemic processes and their input/outputs. The three concepts effectiveness, economic efficiency, and technical efficiency are defined as success criteria of these relationships, and their impact on overall system viability has been expressed in a simple algebraic formula. In a dynamic environment, the formula predicts that overall viability will continually decline unless there are compensating increases in effectiveness, economic and technical efficiency. Thus these three success criteria constitute permanent objectives of information systems planning.