Business Strategy To Support Enterprise Information Systems Strategy In The Perspective Of Empirical Research

Information systems(IS) strategy becomes increasingly important. An efficient IS strategic management will help a firm implement business strategy and build competitive advantage. A poor IS strategic management will result in lost opportunity and wasteful resources. In field of IS strategic management, there are still two unsolved problems, including how to select IS strategy and how to allocate IS resources. Therefore, it's very valuable to study IS strategy.Focused on IS strategy from the perspective of business strategy support, 3 issues were introduced in this dissertation. Firstly, which dimensions should be selected to study IS strategy? Secondly, how did environments impact IS strategy dimensions? Thirdly, how should IS strategy dimensions moderate the relationship between IS resources and firm performance? Therefore, 4 studies were done.Study 1 was about IS strategy dimensions. According to the method by which IS supported business strategy dimensions, IS strategy dimensions fit for organizations in China were put forward with theoretically deductive method, in which the stage characteristics of IS application in China were considered. Based on 7 case studies, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) of 60 samples was done to test these dimensions, and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of 232 samples was done too.Study 2 was about factors influencing IS strategy. Four key factors were identified, including environmental dynamics, competitive intensity, organizational complexity and organizational size. Next, the relational model between these factors and IS strategy dimensions was built. Furthermore, data of 232 samples was inputted into the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to test above model and relative hypotheses.Study 3 was about the mechanism of IS strategy. First, the type of IS resources was identified, including IS human resources, IS infrastructure and relational resources. Second, the mechanism model that IS strategy dimensions moderated the relationship between IS resources and firm performance was built. Finally, the model and relative hypotheses were tested by data of 232 samples using Multiple Regression Analysis Method.Study 4 was about the management tactics of IS strategy. In order to test the above-mentioned dimensions, the influence factors and the mechanism of IS strategy, a deep case study on Hangzhou Wahaha Group was done. In this case, some conclusions were tested, and the related details were showed. Finally, several management tactics of IS strategy were put forward according to theoretical analysis and experience in practice.Compared with the existing research, this dissertation made 4 contributions.(1)3 dimensions of IS strategy for enterprises from the perspective of business strategy support were put forward, including business action support (ACT), business decision support (DEC), and network embeddedness support (EMB). ACT showed that a firm could apply IS to support operational efficiency, market aggressiveness, and technological innovation. DEC showed that a firm could apply IS to support business analysis and risk aversion. EMB showed that a firm could apply IS to improve network position and strengthen network relationships.(2) The relationship between Environmental dynamics, competitive intensity, organizational size and IS strategy dimensions was found. Environmental dynamics was significantly negative to DEC and EMB. Competitive intensity was significantly positive to ACT and EMB. Organizational size was significantly positive to ACT, DEC and EMB.(3) The mechanism of 3 dimensions of IS strategy moderating the relationship between IS resources and firm performance was found. The moderated effect of ACT to the relationship between IS human resources and firm performance was significantly positive. Essentially, it rooted in the effect of ACT to IS human resources and outcome performance. The moderated effect of ACT to the relationship between IS relational resources and firm performance was significantly positive too. The moderated effect of DEC to the relationship between IS relational resources and firm performance was significantly positive. It rooted in the effect of DEC to IS relational resources and outcome performance. The moderated effect of DEC to the relationship between IS infrastructure and firm performance was significantly negative. It rooted in the effect of DEC to IS infrastructure and outcome performance. The moderated effect of EMB to the relationship between IS relational resources and firm performance was significantly negative. It rooted in the effect of EMB to IS relational resources and outcome performance.(4) This study showed that 3 kinds of IS resources were significantly positive to firm performance because of these IS resources' positive effect to process performance. The statistic results showed that 3 kinds of IS resources were significantly positive to process performance, but not to outcome performance.This study was valuable because it would provide organizations with the relationships among elements of IS strategic management. IS strategic planning provided organizations with process and elements of IS strategic management, However, it could not provide the relationships among these elements because of defective method, so the chain from environments to strategy and resources would broken. IS strategic management effect was improved by overcoming this defect.