Information Systems Management Patterns Of Investment Holding Companies

The development and management of information systems are among the majorchallenges facing modern enterprises. Besides the general attributes of commonenterprises, investment holding companies need the abilities to control investmentrisks, to consolidate different business units, and to manage over large extension.Such characteristics ask for corresponding information systems strategies to supportthe development of the companies.This paper starts with analyzing the overall growth process of informationsystems application in Chinese companies, as well as discussing the requirements ofinformation systems management in investment holding companies. We propose thatcontrolling ability and agility are the two most important needs of the informationsystems application in this kind of companies. Along these two dimensions, there twobasic management patterns for investment holding companies' IT/IS management.One is the controlling pattern characterized by centralization and integration;and theother is the agility pattern characterized by extensibility and quick response.This paper also proposes a framework for describing and analyzing thesepatterns, comprising the dimensions of management styles, IT/IS organizationalstructures, data management policies, application systems development policies,information systems application architectures, and technological architectures.Utilizing this framework, we discuss and compare the characteristics of the twopatterns, as well as their development routes and starting schemes. This paper alsoanalyses the practice of a typical company of each pattern.The propsed basic patterns and related framework could be helpful to improvethe practice of information system development and management of investmentholding companies.