IT STRATEGY - FORMAL RATIONAL ORTHODOXY OR CONTINGENT ADHOCRACY

This paper examines empirical evidence of support by managers for form al rational as opposed to ad hoc approaches to IT strategy. The eviden ce was gathered by a large scale survey of IT managers in the UK priva te and public sectors. A heuristic conceptual model was used to place organizations on a continuum for several aspects of IT strategy. The a uthors found that most organizations appeared to subscribe to formal r ationalism, but only in some aspects of strategy.