THE EFFECTS OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ON STRATEGIC DECISION-MAKING

Information technology (IT) may be defined as computer-based technolog y for the storage, accessing, processing and communication of informat ion, Many writers have suggested that the use of IT should improve str ategic decisions and have developed a number of propositions about the effects of IT on strategic decision making. However, no study has yet addressed the specific effects of IT on major phases of this process. Using Mintzberg, Raisinghani and Theoret's (1976, 'The structure of u nstructured decision processes', Administrative Science Quarterly, 21, 2, 246-75) strategic decision-making model, this study assessed the e ffects of IT on the major phases of the process through an intensive e xamination of eight decisions in four companies. The results of the st udy provide new information on the specific ways IT improves decision- making efficiency and effectiveness at each stage of the strategic dec ision process.