AN EXAMINATION OF IT PLANNING IN A LARGE, DIVERSIFIED PUBLIC ORGANIZATION

The conduct of information technology (IT) planning processes has been of dominant managerial concern in public and private organizations, Y et, current IT planning research offers little guidance on the types o f planning actions and behaviors that are appropriate to organizationa l contexts, We focus on the conduct of the IT planning process by desc ribing an exploratory research project, The project empirically examin ed a number of issues associated with managing IT planning within a si ngle large public enterprise, particularly identifying actions and beh aviors related to producing quality IT plans. The results of the study yield some useful set of guidelines; most interesting is the importan ce of building IT infrastructure based on IT sophistication and innova tiveness for large agencies to improve plan quality. Other recommendat ions include having a focused, balanced technology and business planni ng orientation that incorporates a strategic outlook, support of top m anagement, attention to business planning, and early consensus among p lanning members.