GLOBAL INFORMATION ARCHITECTURES - ALTERNATIVES AND TRADEOFFS

The alignment of information architectures with business strategies is important for organizations in order to achieve global pre-eminence. Past architectures have been limited in that they consider only techni cal and computer-based aspects of information technology. This article broadens this view by including the functional aspects (data, voice, image, or video transmission) of information technologies. Five inform ation architectures emerge as feasible for global corporations. Exampl es of companies using these architectures are provided. These architec tures are further compared using cost variables. The article provides a means for researchers and managers to classify and evaluate the curr ent architectures used in global corporations, and help carefully plan future architectures.