Modeling IS planning benefits using ACE

This paper addresses the dearth of research on the determinants of IS plann ing benefits. Data were collected using a questionnaire survey of top IS ex ecutives from 450 companies in Singapore. Of the 103 responses (representin g a response rate of 23%), 65 companies undertook IS planning. To test the hypothesis that the determinant-benefit relationships are likely to be nonl inear, the Alternating Conditional Expectations (ACE) algorithm was used. T his appears to be the first use of ACE in IS planning research. IS sophistication, communications culture, technology forecasting, top mana gement support, and firm size were found to be nonlinearly related to IS pl anning benefits (e.g., improved competitiveness, operations, and resource m anagement). For example, IS sophistication affects improved competitiveness positively, and improved resource management negatively. It seems that IS sophistication is directed more at improving competitiveness, even though t his may result in less efficient resource management due to bureaucratic pr ocedures. However, at higher levels of IS sophistication, competitiveness s tagnates and may even decrease, possibly due to bureaucratic bottlenecks. I mplications of our results are discussed.