Information Technology Importance in Strategic Planning
The course has been informative and engaging. Although information technology has been associated with various benefits, the course has enables me learn its vital role in strategic planning. Among the many uses, information technology is uses in strategic information systems. These systems are vital in ensuring organizations can efficiently design their business strategies, plans, and structures. Besides, I also learned the role of information technology in facilitating environmental changes, thus ensuring organizations can achieve a competitive advantage in the highly competitive market.
Information technology in strategic planning is based on various aspects, and all of them are essential in ensuring that planning outcomes are effective. However, in my opinion, I feel that more focus should be on risk management, but other aspects should not be ignored either. The success of strategic planning is based on efficient risk management because failing to identify impending risks and mitigating them can result to significant losses or the failure of some operations in business.
The emphasis on risk management is based on its capability to serve diverse functions and ensure that threats in all areas are mitigated. Therefore, organizations need to invest in proactive risk management practices and encourage all stakeholders to consider them in creating a culture that prioritizes risk management. Proactive risk management practices means that employees and other concerned parties can understand different types of risks beyond the conventional definitions given in textbooks (Sibanda & Ramrathan, 2017). Moreover, since information technology can be a complex subject, these practices will help organizations understand the importance of investing in experts that can identify risks during the planning process and the specific areas that are likely to be affected with the corresponding mitigation measures. Additionally, I learned that using information technology in strategic planning gives insights to decision-makers to make relevant decisions that support overall organizational objectives.
Reference
Sibanda, M. & Ramrathan, D. (2017). Influence of information technology on organization
strategy. Foundations of Management, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1515/fman-2017-0015