Strategic Information Systems Planning Success: An Investigation of the Construct and Its Measurement

Strategic information systems planning (SISP) requires significant outlays of increasingly scarce human and financial resources. Yet, there exists very little understanding of how the success of this planning activity is measured. Using classical frameworks for measurement development as well as contemporary statistical techniques for assessing dimensionality, this study theoretically develops and empirically tests a measurement model of SISP success. The results suggest that SISP success can be operationalized as a second-order factor model. The first order constructs of the model are termed alignment, analysis, cooperation, and improvement in capabilities. These factors are governed by a second-order construct of SISP success. The results of the study are framed as a tool for benchmarking planning efforts as well as a foundation for operationalizing a key dependent variable in SISP research.