Research Paper on:
IT and Strategic Planning

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
were certain that the new structure of computer use would move computers out of businesses and into society at large. According to Anthes (1993), companies would be in direct and  constant contact with consumers, and businesses and suppliers failing to embrace the new way of doing things would find themselves abandoned by more demanding and increasingly impatient customers. Obviously, those  futurists were correct in their predictions. In fact, they may have even under-estimated the impact of information technology in daily life. The computers and other information tools that  are currently being used evolved because of several major technological advances: using electricity to power the machine; integrated circuits; arrays of transistors combined with the magic of silicon chip  technologies (and, in the not-so-distant past, vacuum tubes) that are constantly improving the speed, power, and memory of computers; and, video and digital technologies that have computer monitors so much  more than the black-and-white television screens they once resembled. It is a useful analogy to consider the idea that just as modern computers rely on a complex series of interactions  and interdependencies to even exist, society itself depends on a multitude of complexities that woven together create the work, pleasure, and life-styles of the modern, "industrialized" world. But what  has remained the same and will continue to be one of the most important aspects of any sort of organization or business enterprise, regardless of its technological capabilities, is strategic  planning. Importance of Information and Strategic Planning According to Travica (1998), in order to adequately plan for the future, especially in terms of making the appropriate strategic plans, it  is essential that businesspeople, politicians, policy makers, even consumers, broaden their understanding of the essential nature of information and other aspects associated with where information technology is taking organizations. Clearly,