-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Marcial, D. E. (2013). Information Systems Strategic Planning in Higher Education Institutions in the Philippines. Philippine Information Technology Journal, 6 (2) Information Systems Strategic Planning in Higher Education Institutions in the Philippines Dave E. Marcial College of Computer Studies, Silliman University Hibbard Avenue, Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental demarcial@su.edu.ph ABSTRACT Information systems strategic planning (ISSP) is described as the process of defining organizational strategy, information technology (IT) directions, and making decisions in aligning IT resources to enable the organization attains its vision-mission-goal and to support business demands. It is among in the top ten IT issues in the higher education (EDUCAUSE 2011; 2010). This paper investigates empirically the level of prioritization and degree of implementation of ISSP in higher education institutions (HEIs) in the Philippines. A total of 95 HEIs in the Philippines were evaluated. The respondents are all heads in the Management Information Systems units. A survey questionnaire was used and it was based on the critical questions from EDUCAUSE. The study reveals that the level of prioritization of ISSP in the Philippine HEIs is high but the degree of implementation is moderate. This study reveals that there is a significant positive relationship between degree of implementation of ISSP and human skill, conceptual skill, working status, and HEI’s internet bandwidth, extent of decision-making, and working status. Further, the study also reveals that technical skill, gender, educational attainment, teaching status, and HEI’s number of years of existence have no positive significant relationships with the degree of implementation of ISSP in HEIs in the Philippines. Categories and Subject Descriptors Social and Professional topic: Management of computing and information systems – Project and people management, Implementation management. General Terms Management, Documentation, Human Factors Keywords Information systems strategic planning, Management Information Systems, ICT in education 1. INTRODUCTION Information systems describe the organizational components or function that contains information technology, management information systems, decision-support systems and other managerial and organizational aspects and concerns [1]. It describes the organization’s collection of people, data, processes, hardware and software, interacting with each other to collect, process, store, and provide a common objective for the organization. “A strategy, also known as strategic plan, is the process of identifying the desired future state of the business in terms of business scope and future positions, objectives, strategic moves, a commitment plan, and a change management plan” [2]. “It summarize both desired goals and beliefs about what are acceptable and, most critically, unacceptable means for achieving them” [1]. Consequently, strategic planning is “a plan to provide direction, concentration of effort, consistency of purpose, and flexibility as a business moves to continually improve its competitive position” [2]. Most companies have strategies, but far fewer achieve them. Various studies support this view. For example, in a study “Why CEOs Fail” by Charan and Colvin, Fortune Magazine, 21 June 1999 (cited by [3]), it was suggested that 70% of 10 CEOs who fail do so not because of bad strategy, but because of bad execution. In the same article, a study was cited on “Why do only one third of UK companies achieve strategic success?” by Cobbold and Lawrie in May 2001 where among 200 companies in the Times 1000, 80% of directors said they had the right strategies but only 14% thought they were implementing them well, no doubt linked to the finding that despite 97% of directors having a 'strategic vision', only 33% reported achieving 'significant strategic success.’ Effective strategy realization is key for achieving strategic success. The essential elements of strategy realization that are cited in this article are motivational leadership, turning strategy into action, and performance management. Information Systems Strategic Planning (ISSP) is a primary priority and concern encountered by top business and information systems executives [4]. It refers to information technology strategic planning [2], strategic information systems planning [5], strategic planning for information resources [6] and many other nomenclatures. Strategic information systems planning is the process of formulating a portfolio for the implementation and utilization of information systems to ensure maximum effectiveness and efficiency of an institution [5]. IT strategic planning is a process that provides an ordered set of steps designed to culminate in the development and execution of a comprehensive IT strategic business plan [2]. ISSP is defined as: the process of planning information systems activities has, as its purpose and time horizon, strategic levels of importance. That is, either it is performed by executives at the strategic level of the organization; or it is concentrating primarily upon issues of significant business importance, though often these can only be judged with hindsight. [1] Ideally ISSP includes five basic processes, these are: planning the project organization, assessing the agency’s organizational strategy, assessing IT options, formulating the development strategy, and planning the project [7]. Boar [2] summarized three processes in IT strategic planning, these are: assessment, strategy, and execution. Assessment process refers to the activity of developing a clear and thorough understanding of the business situation from both an internal and external perspective. Secondly, strategy process consists of identifying strategy statements for the