Designing Business Models and Similar Strategic Objects: The Contribution of IS

In this paper, we argue that information systems (IS) research has the potential to contribute to improving strategic planning, just like it has substantially contributed to improving decision making and its support in organizations in the past. Based on our work and experience in the field of business models, we outline how IS research can help strategic management researchers study the design of business models and other similar strategic notions. The paper suggests that the current research focus in strategic management could be improved and enlightened by some of the more conceptual and design-oriented research in IS. We highlight three areas in particular in which IS research has excelled that could inform research in strategic management. The first area concerns the identification, formalization, and visualization of the core constructs and models of interest related to the design and analysis of strategic business issues. The second area corresponds to the exploration of how design techniques and tools might contribute to improving the design of answers and alternatives to strategic business questions. The third area addresses the research in computer-aided design assisting the process of designing strategic management objects such as business models.