UNDERSTANDING THE IMPACT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ON STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT: A POWER ASYMMETRY VIEW

The substantial impact of information technology (IT) on strategic management is well acknowledged by both practitioners and academics. However, there is a lack of in-depth understanding on such issues as (1) in what manners IT plays its fundamental role in strategic management and (2) how IT applications and decision makers interact with each other in this process. This paper investigates the power dimensions of IT in strategic management and the asymmetrical relationship of power-dependence between strategic management and IT applications. A set of theory-driven propositions is advanced, which can serve as a theoretical foundation for the development of hypotheses in future empirical studies. A multi-method research design of “mixing levels of analysis” is proposed to address the research questions.