Information systems and strategic management

Health services executives are beginning to realize that information systems can and should play a broader role in support of strategic planning and strategy development. Three widely accepted strategic frameworks are reviewed: 1. Ansoff's strategic management model, 2. Porter's competitive analysis model, and 3. the 4 strategic orientations of Miles and Snow. Applications are then drawn for the potential role of information systems within the context of these frameworks. The actual experience of a contemporary health care provider (Roper Hospital in Charleston, South Carolina) is placed within the background of an appropriate strategic framework.