2. Strategy

Search any bookstore, online or high street, and you will find a surplus of books on business strategy. Some are ‘how to’ recipe-style books, others are written by various captains of industry urging you to do it “my way”. This Chapter gives an introductory view of strategy but focuses primarily on the significance of big data for the traditional strategy development process and its potential to inspire new, information-driven strategies. Big data is defined by three attributes; Volume, Velocity and Variety, all of which have consequences for strategic analysis and strategic direction. The promise of detailed data granularity, extensive transparency and rapid information transfer makes innovative business models increasingly viable and offers unique dimensions of competitive advantage. However, integrating big data into cohesive corporate strategy requires a strong technical environment and accomplishing this, while maintaining strategic flexibility, presents a number of dilemmas. Accordingly, this chapter also examines the perennial challenge of aligning IT/IS strategy with business strategy and discusses some of the tools and techniques used to achieve this.