ABSTRACT:

The Steering Committee approach to Information Systems (IS) management has been widely recommended. The IS literature has recognized the efficacy of such committees in fostering organizational IS practices. The present study is an attempt to explore further the issue of the effectiveness of such committees. The study focuses on one aspect of the organizational IS which has been considered in recent years to be the key IS management issue facing IS managers, namely, IS planning. A questionnaire survey method was used to elicit information on IS steering committee usage and planning issues in respondent organizations. The responses were analyzed to test for the existence of relationships between steering committee usage and emphasis on the planning aspects. Results indicate that there are significant differences in planning aspects between organizations with no or low steering committee usage and those with high steering committee usage. These findings add support to the existing literature recognizing the efficacy of this approach to IS management.