IT strategy: Formal rational orthodoxy or contingent adhocracy?

This paper examines empirical evidence of support by managers for formal rational as opposed to ad hoc approaches to IT strategy. The evidence was gathered by a large scale survey of IT managers in the UK private and public sectors. A heuristic conceptual model was used to place organizations on a continuum for several aspects of IT strategy. The authors found that most organizations appeared to subscribe to formal rationalism, but only in some aspects of strategy.