McFarlan’s Portfolion Framework

McFarlan`s Portfolio Framework
A framework for a strategic information system (SIS) is a descriptive structure that
helps us understand and classify the relationships among strategic management,
competitive strategy, and information technology. SIS frameworks has many different types of information systems.

McFarlan`s strategic grid

The strategic grid model is an IT specific model that can be used to assess the nature of the projects that the IT organization has in its portfolio with the aim of seeing how well that portfolio supports the operational and strategic interests of the firm.


• Support: low operational impact, low strategic impact. This quadrant is about local process improvements for individual users.
• Factory: high operational impact, low strategic impact. This quadrant is about operational improvements that affect large portions of the firm, and are aimed at improving performance or decreasing cost.
• Turnaround: low operational impact, high strategic impact. This quadrant is about exploiting new technologies to provide strategic opportunities.
• Strategic: high operational impact, high strategic impact. IT organizations that have most projects in this quadrant understand that IT can both improve core operations of the firm while simultaneously generating strategic options.

Important Questions for strategic Advantage and IT:
• What is strategy?
• What is strategic advantage?
• How do we use Information System to achieve some from of avantage over competitors?


In my understood from McFarlan`s is any company need Plan, Strategy and Resources.
• Plan it can be for long or short term.
• Strategy is way to achieve goal and came to destination. Organizations minimize resources (spend less energy and get higher profit).
• Resources between are companies which exchange information, knowledge etc. In another side resources take a form as competition (ex. by software etc.).