{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,21]],"date-time":"2026-05-21T12:27:32Z","timestamp":1779366452483,"version":"3.53.0"},"reference-count":11,"publisher":"Emerald","issue":"1","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[1996,3,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Describes how IS (information systems) units are currently applying balancing mechanisms to help them address the limitations of organizational structure. IS units require organizational structures that both facilitate partnerships with business unit clients and enable tight co-ordination of computing platforms to strengthen the technology infrastructure. For years, IS executives have recognized that the structure that best supports each objective is counterproductive for the other objective. Thus, they have periodically undertaken major restructuring, which has the effect of alternating between the objectives rather than addressing them simultaneously. Today\u2019s IS executives, however, are increasingly attempting to achieve partnership and infrastructure development simultaneously by implementing balancing mechanisms: structural overlays and process enhancements that leverage the strengths of an existing organizational structure while compensating for its limitations. Balancing mechanisms enable the IS function to work towards those dual IS management goals simultaneously, as well as to respond more quickly to today\u2019s competitive environment. Also describes individual balancing mechanisms used in Fortune 500 firms and a strategy for implementing suites of mechanisms to achieve IS management goals.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1108\/09593849610111571","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2004,9,14]],"date-time":"2004-09-14T08:43:19Z","timestamp":1095151399000},"page":"49-62","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":12,"title":["The information systems balancing act: building partnerships and infrastructure"],"prefix":"10.1108","volume":"9","author":[{"given":"Carol V.","family":"Brown","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Indiana University, Bloomington & Indianapolis, Indiana, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jeanne W.","family":"Ross","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"MIT Sloan School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"140","reference":[{"key":"2025072819414333500_b1","unstructured":"Bartlett, C.A.\n           and Ghoshal, S.\u20081990, \u201cMatrix management: not a structure, a frame of mind\u201d, Harvard Business Review, July-August, pp. 138-45."},{"issue":"2","key":"2025072819414333500_b2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"61","DOI":"10.1016\/0959-8022(94)90005-1","article-title":"Formative contexts and information technology: understanding the dynamics of innovation in organizations","volume":"4","author":"Ciborra","year":"1994","journal-title":"Accounting, Management and Information Technology"},{"key":"2025072819414333500_b3","unstructured":"Davenport, T.\n           and Linder, J.\u20081993, \u201cInformation management infrastructure: the new competitive weapon?\u201d, Ernst & Young Center for Business Innovation Working Paper CITA33, October."},{"key":"2025072819414333500_b4","unstructured":"Galbraith, J.R.\n          \u20081973, Designing Complex Organizations, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA."},{"key":"2025072819414333500_b5","unstructured":"Henderson, J.C.\n          \u20081990, \u201cPlugging into strategic partnerships: the critical IS connection\u201d, Sloan Management Review, Spring, pp. 7-18."},{"key":"2025072819414333500_b6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Henderson, J.C.\n           and Venkatraman, N.\u20081992, \u201cStrategic alignment: a model for organizational transformation through information technology\u201d, in Kochan, T.A. and Useem, M. (Eds), Transforming Organizations, Oxford University Press, New York, NY, pp. 97-117.","DOI":"10.1093\/oso\/9780195065046.003.0007"},{"key":"2025072819414333500_b7","unstructured":"Keen, P.G.W.\n          \u20081991, Shaping the Future: Business Design through Information Technology, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA."},{"key":"2025072819414333500_b8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Miller, D.\n          \u20081988, \u201cRelating Porter\u2019s business strategies to environment and structure: analysis and performance implications\u201d, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 31, pp. 280-308.","DOI":"10.2307\/256549"},{"key":"2025072819414333500_b9","unstructured":"Mintzberg, H.\n          \u20081993, Structure in Fives: Designing Effective Organizations, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ."},{"key":"2025072819414333500_b10","unstructured":"Von Simson, E.M.\n          \u20081990, \u201cThe \u2018centrally decentralized\u2019 IS organization\u201d, Harvard Business Review, July-August, pp. 158-62."},{"key":"2025072819414333500_b11","unstructured":"Zmud, R.W.\n          \u20081988, \u201cBuilding relationships throughout the corporate entity\u201d, in Elamet al., ransforming the IS Organization, ICIT Press, Washington, DC, pp. 56-82."}],"container-title":["Information Technology &amp; People"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"http:\/\/www.emeraldinsight.com\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1108\/09593849610111571","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/content\/doi\/10.1108\/09593849610111571\/full\/xml","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/itp\/article-pdf\/9\/1\/49\/1181802\/09593849610111571.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"syndication"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/itp\/article-pdf\/9\/1\/49\/1181802\/09593849610111571.pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,28]],"date-time":"2025-07-28T23:41:50Z","timestamp":1753746110000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/itp\/article\/9\/1\/49\/174400\/The-information-systems-balancing-act-building"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[1996,3,1]]},"references-count":11,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-print":{"date-parts":[[1996,3,1]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1108\/09593849610111571","relation":{},"ISSN":["0959-3845","1758-5813"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0959-3845","type":"print"},{"value":"1758-5813","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[1996,3,1]]}}}