3.10 Strategic-Level Systems

	Top management of global E-businesses should be aided through this type of business IS in their vision and drive of the overall business enterprise.
	This is a very important type of business IS as it is not only concerned with the business itself, but also with the external factors affecting it.
	These may include knowledge of the market the business operates in, information on competitors, reaching out for potential business partners/customers, economic and political climates, etc.
	The strategic-level systems should allow the top management to frame this way of thinking. Strategic-level systems should allow senior management to expand and develop the business environment in the light of current internal and external circumstances.
	A SWOT analysis summarizes the four main aspects such a system should cover.

Figure 3.6: SWOT analysis

3.10 Strategic-Level Systems

Figure 3.6 SWOT analysis displays the main aspects a strategic-level business IS should comprehend for better decision making for senior management.

The name SWOT denotes the first letters of the main diameters: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

	The internal factors that are concerned with the business itself are Strengths and Weaknesses.
	IS allowing the top management of the business to study the strengths of the business helps maintain and even develop these strengths.
	A business strengths could be reflected in IS through long term (and short term) sales targets being met.
	A strategic weakness in a business could be staff turnover.
	A high ratio of staff turnover may indicate that staff morale needs the attention of top management to create a strategy to retain staff.
	This has to be shown in the IS in place through keeping statistics on staff count for instance.
	Studying the weaknesses of the business grants senior management the chance to improve and minimize business weaknesses.
	The external factors are opportunities and threats a business may face.

3.10 Strategic-Level Systems

	Opportunities are the aspects a business can capitalize on to expand its activities. These may include taking over or merging with another business entity.
	A threat on the other hand can be a low prize strategy followed by a competitor which may result in taking away customers from the existing customer base of the business.
	The business should be aware of the external threats, and should try to resolve them through creating a long term strategy.
	Strategic-level business IS plays a key role in this.
	It is worth mentioning that businesses trading globally may operate all of these different types of business IS for every function of the business.
	At the organizational level, a comprehensive IS should be implemented to capture the various business functions through IS.