# Measuring and improving information systems agility through the balanced scorecard approach

**Authors:** Yassine Rdiouat, Samir Bahsani, Mouhsine Lakhdissi, Alami Semma  
**arXiv:** [2109.07281](https://arxiv.org/abs/2109.07281)  
**Date:** 2021-09-13  
**Summary page:** https://www.summarizepaper.com/en/paper/2109.07281v1/

## Key points

- Agility is crucial for organizations to survive in today's complex and rapidly changing business environment
- Information systems are seen as a key enabler of agility
- A balanced-scorecard based framework called IS Agility BSC evaluates IS agility through four perspectives: business contribution, user orientation, operation excellence, and innovation and competitiveness
- The proposed framework measures enterprise information systems' agility according to 14 key success factors over the four BSC perspectives using 42 agility evaluation criteria identified based on literature survey methodology
- The IT balanced scorecard (BSC) approach is an appropriate technique for evaluating IT performance
- The research methodology used involves conducting a literature review on existing frameworks related to IS agility measurement, identifying key success factors across four perspectives, and evaluating these factors using 42 evaluation criteria.
- Measuring IS agility through a balanced perspective approach using the BSC framework can help organizations improve their agility and survive in today's rapidly changing business environment.

## Summary

In today's complex and rapidly changing business environment, organizations must be agile to survive. Agility is at the core of business strategy and refers to an organization's ability to grow in a competitive environment of continuous and unpredictable changes. Information systems are perceived as one of the main enablers of agility, making it essential for organizations to rely on agile enterprise information systems/information technology (IT/IS). However, since the agility needs are not the same among stakeholders, there is a need for a conceptual model that can achieve and assess IT/IS agility from balanced perspectives to support agile organizations. This paper proposes a balanced-scorecard based framework called IS Agility BSC that evaluates IS agility through four perspectives: business contribution, user orientation, operation excellence, and innovation and competitiveness. The proposed framework has a three-layer structure for each perspective: mission, key success factors, and agility evaluation criteria. According to this conceptual model, enterprise information systems' agility is measured according to 14 key success factors over the four BSC perspectives using 42 agility evaluation criteria identified based on literature survey methodology. Several researches have indicated that the IT balanced scorecard (BSC) approach is an appropriate technique for evaluating IT performance. This paper explores agility in the broader context of enterprise information systems and provides both researchers and practitioners with a practical approach for achieving and measuring IS agility performance. The findings will help organizations become more agile as they strive to survive in today's new business world. The research methodology used in this study involves conducting a literature review on existing frameworks related to IS agility measurement. The authors then developed their own framework by identifying key success factors across four perspectives: business contribution, user orientation, operation excellence, and innovation and competitiveness. Finally, they evaluated these factors using 42 evaluation criteria. Overall, this paper highlights the importance of measuring IS agility through a balanced perspective approach using the BSC framework. It provides valuable insights into how organizations can improve their agility and survive in today's rapidly changing business environment.