INTRODUCTION

Transformation of world trade under World Trade Order (WTO) framework and advancement in information and communication technology (ICT) may be considered as two major forces that will be directing economic growth of countries in the coming years. The new scenario has brought ICT policy of a country to center of discussion on trade development and economic sustainability. The chapter approaches ICT strategy development as an integrated process (see Figure 1, p. 49). References are made from strategic management domain to highlight critical points, which are sometimes overlooked in policy making.

Causes of policy failure in developing countries can, most of the time, be traced to flaws in policy development process rather than environmental complexity. A policy based on inadequate research and makeshift procedures is bound to cause more problems than it is designed to solve. It is no doubt difficult to develop a strategy in the complex environment that presently people are living in, but following a framework will certainly increase chances of success. The underdeveloped and developing countries generally lack the research capacity and integration in policy making processes that are critical for developing policies to compete in global knowledge driven society. Policy makers are often guided by insufficient data and background research for economic planning, and as a result of that enormous problems arise when a policy is being implemented. Some policies are stopped in the middle of implementation due to lack of directions. This gives impression that the government organizations in these countries are moving in circles. Drawing inspiration from Beer's (1994) research on team synergy and especially on development of viable system model, one would comment that the policies (in underdeveloped and developing countries) fail because they are designed to fail, or in other words the policies developed contain inherent faults, which finally lead to their failure.